Morven MacNeil describes her island-hopping adventure on the Isle of Colonsay which mostly consisted of sightseeing and tasting the local beer.
I’ve always wanted to visit the Isle of Colonsay and while I was on holiday in the Isle of Islay, I found out that a ferry was leaving Port Askaig to the island and then heading back to Islay that evening. We jumped at the chance to go to Colonsay!
We boarded the CalMac ferry on the Saturday morning and it didn’t take that long to get to Colonsay - about one hour maximum (it’s about two hours if you’re travelling on the ferry from Oban). The journey itself was very interesting, you could see some of the whisky distilleries in Islay along the way, we also got see the neighbouring Isle of Jura and we got to take in the views of Colonsay before arriving. I didn’t expect Colonsay to be that big until we were drawing nearer to the island - but since then I’ve found out that it’s about 10 miles long by two miles wide, with around 135 people living on the island.
As we approached Scalasaig in Colonsay we could instantly see the village shop and Colonsay Brewery. Unfortunately we knew the brewery was closed that day but we still got to sample a few of their beers in the Colonsay Hotel before we got back on the ferry that evening. My favourite was the Colonsay IPA - I had to order myself a few bottles when I came back from my holiday! I really enjoyed my time in the hotel too; it has a traditional and contemporary feel combined, and it fits in well with the island and has a friendly atmosphere. There was a wood-burning stove to make it nice and cosy and it was a lovely, sunny day so we also got the opportunity to sit outside with our beers and take in the peace and solitude of the island. There’s also a conservatory and restaurant, so we we spoilt for choice. I’d love to go back and visit the hotel again.
Rest assured though we didn’t spend the whole day drinking in the hotel (it was just before we travelled back on the ferry!) and made the most of our experience there. We stopped by the local shop and bought a few things, they also had tourist memorabilia which I love so I bought a t-shirt and some pens. We’d taken our bikes with us so we cycled to the south side of the island first. There are different types of tours available, we weren’t organised enough to book anything but I’d recommend booking something as they’ll tell you about the islands history will you’re taking in the views.
We travelled all the way to the south west of the island first to visit Oransay. There are a number of seal colonies on offshore islands off Oransay so we took a walk over but didn’t stay too long as we still wanted to visit the north side of the island. Luckily the tide was out so we managed to get across - it’s a tidal causeway over to Oransay. The beach on this part of Colonsay was lovely and we also walked across it and did some seal spotting! Once we were successful we found our bikes again and travelled north.
After a while we made it to our next destination - Kiloran Bay. This beach is a mile long with dreamy golden sands and with the tide still out far enough we managed to walk to the caves in the cliffs, it was outstanding. After this we cycled to the hotel to sample the Colonsay beers that’d we’d already mentioned.
I’m planning on going back to Colonsay next year to continue exploring the island - there’s so much to do there. I want to head back to Kiloran Bay and climb up Carnan Eoin this time to the summit. I’ve had a look at the route on Walk Highlands so I’m all sorted.
Also on my list is visiting Wild Thyme Spirits - the makers of Colonsay Gin. Unfortunately when I was on holiday their Wild Thyme Spirits didn’t exist, it’s about two years old. But it’s now one of my favourite gins after I sampled it at their stand at the GinFall event in Glasgow earlier this year. I’ve made my friends hooked on this gin too! My friends and I are looking to book a weekend away at their Gin Lovers Retreat - it has a jam-packed itinerary and worth every penny if you love exploring the Scottish islands and sampling gin. There's also another lovely gin on the island too which is definitely worth sampling - Wild Island Botanic Gin. They use six native Colonsay plants as part of their ingredients - my favourite from their range is the 'Wild Island Sacred Tree'.
Every year on Colonsay there’s normally a Book Festival in April, the Festival of Spring in May, the Folk Festival in September and the Autumn Food and a Drink festival in October. There’s a ceilidh in the village hall on a Saturday during the summer months. The hotel also has a weekly quiz night on Thursdays, live local music on Friday nights and a kids DVD night on Tuesdays.
Local activities also include agriculture, oyster-farming, arts, crafts, honey production, lobster-fishing, a bird sanctuary - there’s so many things to see and do on the Isle of Colonsay and plenty of accommodation if you’re planning a holiday there.
To get to the Isle of Colonsay, CalMac offer a regular ferry service from Oban and there’s a service from Port Askaig in the Isle of Islay to Colonsay. Hebridean Air also serve flights from Oban to Colonsay.
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