Loch, island and old paths
Skeabost
A quiet Skye base where a towered hotel faces Loch Snizort and a footbridge leads to an island of ruined churches and clan graves.
- Best for
- Island archaeology and short core paths
- Give it
- A half day, or longer with fishing or dinner
- Don't miss
- The church remains and clan graves on Skeabost Island
The Fox verdict
A small place with a deep island story
Skeabost brings together the River Snizort, an important ecclesiastical site and a useful cluster of short paths, food and drink.
Come for the footbridge to St Columba's Island and its grass-grown church remains, then choose between the core-path network, fishing on the River Snizort, a whisky flight or a loch-facing meal at Skeabost House.
Where to go
Places in Skeabost
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesSkeabost House Hotel
A Category C listed mansion dated 1871, probably with an earlier core, work by Alexander Ross and surviving details including a crenellated tower, glazed cupola and cast-iron sun room.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 30 minutes to appreciate the building and shoreline setting
- Locality
- on Loch Snizort's shoreline beside the River Snizort
St Columba's Church and Skeabost Island
A scheduled monument containing the remains of St Columba's Church, other ecclesiastical remains and generations of burials on Skeabost Island.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- on Skeabost Island in the River Snizort
- Access
- A footbridge crosses the River Snizort to the island's churchyard and ruins.
West Pier Restaurant
A contemporary hotel restaurant with panoramic loch views and a sea-view dining terrace.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- at Skeabost House on Loch Snizort's shoreline
Food & drink
1 placeSkeabost House Hotel Bar
A small hotel bar with a fireplace, local gins, whiskies, malts and whisky flights.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- inside Skeabost House beside Loch Snizort
Walks & outdoors
1 placeRiver Snizort Fishing
The hotel controls fishing rights along 12 beats of the River Snizort for salmon and sea trout.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 120 minutes
- Locality
- along the River Snizort's 12 hotel-controlled beats
- Access
- Permits and equipment hire are available through the hotel, which can also recommend a ghillie.
No places match this filter. Choose All places to reset the list.
Three ways to explore Skeabost
Signature outings
Skeabost House
Look beyond the tower for hoodmoulded windows and gabled dormers, smaller details in the mansion's Victorian design.
Skeabost House Hotel Bar
The bar also serves tea and scones, making it a stop for an afternoon break as well as a nightcap.
River Snizort Fishing
The hotel controls twelve beats on Skye's main salmon river and arranges permits and equipment hire.
The village story
Skeabost: Loch Snizort and St Columba's Island
Lochside food and drink, an island of ecclesiastical remains and a compact network of paths around the River Snizort.
Whisky and dinner by Loch Snizort
The whisky bar at Skeabost House has a fireplace and a range of local gins and malts, with whisky flights for comparing Scottish drams. The bar sits inside a white, towered mansion on Loch Snizort's shoreline. The house is dated 1871, probably with an earlier core, and Alexander Ross worked on it around 1870–71. Its square crenellated tower, glazed cupola and cast-iron sun room survive from that period.
Dinner is served in West Pier Restaurant, with panoramic views of Loch Snizort and a sea-view terrace for outdoor dining. The hotel also offers a light-bites menu for a shorter food stop.
Portree links and onward travel
For everyday supplies, Stagecoach routes 56 and 56X link the Skeabost Hotel stop with Portree's Co-op and Somerled Square. The routes also serve Edinbane and Dunvegan, with selected journeys calling at Dunvegan Castle. Skeabost sits on the A850 west of the A87 junction near Portree.
St Columba's Island
A footbridge crosses the River Snizort onto a low island, once described by antiquaries as a group of five or six chapels. What survives is a small teampull dedicated to St Columba and the grass-grown mounds of a much larger church, together with generations of clan graves. In 1795 the Old Statistical Account called the place a former habitation of monks and priests, and the same account named it the "metropolitan church of the whole island of Skye." It was, for a time, a bishops' seat.
Nicolson's Aisle
Nicolson's Aisle is held by tradition to be the resting place of twenty-eight MacNeacail chiefs. Inside lies a sixteenth-century warrior effigy in a conical helmet, his sword pointing down. When the ruined chapel was stabilised in the early 1990s, broken wine glasses and bottles turned up around it, which the clan reads as traces of "a liberal and liquid farewell." In 2018 another carved marker of a sword-bearing soldier came to light beside the aisle.
Fishing and core paths
The River Snizort is Skye's main salmon river, and the hotel controls the fishing along its twelve beats, selling permits from 11 February to 15 October. Sunday fishing is prohibited. If you would rather walk than cast, the local core path network links Skeabost with nearby Carbost and Borve.
Stay around Isle of Skye
Make a longer stay of it
Travel Fox holiday homes around Isle of Skye, linked directly to their property pages.
For homeowners
Own a holiday home near Skeabost?
We manage holiday lets across the UK from 12% commission, charged after cleaning costs, with no lock-in. A co-founder visits before you decide.
How our holiday let management works →
A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Skeabost House Hotel — portal.historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority
- St Columba's Church and Skeabost Island — portal.historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority
- Skeabost House Hotel Bar — sonascollection.com other published source
- West Pier Restaurant — sonascollection.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- River Snizort Fishing — sonascollection.com other published source