Until 18 October a boat reaches Eigg on six days out of seven; from the 19th it is four, and the only winter days when you can land, walk for a couple of hours and sail home are Wednesdays and Fridays.
Summer timetable to 18 October 2026 and winter timetable 19 October 2026 to 25 March 2027, from CalMac's island-by-island sheets, read on 24 September 2026 and checked against CalMac's booking data for 24 September to 30 November. CalMac — Small Isles timetable by island (PDF) · 2026-09-24
Mid-October is when the Eigg boat changes character. Until 18 October the summer sheet gives the island a sailing from Mallaig on every day except Wednesday, and on Mondays you can arrive before half past eleven and leave at half past five. From 19 October the winter sheet takes over: boats on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday only, and just two of those days — Wednesday and Friday — let a visitor go ashore for a couple of hours and be back in Mallaig the same afternoon.
That pattern is not arbitrary. The same CalMac ship, MV Lochnevis, serves all four Small Isles from Mallaig, and in winter she also works the Mallaig–Armadale crossing to Skye before and after her island run. Eigg's place in the morning's rotation decides whether the boat calls on the way out, on the way back, or both. This page shows only the Eigg departures, with a note under each day saying which other island the ship visits first.
The late summer has been unusual. Lochnevis spent late August and September in dry dock for her annual overhaul, with MV Loch Bhrusda standing in, and her return date is given as either 22 or 24 September on two different CalMac pages. From 25 September the normal summer timetable is back in CalMac's booking system.
On foot the fare is modest: £5.45 each way for an adult and £10.90 return, half that for a child between 5 and 15, and nothing for a bicycle. The hard part is not the price but the rule behind it. Every ticket, foot passenger or vehicle, has to be booked with the Mallaig office by 16:00 on the previous working day, which in practice means Friday afternoon for a Monday crossing.
Vehicle fares exist mostly on paper for visitors. A car costs £21.95 each way, but The Highland Council does not let visitors drive on Eigg's roads unless they hold a Blue Badge, and every vehicle needs a permit before CalMac will load it.
| Adult, 16 and over | £ 5.45 |
| Child, 5 to 15 | £ 2.75 |
| Pedal cycle | Free |
| Car | £ 21.95 |
| Blue Badge car | £ 16.46 |
| Motorcycle | £ 11 |
| Light goods vehicle up to 6 m | £ 27.35 |
Summer 2026 fares, valid from 27 March 2026. No separate winter fares had been published for this route. CalMac — Mallaig–Eigg fares, summer 2026 (PDF) · 2026-09-24
Measured between CalMac's coordinates for the two piers, Eigg's harbour lies about 23 km south-west of Mallaig; the island's own website rounds it to twelve miles. The direct passage takes an hour and twenty minutes. On days when the ship calls at Muck first, or goes the long way round by Rum and Canna, the same journey stretches to nearly three or four hours; the timetable below flags those days.
Mallaig is one of CalMac's busiest ports, serving Skye, South Uist and the four Small Isles from the same pier. For Eigg you check in at the terminal desk at least 20 minutes before sailing on foot; the station and the buses are about five minutes' walk away. The trains come in from Fort William, where a council-contracted passenger boat to Camusnagaul crosses a mile of Loch Linnhe.
If you are leaving a car on the mainland, the Eigg community's own advice is to allow plenty of time in summer. There are two long-stay car parks: West Bay at the community centre as you enter the village, five minutes from the pier and pay-and-display (RingGo location 23485), and East Bay, free but ten to fifteen minutes' walk round the bay. Drop passengers and bags at the CalMac office first.
The ferry uses the long pier in Galmisdale Bay, owned by The Highland Council; the smaller old pier beside it belongs to the community and takes the little passenger boats. There is no CalMac office — tickets are sold on board or in Mallaig — but a little stone shelter at the pier end serves as a waiting room and a place to leave bags.
At the head of the piers stands An Laimhrig, the community hub, with the island shop, a café-bar, a craft shop and bike and kayak hire. Next door, Taigh Nighe has toilets, showers at £3 for five minutes and a laundry, open around the clock all year. There is no public transport on Eigg; the island's taxi is booked by phone.
Whether you are on foot or driving, the booking has to be in by 16:00 on the last working day before you sail — online or through the Mallaig office on 01687 310240, option 2.
Only residents and Blue Badge holders may drive on Eigg. Other visitors walk, cycle or ring for the island taxi; the community asks people not to apply for a temporary permit unless it is essential.
Eigg measures five miles by three, and its single main road runs roughly four and a half miles, which the island reckons at ninety minutes to two hours on foot. On a two-hour visit, plan to stay near Galmisdale.
The island's own guidance is that bad weather cancels the ferry more often in winter than in summer; on 24 September the relief ships' sailings were all cancelled for wind and swell.
They are about from late May to early September, worst in woodland and on still evenings.
Eigg is not on the mainland grid. Every house and business draws from a community-owned renewable network, with a cap on how much each can use at once.
Eigg has been owned by its community since 12 June 1997, when the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust bought it with £1.5 million raised from public donations. Since February 2008 the island has run its own electricity grid, fed by hydro, wind and solar generation with diesel back-up, and supplies about 95 per cent of its power from renewables.
Lochnevis dates from 2000, built at Troon with a long stern ramp so that she can land vehicles at every Small Isles pier. CalMac credits her with cutting more than three hours from the sailing time of her predecessor, MV Lochmor. A private summer boat also runs to Eigg from Arisaig, but it has a separate operator and is not covered here.
On some days. In summer Monday gives six hours ashore (in 11:30, out 17:30) and Thursday two hours twenty (11:50 to 14:10). In winter only Wednesday and Friday work, with 11:35 to 13:55 on the island.
Not until the winter timetable starts. From 19 October Wednesday becomes one of the best days, with the 10:15 from Mallaig and the 13:55 back; in the summer timetable Wednesday has no Eigg sailing.
Only with a permit. The Highland Council allows visitors to drive on Eigg's roads only if they hold a Blue Badge, and CalMac will not load any vehicle without a permit. A car costs £21.95 each way.
By 16:00 on the working day before you travel, for foot passengers and vehicles alike. A Monday crossing therefore has to be booked by Friday afternoon.
Because the ship goes to Rum and Muck first and only reaches Eigg at 14:15. The return at 14:35 is direct and gets to Mallaig at 15:55.
No. CalMac does not sell non-landing cruise tickets on this route: you must disembark when you reach the island you booked.
On 3, 10 and 17 October charters replace the morning ship. Foot passengers use MV Larven, 10:00 from Mallaig via Muck and 13:10 back from Eigg; vehicles go on Miss Marley, booked through the Mallaig office.