Tour of Scotland

[andyaikido]

Planning to do a 4 day ( 3 nights) tour of Scotland. I'm coming from Manchester and was planning on getting to Fort William on the first day then working my way round the north of the country. Any advice on routes or places to stay would be most welcome.

[ethariel]

From Fort William, you have to take the time to pop over to Skye A82 then A87). The road up there is absolutley fantastic and the roads on the island can be fun too.

When heading to Inverness on the A82 (Unless you do Skye then head up towards Ullapool then over to the east that way) be bloody careful, I have had too many near misses on that road with tourists to count.

If you can hack the mileage, a trip to John O'Groats up the A9 is a nice run too.

As for places to stay, have never found a B+B that refused me even when dripping wet after a day in the rain. Best to plot a route though and if you can, book a slot in advance. A few of the West Coast places even have drying rooms (lots of climbers/walkers about) for when that rain gets ya.

Well thats my 2 penneth worth.

Colin

[Steve W]

Yup - go west! After Skye, If you fancy something exciting go across to Applecross - very steep, highest road pass in Britain, numerous hairpins and unless it is in cloud, fantastic views. Then up to Gairloch, Gruinard, Ullapool, Achiltibuie, Lochinver... In my view the far north is less interesting - flatter although the roads are a bit faster.

Fill up with petrol when you can and allow lots of time as unless you want to die there's a limit to how fast you can go. Also given the views etc. don't see the point in going too fast! Depending on how far north you want to go and when, you'll have daylight til very late. When I went to Durness one June it never really got completely dark. Unless you are extremely lucky it will rain (driest in May) and it can rain incessantly although if you live in Manchester you'll be used to that :wink: .

Have a greta time. I'm envious...

[Cronos]

Post this in the SV Ecosse section. You may find some experts there. :wink:

[northwind]

There's a really good shellgripped slip road near the Gyle shopping centre in Edinburgh.

[Halonic]

There's a really good shellgripped slip road near the Gyle shopping centre in Edinburgh.

That was it? of all the roads you could have suggested? the slip road at the shopping centre?

not tyndrum? or the A91? or the A7?

no

the gyle shopping centre?

:roll:

[northwind]

Hmm, sense of humour failure I think...

If a serious answer is required, the twisty route up from Moffat, the one that goes past the grey mare's tail... That's my favourite bit of road in the world. So varied. There's long stretches you just can't go fast because you can't see 20 metres ahead, no chance of overtaking anything much, but it's still great.

Though I do like that sliproad.

[Gnan]

i feel a website coming on - www.bestsliproads-uk.co.uk

[STRAMASHER]

Here's a large carrot for any touring motorcyclist as to why to take a wee detour Applecross way.................( a very cool way to get to Ullapool too :wink: )

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g87/stramasher/IMGadj.jpg (http://photobucket.com)

[STRAMASHER]

Another brilliant piece of road that is worth doing, is the Kinlochleven loop. Glencoe village,hang a right,do the loop(B863) and you come back onto the F.William road 16 glorious miles later.

A feckin' GEM 8) 8) 8)


To be honest you can't go wrong even on the main roads.

Have a good one! :)

[haggis]

For routes all i'd say is avoid the A9 unless you're in a hurry, it's pretty boring. Anywhere else is thrills round every bend, go explore, then write up here so we can all sample it.


Stramasher, after seeing that sign you've gut put an idea in my head for what to do today. Never done the Bealach.... :oops:

Woke up to pleasant if not sunny outlook, first time this week. I must not waste this opportunity. :twisted:

Catch ya's on the flipside.

[haggis]

If you do venture to Skye, drop me a pm. Got a mate, Richard, who runs a biker B&B in the south of the island. You'll be made very welcome and no doubt give you plenty more routes to try.

[andyaikido]

Thanks for the replies. Will try to fit as many of these into my route... may have to leave out the shopping centre slip road tho. :lol: