Oban and Dunstaffnage Castle
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.
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.
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!
Coming next, I’ll take you for a walk round Kerrera.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
Such a pretty town, Anabel. Those Vikings look quite fierce but nice to know that they turned out to be friendly. The B&B is lovely and with a really great view.
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We thought the B&B was a real find and the vikings turned out to be quite sweet with no sign of pillaging.
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Well, that’s good to know. 🙂
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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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No, I don’t think they were taking it all that seriously! They were good fun.
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And their costumes were fabulous!
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Oban seems so stunning and the castle there is so outstanding, Anabel. When would be the best time of the year to explore this area?
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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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I love Oban. It’s where I went on my first sailing trip.
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Great! Obviously you got the bug from there then.
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The Viking Day looks like a lot of fun. And I definitely would have followed the arrow leading to ice cream – it doesn’t matter how cold it is outside, I can always eat ice cream!
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Ah, we skipped the ice cream! Might have spoiled the Chinese meal later.
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I’m pretty sure when I eat ice cream, it goes into a separate stomach, because I always manage to make room, no matter how disgustingly full I am.
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Hmm, no, couldn’t do that! Just as well, I’m too heavy as it is.
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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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What a beautiful town! Thanks for sharing these photos, and for reminding me once again why I want to visit Scotland.
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Thanks Ann, I look forward to welcoming you here some day!
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I liked Oban and the port. I went there for a boat trip to Staffa and it was amazing.
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Oh yes, Staffa is wonderful!
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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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It is, I love it too but that was the first time we’d been in years.
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Yes please! 🙂 🙂 I’ve only ever seen Oban in the rain. 😦
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That is, unfortunately, a hazard ☔️
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