In addition, a few licensed boat owners provide a private water taxi service from the Tayvallich and Crinan area, who will drop you at various points on the island.Ĭaledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) runs a number of vehicle ferries per day between Kennacraig (on the Kintyre peninsula, around 105 miles from Glasgow and 6 miles south of Tarbert) to Port Askaig or Port Ellen on Islay. Advance booking is compulsory tickets cost £20 each way. The ferry runs from Easter to the end of September with up to two crossings daily except Wednesdays. The village of Craighouse is also home to the island's only distillery and only functioning church.Ī seasonal fast passenger ferry runs from Tayvallich on the mainland (around 2.5 hours drive from Glasgow) to Craighouse on Jura, taking around 45 mins to an hour to complete the crossing and often linking up with West Coast Motors buses from Lochgilphead. This is also where you will find the only two places to eat out on the island - the Jura Hotel and the Antlers Bistro. This is where you will find the island's only shop (run by Spar), hotel and pub. The west coast of Jura is currently uninhabited but is home to a number of raised beaches.Ĭraighouse is the island's main settlement. Much of the island is designated as a National Scenic Area and is dominated by three conical mountains known as the Paps of Jura which rise to over 2500 feet (762 m). Jura has a large population of red deer (it is commonly believed that the name 'Jura' was derived from 'hjörtr' - the Old Norse word for deer). Jura, though fairly large in size, is a sparsely populated island with a population of approximately 200 people.

Isle of jura hotel camping