Free Day in Oban

When our three island daytrip was canceled due to rough seas, my husband and I walked out to Dunollie Castle. Besides enjoying the walk on a brisk day, we really enjoyed the Castle tour. The place has a long and interesting history. The other site we visited that day was the Oban World War II museum. It's a tiny place but this is its strength because you see how WW II affected the local population. Well worth it. Don't miss the parachute silk dress. Of course, If you happen to be fans of whisky, try the Oban Distillery Tour. I found it very interesting and I don't even drink whisky!

When in Oban we spent a day visiting the nearby Isle of Kerrara for a nice loop walk, including a ruined castle and lots of great scenery, including hairy coos and lost of sheep. You reach it by a tiny passenger ferry across the short waterway between the isle and Oban. It takes about 5 minutes.

Here is one of many websites with photos of the island and the loop walk:

https://www.secret-scotland.com/blog/scotland-travel-blog-september-2017

We were back by late afternoon, perfect timing for a whisky tasting at one of the places in town, and then a very nice dinner at a seafood restaurant on the harbor. Or should I say harbour.
Photos:

https://www.trailexposure.com/22/169/scotland-kerrera-island

A variation on the Kerrera theme is that there is a Marina on the North end of the island with a restaurant open to anyone.

You could dine there after your walk, then use the Marina water taxi direct back to Oban North Pier.

McCaigs Tower is an interesting place -- the view is great and it's only about a twenty minute walk, albeit uphill. The view from Dunollie Castle is also good and is a nice walk along the water. We stumbled upon it back in the 90s before the preservation effort started and had the place to ourselves. Only time I think that has ever happened. The distillery tour is also good. And just wander about and check out the real Oban the locals experience.

I was signed up for a tour to see puffins (you will get more information from RS office as your tour gets closer on how to book). However, due to bad weather conditions, the tour was cancelled. So we walked to McCaig's Tower and also Dunollie Castle. The weather was uncooperative that day and I was tired of the rain and strong winds, so I skipped the visit to Kerrera island.

I always knew McCaig's Tower as McCaig's Folly growing up. Wikipedia tells me that's a name only used by tourists. I'm not so sure about that. That's what my dad told me it was called many years ago. I have a black and white 10x8 of me sitting in one of the windows there as a teenager, which I worked in the darkroom to expose for both the walls and the view in background.

There's boat trips to Seil, a small island in the bay near Oban. The big draw is the possibility of seeing actual seals, as there's a sizable colony there.

I was maybe a little dismissive of Oban for visitors in someone else's thread recently. There is actually a fair bit to do around there.

Hi, rhcgkoller,

If you have access to a car, I would highly recommend a trip to the island of Easdale. It has become my second favourite place in Scotland. You have to take the "Bridge over the Atlantic", which takes you from the Mainland to the Island of Seil, then follow the road signs for the Easdale ferry. The ferry trip takes about five minutes, and Easdale is a delightful island, with an easy circular walk, a pub, cafe, museum, and Obi, the African Grey parrot.

Easdale is home to the International Stone Skimming championship in September. It was home to one of the largest conglomerations of slate quarries in Scotland, until a storm in 1881 flooded many of them. Some of the quarries survived, and the industry held on until the 1950s. The flooded quarries are now used for the stone skimming championships and wild swimming.

I have fallen in love with the quiet and serenity of the island. At just over two pounds for the round trip on the ferry, it's one of Scotland's best bargains.

Hope you can get there!

Mike (Auchterless)

Another great island for walking near Oban is Lismore. Car Ferry from Oban and foot ferry from Port Appin.

I like walking the island from ferry to ferry and using both ferries.

Admittedly harder now that the bus doesn't actually go down to Port Appin.

And yes Easdale and the other slate islands are favourites of mine. A passable bus service runs down there.

We made the mistake of showing up for the 1:00 p.m. ferry from Port Appin. It doesn't exist! That's when the ferryman takes his lunch! Cue Chris DeBurgh.

While we were waiting for the 2:00 p.m. ferry, we found the converted red telephone box/book exchange by the post office. Huge selection of free books. Unfortunately, we only had two to exchange, so we feel a bit guilty about picking up four. Interesting display of Port Appin history across from the upper car park.

There's a good circular hike from the ferry terminus on Lismore, which takes in the northern part of the island. We heard, but only saw the outline of, three Minke whales while on the hike.

Missing Oban already!

Mike (Auchterless)