Four departures in each direction every weekday and Saturday, two on Sundays: CalMac's MV Loch Striven takes 55 minutes from Oban to the slipway at Achnacroish, halfway down Lismore's east coast. It is the only way to bring a car to the island, and it is a different boat, pier and timetable from the foot ferry that crosses from Port Appin.
CalMac summer timetable 27 March – 18 October 2026 and winter timetable 19 October 2026 – 25 March 2027 (updated 7 October 2026), checked against CalMac's sailing data on 15 October 2026. CalMac — Oban – Lismore timetables (PDF) and service changes · 2026-10-15
Lismore was the seat of a bishop long before it had a car ferry. Historic Environment Scotland dates the chancel of the island's cathedral, dedicated to St Moluag, to around 1250, and records that it was cut down and re-roofed as the parish kirk in 1749. Later the island's limestone made it an industrial place: at Port Kilcheran a pair of kilns built in 1803–4 by Bishop John Chisholm could load lime straight from the store into a ship, an arrangement HES calls unique in Scotland. For centuries the sea was the island's road.
It still is. CalMac's Oban – Lismore route is the island's vehicle link, a 55-minute crossing from the company's Oban terminal to a slipway at Achnacroish. The timetable is short and regular: on weekdays the boat leaves Oban at 06:45, 09:00, 14:00 and 17:15, turning round at the island five minutes after each arrival.
That makes Lismore an easy day out from Oban, but only if you head to the right place. Many people searching for a Lismore ferry mean the council's foot ferry from Port Appin, which reaches the island's northern tip. If you are taking a car, or want to start halfway down Lismore, this is your boat.
A car costs £16.15 each way, and that price buys deck space alone; whoever sits in the car, driver included, pays a seat fare on top. A couple with a car pays £47.70 for the round trip.
Bicycles travel free. Children under five are free too, and anyone travelling on an SPT concession or as an SPT companion is charged the child price.
| Adult (16+) single | £ 3.85 |
| Adult return | £ 7.70 |
| Child (5–15) single | £ 1.95 |
| Child return | £ 3.90 |
| SPT concession or companion, single | £ 1.95 |
| Infant (0–4) | Free |
| Car single | £ 16.15 |
| Car return | £ 32.30 |
| Motorcycle single | £ 8.10 |
| Motorhome or campervan up to 6 m, single | £ 16.15 |
| Trailer up to 2.5 m, single | £ 8.10 |
| Bicycle | Free |
CalMac fares 'Summer 2026, valid from 27 March 2026', still the published fares on 15 October 2026 CalMac — Oban – Lismore fares, summer 2026 (PDF) · 2026-10-15
Measured point to point, Achnacroish lies about 11 km north of the Oban terminal, across the Firth of Lorn where it narrows into Loch Linnhe. The island runs north-east to south-west, so the car slip sits roughly in the middle of its east coast; the CalMac boat never goes near the north tip, where the Port Appin passengers land. The Loch Striven is a small drive-through ferry: CMAL, which owns her, rates her for 200 passengers but only ten cars, which is why CalMac urges drivers to reserve while walkers rarely need to worry about space.
Lismore sailings leave from CalMac's main Oban terminal, the same one used by the boats to Mull, Coll, Colonsay and Barra. Drivers are asked to reach the check-in booth, on the left after the car park entrance, ten minutes before departure, and foot passengers the same; for Mull the requirement is half an hour, so do not follow the queue meant for a bigger ship. Trains, buses, taxis and hire cars all meet here.
Achnacroish is an unattended slip on the island's east shore, off the B8045. CalMac's port page lists free wi-fi, parking with accessible spaces, the island bus stopping about five metres from the ramp and the shop roughly two miles away. Without staff on the slip, its advice is that tickets can be bought on board, although the route page asks everyone to buy in advance. The council's foot-ferry landing at the Point is about 6.7 km further north in a straight line.
Walkers need a ticket too, bought before sailing, and vehicle space should be reserved. eTickets scan from a phone.
Cars and foot passengers alike must be ready to board ten minutes before sailing, or risk their space going to someone else.
The council asks for overnight provision to be arranged on the island first; there is a standby process for vehicles turning up without one.
Low-water dates remove early or evening crossings. The winter dates run from late October to late March.
Text code 15 to subscribe to Lismore sailing alerts; the number is printed on the timetable as well.
The boat itself is a piece of fleet history. MV Loch Striven was the first of four drive-through ferries built for CalMac in the 1980s; CMAL's register gives her launch as 8 May 1986 at Richard Dunston's yard in Hessle, East Yorkshire. She worked the Cumbrae and Raasay crossings before arriving on Lismore in June 2014. Transport Scotland's current plan pencils in a replacement around March 2029 under the Small Vessel Replacement Programme, a date it flags as subject to change.
Off Lismore's southern point stands the lighthouse on Eilean Musdile, a ten-acre islet in the Firth of Lorn. The Northern Lighthouse Board bought it for £500 in 1830, Robert Stevenson designed the light, and it was first shown in October 1833 to guide shipping into Loch Linnhe and towards the Caledonian Canal; the keepers left when it was automated in 1965. From the same Oban pier, CalMac also runs the much busier crossing to Craignure on Mull.
No. It sails from Oban and lands at Achnacroish, on Lismore's eastern shore. Port Appin has its own council-run foot ferry, which lands at the Point, about 6.7 km north of Achnacroish in a straight line. Check which end of Lismore you need before you choose.
Monday to Friday at 06:45, 09:00, 14:00 and 17:15; Saturday at 08:00, 11:00, 14:15 and 17:00; Sunday at 09:00 and 16:00. Low-tide dates change some of these, so check CalMac's amendments for your date.
The last boat leaves Achnacroish at 18:15 on weekdays, 18:00 on Saturdays and 17:00 on Sundays, arriving in Oban 55 minutes later. On tide days the evening return can disappear, as it does on 24, 26 and 28 October.
£16.15 each way or £32.30 return under the summer 2026 fares still in force, and each occupant, the driver too, buys a passenger ticket. An adult pays £3.85 single.
The slip there has no staff, and CalMac's port page says tickets can be bought on board. Even so, the company asks everyone to buy before travelling, and cars should reserve, especially in summer.
None at all on the 25th of December or on the 1st of January. On Saturday 26 December and Saturday 2 January only the 14:15 from Oban and 15:15 back run, and only if requested by 16:00 on 24 or 31 December.
MV Loch Striven, launched at Hessle in 1986 and listed by CMAL for 200 passengers and ten cars. She has been on Lismore since June 2014.