Today we took a boat trip out to Inchcolm Island, which sits in the Firth of Forth, between Edinburgh and Fife in Scotland.
We've wanted to go for some time, and we made it happen today. It wasnt that hard because boats run regularly to the island from South Queensferry.
It took 45 minutes to get there by boat, and they dropped us off for an hour and a half and then took picked us back up (for another 45 mins return trip). It wasnt too expensive, and the boat had a tour guide sound-track so you learned about the area, islands and bridges too - well worth it.
The island is fairly small. It would only take you 20 mins to walk across its length, and as can be seen above its quite narrow in places (the pic above is taken from atop the tower of the abbey).
The island was fortified and occupied by the army during both world wars because it protects the approaches to Rosyth dockyard which is a large UK naval base. You can still check out quite a few of the military buildings, which are now mostly ruins.
The abbey is the main attraction on the island and dates back to the 13th century (close to 800 years old). Its a tourist attraction now and is partially ruined - although maintained by Historic Environment Scotland, so you can visit it quite safely (I'll cover it in a future post).
We all really enjoyed the trip, and there is a lot to see for such a small island. The hour and a half drop off time was enough to explore most of it.
It was such a quaint wee island, that we just loved it. There is a small shop, museum and toilets on the island as well - so really it has everything you need for a short visit.
There is one private house on the island, which I guess is used by the caretakers. The island is run by Historic Environment Scotland, and is open from around roughly April to the end of Sept, so I guess they put their guides up in that house for the tourist season. My wife and I thought it would be a nice job to try for a season once we retire !
The Firth of Forth is a sea inlet, from the North Sea, so it can get quite wild at times. Although the boat ride out today was fairly smooth on the whole I guess because it was a big enough boat.
Its quite a nice island to explore. During world war 2 - 500 men were stationed here. I cant imagine that many people on the island - it must have felt packed !!!
The island really is stunning and we are so glad that we have finally gone - so we can scratch another item of the list of many things to see, however, we would definitely go again. It also makes me want to visit some of the other islands near us - because there are around 3 others in the Firth of Forth, but I dont think they are as easy to get to.
One of the tour guides on the island seems to have a thing for gnomes. This was in the window of the small shop.
There was also a number of them on this small rocky outcrop just where the boat berthed to let us onto the island - quite fun !!!
Well I have to say we totally loved it - I cant recommend it highly enough and it was fairly easy to get to ! What a great day out we had !
