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The white lighthouse and its buildings on the rocky islet.
Argyll and Bute

Lismore Lighthouse

Robert Stevenson's lighthouse of 1833 on Eilean Musdile, off the south end of Lismore, where Loch Linnhe meets the Sound of Mull.

Welcome

Lismore Lighthouse stands where the seaways divide, at the south end of Lismore, where Loch Linnhe meets the Sound of Mull and the Firth of Lorn, and anyone crossing on the ferry between Oban and Mull sails right past it.

It is not actually on Lismore, but on Eilean Musdile, a small island separated from it by a narrow channel, which the Northern Lighthouse Board bought for £500 in 1830.

The white tower, 26 metres tall, was designed by Robert Stevenson and built by James Smith of Inverness, and its light was first shown in 1833, a fixed white light that was soon changed to a flashing one. It was one of the few manned lighthouses in the area until it was automated in 1965; as a rock station, its four keepers worked six weeks on the rock and then had two ashore with their families. Today it flashes white every ten seconds, seen for seventeen nautical miles, and it is best seen from the ferry.

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The Daily for 8 November, from Scotland with love. An ivy-covered ruined tower stands on a small headland across the loch, autumn hills rising behind it through a screen of green leaves.
Not farEe-UskA seafood restaurant on Oban's North Pier, run by the MacLeod family, with local shellfish and windows over the bay to Kerrera and Mull.6 milesSee itA seafood platter at Ee-Usk in Oban: langoustines, oysters, mussels, a crab claw, scallops and smoked salmon on a white plate, with a glass of white wine.
Before you go

The lighthouse is on an islet and is not open to visitors.

It is best seen from the Oban to Mull ferry, which passes close by.

Seen from
The Oban to Craignure ferry.
Light
Flashing white every 10 seconds, 17 nautical miles.

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Where it is

Eilean Musdile, off Lismore.

Close byOff Lismore.
  1. Duart CastleDuart CastleThe seat of the Clan Maclean on a rocky point over the Sound of Mull, a medieval keep restored from ruin after 1911.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. The heritage centre's sign and its grass-roofed building.Lismore Gaelic Heritage CentreThe island's own museum and café on Lismore, with a thatched cottar's cottage of the 19th century outside.25 miles 76 min by road
Directions
A seafood platter at Ee-Usk in Oban: langoustines, oysters, mussels, a crab claw, scallops and smoked salmon on a white plate, with a glass of white wine.RestaurantsEe-Usk5.8 miles
The broken basalt wall of Ardtornish Castle on its grassy knoll, with the Sound of Mull and the hills of Mull beyond under a shaft of sunlight.AttractionsArdtornish Castle7.1 miles
The dining room at The Whitehouse Restaurant in Lochaline, wooden tables laid with candles, white stone walls, a round mirror and a log fireplace.RestaurantsThe Whitehouse Restaurant8.5 miles
A cheese toastie scattered with chives at the Coal Shed Café, Ardtornish, with slaw, a chopped salsa and vegetable crisps on a grey plate.CafeThe Coal Shed Café8.9 miles
Ardtornish House in its gardens from the air, lawns and flowering shrubs round the pink sandstone mansion and its tower, woods all round and the Morvern hills beyond under summer cloud.AttractionsArdtornish Gardens8.9 miles
An aerial view shows a white cottage on a wooded loch shore, hills rising steeply behind it.KingairlochSeaview CottageSleeps 2 · 11 miles
A stone lodge house with dormer windows and chimneys stands before hills, a gravel driveway leading to the lawn.KingairlochThe Gate LodgeSleeps 4 · 12 miles
A landscape view of the whitewashed cottage in low evening sun, its blue doors, lit lamps and teak chairs, smoke rising from the chimney.CrogganFern CottageSleeps 4 · 14 miles
Glencruitten House, Argyll and ButeObanGlencruitten HousePlace to stay · 16 miles

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Stay nearby

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

The Drury from the lawn below: a grey granite Victorian villa with sandstone bay windows, dormers in the slate roof and tall chimneys.The Drury
  • Sleeps 22
  • In Oban
  • 6 miles from the lighthouse
Free 14–16 NovA landscape view of the whitewashed cottage in low evening sun, its blue doors, lit lamps and teak chairs, smoke rising from the chimney.Fern Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Croggan
  • 7 miles from the lighthouse
Check datesGlencruitten House, Argyll and ButeGlencruitten House
  • To stay
  • In Oban
  • 7 miles from the lighthouse
Check datesBlack timber-clad cabin with corrugated roof and stove flue, set among trees and long grassBeatha
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Oban
  • 8 miles from the lighthouse
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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