Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Isle of Colonsay
POP 100
Legend has it that when St Columba set out from Ireland in 563, his first landfall was Co-
lonsay. But on climbing a hill he found he could still see the distant coast of his homeland,
and pushed on further north to found his monastery in Iona, leaving behind only his name
(Colonsay means 'Columba's Isle').
Colonsay is a connoisseur's island, a little jewel-box of varied delights, none exception-
al but each exquisite - an ancient priory, a woodland garden, a golden beach - set amid a
Highland landscape in miniature: rugged, rocky hills, cliffs and sandy strands, machair
and birch woods, even a trout loch. Here, hill walkers bag
McPhies
- defined as 'eminen-
ces in excess of 300ft' (90m) - instead of Munros. There are 22 in all; the supercompetit-
ive will bag them all in one day.
The ferry pier is at
Scalasaig
, the main village, where you'll find a
general store
(
9am-1pm & 2-5.30pm Mon & Wed-Fri, 9am-1pm Tue & Sat)
, post office, public tele-
phone and free internet access at the
Service Point
(
9.30am-12.30pm Mon-Fri)
. There
isn't a tourist office, bank or ATM on the island. General information is available at the
CalMac waiting room beside the ferry pier, and at
www.colonsay.org.uk
.
The tiny
Colonsay Bookshop
(
01951-200375; Scalasaig; 3-5.30pm Mon-Sat,
from noon Wed & Sat)
, in the same building as the brewery, has an excellent range of
books on Hebridean history and culture.
Sights & Activities
If the tides are right, don't miss the chance to walk across the half-mile of cockleshell-
strewn sand that links Colonsay to the smaller island of Oronsay. Here you can explore
the 14th-century ruins of
Oronsay Priory
, one of the best-preserved medieval priories in
Scotland. There are two beautiful late 15th-century stone crosses in the kirkyard, but the
highlight is the collection of superb 15th- and 16th-century carved grave slabs in the Pri-
or's House; look for the ugly little devil trapped beneath the sword-tip of the knight on the
right-hand side of the two horizontal slabs. The island is accessible on foot for about 1½
hours either side of low tide, and it's a 45-minute walk from the road-end on Colonsay to
the priory. There are tide tables at the ferry terminal and the Colonsay Hotel.
The
woodland Garden
(
01951-200211;
www.colonsayestate.co.uk
; Kiloran; admis-
sion free; dawn-dusk, walled garden 2-5pm Wed & noon-5pm Sat Easter-Sep)
at Co-
lonsay House, 1.5 miles north of Scalasaig, is tucked in an unexpected fold of the land-
