My Scottish Adventure; Oban
In June, we spent 4 days in the picturesque seaside Scottish seaside town of Oban. I had already visited Oban when I visited Edinburgh two years ago. My visit then was part of a day trip which included a 2 hour stop in Oban for lunch.
I just knew then that I would come back and explore the pretty harbour town at a later date. Nearly two years later I returned to Oban to properly explore the town and area.
Harbour
The pretty views were exactly like what I remembered and with a four-night stay I knew there were some lovely times ahead. We travelled from Glasgow on the train which is just over 3 hours and takes you through the most amazing countryside; lochs, castles, pretty little towns and beautiful mountain views.
On the top of Battery Hill overlooking the harbour is McCaig’s Tower. It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive, from Muckairn, with a circumference of about 200 metres with two-tiers of 94 lancet arches. McCaig’s Tower really is a stunning view perched on top of the hill overlooking the harbour.
As well as being a thriving harbour for fishing and tourism, Oban is also the harbour for the ferries over to the Isles of Mull, Kerrera, Lismore, Coll, and Tiree.
The ferries are very reasonably priced and a journey over to the neighbouring islands allows great views of Oban as you come out of port.
As well as ferrying tourists to the local Islands during the tourist season, the ferries are used by locals to reach the mainland as well as all commercial deliveries to the Islands.
Shopping
Oban Whisky Distillery….well worth a visit!
Oban Chocolate Company’s hot chocolate…..
What can I say?
Rich, decadent, smooth and spot-on taste wise. This hot chocolate is amazing. My usual high street hot chocolates fade into the background after trying this and to be honest I can’t image another hot chocolate coming so close to perfect as this one.
I am personally not a coffee drinker but the coffee was extremelly good too.
Accommodation
We stayed at a B&B about 5 minutes walk from the harbour, Lovely spacious room with a seating area and a great Scottish cooked breakfast every morning.
Food and Drink
Oban is a fishing port and this means there is fish for sale everywhere! Seafood restaurants, as well as traditional fish and chips shops, are found throughout the town as well as fresh fish stalls alongside the harbour.
In The Vicinity
From Oban we also explored:
- Dunollie Castle, Museum and Grounds
- The Isles of Mull and Iona
- Tobermory, Staffa and Treshnish Isles
The four-night stay in Oban just flew by and there was so much more we could have done. we were unlucky on the day we spent in Oban in that the heavens opened although it did brighten up in the afternoon. As I said above McCaig’s Tower overlooks Oban harbour and on this occasion, my health wasn’t up to walking the 15 to 20-minute walk up the very steep hill. The lady in the tourist office did suggest a taxi but at this point, it had begun to rain again. There are also so many nearby places which were easily within distance and there are good train and bus services from the town.
Although we made a trip to one of the Treshnish Isles to see the puffins there are specific boat trips to see local wildlife. We were lucky to spot seals and dolphins on the boat trip but there are regular sighting of whales and basking sharks as well as other marine life. There are also so many parts of the Inner Hebrides we didn’t explore. Four nights was nowhere near enough time and I honestly think we could easily fill another weeks stay without denting all there is to see in the area. Guess I’ll need to make some future travel plans for Oban.
