Castle Coeffin (Lismore). About 6 miles the round trip but with ferries etc it will take a full day.

[MAP: of Lismore] [Lismore from Appin]

     Take an early ferry to Lismore. If you haven't done it before that can be quite fun on its own Once across, walk from the ferry slipway, on a good road. Half a mile on, a side road branches right over the hill to Port Ramsay. That's worth a visit too, but we are heading the other way, South, by the shore.
     Wild flowers everywhere and some non-hardy flowers in the gardens you pass - evidence of the mild climate the Lismore residents enjoy. Some modern houses and cottages traditional, some in decay, others in mid-renovation powered by southern city incomes. The road rises on to open fields. Pass St Moluaig's Chair, where he rested on his daily constitutional. Doesn't look very comfortable does it?. Well what did you expect ffrom a man who suffered from Body Dismorphia? (see below) If you're not sure if you've got the right stone, any old stone will do. Sit on it. No one else will know the difference. (Actually they've gone and spoiled that ploy by puting up a sign on the stone, and also a fence which makes it hard to sit on it.) The story goes that some council road worker some years back knocked the arms off the chair. We are not told why. Perhaps to make it more comfortable. St. Moluaig's was Columba's lesser known colleague. It is said he and Columba both wanted Lismore. First one to touch the land was to be the winner. As their boat approached the shore St. M. cut off his own finger and threw it ashore. And so Columba lost the contest and had to make do with Iona. I don't believe it either but it's a good yarn.
     As you walk along you will begin to see why Lismore was a centre for ecclesiastical enterprise in days gone by. This is not the rugged heather and rocks topography you will find elsewhere in the Highlands. It is gentle countryside of near golf course standard. This is limestone country. A band of the stuff (Appin Limestone) runs though the island. The ruined lime kilns at Port Ramsay bear witness to that. Remember too that once-upon-a-time, travel over land was horrendously difficult, having no roads, and having wild animals and wild men to pounce on you. Travel by sea was the trick and what better place than the Firth of Lorne to ship yourself and your household goods. It provides a highway straight to Ireland and at the Scottish end provides sheltered water routes to a vast stretch of the west coast. So Lismore was the first motorway service station in Scotland, a safe haven with travel lodges and numerous franchises selling haggis and holy water.
     Keep walking. Reach the church (well worth a peek inside for tiny bell-tower and its stained glass - of St. Moluaig of course). A few yards beyond the church, turn right on to a farm track across the backbone of the island to the edge of a sharp little cliff. Here you must be careful for there is no way past the cliffs except by the track which you will find towards the southern end of the scarp. Now you can see the castle. The path slants down the face of the scarp to a muddy valley (good footwear is again advisable).
     And so to the castle. It sits on a rocky headland like an arthritic hand, with knuckled fingers pointing to the sky. You can climb easily into the palm of the hand and have a picnic on smooth sheep-cropped grass. But keep children and dogs under control because this is an airy spot. Walk ten feet in any direction and those steps will be your last. Instead, creep to the edge and look north to jutting cliffs, west across to Morven and Kingairloch (and to a superquarry damn it) and downwards into the clear waters of the little cove at the castle's base.
     Now all you have to do (after you have picked up all your picnic rubbish) is to retrace you steps and get back in time to catch the last ferry back to Port Appin where tea and scones await. If you can't wait that long and if you judge the timing well, you can have tea and scones on Lismore itself at the converted school house which you will pass as you go along (recommended.)
     There are two other castles on Lismore. Achadun is down at the southern end. You will need to hire bicycles if you are going to get there and back to the ferry in reasonable time. Alternatively you could hire the Lismore taxi (see services). Castle Tirefour is on the Eastern side overlooking the Sound of Lismore and has tremendous views of the mainland. Tirefour is much older than the other two and is an example of pictish "Broch" construction. It is much reduced, however, so that the only thing visible is a broad, low circular stump of a wall about eight feet high and some fifty feet in diameter. The walk there and back is about the same as that to Castle Coeffin. You will find the way easily enough. Buy a map at the Port Appin shop.