2024 Summer Tour - Day 0 (Oban)

Day 0 – Arrival in Oban 26/5/24 

As usual we drove north to Oban in stages. On the final drive, we planned to drive up from Edinburgh which is a drive of approximately 3 hours. We woke to rather heavy rain, and loaded up the car with panniers and the tandem in a spell of lighter rain before setting off. It continued to be very wet driving from Edinburgh along the M9 – see the video below, which includes the sight of the famous Kelpies statues. 

Fortunately the weather got brighter the further west we got, and it was quite nice in Oban. Here's a picture taken en route with the clouds lifting.

We arrived at the King’s Knoll Hotel about 3pm and checked in. This was an older building and seemed to be going through a renovation. Our room was really quite nice, but breakfast wasn’t provided. We went into town to buy a few things, including a couple of pots of instant porridge for the following morning’s breakfast.  

We stopped to have a coffee and chatted to a German couple, while the rain came on outside. Then we wandered back to the Hotel in rain.  

I’d booked dinner at Ee-Usk, a seafood restaurant at the harbour. We had last been there about a decade ago. We had possibly the best table, with lovely views across the harbour and to the nearby small islands. The food was excellent – I had scallops and chorizo for starter followed by a plate of langoustines, while Carol had smoked haddock chowder then scallops as a main course. The food was excellent. 

The rain had come on once again while we were eating, but the forecast for Monday and Tuesday had improved a fair bit. 

Overview of 2024 tour plan