A mini-adventure in Scotland - Edinburgh, Oban, the Isle of Skye and the Sound of Mull

After a station called Loch Awe, the next stop is called Falls of Cruachan. And, if Loch Awe sounds like a fictitious name for an awe-inspiring loch, who would ever have imagined there could be a railway station called Falls of Cruachan? It could almost be the title of a Robert Louis Stevenson novel – Weir of Hermiston, Falls of Cruachan... Am I to assume there are waterfalls here? Waterfalls, plural? Just one would be impressive enough. It turns out that the station, at the foot of Ben Cruachan, is a summer-only request stop because it’s mainly used by hikers who want to climb the 1,126 m mountain. I’m not one of these hikers. I’m on a leisurely train journey om the West Highland Railway to Oban. (The West Highland Railway was apparently voted best rail journey in the world by travel magazine Wanderlust and, apart from the poetic station names, the scenery is indeed extraordinary.) We were meant to be starting our journey in Glasgow but a surge in the cases of Covid meant we were switched to Edinburgh. Luckily, I didn’t have to sort out the logistics. The travel company, Rail Discoveries, sorted it all out for me.*

After months of lockdowns and travel restrictions, in June I managed to go to Scotland – a six-day trip taking in Oban, the Isle of Skye and the Sound of Mull. I’d never been on an ‘escorted rail holiday’ before but it seemed like a relatively safe way for a solo traveller to enjoy a mini-adventure without worrying about quarantine or whether the destination was about to turn red, green or amber. 

Instead of starting and ending in Glasgow, my holiday started and ended in Edinburgh. I’d forgotten how much I liked Edinburgh. I’d honeymooned there thirty-five years ago but all my subsequent visits to Scotland have been to Glasgow. To get from Edinburgh to Oban we were first taken by coach to Dumbarton. It was from Dumbarton Castle that the young Mary, Queen of Scots was conveyed to France for safety as a child. Seeing the castle, I couldn’t get the Mike Oldfield song To France out of my head: “Don't you know you're never going to get to France, Mary, Queen of Chance, will they find you?” Probably nothing to do with Mary, Queen of Scots but a very catchy chorus. 

Oban was, I found, a lovely town. A harbour where you could watch the Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) ferries come and go – it seems they were using somewhat larger vessels than they would normally, to allow for social distancing on board. I wandered along the promenade and through the town and found an excellent vegetarian eatery, The Little Potting Shed Café. 

Using Oban as our base for three nights, we took another scenic and serpentine coach trip to Fort William where we boarded the Jacobite steam train to Mallaig, across a remarkable landscape of lochs, rivers and mountains, and travelling over the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct. 

From Mallaig, we sailed on a CalMac ferry to Armadale on the Isle of Skye. I would have loved to have seen much more of Skye but time constraints meant we were limited to a visit to Armadale Castle and gardens – the “spiritual home of Clan Donald,” we were assured. Given a choice, I’d have preferred to visit The Isle of Skye Brewery in Uig as the good people who work there have kept me supplied with excellent beer through successive lockdowns, (when the pub had to come to me.) Sadly, there was no time for me to go and thank them in person. Instead, we sailed back to Mallaig and took another coach trip back to Oban, in order to be able to get a good view of the Glenfinnan Viaduct (something that’s not always easy when you’re travelling over it.)   

A quiet morning in Oban (and another trip to The Little Potting Shed Café) and then we sailed across the Sound of Mull. I went up on deck and enjoyed the dramatic seascape, including the island of Lismore and Duart Castle. Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency on board which delayed the sailing, time didn’t allow for us to disembark on the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides so I can say I’ve travelled to Mull without actually setting foot on it!

After our third night in Oban, we took the train back to Dumbarton (cue Mike Oldfield again) and then the coach back to Edinburgh. The weather in Edinburgh was fine and warm. I spent some time browsing in Blackwell’s marvellous bookshop in South Bridge and in Edinburgh Arts & Picture Framers in Nicolson Street, where I bought some cards by the artist John Lowrie Morrison, aka ‘Jolomo’. Jolomo is known for painting vivid, expressionist landscapes of the Scottish west coast. Edinburgh Arts & Picture Framers, by the way, is just round the corner from the pub I’d discovered – at the start of my holiday – the Captain’s Bar in South College Street, where folk musicians were playing at tables in the street. But, on my last evening in Edinburgh, instead of returning to the splendid Captain’s Bar, I wandered round the city and had a quiet pint outside the Malt Shovel in Cockburn Street.

The next morning, I took the direct train from Waverley Station, through Dunbar, Newcastle, Durham and York, and on to Birmingham and home, making a mental note to myself that it would be easy enough (and fun) to have a weekend break in Edinburgh some time. And perhaps, one day, I’d return to Oban and even get to visit my brewing friends on the Isle of Skye.  

*The trip described was entirely self-funded and no sponsorship has been received by the author. 

All text and images © Tony Gillam, 2021