Round the houses Tour

I would love to do this, I’ve wanted to travel round Scotland’s coast for years, when I got a bike it made me even more determined. I got this book from the library a couple of months ago (fantastic book, would recommend to any one!) and it’s made me even keener.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazing-Places-Britains-Readers-Digest/dp/0276443004/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231524212&sr=1-5

You wouldn’t need to spend much time planning the north half of the trip, its more or less just one road, I’ve been up in the north west a fair bit, most years for the last 10. On the way through Durness (good stop for fuel) I would have to make everyone take the 2 mile detour to the Balnakeil craft village where you can get what is in my opinion a cup of the world’s best hot chocolate, http://www.cocoamountain.co.uk/

I know a good bit of the sights up that way so would be happy to give some input if wanted.

I will defo keep an eye on this post, though work commitments and brand new baby would have a big say on if I could attend or not.

Some thing to think about is youth hostels, I looked at doing it and staying at YH’s where poss to keep costs down, I was amazed how many there are! Certainly one in Durness (it’s directly opposite the cottage I norm rent)

I'm well up for something like this as i too have always wanted to go round Scotland after i got a taster by going up to Glencoe at the end of the summer.

[Blue Flame]

Originally Posted by Kilted Ginger

If you are doing that many miles would you prefer to do "the continent"?

That's ultimately what I want to have a go at. I'm not sure about this one. Depends on dates and the wife, err I mean the credit crunch.

Originally Posted by Kilted Ginger

Having read and absorbed your comments and looked in more detail at the route, miles and road type i will bow to the superiority of your garnered experience and wisdom and accept that the timings may have been slightly ambitious. I also looked at incorporating some of the Islands but feel these actually deserve a trip of their own (5 day island hopper from calmac) as many ferries and islands as you can fit in, which i will look at later (2010?)

A friend of mine did this last year as a sponsored run on his BMW F800GS (or whatever the BMW that Ewan and Charlie made famous' little brother) round all the islands. Again five days isn't much as the ferries don't run that often which makes it a bit of a race taking some of the enjoyment out of it. That said, I think it would be great to do.

In order to make the proposal more appealing and allow adequate time for proper appreciation for the many marvels the route has to offer i have a new proposal.
Split it in two. A lowland ramble and a highland rollercoaster. This gives a number of benefits:
less rigorous riding schedule,
Geographical orientation to allow others to join in,
2 shorter trips less fatigue on rider, bike, personal commitments,
May act as "bolt on" to Essex Lounges' tour of scotland.

Sounds a great way to do it as it makes it much more flexible for those who can't get a large chunk of time off work.

John

I am up for this