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Voykit pocket guide · United Kingdom
Colbost
Cealabost
Come for one night at most: a restaurant, a lighthouse walk and a dead-end lane. Without a car, skip it — buses run 3–5 times a day.
Colbost is a scattered crofting township on the Duirinish peninsula, the western dead end of Skye past Dunvegan. There is no village centre, no pub and no shop: the lane strings together Colbost, Skinidin, Glendale, Lephin and Milovaig, then stops. People come for one restaurant, the Neist Point lighthouse walk and the quiet. Everything else on Skye is a drive away.
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Local name
- Cealabost
- Best months
- May–Jun, Sep
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (midges, peak prices), Nov–Mar (many places shut)
- Stay
- 1 night
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- GBP
- Money
- Currency is the pound sterling (GBP, £). Cards and contactless work almost everywhere; some places are card-only.
- Daily spend
- Budget £45–70 excl. bed · Mid £70–120 excl. bed · High £120+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- EE, Vodafone (merged with Three in 2025) and O2 run the networks; prepaid SIMs sell in supermarkets, phone shops and airport vending machines, no registration needed.
- Emergency
- Police, fire, ambulance, coastguard 999 · Police non-urgent 101 · NHS non-urgent (Scotland) 111
- Plugs
- Types G · 230 V · 50 Hz · Three-pin Type G only; European, US and Australian plugs need an adapter. Bathrooms have two-pin shaver sockets only.
- Tipping
- Restaurant with table service: 10–12.5% if no service charge is on the bill; check before adding more.; Pub or bar: Not expected; 'and one for yourself' offers the bartender a drink.; Taxi: Round up or 10%.; Hotel porter: £1–2 per bag.; Tour guide: £5–10 per person for a day tour; free walking tours expect £10–15.
- Water
- Tap water is safe everywhere. Free refills are common; restaurants will bring tap water if you ask.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are scarce and some charge 50p–£1 or are card-only. Stations, museums, department stores and pubs (if you buy a drink) are the fallback.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee and cake at a lane café | £5–9 |
| Soup or sandwich lunch | £8–14 |
| Dinner, main course, mid-range | £18–30 |
| Dinner at the Three Chimneys, per person before drinks | £60–130 |
| Pint in a Dunvegan pub | £5–6.50 |
| Fuel, per litre | £1.45–1.65 |
| eSIM or data SIM, about a week | £6–12 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- INV · Inverness
- About 3 h 30 min by road to Skye via the A82 and A87; check car hire hours.
- GLA · Glasgow
- About 5 h 30 min by road; the usual arrival airport for Skye by car.
- EDI · Edinburgh
- About 6 h by road; rail to Kyle of Lochalsh then bus or taxi is the car-free option.
Typical fares
- Stagecoach bus 56, Portree → Colbost
- 3–5 journeys Monday–Saturday, none on Sunday; buy on the bus or in the app
- Taxi, Dunvegan → Colbost
- about £25–35, roughly 25 min
- Car hire, one day, small car
- £40–90 plus fuel
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
Get around
You need a car. The B884 from Dunvegan is single-track with passing places for the last stretch; Stagecoach bus 56 runs 3–5 times Monday–Saturday from Portree via Edinbane and Dunvegan, with a couple of journeys continuing to Colbost and Glendale/Milovaig. No bus on Sunday. Fuel and groceries: Dunvegan or Portree.
See and do
Known for
- The Three Chimneys restaurant
- Neist Point Lighthouse
- Duirinish peninsula coastal scenery
- Crofting township lane through Glendale and Milovaig
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Neist Point Lighthouse | Drive the B884 west through Glendale and Milovaig to the road end, then walk | About 30 min drive from Colbost plus a 20–30 min walk each way |
| Dunvegan Castle | B884 east to Dunvegan, then the castle car park | About 25 min |
| Portree | B884 to Dunvegan, then the A87 east; or Stagecoach bus 56 | About 1 h by car; longer by bus |
| Carbost and the Talisker distillery | Back east to Sligachan, then the B8009 | About 1 h |
| MacLeod's Maidens | Walk from the road end near Idrigill, south of the peninsula | About 5 h return on foot |
Sleep
- Colbost and Skinidin
- The lane itself: guesthouses, B&Bs and self-catering cottages; walk to the restaurant.
- Glendale and Lephin
- Two to four miles west; shop and café, still on the same dead-end road.
- Milovaig
- The far west end, closest to Neist Point; quietest, longest drive back east.
- Dunvegan
- Ten miles east: more beds, pubs and a Co-op if the lane is full or you want a fallback.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Thank you | Tapadh leatTAH-pah let |
| Good morning | Madainn mhathMA-ting vah |
| Cheers | SlàinteSLAHN-chuh |
| Where is the toilet? | Càite a bheil an taigh-beag?KAH-tchuh vel an tye-bek |
| Can I pay by card? | Am faod mi pàigheadh le cairt?am fued mee PIE-ugh le karsht |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake at first meeting; 'hi' and first names quickly; avoid: Cheek kisses with strangers
- Conversation: Weather is a safe opener; understatement and self-deprecating humour; avoid: Asking about salary or class
- Queues: Join at the back; avoid: Pushing onto buses or trains before others get off
- Apologies: 'Sorry' is said constantly, even when not at fault; avoid: Taking it as an admission of blame
- Pubs: Buy rounds in a group; wait at the bar without waving money; avoid: Clicking fingers at staff
- Nations: Call Scots Scottish and Welsh Welsh; avoid: Calling the whole UK 'England'
Scams and watch-outs
- Midges from June to August, worst at dusk and in still, damp weather.
- Single-track road with passing places; pull in on the left and let uphill traffic keep moving.
- No pub, no off-licence and no shop in Colbost itself: buy food and drink before you arrive.
- Mobile signal is patchy; EE, O2 and Vodafone give some 4G, Three gives none, and there is no 5G.
- Sunday: buses do not run and several cafés and shops close.
- Book the restaurant and any B&B weeks ahead in summer; the lane has very few beds.
Very low crime; the real risks are the single-track roads, weather that turns fast on the Neist Point path, and having no phone signal when you need one.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Colbost yet. Suggested stay: 1 night. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- The Three Chimneys restaurant
- Neist Point Lighthouse
- Duirinish peninsula coastal scenery
- Crofting township lane through Glendale and Milovaig
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- VisitScotland — Skye and the Highlands: www.visitscotland.com/
- Stagecoach — bus services on Skye: www.stagecoachbus.com/
- The Three Chimneys: threechimneys.co.uk/
- Dunvegan Castle and Gardens: www.dunvegancastle.com/
- Wikivoyage: Colbost, revision 4921546 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=4921546
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
ColbostCealabost
Don seòladh seo, mas e do thoil e
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No consulates on Skye: US citizens use the consulate general in Edinburgh, most other countries the embassies in London. Check before you travel.
Print this or keep it offline: signal on the peninsula is patchy and Three has none.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/colbost). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.