Oban area - recommendations please
Discussion
I'm a pretty regular visitor to Scotland, what with my family coming from up there, but I've seldom ventured further north than Loch Lomond (which is where said family come from, Drymen to be precise).
Shortly I'm off on a week's holiday to the Oban area, having only ever been there to get a ferry to the Outer Hebrides.
So I'm after recommendations for places to visit and things to see around Oban, please. It's me (out of condition 54 year old), the Mrs, 16 year old daughter and wee doggie travelling, and we're staying in a self-catering cottage. We are driving up and will obviously have a car.
What would the panel's recommendations be please for nice beaches to visit with the dog, and decent but not-too-strenuous walks in the countryside for peace and quiet, and nice sea/mountain views? Also, any free to visit castles, ruins, that type of thing?
Not looking for eating out recommendations at all, we're not into all that really. But any attractions like public gardens, museums, that sort of thing would be very welcome.
Slàinte mhath, agus tapadh leibh!
Shortly I'm off on a week's holiday to the Oban area, having only ever been there to get a ferry to the Outer Hebrides.
So I'm after recommendations for places to visit and things to see around Oban, please. It's me (out of condition 54 year old), the Mrs, 16 year old daughter and wee doggie travelling, and we're staying in a self-catering cottage. We are driving up and will obviously have a car.
What would the panel's recommendations be please for nice beaches to visit with the dog, and decent but not-too-strenuous walks in the countryside for peace and quiet, and nice sea/mountain views? Also, any free to visit castles, ruins, that type of thing?
Not looking for eating out recommendations at all, we're not into all that really. But any attractions like public gardens, museums, that sort of thing would be very welcome.
Slàinte mhath, agus tapadh leibh!
Thanks for taking the time to post, looks lovely but a bit out of budget for 3 of us at adult prices.
Was hoping for some thoughts on nice places, routes, beaches etc for decent walks and scenery if anyone has any ideas please? Or some low cost attractions like museums, gardens, castles, that sort of thing.
Was hoping for some thoughts on nice places, routes, beaches etc for decent walks and scenery if anyone has any ideas please? Or some low cost attractions like museums, gardens, castles, that sort of thing.
normalbloke said:
The tour is excellent. The journey through the mountain is like something out of a James bond movie. A visit to Easdale is pretty cool, especially if it coincides with the world stone skimming championships.
McCaigs tower is an easy enough wee walk near the centre of Oban.
For food, I've always enjoyed a visit to the Barn at Cologin Farm.
If you go along the Corran Esplanade (it's the road that goes along the waterfront past older hotels, instead of heading up the hill to go north) there's a couple of nice little beaches along the road - the best is Ganavan Sands at the far end.
The Waterfront Fish House is probably the best restaurant in Oban but most chippers are ok, if a little pricey. The big Tesco is on the south side of town, past Lidl.
I'm not sure about castles that are free to visit but this part iof the world has grown on me the last couple of years.
The Tigh na Truish pub on Seil (no ferry needed, take the bridge over the Atlantic) does great food, and there's a nice wee walk out the back to the Pool of the Otter. I have a soft spot for those surly b
ds that run the Oyster Bar at Ellenabeich. Great fish n chips there, and a nice view from the beer terrace. The hill behind Ellenebiech is an easy half hour scramble for cracking views over to Mull, Colonsay, Jura, etc.
The pub/cafe on Easdale may be open, I suspect they will open for the summer at easter. They do nice cakes after your strenuous 25min walk around the island. The stone skimming chaps are not until September. I'm not sure when Seafari start up boat trips to the Corryvreckan but it may be on their website.
I have a holiday house on the island and love the place to bits.
Further afield, it would fill in a day heading up to Glencoe past Castle Stalker, then heading down to Tyndrum and back across to Oban, some pretty stunning scenery.
You could also nip down to Campeltown/Mull of Kintyre for a day trip, you can pass Kilmartin Glen on the way.
Edit - sorry, just re-read your post and saw the bit about not really being into food.
The Waterfront Fish House is probably the best restaurant in Oban but most chippers are ok, if a little pricey. The big Tesco is on the south side of town, past Lidl.
I'm not sure about castles that are free to visit but this part iof the world has grown on me the last couple of years.
The Tigh na Truish pub on Seil (no ferry needed, take the bridge over the Atlantic) does great food, and there's a nice wee walk out the back to the Pool of the Otter. I have a soft spot for those surly b
ds that run the Oyster Bar at Ellenabeich. Great fish n chips there, and a nice view from the beer terrace. The hill behind Ellenebiech is an easy half hour scramble for cracking views over to Mull, Colonsay, Jura, etc. The pub/cafe on Easdale may be open, I suspect they will open for the summer at easter. They do nice cakes after your strenuous 25min walk around the island. The stone skimming chaps are not until September. I'm not sure when Seafari start up boat trips to the Corryvreckan but it may be on their website.
