McCabe short break holidays 19-23 June

& 3-7 July 2017

Over the sea to

IONA

Over the sea to IONA

In June and July 2017, we plan our first Scottish short-break holidays to the ancient pilgrimage island of Iona, but we will see and do much more.

On Monday, we make our own way to Glasgow, where our holiday begins with dinner and an overnight stay in a central hotel. On the Tuesday, we drive along iconic Loch Lomond to enter the Highlands en route to the Hebrides. We sail from Oban to the island of Mull for a three night stay at the 4-star Isle of Mull Hotel, with pool and spa facilities, in a wonderful coastal location.

One full day will be spent exploring Iona including our own service in the abbey. On our second day we will visit colourful Tobermory and have the option (weather permitting) of sailing to Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa.

We leave Mull on Friday morning, arriving back in Glasgow mid-afternoon in time for train connections home.

We have designed our short break holidays to be inexpensive, packed with interest and pilgrimage based. This is an opportunity to meet up with pilgrims from previous experiences. The focus is on travelling with, and enjoying the company of, like-minded people. McCabe leaders and staff act as hosts and conduct group worship and local guides add an in-depth commentary.

The cost of this holiday is £595 with pretty much everything included, except your travel to Glasgow. We have chosen Glasgow as the ideal starting point and we will have a welcome reception and dinner together and our first night at the Jury’s Inn Hotel very near Central Station.

Our next three nights are at the Isle of Mull Hotel, in a great location on the seashore in the village of Craignure.

All rooms have a sea view and private facilities, but rooms higher in the hotel have better views. We can request these for a £20 per person supplement. To request these, mark your booking form SEA VIEW.

You make your own way to Glasgow by car, train or coach. If you are driving, we will send you details of parking options. Four breakfasts, four dinners and two

picnic lunches are included, as are all entrance fees, ferry crossings and gratuities. We will travel in our own coach.

Any Special Requests for instance, special diets, should be printed on the booking form.

A deposit is payable now with the balance due eight weeks prior to departure. Final details will be confirmed in your travel wallet two weeks prior to departure.

Travelling Alone Single rooms on Mull are small and without extra charge. The supplement of £50 is just for the night in Glasgow.

Financial Security All monies paid are fully protected through McCabe’s membership of the ABTOT bonding scheme.

BOOKING INFORMATION

To reserve your place, choose your preferred date, then complete the enclosed booking form and send it with a deposit of £200 to the McCabe office, or call with a debit card. (Please make cheques payable to ‘McCabe Pilgrimages’)

McCabe Pilgrimages , 11 Hillgate Place, Balham Hill, London SW12 9ER

Freephone: 0800 107 3 107

Email: alistair@mccabe-travel.co.uk

Travel Insurance

The main risk you may want to cover is cancellation charges. To minimise this risk, McCabe’s will refund in full anyone cancelling more than six weeks before departure. Anyone cancelling after this date will lose 50% of the holiday cost. We are not offering insurance cover, but you can obtain this easily online or for instance at post offices.

On Thursday afternoon from 1400 to 1730 we offer an excursion by small boat to Staffa, home to basalt pillared Fingal’s Cave and inspiration for Mendelsohn’s symphony the Hebrides. One hour is spent ashore (weather permitting) with the opportunity to explore the cave and island, which is a major puffin breeding colony. There should still be some ashore in June and July.

This trip does come with a health warning, as there is often a swell making landing difficult. Access to Fingal’s cave is easy but exploring the main island involves climbing a steep staircase. This said, the trip is highly recommended.

Cost: £30

To reserve, mark your booking form STAFFA

Isle of Staffa

Tobermory Harbour

PROGRAMME

Monday : Travel to Glasgow

Independent travel to Glasgow.

1500 We will arrange an introductory walk around town for early arrivals. Welcome reception, dinner and overnight at Jury’s Inn hotel (or similar) walking distance from Central Station.

Tuesday : Loch Lomond and the Isle of Mull

A two hour drive takes through magnificent scenery along the western shore of Loch Lomond and then Loch Awe to Oban, gateway to the isles. We will enjoy a sail on Loch Lomond and break for a snack lunch in Tyndrum. Time to explore Oban before the ferry crossing to Mull. The ferry crossing takes less than an hour and we plan to arrive at the Isle of Mull hotel our home for three nights at around 1700 hours. Wednesday : The sacred Isle of Iona

A ninety minute drive on mostly single track roads takes us to Fionnphort and a ten minute sail across to Iona. During our day on the island we will arrange a pilgrimage walk around the significant places in the life of St Columba as well as visiting the Nunnery ruins and reconstructed Abbey where we will have a service of worship. A picnic lunch is included today.

