What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 10am - 4pm Wednesday 10am - 4pm Thursday 10am - 4pm Friday 10am - 4pm Saturday 10am - 4pm Sunday 10am - 4pm

Dunollie Museum, Castle and Grounds

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Dunollie Museum, Castle and Grounds

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Captivating Tales, Enchanting Trails...Welcome to 1000 years of History We also host a number of special throughout the year.

Dunollie Museum, Castle & Grounds is open seasonally until the end of October from 10am-4pm (last entry is 3.15pm) Sunday-Friday. We offer guided tours at 12.30 and 2.30 Monday-Friday and Piping at the Castle on Sundays at 1.30pm, as well as several children's trails anytime we are open. To see what's happening this month visit: www.dunollie.org/special-events �

For any other enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

05/10/2026

🍂 It’s school holiday time again! We think the October holidays might just be our favourite at Dunollie. Autumn is such a magical time to explore the castle, museum and grounds, as the trees turn shades of gold, orange and red, leaves crunch underfoot and the woodland around the castle starts to prepare for winter.
There’s lots for families to enjoy this October!

🍁 Follow our special Autumn Trail around the grounds, with a prize waiting at the end.

🧚 On Wednesdays 7th & 14th and Thursdays 8th & 15th October, join the Dunollie Faerie, Judith in the Faerie Garden, for a special storytelling session, followed by an autumn craft activity. This activity starts at 11am.

All of our school holiday activities are FREE with your Dunollie Annual Pass, so if you’ve already visited us this year, you can come back and enjoy them at no extra cost. Spaces for the storytelling and craft sessions are limited, so please reserve your place at www.dunollie.org.

And why not make a day of it and stay for lunch at the Kettle Garden Café? Warm up with some of our autumn specials, including our delicious Chocolate Orange Hot Chocolate and a bowl of warming homemade autumnal soup.

Wrap up warm and come and enjoy autumn at Dunollie! 🍂🏰

04/10/2026

Have you booked your tickets yet? Join us for a spooky day of family fun at Dunollie Museum, Castle and Grounds on Saturday 24th October.

🕷️ Explore our spooky Explorer Trail around the grounds
🎃 Take part in Halloween games and activities
🎨 Get creative with spooky arts and crafts
👻 Have your face painted
🧙 And, of course, come along in your best Halloween fancy dress!

There’ll be plenty to keep little witches, wizards, ghosts and ghouls entertained as they explore Dunollie and get into the Halloween spirit.

Everything takes place outdoors, so make sure to wrap up warm and come prepared for an autumnal day at Dunollie.

Fancy dress is very much encouraged… the spookier, the better!

🎟️ Tickets are limited, so book early to avoid missing out!

Book your tickets at www.dunollie.org

We can’t wait to see you for a spooktacular day at Dunollie!

03/10/2026

👋 Today is Scottish Museums Day, a day to celebrate the places that look after Scotland's stories.

At Dunollie, those stories have been gathering for centuries. The 1745 House Museum holds the objects the MacDougalls of Dunollie kept, used and treasured through the generations. Up the hill, the castle keeps watch over the entrance to Oban Bay, as it has for longer than anyone can remember.

We're open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm, and we recommend arriving by 3.30pm. Your ticket becomes an annual pass, so you can come back as often as you like until we close for the season on 31 October.

Which Scottish museum do you love most? Tell us in the comments, and yes, you're allowed to say us. 😅

02/10/2026

Have you tried the new autumn drinks to keep you cosy at the Kettle Garden Cafe? If you have, what's your favourite? If not, what would you try first?

🍫 Tunnock’s Teacake Hot Chocolate
Our rich 40% cocoa Abyss drinking chocolate with toasted marshmallow syrup, topped with cream and a biscuit crumb.

🍊 Chocolate Orange Hot Chocolate
Rich chocolate and zesty orange come together with our 40% cocoa drinking chocolate, orange syrup, cream and a chocolate topping.

🥧 Pecan Pie Latte
A classic latte with a delicious pecan pie syrup for the perfect autumn pick-me-up.

28/09/2026

Save the date! Halloween is coming to Dunollie! Join us for a spooky day of family fun at Dunollie Museum, Castle and Grounds on Saturday 24th October.

🕷️ Explore our spooky Explorer Trail around the grounds
🎃 Take part in Halloween games and activities
🎨 Get creative with spooky arts and crafts
👻 Have your face painted
🧙 And, of course, come along in your best Halloween fancy dress!

There’ll be plenty to keep little witches, wizards, ghosts and ghouls entertained as they explore Dunollie and get into the Halloween spirit.

Everything takes place outdoors, so make sure to wrap up warm and come prepared for an autumnal day at Dunollie.

Fancy dress is very much encouraged… the spookier, the better!

🎟️ Tickets are limited, so book early to avoid missing out!

