Oban, GB

The glass-fronted seafood room on the North Pier that most visitors think of first, with langoustine, scallops and shellfish platters landed practically outside the window. Tables along the front look straight across the bay to Kerrera and Mull, so it doubles as a view. A North Pier sit-down dinner choice in the harbour area.

Oban's long-running fish restaurant, upstairs in a converted seamen's mission on Railway Pier, cooking what is landed at the quay a few metres away. The range runs from proper haddock and chips to oysters and grilled scallops without the fuss of a special-occasion room. A dependable harbour-area seafood dinner.

The green shack on the CalMac pier, a takeaway stall set up by a fisherman in 1990 that locals and ferry crews rate above the sit-down rooms. You queue for crab sandwiches, langoustine, whole lobster and a seafood platter at a fraction of restaurant prices, then eat on the wall. A pier-side casual seafood stop in the harbour area.

A modern Scottish restaurant in a former bank on George Street, with a seasonal menu that leans on local seafood, beef cheeks and game. It is the town's go-to for an unhurried proper dinner without the harbourfront crowds. A George Street choice in the town centre for a nice evening out.

A busy bar-restaurant on the main waterfront drag, fitted out in reclaimed Scottish slate and timber, with its own Oban Bay Brewery beers on tap. The menu is broad pub-plus cooking with plenty of seafood, and it works for an all-day stop or a casual dinner. A central waterfront spot in the town area.

A village restaurant in Benderloch, north of Oban, doing generous home-cooked Scottish plates like steak pie, local seafood and black pudding bon bons. It is a locals' favourite that draws people out from town, so it stays busy off-season. In the Benderloch area, a short drive past Connel.

A small, bright Italian room on the Esplanade with sea views, cooking a seasonal menu of pasta, calamari and local langoustine the Italian way. It is the town's standout for a non-seafood-shack dinner and a change from Scottish menus. An Esplanade choice in the town area.

A tiny, well-liked Indian kitchen tucked off the main streets, with generous portions and concentrated, distinct sauces that regulars rate as the best curry in town. It is unlicensed, so it has a relaxed, bring-your-own feel. A town-centre option for a change from seafood.

A cosy little cafe off Argyll Square doing what many locals call the best cooked breakfast in town, plus homemade scones, pastries and filled rolls. It feels like someone's front room rather than a chain, which is the point. A town-centre breakfast and brunch stop.

A long-standing independent coffee house on Stafford Street, repeatedly named the town's best by the Scotland the Best guide, doing proper coffee, light lunches and homemade scones with local ice cream. It is the locals' daytime perch rather than a tourist stop. A town-centre coffee and lunch spot.

A family chocolatier and cafe on the Esplanade where you can watch handmade chocolates being made, then sit with a thick single-origin hot chocolate and a bay view. It is the obvious sweet stop and a good rainy-afternoon refuge. An Esplanade dessert and cafe stop in the town area.

A 250-year-old inn sitting right at the Bridge over the Atlantic, named for the Highlanders who changed out of kilts here when the tartan ban was on. The kitchen does seasonal Scottish plates with a rosette to its name, and the setting by the bridge is the reason to drive out. In the Seil area, at the bridge onto the island.

A family-run seafood and pub-food spot in the slate village of Ellenabeich, looking across to Easdale Island, where the Cullen skink, oysters and langoustine get the praise. It is the natural lunch or dinner when you make the run out to the Slate Islands. In the Seil and Easdale area, about sixteen miles south of Oban.

A tiny tea garden near Gylen Castle at the south end of car-free Kerrera, doing homemade soups, cakes and daily specials for walkers off the island circuit. It is the only food on the island, which is part of its charm. On Kerrera, the island sheltering Oban Bay.

An award-winning chippy at the Tralee holiday park in Benderloch, frying to order in a spot with views over Tralee Beach. It is the standout fish-and-chips run out of town, worth combining with the beach itself. In the Benderloch area, north of Connel.

A short, steep climb to a signed viewpoint on the headland just south of the harbour, giving a clean panorama over the bay, Kerrera and the Firth of Lorn. It is the quickest big view in Oban, under half a mile up from the foot of the hill. A town-area walk you can do in an hour.

A coast loop of roughly five miles from Ganavan beach over a low hill and along the shore to the 13th-century Dunstaffnage Castle, returning by a quiet road. It mixes beach, sea views and a castle finish, and is moderate rather than tough. In the Ganavan and Dunstaffnage area north of town.

A short but steep hill walk above Benderloch, climbing forest tracks and a final boggy pull to a 308-metre summit trig point. The reward is a panorama down Loch Etive to Ben Cruachan and out over Seil, Kerrera, Mull and Lismore that rivals far bigger hills. In the Benderloch area, north of Connel.

The full loop of the car-free island that shelters Oban Bay, about seven miles on tracks past Gylen Castle, the tea garden and views to Mull and the Garvellachs. It is a proper half-day out once you add the ferry, with the wildest scenery at the south end. On Kerrera, reached by the Gallanach ferry.

