Oban
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Oban
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| <map lat="0.0" lng="0.0" zoom="11"/> | |
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| Information | |
Country:  |
Scotland |
| State: | Argyll and Bute |
| Population: | 16,095 |
| Licence plate: | - |
| Major roads: | - |
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Oban is a city in Scotland. It is the gateway to the islands and a bustling ferry port. It is also a great destination in and of itself and is often a destination in its own right.
Hitchhiking out
North towards Fort William
Option 1 - From the Town
Coordinates: latitude, longitude Map Google OSM The road out of oban north is a winding steep hill with blind corners and no suitable place to stop. There are two ways to deal with this. The first is to hitch from within the town, and the best place for this is the turn in for the Rockfeild Center, just west of the main roundabout on the way in/out of oban. There is a big quiet junction for the cars to pull into, all of the northbound traffic must pass you, and the roundabouts slow the traffic down.
Option 2 - If you like a walk
Coordinates: latitude, longitude Map Google OSM Follow the road up the hill and towards Pennyfuir Cemetery. From here, there is a small layby before the cemetery with a decent sightline or a better layby with a bad sightline to traffic, make of that what you will. This spot is a 25 minute walk from town.
Option 3 - I have bus fare!
With bus fare there are two places to consider. Firstly you could ride to Dunbeg, where a big layby is there to meet you with a good sightline, but traffic is mixed between those heading to Fort William and those headed to Glasgow, or you could head to connel bridge and ask to be let off on the north side of the bridge. From here the traffic is much more focused and it should be easy to hitch from the large Junction.
East towards Glasgow, Crianlarich
Please read the options for Fort William and use the same options 1 or 2 to hitch from near the town. If you have bus fare too, take the bus to Connel Ferry. Here you will find a large bus stop and layby opposite the junction headed to Fort william. This has worked for me in the past. You will miss traffic headed your way from the junction though, so it might be worth walking another 5 minutes through the town to reach a layby with excelent sightlines that captures all the traffic headed East towards Crianlarich
Coordinates: latitude, longitude Map Google OSM
West towards the Islands
There is no great way to hitch to the islands as ferry fares are unavoidable. However just as a passenger they are cheap, particularity to mull, the nearest island. Once on the ferries, it should be relatively easy to ask around to find a lift to your final destination.
South towards Lochgilphead
Walk south toward Soroba, and hitch from the bus stop that you reach after the large roundabout. There will be a large amount of Local traffic here, which means you will almost certainly need to hop a bit from town to town to make distance, but once on the road this shouldnt be too hard.
Accommodation and Sleep
Oban is surrounded by nature and has many wild camping locations around it. My favorite is the top of Pullpit hill, which is within a 10m walk from Oban Ferry Terminal. Other options include taking a bus to Dunstaffanage or Gallavan sands to the north, or to kerrara with the ferry to the east. If you are there in tourist season its pretty much required to book ahead as accommodation can really book up.
