Traveling Northern England and Scotland

  • Thread starter Thread starter Garth Milam
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Garth Milam

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Need some help, Myself and a buddy plan to ride for a couple of weeks starting in London or Nottingham in late May '05. We would like to route ourselves up to Scotland and return back to the Lakes District. For simplicity, we'll probably rent rather then ship. But there is so much to see I hardly know where to start. Could someone advise me on itinerary, places to stay and any worthwhile help. I would love to visit some distilleries and maybe hook up for a day or two with folks in the area that ride as well. I've tried a couple of agencies that do this but they either provide guided trips or they want my complete itinerary, which I don't know enought to give. Any direction would help. Thanks
 
2 weeks huh... lucky you! I'd probably go for something along the lines of

day 1 London to York
day 2 york to scottish borders
day 3 borders to edinburgh ( short ride & 1/2 day in edinburgh )
day 4 edinburgh to St andrews
day 5 st andrews via perth to aviemore
day 6 aviemore via inverness to thurso
day 7 thurso along the to applecross/torridon
day 8 applecross/torridon to skye over bridge
day 9 skye via glenelg ferry to calendar
day 10 calendar to dumfries
day 11 dumfries to the lakes

distilleries
famous grouse at crieff on day 5?
various speyside distilleries on day 6?
tallisker on day 8 or 9

places to stay
I can recommend a good pub just outside york for day 1
a brilliant B&B near tongue on the north west of scotland

I'm sure you'll get heaps of other suggestions, but its best really going up the east coast, across at some point and then down the west coast, and depending on how many miles you want to do per day depends on how far you get.

As a guide this is a 4 day 870 mile round scotland trip we did earlier this year...
going up the west and back down the east ( but you could always reverse it!)


Day 1 Edinburgh-> Glenelg ( Kyle of Lochalsh) 218 miles
M9 West towards Stirling
Leave M9 at Junction 10 onto the A84 towards Callendar
At Lochearnhead take the A85 towards Crainlarich
At Crainlarich take the A82 towards Fort William
Tyndrum - Stop at the Green Welly petrol station on the right – coffee, bacon rolls petrol?
Depart on the A82 north, but just outside the village turn LEFT onto the A85 towards Oban
At Connel turn Right onto the A828 North towards Ballahuilish
Just after Portnacroish stop at the new ‘Castle Stalker View Café’ For lunch
Depart on the A828 North heading for Ballahuilish
Leave Ballahuilish on the A82 heading north for Fort William
Stay on the A82, stopping at the commando memorial
Invergarry – Stop for Petrol
Tke the A87 towards Kyle of Lochalsh
Stop at Eilean Donan castle for photos!
Carry on the A87 until Sheil Bridge
Take small road Left to Glenelg
Stay at Glenelg Hotel?? - excellent place to stay

Day 2 Glenelg-> Port Na Con 240 miles
Ride to Glenelg Ferry ( to Skye £1.80 for bike and rider 5mins crossing time )
Take road from Kylerhea to Breakish
At Breakish turn right onto theA87 towards Kyle of Lochalsh
Over the Skye bridge
Petrol in Kyle of Lochalsh
Take A87 back towards Invergarry for 9 miles
Turn left onto the A890 towards Achnasheen
After Strathcarron take theA896 towards Lochcarron
Stop in Kishorn at a suitable place for coffee etc
Depart on the A890 for a mile or so
Turn left onto minor road towards Applecross
stay on this minor road all the way round the peninsula
stop as appropriate for a lunch stop
Head along the A896 towards Kinlochewe – stop here for petrol
Leave Kinlochewe on the A832 towards Gairloch
Stop at Poolewe gardens for coffee
Depart on A832 north
At junction with A835 turn left towards Ullapool
Stop in Corrieshalloch Gorge car park for view
Stop in Ullapool for Petrol
At Ledmore turn left onto the A837 towards Lochinver
Take the A894 towards Scourie
At Laxford Bridge take the A838 towards Durness
Petrol in Durness if available?
road on the left to PortNaCon ( before you get to Laid!! )
it used to have a small white sign - top B&B

Day 3 Port Na Con-> Portmahomack 183 miles
Depart Portnacon on the A838/6 towards Thurso, stopping as scenery demands!
Coffee stop as appropriate around 11:00
Visit Dunnet Head?
Thurso Lunch and Petrol
Depart from Thurso on the A836 towards John ‘o’Grotty
Stop at Dunnett head?
Stop at J’o’G for photos etc
Head south on the A99/A9
Coffee stop in Helmsdale?
petrol stop as appropriate
Just After Tain turn left onto the B69165 towards Fearn & Portmahomack
Follow the signs to Portmahomack
We are staying at the Caledonian Hotel which is on the right at the sea front.
Trip down to the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula?