Gentle waymarked forest trails through a national nature reserve of ancient oak, birch and hazel near Taynuilt, once coppiced to make charcoal for the old Bonawe iron furnace. The 3.3km Ant Trail loops the oakwood with interpretation boards, and it is flat and family-friendly. In the Taynuilt area east of Connel.

Guided tours of the town-centre distillery that has worked since 1794, walking you through the tiny stillhouse and finishing with a tasting of the maritime west-coast malt. It is short, personal and entirely indoors, which makes it a strong rainy-day plan. In the Oban town centre by the pier.

The operator behind the classic Three Isles day trip, combining ferry and coach to reach Mull, Iona and the basalt sea cave island of Staffa in one long day from Oban. It is the headline boat-and-island experience for visitors without a car. Departs the Oban town pier area.

Small-boat wildlife and sightseeing trips around the bay and nearby islands, with a good record of porpoises, seals, sea eagles and gannets and an informative skipper. The smaller boat means a closer, more personal trip than the big ferries. Leaves from the Oban harbour area.

A free volunteer-run museum on the Esplanade telling the town's maritime and wartime story, from the fishing and railway days to the RAF flying boats based in the bay. It is compact, well curated and a good half-hour for context on the harbour you are looking at. On the Esplanade in the town area.

A community leisure centre with a pool, flume, soft play, sports hall and gym, run as a local charity. It is the obvious wet-weather plan with kids who need to burn energy, with a cafe on site. In the Oban town area near the centre.

A community arts hub in a restored Victorian school, with changing exhibitions, workshops, creative sessions and a family-friendly cafe with a kids' play corner. It is where to find local culture rather than tourist-trail attractions. In the Oban town area, a short walk from the centre.

Family-run small-boat cruises from the harbour, including a Castles and Wildlife trip past sea-loch castles, salmon farms, seals and islands with running commentary from skippers who live the coast. The intimate boat makes it feel like a private charter. Departs the Oban harbour area.

Beyond the castle ruin, this is a working heritage attraction with a clan museum in the 1745 house, woodland and garden paths and a cafe, run by the MacDougall clan trust. It rolls a short walk, history and refreshments into one easy outing. In the Dunollie area just north of the harbour.

The Colosseum-style stone folly ringing the hilltop above the harbour, built by a Victorian banker to give stonemasons winter work. It is free and open at all hours, and the real reason to climb up is the framed view down over the bay to Kerrera, Lismore and the Mull hills. The town's defining landmark in the Oban town area.

A 13th-century MacDougall stronghold on a rock platform guarding the mouth of Loch Etive, with a ruined chapel in the woods nearby. You can walk the wall-walk for views over the Connel narrows, and the history runs from Robert the Bruce's siege to Flora MacDonald being held here. In the Dunstaffnage area, a short drive north of town.

The MacDougall clan's ruined keep on a crag just north of the harbour, paired with a small 1745 house museum, woodland paths and a garden cafe. The guides are the draw, and the walk up to the ruin is rewarded with a clean view back over the bay. In the Dunollie area, an easy walk or short drive from the centre.

One of Scotland's oldest distilleries, working since 1794 from a cramped site wedged under the cliff in the middle of town. The whisky is a lightly smoky, maritime west-coast malt, and the tour is short and personal because the stillhouse is tiny. Right in the Oban town centre, a minute from the pier.

The town's nearest proper beach, a curve of sand two miles north of the harbour looking out across the Firth of Lorn to Lismore and the Ardgour hills. It is where locals swim, walk dogs and snorkel, and the coast path to Dunstaffnage starts here. In the Ganavan area, a short drive or seafront walk from town.

A tidal rapid under the Connel Bridge where Loch Etive empties through a narrow rock sill, producing standing waves and whirlpools on a big ebb tide. It is the UK's only sizeable tidal cascade, best watched from the bridge or the shore car park. In the Connel area, about five miles north of Oban.

A car-free former slate-quarrying island reached by a tiny passenger ferry, where rows of white quarriers' cottages sit between flooded quarry pits you can swim in. There is a folk museum, a pub and a famous stone-skimming championship, and the whole place is walkable in an afternoon. In the Slate Islands, about sixteen miles south of Oban via Seil.

The steeply humped 1792 stone bridge linking the mainland to the Isle of Seil, nicknamed the Bridge over the Atlantic because the channel beneath connects to open sea. It is a single graceful arch built so sailing boats could pass under, and the Tigh an Truish inn sits right at the mainland end. In the Seil area, about twelve miles south of Oban.

A slim, romantic tower-house ruin on a sea cliff at the south end of the Isle of Kerrera, built by the MacDougalls in 1582 and burned in a 1647 siege. Reaching it is half the point: a walk across the island from the ferry past the tea garden. On Kerrera, the island that shelters Oban Bay.