I have a holiday house on the island and love the place to bits.
Further afield, it would fill in a day heading up to Glencoe past Castle Stalker, then heading down to Tyndrum and back across to Oban, some pretty stunning scenery.
You could also nip down to Campeltown/Mull of Kintyre for a day trip, you can pass Kilmartin Glen on the way.
Edit - sorry, just re-read your post and saw the bit about not really being into food.
Edited by some bloke on Friday 22 March 13:40
Hop across to Mull on Calmac and take a wildlife tour day with Pete Hall who'll meet you at Craignure. A really excellent day - we saw everything we'd hoped to and more. 3 sea eagles spiralling overhead at the same time is quite a sight.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g5...
This centre is really interesting for a shortish morning/afternoon visit - it's attached to a University campus. Also has its own beach & picnic area.
https://www.oceanexplorercentre.org/
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g5...
This centre is really interesting for a shortish morning/afternoon visit - it's attached to a University campus. Also has its own beach & picnic area.
https://www.oceanexplorercentre.org/
Back now from the trip, had a great week.
Thanks to all for the recommendations, we did the Oban Fish and Chip Shop (very good), Ganavan Sands, Kilmartin Glen (shame the museum was shut but enjoyed the walks amongst the stones), Dunadd, Gylen Castle on Kerrera, Pool of the Otter, Ellenabeich and Easdale, Arduine Gardens, and McCaig's Tower.
Here's my hoof at Dunadd, sadly too big for me to be proclaimed King Of Scotland.
Thanks to all for the recommendations, we did the Oban Fish and Chip Shop (very good), Ganavan Sands, Kilmartin Glen (shame the museum was shut but enjoyed the walks amongst the stones), Dunadd, Gylen Castle on Kerrera, Pool of the Otter, Ellenabeich and Easdale, Arduine Gardens, and McCaig's Tower.
Here's my hoof at Dunadd, sadly too big for me to be proclaimed King Of Scotland.
We had decent weather most of the week, every day there was some sunshine, some rain. Pretty typical for the area I expect.
Must be pretty cool having a holiday pad on Easdale. What do you do, park up the wheels in Ellenabeich and just use the ferry across, or do you have your own boat?
Seriously thinking about taking a our long summer holiday somewhere round there now.
Must be pretty cool having a holiday pad on Easdale. What do you do, park up the wheels in Ellenabeich and just use the ferry across, or do you have your own boat?
Seriously thinking about taking a our long summer holiday somewhere round there now.
CivicDuties said:
We had decent weather most of the week, every day there was some sunshine, some rain. Pretty typical for the area I expect.
Must be pretty cool having a holiday pad on Easdale. What do you do, park up the wheels in Ellenabeich and just use the ferry across, or do you have your own boat?
Seriously thinking about taking a our long summer holiday somewhere round there now.
Yes, we feel very fortunate having a place there. We just use the ferry - we took a new oven on it over a few weeks back, you see some funny things on there. I have a gas guzzler car but if I sold that I would think about a boat. A few islanders have them - I went for a blast with a neighbour on Sunday, a shakedown run for the season coming up. Must be pretty cool having a holiday pad on Easdale. What do you do, park up the wheels in Ellenabeich and just use the ferry across, or do you have your own boat?
Seriously thinking about taking a our long summer holiday somewhere round there now.
Sounds like you had pretty typical weather - the west coast is a magical place on a sunny day. I think May is probably one of the better times to be here as the weather is usually ok and the midges haven't hatched yet. The whole west coast is stunning I think, so I hope you enjoy exploring it in the future.
some bloke said:
CivicDuties said:
We had decent weather most of the week, every day there was some sunshine, some rain. Pretty typical for the area I expect.
Must be pretty cool having a holiday pad on Easdale. What do you do, park up the wheels in Ellenabeich and just use the ferry across, or do you have your own boat?
Seriously thinking about taking a our long summer holiday somewhere round there now.
Yes, we feel very fortunate having a place there. We just use the ferry - we took a new oven on it over a few weeks back, you see some funny things on there. I have a gas guzzler car but if I sold that I would think about a boat. A few islanders have them - I went for a blast with a neighbour on Sunday, a shakedown run for the season coming up. Must be pretty cool having a holiday pad on Easdale. What do you do, park up the wheels in Ellenabeich and just use the ferry across, or do you have your own boat?
Seriously thinking about taking a our long summer holiday somewhere round there now.
Sounds like you had pretty typical weather - the west coast is a magical place on a sunny day. I think May is probably one of the better times to be here as the weather is usually ok and the midges haven't hatched yet. The whole west coast is stunning I think, so I hope you enjoy exploring it in the future.
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