TOBERMORY: A dream came true for our autistic kids on this memorable Isle of Mull day trip
- sunshinelayla
- Dec 5, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Dec 12, 2025
Visit Tobermory and you will also dive into the magical village of CBeebies' Balamory.
Our autistic kids loved this special TV themed day trip on the Isle of Mull. - and to be honest so did we!
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Overview
Situated on the northern tip of the Isle of Mull, Tobermory is a harbour town that has long been a favourite day trip for tourists staying in Oban (on the mainland) as well as those exploring the island.
It is also the real life location for the CBeebies magical village of Balamory. If your autistic child has ever watched this heart-warming series then the colourful houses featured on the show will be a familiar sight. With its quaint village feel, this seaside hotspot is famed for its chocolate, whiskey and cheerful buildings, and is as much fun to visit as it is to watch on TV.
Thanks to a revival of its iconic show, Tobermory will soon be back on our screens looking brighter than ever - filming for a brand new series of Balamory took place during the summer 2025 - after a gap of 20 years. With the ten new episodes of Balamory due for release in 2026, there has never been a better time to plan a family day trip to Tobermory and make your little ones dreams come true at the same time!
On location in Balamory
"Which coloured house are we going to? .... Which coloured house do you think?"
Of all the songs on Balamory this song towards the start of each show is the one my boys always liked best. In the (many) months leading up to our Tobermory trip they sang it all the time, especially when we were in a car and going past houses! It became the unofficial anthem of our summer, so the excitement in the car of the actual morning of our actual visit to Tobermory was off the charts.... we just hoped the reality would live up to the hype!
While much of Balamory is filmed in a studio they do quite a lot of location shots in Tobermory, and it is possible to locate many of the houses whose exteriors are featured in the show. It is not possible to 'tour' the insides of the houses (which the boys didn't mind as we had carefully explained about the use of studios for inside filming), but it was still great fun finding them and taking photos of them from outside. Its ok to do this, the locals don't mind and are in fact used to it - just make sure to be respectful.
The boys also had great fun performing bits of the characters' dances outside a few of the commercial properties along the harbour, popping out from the doorways and tripping along the pavement as they sang. While I appreciated (and fully encouraged) their deep dive into the Balamory experience, I was also relieved that no-one seemed to pay them any notice, I guess the locals are pretty used to young kids doing this!
They had such a brilliant time stepping into the world of Balamory and we loved sharing in their enjoyment - it is not often that you can make a child's dream come true but Tobermory really did just that!
We used this Tobermory resource to get the what3words locations for the Balamory properties.
Other activities around Tobermory
We were so focused on Balamory that we devoted nearly our entire visit to this theme - however there is more to Tobermory than just a BBC show! The harbour itself is very pretty and offers some beachy sand for kids to play on at low tide.
The whole of Mull is famed for its wildlife and Tobermory is no different. In the warmer months you can take boat trips from the harbour which offer the chance to see dolphins, porpoise and minke whales, and there are some great locations for spotting bird species like the golden and white tailed eagles that nest in the area.
For foodies there is fresh harbour catch and a range of locally produced treats such as chocolate, honey and ice-cream (all delicious). There are also plenty of gift shops selling locally made crafts, soaps and pottery.
I'd definitely consider stopping off at the picturesque Tobermory Whisky Distillery situated on the edge of town. Founded in 1798 it offers a visitor centre along with tours and tastings.
And finally there are a number of walks (for all levels of fitness), including Aros Park (4.5 miles) which you can access from the main Ledaig carpark and as coastal walks which take in the town's lighthouse (3 miles) and Dun Ara Castle (2 miles).
Useful Information
How to get to Tobermory
We visited Tobermory as part of a wider trip around the north of the island that also took in Calgary Bay; it was an amazing day and one of the main reasons for our 5 night stay on the Isle of Mull. Having based ourselves in a remote farmhouse style property near Ulva Ferry, the journey across the island to Tobermory took about 45 minutes.
If you are visiting as a day tripper from Oban you will most likely start your journey from Craignure - the main ferry port on the island (although there are others). Read my article on catching the CalMac ferry from Oban to Craignure for more information on how to make this crossing as autism friendly as possible.
Mull's Craignure ferry port is around 35mins from Tobermory by car or around an hour by public transport. There is a bus that runs from the port to the main car park of Ledaig, just a few minutes walk outside of town.
Parking in Tobermory
We visited the town during October half term and easily found a park on the street in front of the shops that line the harbour - there are a number of 2 hr short stay spaces.
However in the warmer months the town can get very busy so visitors are advised to use the park and ride and larger car parks on the edge of town. This Tobermory parking pdf from 2021 is still a useful guide as to what sort of parking can be found where (though things may have changed a little since then).
The main carpark is called Ledaig, it also has a tourism information unit within it.
Where to eat in Tobemory
Before leaving our cottage we had made up a packed lunch for the kids with the vague notion of enjoying a picnic lunch by the harbour or somewhere else scenic. Unless its a quick coffee stop we normally avoid taking our autistic kids into cafes, restaurants or pubs if we can. When we do we prefer venues that we know are quick on the service and low on the queues. Unfortunately it started raining hard just as lunchtime arrived so the alfresco options we no longer a go.
Tobermory has a range of cafes / pubs (see TripAdvisor for most up to date options) and we popped our heads in to most of them, only to find they were too busy, too overwhelming from a sensory perspective or didn't have a gluten free option.
In the end we settled for a cafe in an old church situated in the middle of the town - it was quirky with plenty of space and laid back staff who didn't mind that the boys were eating from their bento boxes (we'd ordered sandwiches with salad and chips for the adults.) As of 2025 it was being run by new management as a more upscale Italian restaurant.
If the weather permits than a harbourside picnic or fish and chip lunch would definitely be the most fun option.
Final thoughts
Although we visited Tobermory while we were already staying on the island it would definitely make a fun and quirky day trip option from Oban. The colourful houses did not disappoint, the harbour afforded beautiful views out to see and there were plenty of cafes and shops if you like that sort of thing.
Accommodation on the island is limited and ferry crossings sell out in the summer so it definitely pays to be organised for this one, particularly if you want to take your car across with you.
As a family with autistic children we loved our Tobermory visit, both for the magical escape it offered the boys and its fun and seaside vibes. Even on an overcast, damp October day it was still a winner, and we wouldn't hesitate to recommend it, particularly to fellow Balamory fans!
