Colbost


 * Not to be confused with Carbost, the source of Talisker whisky

Colbost (Gaelic: Cealabost) is the first of a straggle of tiny settlements on the Duirnish Peninsula in the northwest of Skye. The others are Totaig, Glendale, Lephin and Milovaig, then the road dead-ends. Cealabost probably means "cold farm"; it also translates as "farm of the rounded tops" but the hills hereabouts are abrupt scarps, great scenery.

Get in
See Skye for long-distance travel options. By car take A87 then A850 to Dunvegan, finally B884 west.

Stagecoach Bus 56 runs 3-5 times M-Sa from Portree via Skeabost and Edinbane to Dunvegan and Lonmore, with a couple continuing west to Colbost and Glendale / Milovaig.

Get around
You need wheels for this strung-out area. A car shelters you from the rain, buffeting breeze and midges.

See

 * is the heather-clad outcrop you pass without noticing on the road to the village - it's actually an Iron Age broch. See Dunvegan for points further east.
 * Dun Colbost is another broch on the hill west of the Folk Museum.
 * has seen better days. It's an 18th-century overshot waterwheel with 19th-century millhouse, and was restored in the 1970s. But the thatched roof caved in and was replaced by corrugated metal, the machinery has been removed and it's no longer open as a museum. Still you can look in and shine a torch around, and give the mice something to talk about.
 * is a 62 ft / 19 m tower built in 1909 and automated in 1990. It's a half-mile walk from the road end, along a well-paved but initially steep path. A longer walk leads to the Point.
 * are sea-stacks, a five-mile hike from the road, see Dunvegan.
 * are sea-stacks, a five-mile hike from the road, see Dunvegan.

Do

 * Wildlife: always be watching, especially close to shore.
 * Macleod's Tables: see Dunvegan for the hike to these plateaux.

Buy

 * Glendale Shop and Post Office is open Oct-May M-Sa 11AM-6PM, June-Sep M-Sa 10AM-7PM.
 * Craft shops and artisan studios dotted along the lane are Raven Press Gallery, Skye Silver, Skye Weavers, Triskele Giftshop and Sarah Wiggins Ceramics.

Eat

 * Cafe Lephin on the road to Milovaig is licensed. It's open M-F 10:30AM-4PM.
 * Cafe Lephin on the road to Milovaig is licensed. It's open M-F 10:30AM-4PM.

Drink

 * There's no pub or off-licence here, and the illicit still was another casualty of the storm that damaged the museum.
 * Talisker, remember, is the fluid that doesn't come from Colbost but from Carbost. This and other whiskies are widely available but byob.

Sleep

 * B&Bs and self-catering cottages are found all along the lane through Colbost and west.
 * House Over-by is the upscale accommodation of Three Chimneys, see Eat.
 * House Over-by is the upscale accommodation of Three Chimneys, see Eat.

Connect
As of June 2024, Colbost and the road from Dunvegan have patchy 4G from EE, O2 and Vodafone but no signal from Three. 5G has not reached this area.

Go next
The only road leads back to Lonmore and Dunvegan. From there either head east to Trotternish, Uig and Portree, or follow the west coast past Carbost to rejoin the main road at Sligachan.