In this session, we’ll dive into our first of two connector days – moving us from the Lakes District into Scotland and ultimately to Edinburgh. We’ll use our process to help us determine:
- What should we see?
- Where should we sleep?
- Where/what should we eat?
This is Day 13 of our England/Wales/Scotland Trip. We’ll travel from Keswick in the Lake District up into Scotland and ultimately stop for the evening in Oban, Scotland. We’ll travel by the gorgeous Lochs of the lowlands and pass into the mid-lands and ultimately into the highlands of Scotland. We’ll pass by both Loch Lomond and Loch Fryne, visit the charming village of Inveraray and its “Castle” before arriving at Oban.
Bypassing the Glasgow for this trip, we will soon get to Loch Lomond. The folks at Lonely Planet call this area Glasgow’s rural retreat – a scenic region of hills, lochs and healthy fresh air within easy reach of Scotland’s largest city. Loch Lomond is part of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. We’ll be traveling thru the Trossachs tomorrow… but this is the home of Scotland’s first national park, created in 2002. It is Britain’s largest lake and, just short of Loch Ness, the most famous of Scotland’s lochs. It straddles the Highland border. The southern part is broad and land-studded. But get a bit north and the loch narrows… filling a deep trench gouged out during the retreat of the last glaciers.
As we climb into the highlands, we next visit Loch Fyne, and the village of Inveraray. Decked out in all black and white (no shades of grey here), it is spectacularly set on shores of the loch. It was built by the Duke of Argyll in Georgian style when he revamped his nearby castle (really more of a manor) in the 18th century.
Ultimately we’ll arrive at the main gateway to many of the Hebridean islands – Oban. This delightful city, right on the sea, has sweeping views of the nearby Kerrera and Mull. It will likely be jammed with holiday seekers – but I am looking forward to a fantastic meal of fresh fresh seafood.
This is a connector day… I am connecting our multi-day visit in the Lake District with what will be our multi-day visit in Edinburgh. So we’ll be doing some driving… with scheduled stops to stretch and take in the scenery.
Saint Rick has some nice information on the area on his website. Here is the link: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/scotland/oban-mull-iona
What Should we See?
Again, since this is a connector day, I’ve used Saint Rick Steves to help connect Keswick to Oban. Here is where Rick suggests you visit on the transit:
- Loch Lomond
- Highland Boundary Fault
- Rest and Be Thankful Pass
- Lock Fyne
- Inveraray
- Inveraray Castle
- Oban
This basically lines up from south to north as we are making the 3 hour drive. Saint Rick also has a waterfront tour in Oban – all taken in while sitting on a bench with your back to sea. Pretty cool. 🙂
Where do we sleep?
Oban is a quiet place in the winter… but bustles as a seaside community in the summer. Just to the north, is another very popular place for Brits to vacation. So there are quite a few popular places that are suggested by St. Rick and one highlighted by the Lonely Planet folks.
I stayed in Oban during my last visit as well – staying at a suggestion of Rick. It was the only place during the trip that I had a less than happy experience… so even though Rick suggests it… I’m not going to. I’ll also not share the name since everyone can have a bad day. Mistakes happen… but the attitude and ease of connecting with the owners was a bit more challenging. Oh well… here is the short list…
- Perle Oban Hotel
- The Ranald
- Barriesmore B&B
- Greystones
- Eldersite Guest House
We chose the Perle Oban Hotel for this visit. Saint Rick describes it as the luxury boutique splurge, with its 59 super-sleek rooms and calming sea-color walls, decorative bath-tile floors, and rain showers. We’ll have to see how splurge-worthy it is. 🙂
Finally… Where to Eat?
Because this is a connector day, we’ll just be grabbing a lunch and dinner. For lunch, I think we’ll a try of the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar & Delli in Inveraray. It is a chain throughout the UK – but this is the home and first one. It is also the only one on the Eating-Pub list.
For Eating well – there were three places listed in Oban:
- Ee’usk
- Cuan Mor
- Coast
It does not happen all that often.. but when Rick Steves and Lonely Planet agree… it feels like you are going against the grain if you DON’T try the strong suggestion. And that strong suggestion is for Ee’usk. It is right on the bay – I tried to get in last trip and was unsuccessful. With reservation in hand, I expect it will go better this time. 🙂
So there you have it… here is our preliminary itinerary for Day 13 – our connector day from Keswick to Oban:
- Leisurely drive out of the Lakes District towards Loch Lomond. Try to hit that first picnic turnout for the best view of the loch.
- While driving north along the loch, pass by the Highland Boundary Fault. There is no sign…but you’ll just know by looking around.
- Take a pause at the Rest and Be Thankful Pass and imagine what it was like before cars… riding wagons up here would be remarkable.
- Visit Loch Fyne and grab lunch at the Lock Fyne Oyster Bar and Deli.
- Take in the village of Inveraray and its Castle.
- Continue north to Oban. Take a wander down its bayside walkways before grabbing dinner at Eeusk at 7 PM.
I hope you have found this helpful. Next up – our second connector day – across Scotland to Edinburgh for Day 14