Day 4 Portmahomack -> Edinburgh 230 miles

Depart Portmahomack back onto the A9
Head south towards Inverness
In Inverness take the A96 towards Nairn
At Nairn turn right onto the A939 towards Grantown on Spey
Stop in Grantown for coffee and petrol
Depart Grantown on the A95/A939 towards Tomintoul
Braemar – lunch
A93 south
In Blairgowrie take the A923 towards Dunkeld
In Dunkeld stop for Coffee and Petrol at the coffee shop next to the garage go straight through, over the river and turn left towards Birnam – its on your left
Depart Dunkeld over the A9 and onto the A822 towards Crieff
In Crieff take the A822, then the A823 Gleneagles road
pass straight through Gleneagles and straight over the A91
to Rumbling Bridge, Powmill and Knockhill
Follow signs from Knockhill to the M90 and back to edinburgh
 
Grand Itinerary!

Schnauzer, Thanks a ton! I'll read and review. Maybe we can talk again with specifics. Garth
 
Great itinerary, Schnauzer......:)

Garth:

Accommodation available at Chez Dutchman, if you pause in Edinburgh.......

Cheers

Dutch
 
day 1 London to York
day 2 york to scottish borders
day 3 borders to edinburgh ( short ride & 1/2 day in edinburgh )
day 4 edinburgh to St andrews
day 5 st andrews via perth to aviemore
day 6 aviemore via inverness to thurso
day 7 thurso along the to applecross/torridon
day 8 applecross/torridon to skye over bridge
day 9 skye via glenelg ferry to calendar
day 10 calendar to dumfries
day 11 dumfries to the lakes
Click to expand...

That's a really good route!

I've done a couple of bike tours in Scotland - first on a XL125V, and my 1200GS arrives tomorrow - and I can thoroughly recommend the areas around Aviemore, Culloden, Durness (especially southbound), mid Skye (stay at the Sligachan Hotel in the middle of Skye, book in advance) and the Road-to-the-Isles (ie: route to Mallaig).

Last time I was in Mallaig there was a seafood restaurant that cooked the catch of the day from their own boat.

I partially wrote-up my first tour (as a learner in 2001, but it doesn't seem that long ago) at http://www.crypticide.com/users/alecm/bikes/hismv.html, with some nice pics. :)
 
Scotland

Hi Garth

Some fabulous roads described already just 2 points,

1. if the weather is fine extend the trip from Ledmore to Scourie, instead of going on the A894 on the east side of a mountain called Quinag (it's a lovely road though ~ shame to miss it) continue along Loch Assynt (A837) and go right along the single track, slightly scary if you go too fast, past Clactholl and Drumbeg on the B869. It rejoins the rote but adds 25 miles of adrenalin and fabulous views, blind summits, hairpins, sheep, deer and loose chippings just where it's interesting! Watch out for on- coming traffic especially on Sunday morning ~ the God fearing wee frees do believe He's on their side and have proved assertive! one had me and my trail bike off the road and almost in a bog! (ps I love this remote wild area)

2. the Bladnoch distillery near Wigton south of Newton Stewart on your Dumfries day is interesting as is their product!

David
 
Why not spend a day in Northern Ireland? Catch the high speed ferry from Stranraer early morning (only 22 miles across!) and ride up the Antrim coast road (spectacular scenery) to the Giant's Causeway, lunch and a quick tour of Bushmills Distillery and back to the ferry early evening, only a couple of hundred miles
 
Between York and Edinburgh try the A687 Coldstream road or the A68 Jedburgh rather than the A1 journey time is shorter and the hills are nice. You will miss a chance of Holy island on the inland route. Welcome and enjoy. Call in for tea
 
Bike hire

Hi Garth, if you are loking for bike hire my local dealer would be happy to help.Allan Jeffries at Shipley.They are close to Leeds Bradford airport
They will let you have a 1200GS for £500 a week or a 1150 ADV for £475.If you are taking the bike/s for 2 weeks Louise can do a deal on those prices for you.
you can mail her direct on
[email protected]

This is a first class dealers and the bikes will be in tip top[ condition.
HTH Dave
 
Thanks, to all!

Thank you all for the marvelous info. I'm more excited then ever about the trip. Will try and digest all the good stuff and reply.
Again Thanks!
 
Garth,
I can concur with most of the places already mentioned, great biking country (in fact, the North of Scotland is British biking's best kept secret so don't tell eh?)
If your choice of start places is restricted to London or Nottingham I would choose the latter, there's no fun to be had riding between the two (unless London is on your 'to do' list).
York is great for a stop-over, you Mercans will love it - steeped in history an' all that. You'll be jostled by the Japanese there so don't mention the war.
Also, though Alecmuffett has outlined a great route, unless you really want to see the borders and Edinburgh I would push straight up from York to North of Edinburgh; the quicker you get up North the better, anywhere North of Perth is biker heaven and there are plenty of distilleries to visit, call in any tourist information centre (all over the place) for details of places to see.
Enjoy your trip, it looks like I'm taking the bike to Germany in May so, like you, I'll be trying hard to avoid wartime references.
Bon voyage!
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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