Castlebay Ferries

Castlebay Passenger and Car Ferries

Castlebay passenger and car ferry ticket prices, timetables, ticket reservations and information for ferries sailing from Castlebay to Oban and the Hebrides Islands.

Compare all available Castlebay ferry ticket prices in real time and book the cheapest available Castlebay car and passenger ferry tickets sailing to and from Castlebay, Oban and the Hebrides Islands with Caledonian Mac Brayne (Calmac) Ferries ferries online with instant confirmation.

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Castlebay Ferry
Ticket Prices & Reservations


Book Castlebay Ferry Tickets
with Caledonian Mac Brayne (Calmac) Ferries for ferries sailing from Castlebay to Oban and the Hebrides Islands online in advance to enjoy the cheapest available ferry ticket price.

The price you see is the price you pay. There are no hidden extras or surprises such as added fuel surcharges or booking fees and we do not charge you anything extra for paying with a Visa Electron card. The price we quote you for your selected Castlebay passenger or car ferry ticket, onboard accommodation and vehicle type is all you will pay, and that's a promise.

To obtain a Castlebay ferry ticket price and book your ferry ticket securely online please use the real time ferry booking form on the left. You are also able to add a hotel at your destination, or anywhere else, to your ferry ticket when completing your ferry ticket reservation.

 

More About Castlebay

Castlebay is the village capital of Barraa in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It is located on the south coast of the island, and overlooks a bay in the Atlantic Ocean dominated by Kisimul Castle.

The village is home to the main Calmac ferry terminal and has been the transport hub for more than a centuryl. Steam ferries were known to be travelling between Castlebay and Oban in the late 1800s, albeit with notorious travelling conditions.

In the 1980s, a roll-on-roll-off car ferry terminal was finally built in Castlebay, allowing much larger ferries to arrive on Barra. Between 1989 and 1998, the MV Lord of the Isles travelled daily between Oban, Castlebay and Lochboisdale on the island of South Uist, sometimes stopping on the Isle of Mull. In 1998, the MV Clansman replaced the MV Lord of the Isles on the Oban-Castlebay-Lochboisdale run.

All ferries to and from Castlebay are operated by Caledonian Mac Brayne (Calmac) Ferries.

Castle Bay Yacht Marina and Ferry Port

Castlebay was once a thriving herring port in the 19th century, with up to 400 boats in its harbour and curing and packing factories ashore. Nowadays, the main sea traffic into the port comes from the CalMac ferries from Mallaig, Lochboisdale and Oban.

As its name suggests, Castlebay has a castle in its bay, the medieval islet-fortress of Kisimul Castle that is the ancestral home of Clan MacNeil. It is open to the public and accessed by a small ferry that runs from the slipway at the bottom of Main Street.

The story of Castlebay is deeply entwined with the story of the the Clan MacNeil and of Kisimul Castle, the castle in the bay after which Castlebay takes its name. Barra was granted to the Clan MacNeil by Alexander, Lord of the Isles, in 1427. The clan held on to it for 411 years, despite the intermittent efforts of their neighbours, until Roderick MacNeil ran out of money in 1838, and sold Barra to Colonel John Gordon of Cluny. In 1851 Gordon brutally cleared much of the island of its residents (something he also did in other parts of the Western Isles) to make room for sheep.

Colonel Gordon died in 1856, not greatly missed or mourned by the islanders who remained. The next get-rich-quick scheme had rather more benefits for the local population, and from 1869 Castlebay became the centre of a fishing industry that rapidly saw 400 small fishing boats based here, together with the associated gutting, curing and preserving facilities.

But while this story has a resonance with many others across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, it has a more positive ending. In 1937 the American architect Robert MacNeil, who had been recognised as the 45th Clan Chief of the MacNeils, visited Barra soon after the opening of the airstrip on the island. He purchased most of the Barra estate lost in 1838.

In 2000 the current laird, Iain MacNeil, leased the restored Kisimul Castle to Historic Scotland for 1000 years for a rent of a bottle of whisky and £1 a year. And in 2003 he started a process that will lead to public ownership of the whole island, at no cost.

By 1894 there were three steamers a week linking Castlebay with Oban, and the Castlebay Hotel had been opened. The Church of Scotland that was built overlooking the harbour on this predominantly Catholic island in 1892 did not thrive: the building remains today, but is disused. The Catholic Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, built in 1889, has fared better.

A turning point in Castlebay's fortunes came with the filming here of Compton Mackenzie's Whisky Galore in 1949. The events behind the story were based on nearby Eriskay, but the British Film Industry's version put Barra on the map. It also kept the Castlebay Hotel fully occupied throughout the period of the filming.

Castlebay today has two hotels and a number of guest houses and B&Bs, plus a range of shops, a bank, a petrol station and a hospital. And since 1992 Castlebay High School has provided full secondary school facilities. Until then Barra pupils studying for Highers had to board in Stornoway and attend school there. Towards the west end of the village is Dualchas, the excellent Barra Heritage Centre.

 


Best available Castlebay ferry ticket price guarantee

Best Castlebay Ferry Ticket Price Guarantee

Best Price Guarantee - We always offer you our lowest available Caledonian Mac Brayne (Calmac) Ferries passenger and car ferries ticket price to and from Castlebay. There are no hidden extras or surprises such as added fuel surcharges or booking fees and we also we do not charge you anything extra for paying with a Visa Electron card. The price we quote for your selected Castlebay ferry ticket, onboard accommodation and vehicle type is all you will pay, and that's a promise!

In the unlikely event you find the same all inclusive Castlebay ferry ticket cheaper in the brochure of any other tour operator we promise that we will do our best to beat that price or offer you the choice of requesting a refund. To book Castlebay car and passenger ferry tickets please click here.

 

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At ferryto.com you are able to obtain live Castlebay ferry ticket prices, check availability and book car and passenger ferry tickets to and from Castlebay at our lowest available ticket price.

Ferryto.com is part of the world's largest online ferry ticket distribution network providing the ability to book over 80 major European ferry operators including to Castlebay and to over 1,200 other ferry routes throughout the UK, France, Spain, Ireland, Holland, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Baltic and North Africa.

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