Travelling to Oban from the north-east

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Tue 1 May 2012 11:26
Travelling to Oban from the north-east - YoungHartlepool

I'm taking a rowdy school group in a minibus from Hartlepool to Oban in June. As it's a long drive and the kids will get restless, I need to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. Looking at the map there are 2 possible routes:

1. up the A68 round Edinburgh and onto the A84 & 85 to Oban

2. A69 over to Carlisle, A74 to Glasgow and then A82 & 85 to Oban

Can anybody tell me which of these routes is likely to be most traffic free and quickest? I also need some convenient places to stop where the group can let off a bit of steam- large services if it's wet or enclosed open spaces (public parks?) if it's sunny. Any suggestions?

Thanks very much.

Edited by YoungHartlepool on 01/05/2012 at 11:26

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Tue 1 May 2012 18:18
Travelling to Oban from the north-east - Bobbin Threadbare

The route to Carlisle is very quiet indeed. The A74 is a decent road and you won't even have to worry about the speed cameras in a mini-bus. Lanark is a nice place to stop - there's a big....how do I describe this...........sort of old mills and houses and some shops and cafes called New Lanark which has free parking and lots of space. You don't have to pay to go in. After that, it's Glasgow. Not sure about further up, as there's lots of lochs after that!

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Tue 1 May 2012 18:55
Travelling to Oban from the north-east - Auristocrat

We travel up to the Isle of Skye each May (will be going end of next week) from Birmingham.The A74 has been fully converted to a three lane motorway and is now the M74 - much better and effectively just a continuation of the M6.

The A82 is the road to be wary of - can be a bit of a race track, especially on the stretch between Glasgow and the lower edge of Loch Lomond. Also has a history re crashes. It is a fast road, and some overtaking manouvres by fellow motorists aren't the best.. Not got experience of the A68.

However when we go to Skye we do this in two parts (it is about 520 miles if we use the ferry from Mallaig) - motorway work (M6, M74, M80, M9) to Stirling(overnight stay), and then A84, A85 and A82 up to Fort William, and the A830 to Mallaig.

The A84/A85 is a nice pleasant run - some nice scenery between Callender and Lochearnhead. Bit quieter than the A82.

Motorway service areas along the M74 are newer than those along the M6. We have stopped at Gretna Green and Abington previously and they're certainly fresher than the English counterparts. The Green Welly Shop at Tyndrum is a popular stopping place for refreshments - although can be very busy.

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Tue 1 May 2012 22:39
Travelling to Oban from the north-east - Avant

I love the A68 but it's not a fast road (very little dual carriageway) and its beautiful scenery might just be lost on the 'rowdy school group' ! The minibus will strugglk to get past lorries on this road.

A69 / M6 / M74 sounds a much better bet, with more service areas.

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Wed 2 May 2012 12:12
Travelling to Oban from the north-east - Dabooka

I'd agree with the others, A69 and then M74.

It can be a bit of a convoy on the A69 past Hexham when the dual carrigeway ends, but it's the route we use.

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