Oban and Dunstaffnage Castle

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Thornloe Guest House

In May, we spent two nights in Oban, a west coast town a couple of hours north of Glasgow. It was a last-minute decision, so we were lucky to find a wonderful place to stay, the Thornloe Guest House, which was as attractive inside as out.

Thornloe Guest House
Thornloe Guest House

Note the open window above – we never tired of the view from it as you can see below. After staring at the island immediately in front of us, Kerrera, for so long we were inspired to visit it the next day, but that’s for another post.

As we only had one full day, our time in Oban itself was mainly spent wandering around at night before and after dinner. Beautiful!

In one of the pictures above, you can see the round arches of McCaig’s Tower on the hill above the harbour. We climbed up to it one evening for sunset views back down to the town.

McCaig’s Tower
View from McCaig’s Tower

Close to Oban is Dunstaffnage Castle. We visited on our way to the town and found they were having a Viking day. Some of those Vikings look quite scary, but we ran across them in a Chinese restaurant in Oban that evening and they seemed much more genial then!

Dunstaffnage Castle
Dunstaffnage Castle
Viking battle
Vikings about to charge
Charge!

Coming next, I’ll take you for a walk round Kerrera.

Scotland, UK , ,

65 Comments »

  2. What a scenic little town! I love the way the town hugs the coast. I also love the photos of the Vikings and chuckled when I noticed that during the “battle,” they were laughing. Haha! I don’t think anyone would have been laughing during a real Viking battle! 🙂

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    • Thanks, glad you like Oban. The summer months are best in terms of weather (though that can never be guaranteed in Scotland) but are obviously the busiest months too. May and September can often be sunny and are a good choice.

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  6. We stopped in Oban for lunch back in early May – not long enough! – and wondered about the structure on the hill. Thanks for the link to McCaig’s Tower. We spent much longer at Dunstaffnage! Step-daughter is crazy about castles.

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    • Definitely not long enough! We arrived in Dunstaffnage quite late in the day and were lucky to catch the last Viking “battle” before it closed. We only had a short time to look round after that but I’m sure we’ll be back before long.

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  9. Oban is a really lovely place. The best town up the Scottish Highland west coast for my money. Big and exciting enough to have plenty to do and see for visitors and just as pretty day or night with all the twinkling lights around the bay. Although fairly close I never seem to get up there often enough. Weird!

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  14. Richard and I are often asked, “Are you ever at home?”. I’m glad to have someone else that beats me in this regard. Stunning photos!

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  19. I have just been walloped with a dose of homesickness – but don’t worry because it is a fond feeling that makes happy memories flood into my mind. For the eleven years before we emigrated to America, we were living in Lochgilphead so we know Oban very well indeed. I hope you had a lovely time in Argyll.

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  21. … and all you have to do next is jump on the ferry to get to Mull!

    I had a long-distance boyfriend who kept his long-distance shared sailboat in Dunstaffnage harbour. Happy memories 🙂

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  22. The guest house looks lovely and the views from there are great. I love the sunset photo, it’s beautiful. I’ve never been to Oban but I’ve been told by more than one person that it’s a nice place so I really must visit before long if I can.

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  23. Hi Anabel,
    That guesthouse really looks like a place to stay. And some of your pictures look like water colours: beautifully done. 🙂
    Have a wonderful week,
    Pit

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  24. Just goes to prove that you don’t even have to leave the country for such gorgeous views and interesting history. 😁. Looking forward to your island post. X

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  25. It all looks wonderful and I’d love to visit sometime. Next week I shall be face to face with some real Vikings as I am off to Sweden to catch up with my Swedish relatives before Christmas. The first snow has arrived so not sure how much we shall get out.

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  27. I was in Oban 5 years back, I enjoyed it did distillery and took ferry to outer islands,as well. Nice memories, thanks

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  28. What a beautiful place! I would love to stay there. If I ever get anywhere near Glasgow, I’m going to look up your posts and choose where to go from there–so many gorgeous locations. The Vikings must have been fun to see, too!

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  29. Actually I haven’t been to Oban, so I enjoyed your post. I have read about the Viking and the Saxon Shield Wall. Must have been quite formidable in its time. The Guest House looks comfortable. Not having been to Oban is a bit slack on my part since it was once the Capital of Dalriada.

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  30. Loved the Vikings – funny you bumped into them again!! We spent a couple of days in Oban years ago, I remember the gorgeous harbour, your pictures brought back some lovely memories.

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