Thursday : Tobermory and the Isle of Staffa

This morning we visit Tobermory, now known to a younger generation as Balamory. We will stop to observe a seal colony and keep a lookout for sea eagles, otters and porpoises all of which are common on Mull. On our sea crossings, we will try to spot dolphins, whales and basking sharks all of which are regular visitors to these shores.

A picnic lunch is included today.

This afternoon the choice of an optional excursion to the island of Staffa, where Fingal’s Cave was the inspiration for Mendelson’s symphony, The Hebrides. We have kept this optional as the boat is small and really best in good weather.

Non-sailors will go nature spotting on foot and by coach before we all return to our hotel for our last evening together. Friday : Homeward bound.

We leave Mull and sail back to Oban and take a scenic route back to Glasgow. We plan to arrive back in Glasgow by 1500 hours. We recommend booking connections home anytime from 1600 hours.

Tour One 19-23 June

Tour Two 3-7 July

We are travelling to Alistair’s part of the world, where his family holiday every summer. Boats feature strongly in our programme and are a lot of fun. Our coach will drive aboard the ferry to Mull which is a large modern vessel with restaurant, bar, shop, lounges and viewing decks. The boat has lifts so is fully accessible. In contrast, we walk onto the small ferry plying across to Iona, an island where you need a special permit to bring a car. For Staffa, the boat gets smaller and you can expect to get wet on this fun afternoon optional excursion! We will travel in our own coach and be accompanied by experienced McCabe leaders and staff. On Iona we will meet members of the Iona community and offer two programmes, one involving more walking than the other. A highlight will be a service in the abbey itself.

Accommodation on Iona itself is limited so we have created a programme bringing together a real flavour of the Hebrides with the focus firmly fixed on Iona and its unique history.

We recommend booking rail tickets online from www.thetrainline.com or similar. The cheapest tickets are usually released 12 weeks prior to travel. There is a system you can sign up to where the web site will alert you when the cheapest fares first appear.

Travel information

Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa

Iona and St Columba

Iona is a tiny and beautiful Hebridean island off the west coast of Scotland, cradle of Christianity in Scotland, where in 563AD the Irish monk Columba (Columkille) established a monastic settlement which evangelised large parts of Scotland and the north of England and became an important centre of European Christianity.

In the Middle Ages it became the site of a Benedictine abbey, and over the centuries it has attracted many thousands of people on their own pilgrim journeys.

The Iona Community The Iona Community was founded in 1938 by George MacLeod, minister, visionary and prophetic witness for peace, in the context of the poverty and despair of the Depression.

From a dockland parish in Govan, Glasgow, he took unemployed skilled craftsmen and young trainee clergy to Iona to rebuild both the monastic quarters of the mediaeval abbey and the common life by working and living together, sharing skills and effort as well as joys and achievement.

That original task became a sign of hopeful rebuilding of community in Scotland and beyond. The experience shaped – and continues to shape – the practice and principles of the Iona Community.

As an aside, Ursula MacLeod, George’s cousin, was a founder member of the staff of McCabe Pilgrimages.

Iona Today Today, Iona remains a centre for pilgrimage and the daily services of the Iona Community are open to all.

There is a year-round population of over 100; long-established island families as well as more recent arrivals, including those who work for the Iona Community as staff or volunteers.

The abbey itself is now managed by Historic Scotland but the Iona Community remains in residence as a living, worshipping presence. The islanders, the Iona Community and Historic Scotland work together to maintain Iona as a place of welcome.

McCabe Pilgrimages 11 Hillgate Place Balham Hill London SW12 9ER Telephone 020 8675 6828 Email alistair@mccabe-travel.co.uk

McCabe Educational Trust Our Trust is an independent charity which is central to the McCabe vision.

Over the last five years alone, over £1 million has been distributed in grants to inspiring people we have met on pilgrimage. The McCabe website has full details, but projects include a Blind School in Bethlehem, a Boys’ Home in Bethany, and schools in India and Nepal.

McCabe Pilgrimages invite all travellers to become partners in this work. A £15 voluntary donation to the Trust’s work is added to every pilgrim’s invoice and all money raised in this way is given in full to the projects the Trust supports. This scheme is voluntary and confidential with nobody put under any pressure to participate.