Isle of Coll Travel Guide - Scotland

The Inner Hebridean Isle of Coll is about 13 miles long and is home to about 200 people. The small village of Arinagour has the ferry terminal for the ferry that sails to Oban and on to the Isle of Tiree. The island is shaped like a fish and although the winters here can be pretty stormy, the summers have the highest number of hours of sunshine in the country. You won't have any difficulty getting the ferry to Coll they run every day except Thursday during the summer and in winter, there are fewer sailings during the winter. You can also fly to the airport on the neighbouring Isle of Tiree and take the ferry from there. When you arrive, there are plenty of luxurious accommodations to make your visit to this island a memorable one.

Isle of Coll is the perfect vacation destination if you want to walk beautiful beaches, enjoy bird watching, cycle around the island or pitch a tent. It is one place where you can truly get close to nature. Here you will see corncrakes – small birds that breed in meadows and farmlands. It is the birthplace of Mairi Hedderwick, the author of the famous children's story, Katie Morag.

Walk the highest peak on Coll, Ben Hogh, which has a height of about 340 feet. From here you will have a stunning view of the island. There is also a huge boulder on the top of this peak, which many people believe was left here by the retreating glaciers of the Ice Age. Visit the medieval castle Breachacha on the southern end of Coll. This castle dates back to the 15^th century, when the island was the domain of the Clan MacLean. It was the site of a battle between the MacLeans and the Duarts, when the Duarts unsuccessfully attempted to invade Coll and take the island for themselves. Today Major MacLean Bristol, who also started the restoration project of the castle, owns it. You can also visit New Castle, which dates back to 1750.

Coll was once the site of early habitation, as you will see when you visit the archaeological sites on the island. There is a cairn at Arinagour and a souterrain at the Arnabost crossroads. Visit the ruins of an Iron Age fort at both Dun an Achaidh and Feall Bay. In addition, there are 12 or more ancient loch dwellings on the island, proving that people did live here in prehistoric times. No is quite sure of the purpose of the standing stones in Totronald, but these too prove that Coll has always been settled at one time or another.

At one time, there were about 1000 people living on Coll. During the Highland Clearances, many of the crofters were forced to leave their homes. You will find descendants of the early crofters in all parts of the world because of the forced emigration.