Isle of Colonsay Travel Video Guide

Isle of Colonsay Travel Itinerary

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Isolated between Mull and Islay, Colonsay is not as bleak and windswept as Coll or Tiree. Its craggy, heather-backed hills even support the occasional patch of woodland, plus a bewildering array of plant and birdlife, wild goats and rabbits, and one of the finest quasi-tropical gardens in Scotland. The population is currently around 200, down from a pre-Clearance peak of just under 1000, and the ferry links with the mainland are infrequent: three a week from Oban (Wed, Fri & Sun; 2hr 15min); one a week from Kennacraig via Islay (Wed; 3hr 35min), when a day-trip is possible, giving you around six hours on the island. There's a large number of self-catering cottages, but, with no camping or caravanning and just one hotel, a couple of B&Bs and a bunkhouse, there's no fear of mass tourism taking over.

The CalMac ferry terminal is at SCALASAIG , on the east coast, where there's a post office/shop, a petrol pump, a restaurant and the island's hotel. Right by the pier, the old waiting room now serves as the island's heritage centre and is usually open when the ferry docks. Two miles north of Scalasaig is Colonsay House , built in 1722 by Malcolm MacNeil. In 1904, the island and house were bought by Lord Strathcona, who made his fortune building the Canadian Pacific Railway (and whose descendants still own the island).

To the north of Colonsay House, where the road ends, you'll find the island's finest sandy beach, the breathtaking Kiloran Bay , where the breakers roll in from the Atlantic. There's another unspoilt sandy beach backed by dunes at Balnahard, two miles northeast along a rough track; en route, you might spot wild goats, choughs, and even a golden eagle. The island's west coast forms a sharp escarpment, quite at odds with the gentle undulating landscape that characterizes the rest of the island.

The Isle of Oronsay , half a mile to the south, is only an island when the tide is in, and, as you can't stay overnight, it can only be visited as a day-trip from Colonsay. The two are separated by "The Strand", a mile of tidal mud flats which act as a causeway for two hours either side of low tide; check locally for current timings. Although legends (and etymology) link saints Columba and Oran with both Colonsay and Oronsay, the ruins of the Oronsay Priory only date back to the fourteenth century. Abandoned since the Reformation, it still has the original church and cloisters, but the highlight is the Oronsay Cross, a superb example of late medieval artistry from Iona, and the numerous finely carved grave slabs that lie within the Prior's House.

Colonsay's only hotel , the Isle of Colonsay (tel 01951/200316; GBP70-90), is within easy walking distance of the pier in Scalasaig; and serves very decent bar snacks. The best alternative is to stay at

the superb Seaview   B&B (tel 01951/200315; GBP50-60; April-Oct), and the budget option is to sleep in the Backpackers' Lodge   hostel , in the former keeper's lodge in Kiloran, run by the Colonsay Estate (tel 01951/200312). An alternative to eating out at the hotel bar is the Pantry , above the pier in Scalasaig, which offers simple home-cooking as well as teas and cakes (ring ahead if you want to eat on Thurs or Fri eve; tel 01951/200325).

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