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The café's timber deck with tables and red parasols, looking out over green fields to the hills.
Argyll and Bute

Isle of Lismore Café

The award-winning café at the Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre, with a deck looking out over the island, open April to October.

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Welcome

On a sunny day there are few better places to sit than the deck of the Isle of Lismore Café, with the fields of the island in front of you and the hills beyond.

The café is part of the Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre, on this long, green island in Loch Linnhe, and Sarah and Dan have run it since 2019. It's a lovely stop on a day exploring by bike or on foot, with coffee, cakes and lunches, and in 2025 it was named Isles Cafe of the Year at the Scottish Cafe and Bakery Awards. In the evenings there are burger, curry, pizza and seafood platter nights, and Friday fish and chips, which need booking. The café opens from 11am to 4pm, April to October. Come over on the car ferry from Oban or the little foot ferry from Port Appin, and look in on the museum and the thatched cottage while you're there.

Round the cornerLismore Gaelic Heritage CentreThe island's own museum and café on Lismore, with a thatched cottar's cottage of the 19th century outside.1 min by roadSee itThe heritage centre's sign and its grass-roofed building.
Before you go

Open every day from 11am to 4pm, April to October.

Evening meals run on nights the café announces on its Facebook page, and Friday fish and chips need booking. Dogs are welcome, and there is a free car park.

Where
The Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre, PA34 5UL.
Hours
11am to 4pm, April to October.
Getting there
Car ferry from Oban, or foot and bike ferry from Port Appin.
Phone
01631 760030

Opening hours

Monday
11am–4pm
Tuesday
11am–4pm
Wednesday
11am–4pm
Thursday
11am–4pm
Friday
11am–4pm
Saturday
11am–4pm
Sunday
11am–4pm
Where it is

At the Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre on the Isle of Lismore, in Loch Linnhe north of Oban, PA34 5UL.

Close byOn Lismore.
  1. A stained-glass window above old stonework inside the church.St Moluag’s CathedralLismore's parish church, once the cathedral of Argyll, on the spot where St Moluag founded his monastery.5 miles14 min by road
  2. Crumbling walls of the castle above Loch Linnhe.Castle CoeffinThe ivy-clad ruin of a 13th-century MacDougall castle on the west coast of Lismore, reached on foot from the ferry.5 miles14 min by road
  3. The CalMac terminal on Oban's waterfront.Oban to Lismore FerryThe hour's CalMac crossing from Oban up Loch Linnhe to Lismore, past Dunollie Castle.11 miles22 min by road
  4. Castle StalkerCastle StalkerA four-storey tower on a tidal islet in Loch Laich at Appin, built by the Stewarts in the 1440s and lost once in a wager.13 miles23 min by road
  5. The white lighthouse and its buildings on the rocky islet.Lismore LighthouseRobert Stevenson's lighthouse of 1833 on Eilean Musdile, off the south end of Lismore, where Loch Linnhe meets the Sound of Mull.25 miles75 min by road
Directions
The heritage centre's sign and its grass-roofed building.AttractionsLismore Gaelic Heritage CentreA step away
Long grass grows on dunes above a curving sandy beach backed by a wooded hillside, a distant headland framing the bay.AttractionsTralee Beach2.4 miles
The whitewashed front of Ben Lora Cafe & Bookshop in Benderloch under a grey sky.CafeBen Lora Cafe & Bookshop3.3 miles
Slochd, Argyll and ButeArgyll and ButeSlochdSleeps 2 · 5.0 miles
Stormhouse North, Argyll and ButeArgyll and ButeStormhouse NorthSleeps 2 · 5.3 miles
Stormhouse South, Argyll and ButeArgyll and ButeStormhouse SouthSleeps 2 · 5.3 miles
Connel Bridge's steel cantilever over the mouth of Loch Etive.AttractionsConnel Bridge5.7 miles
Oyster Inn, Argyll and ButeRestaurantsThe Oyster Inn, Connel6.0 miles
Couple share wine at a driftwood table overlooking a yacht-filled bayCafePoppies, Saulmore7.4 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near the café, and when each is next free.

Stormhouse South, Argyll and ButeStormhouse South
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Argyll and Bute
  • 5 miles from the café
Free 31 Jan – 5 FebStormhouse North, Argyll and ButeStormhouse North
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Argyll and Bute
  • 5 miles from the café
Free 1–6 FebSlochd, Argyll and ButeSlochd
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Argyll and Bute
  • 5 miles from the café
Check datesA stone cottage with a slate roof and chimney stands among birch and pine trees on a wooded hillside.The Old Post Office
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Argyll and Bute
  • 6 miles from the café
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in Argyll and ButeAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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