Edinburgh-Oban private driver

Any reason for not just taking the train?

We’re considering that as well but it looks like it will take most of the day to get there. I figure driving would be faster as well as more flexible re: timing and route. I was going to rent a car and drive us myself but my wife said no to that :-)

It's a bit over four hours by train. That's pretty far from "most of the day" in my opinion.

There are also Buses or Coaches. If you are going to Oban to catch the Ferries to the Islands, it may be easier to take a bus, then walk-on and use the Island Transit Buses. You may have brisk weather in early March and some of the Ferry runs may be canceled. If you are going to Skye, you can drive over a bridge to get there. If you are a decent driver, it is not that hard to drive on the left side of the road. Most of the rentals come with navigation. We did when we were 50!

Both bus/coach and train at Oban stop right outside the ferry terminal. At best a private driver will be about 45 minutes faster.

Whatever you decide you will be travelling as foot passenger on the ferry and have a very brief check in- there are very rarely foot passenger limitations on the ferry. If you drove yourself then there are heavy capacity restrictions on the ferry because too many people drive over to Mull.

In early March they probably won't sell out but you never know, especially if there has been prior service disruption for any reason. And you have a 45 minute check in for car traffic.