Book your tickets at www.dunollie.org

We can’t wait to see you for a spooktacular day at Dunollie!

27/09/2026

Today is World Tourism Day, and here in Oban, tourism is a huge part of what makes our town tick.

Known as the Gateway to the Isles, Oban welcomes people from all over the world. From across Scotland and the rest of the UK to Europe, North America, Australia and much further afield, visitors come to experience our coastline, islands, food, history and, of course, our wonderful community. And we are incredibly lucky to be part of it.

Every year, visitors make their way up Dunollie's path, explore the castle and museum, enjoy the views, wander through the grounds, have a coffee in the Kettle Garden Café and hopefully leave with a little bit of Oban and Dunollie in their hearts.

But tourism isn't just about the people who arrive here. It's about the ripple effect they create, supporting our local accommodation, cafés, restaurants, shops, attractions, transport providers and countless other businesses. Tourism helps communities like ours thrive.

And there is another group of people we'd particularly like to thank today – the people of Oban and the surrounding area.

So many of our visitors tell us they came because someone recommended Dunollie to them. Someone they met in a café, a local shop or other business, who said, ‘You must go to Dunollie’. That word-of-mouth support means an enormous amount to us.

So, on World Tourism Day, thank you to everyone who visits us, everyone who recommends us, everyone who brings friends and family along, and everyone who helps spread the word.

And thank you, Oban, for continuing to welcome the world. We’re proud to be a part of this very special place!

26/09/2026

🌱 With Scotland’s Climate Week coming up from 28th September to 4th October, we’ve been thinking about some of the small changes we’re making at Dunollie to become more sustainable.

Recently, some of our team took part in climate and nature training with Museums Galleries Scotland. It gave us plenty to think about and encouraged us to look at what we are already doing across the site, as well as where we could make further improvements.

It turns out, we’re not doing too badly!

At the Kettle Garden Café, we use crockery and real cups wherever possible, helping to reduce our reliance on single-use items.

We’ve also started growing more of our own produce here at Dunollie, with the aim of using it in the café. So far, we’ve had a fantastic crop of potatoes, and our greenhouse has produced some lovely kale, lettuce, tomatoes and runner beans.

A special mention has to go to Grace, one of our Visitor Services Assistants, who has taken on looking after the greenhouse. It’s been great to see what can be grown right here on the grounds, and even better when it ends up on the café menu!

Growing some of our own food, making use of what we already have and thinking about how we can reduce waste are all small steps, but they can make a difference.

We’re looking forward to continuing to learn, improve and find more ways to care for Dunollie and the environment around us.

24/09/2026

Today is World Maritime Day – and there are few places more connected to the sea than Dunollie. For centuries, the sea was not a barrier to Dunollie – it was its highway. Long before roads and railways connected communities, the waters around Oban were the main means of travelling, trading, communicating and reaching the islands and mainland. From its position overlooking Oban Bay, Dunollie had a remarkable vantage point over this busy maritime landscape.

The MacDougalls themselves were a seafaring clan. In their height, they controlled vast territories on the west coast, including many of the Islands, and their network of castles helped them control and defend this significant area. In the 19th century, Admiral Sir John MacDougall, the 25th Chief of Clan MacDougall, spent much of his life at sea as a Royal Navy officer. He rose through the ranks to become Rear Admiral and eventually Vice Admiral, while his wife Sophy managed life at Dunollie during his long periods away.

Today, standing among the ruins of Dunollie Castle and looking across Oban Bay, it is easy to imagine the coastline as it once was. Boats arriving and departing, islands stretching out beyond the bay, and the sea providing the essential connection between communities.

The view from Dunollie isn't just beautiful. It is a reminder that, for generations, the sea was the road.

22/09/2026

On Friday we welcomed a wonderful group brought to us by Rowan Tree Travel, who specialise in unique travel experiences, including fibre crafts and textile traditions.

The group enjoyed a bespoke experience at Dunollie, beginning with a fascinating session led by Shannen Provan Sloan, our former Collections Development Officer who worked on the Sophy and White project.

Shannen’s passion for the Dunollie collections shone through as she shared a wonderful selection of items relating to fibre arts, including spinning wheels, raw and spun fleece from sheep across Scotland, naturally dyed yarn, knitted fishermen’s ganseys, two incredible Shetland-style knitted wedding dresses and some of Dunollie’s most treasured textiles.

The group also watched our Women of Dunollie film before heading off on a tour of the castle with Jamie.

It was a pleasure to welcome such an enthusiastic group and share some of the fascinating stories held within the Dunollie collections.

Would you like to arrange a bespoke experience for your own group? Get in touch with our team for more information at [email protected].

www.rowantreetravel.com

Address

Dunollie House
Oban
PA345TT

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 4pm
Sunday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

01631570550

Website

http://www.dunollie.org/, https://linktr.ee/dunollie_museum_castle_grounds

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