UKC

Hello - boring question, but is anyone able to advise what long term parking is available in Oban?  I'm heading to Pabbay for a week and looking to leave the van somewhere reasonably safe.  The Calmac website says there is long term parking at the railway station, but I can't find anything definitive about this on the web, whether you need to book, etc.  Just wanting to hear what people would normally do when leaving vehicles in Oban.  Cheers!

Hey Ollie, 

Firstly, enjoy Pabbay, what a place! Parking in Oban was fine, we used the car park (shore street car park, Oban) next to the Premier Inn. From memory it was about £40 for the week we were away and everything was totally fine - it was a pay at the machine job, no booking in advance.

Perfect, sounds super straightforward!  Thanks for replying!

also, take more rope protectors than you think you’ll need.

another bit of beta for you, we put a bit of hosepipe in the stream just to the side of the camp and got a siphon going easily and had access to water very easily - would recommend doing this as it could be tricky to fill bottles etc. 

I'll say, aside from a little splattering today, the NW isles have had about a month with no rain now and the entire next week of forecast is more of the same, I'd be pretty worried there wouldn't be a fresh water source at all after such a long drought.

Just got back and stream still running reasonably well. Should be fine in short term but for how long I don't know.

Another nudge for rope protectors and being super vigilant (paranoid) with ab set up; we chopped 2 ropes during the week when parties took their eye off the ball a bit.  

If you arrive with a bit of time to spare in Oban you can usually find free parking within 5-10 minutes walk of the ferry terminal.

Tesco lets you stay in their carpark for £30ish for a week, which is pretty convenient and has the benefit of not annoying the locals, I think if I lived in Oban I would be quite irritated by people abandoning cars everywhere for every week of the summer.

Also used Tesco car park for 10 days last year. Loads of room and super convenient for the port 

You really don't have to pay £40 or whatever to park in Oban for the week, but if you want to be sure about your van it is probably slightly safer in a paid for car park.

There are plenty of streets 15/20 minutes walk from the ferry terminal where you can leave your car for free. Get there early and drive around and you'll quickly find somewhere. 

My advice for Pabbay also around ropes - don't let other people use your ropes. One of ours was trashed by another party who refused to take any responsibility for what they had done, dismissing our concerns with a "just tie a knot in it". Every team should be self sufficient.

Drop the kit off at the terminal and drive 5 minutes up Pulpit hill, there’s a load of street parking up there that’s well out the way of locals and plenty cars kicking around so not just sat on its own.

Alternatively, chip in with your mates and buy a spot for the van on the ferry and use it as a means of transporting all the heavy stuff on and off. Done this once and definitely preferable to multiple runs back and forward. Crew usually okay with you doing multiple runs but have been told off once before when the boat was late for turnaround.