Iona - St Columba's Isle

It is well worth taking some time to explore the abbey (probably the Hebrides' most splendid building) and absorb its atmosphere, featuring beautiful stone crosses, a reconstructed cloister, a bookshop, and a museum.

The exact spot of St Columba's original monastery is uncertain, though the present abbey likely stands upon it. In St Columba's day, wattle buildings were enclosed by an earthwork vallum. Monks went forth to found monasteries among the Picts, earning the island the name 'I-Chaluim-cille' (island of St Calum) for a thousand years. The route heads north past crofts to the grazing land at the north end, near the Hill of the Seat (St Columba's favorite knoll) where colourful lichens grow. Views span the Inner Hebrides: Mull, Coll, Tiree, the Treshnish Islands, Rum, Ulva, and Staffa (site of Fingal's Cave, immortalised in Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture).

The route continues along the northwest coast on machair and moorland. Machair is shell-sand grassland supporting vibrant summer wildflowers (haresbells, primroses, wild pansies, thyme, eyebright, and buttercups) and birdlife (golden plovers, skylarks).

Heading west past Traigh an t-Suidhe, rocky outcrops and pools give way to Carraig an Daimh and Camus Cull an t-Saimh, where seals and otters may be spotted. Crossing back across the island past crofts in summer, you may hear the elusive corncrake in the hay meadows. Returning to the eastern shore facing the Sound of Iona, the road leads north past Baile Mor, crofts, and a war memorial back to the jetty.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.