Highland Tour

Rich158

I'm planning a Highland tour in the summer, in particular to partake in some of the excellant food and whisky available in the area, as well as taking in the scenery. I plan on covering 60-80 miles a day over 5 days or so, and plan on travelling as light as possible - I want to avoid panniers if possible.

This is the first time I have planned such a trip and I'm torn between doing it myself, or using a guide company, although if I go down the latter route I'd rather do a supported tour and cycle gear free.

Any advice would be welcome, in particular guided tour operators, and culinary hot spots

Cheers

Rich

pneumatic

For five days, a rack bag and a bar bag should do, as long as you pack them VERY wisely and stay in B&B's or hostels. You will need protection against rain and that can be quite bulky when you are not wearing it. You will also need a tube of Avon Skin so Soft which is the only effective deterrent for midges.

I'd be tempted to do it without a guide because you can suit yourself and you are going to meet people along the way (big country, few people syndrome: you keep meeting the same ones over and over again.)

As for where to go, almost impossible to recommend but if I had five days, I'd probably head for the West Coast.

There's another recent thread on here about touring Scotland with links to good resources.

daviddd

You could train to Inverness; cycle via Ullapool, side trip via wee ferry to Cape Wrath, Durness, Tongue, Thurso, John O'Groat's, Wick and train to Inverness - about 180 miles without side trips - check out the tourist info along the way for side trips or ask again.

chasctc

Daviddd's route is around 250 (not 180) miles; still within your range but....it omits the finest cycling road in NW Scotland(Britain?) ie Inverkirkaig, Lochinver, Drumbeg. Very lumpy but not to be missed. Cape Wrath is across MOD land so check access (always? open August and weekends) before you go (try Durness TIC or YH). No doubt there'll be a chorus of noes but the north coast is not the most interesting and i would head south from Tongue (or turn earlier at Hope) towards Lairg and the railway.

Finally start by taking the train to Achnasheen (or Strathcarron for Torridon) then Gairloch, Dundonnell and Braemore Junction (the Dirrie Mor isnt that exciting).

nosmo-king

Last time I toured Scotland I got the train to Glasgow and headed off to Loch Lomond. Then up the west coast to Oban and Ullapool. Try the Bealch na Ba pass over to Applecross. It's the highest road pass in Britain. Glencoe is also worth a trip.

rankbadyin

Hi Rich
Not sure where you are travelling from but I would go with the west coast option as there are lots of distilleries around.

If you start from Glasgow you can either ride or get the train to Oban and then get the ferry to the island of Mull.Lots of good roads on the island most of which are single track.
There is a YH in Tobermory and from there you can catch a ferry to Kilchonan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula and head up to Mallaig for the ferry on to Skye ( lots of distillieries here )

You could easily spend a few days on the island, head of the island via the bridge and as suggested head for the Bealach Na Ba or if time is tight head back to Fort William and from there a train back to Glasgow.

Lots of roads to explore with the main worries being the rain and the midgies

Enjoy it no matter what

Cheers

AidanR

If it helps, when I was planning my tour last year I made this map of the independent hostels in Scotland (not exhaustive, but a good start).

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF ... a5463d&z=6

amaferanga

nosmo-king wrote:

Last time I toured Scotland I got the train to Glasgow and headed off to Loch Lomond. Then up the west coast to Oban and Ullapool. Try the Bealch na Ba pass over to Applecross. It's the highest road pass in Britain. Glencoe is also worth a trip.

Its not actually( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_highest_roads_in_Scotland) but it is the best

nosmo-king

Thanks Amaferanga,

I stand corrected! It does have the highest gain in altitude though 'cos it starts at more or less sea level. ( I'm gonna have to go back up to Sconny Botland and tackle the other two you mentioned!

amaferanga

I'm planning on doing this route as an audax next year, but might make an interesting wee tour...

The 10 highest roads in Scotland:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr ... 943848&z=8

rhext

I'm planning on doing a version of the Scottish Coast-to-Coast next year with a few friends. We'll be mostly offroad, and I assume you're looking at road cycling, so I'll not bother you with routes etc. Having now done a couple, however...

1) It's perfectly easy to do this sort of thing without a guide company. You need to think about the pros and cons a bit. They'll sort out the accommodation, and some of them will ferry your kit etc. But you'll probably be cycling in a group which means you have to cycle at their pace. Having encountered a number of 'organised' groups, it's pretty obvious that most of them are having a really tough time and they seem to spend a lot of time fixing people's bikes. They also seem quite expensive for what you get.

2) Check out the caledonian sleeper. You don't have to finish in the same place as you start, you get a couple of nights sleep 'included in the price' of your transport, and you can pre-book bikes.

3) Invest in Merino wool clothing. You can then use the same clothes for a few days on the trot and really keep the weight down. Depends on time of year, but I'd recommend two Merino base layers (one long-sleeved, one t-shirt), a Merino mid-layer and a gore-tex paclite shell (or similar). You could cycle in that combination every day for five days without getting too smelly, and then you only need underwear, a change of clothing for the evening, and (given it's scotland) a lightweight fleece in case you get caught and that's about it.

4) Reconsider the panniers. I'm forced to use a backpack because I go offroad and panniers bounce around too much for comfort; but a backpack gets very very heavy when the miles start to rack up. If I were doing a trip like this on road, I wouldn't even think about a back-pack.

alan14

My brother and I toured north west Scotland over 7 days in 1985. The route was Inverness - Kinlochewe - Camusnagaul - Achmelvich - Keoldale - Durness - Carbisdale Castle - Inverness. We stayed in Youth Hostels or camped - wild in several places - and covered about 350 miles.

Highlights of the trip included the B869 between Lochinver and Unapool, described by our cycling guide book as "one of the hardest rides in Britain"; the tiny 'ferry' across the Kyle of Durness for the ride to Cape Wrath lighthouse; and taking an illegal short cut across the Invershin railway viaduct to Carbisdale Castle YH (there's now a separate pedestrian bridge).

Back in those days we didn't know about the best cycling foods and somehow survived on a diet of fried breakfasts, Mars bars, soup and sandwiches, and our natural fitness.

After a harder than expected first day, we chickened out of the planned Bealach na Ba climb and Applecross round!

pieterv

rhext wrote:

I'm planning on doing a version of the Scottish Coast-to-Coast next year with a few friends. We'll be mostly offroad, and I assume you're looking at road cycling, so I'll not bother you with routes etc.

Well, I would be quite interested to hear a bit about the route you are planning to take!

Pieter

johny c

Pieter,

I don't know what route rhext is planning, but the 'Highland Cross' route can be done on a bike. The Highland Cross is a duathlon held in June, it goes from Morvich on the west coast to Beauly on the east. The running/walking is from Morvich to Glen Affric, then cycling from there to Beauly on minor roads.

Anyhow. I raced five of them, but one year our team failed to get an entry. So we rode the whole route instead on race day. We set off on our mountain bikes before the runners, so at least we could enjoy the atmosphere of the day.

If you want to stay up there for a bit, there's a youth hostel at Alltbeithe on the route, some images here for you:

http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=alltbeithe%20hostel%2C%20glen%20affric&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Highland Cross site here, with more links to pictures of the area:

http://www.highlandcross.co.uk/frame.htm

ps. this page has become rather w i d e.

pieterv

Hi Johny,

Thanks for the info. I was going to say crossing it would be a bit long, thinking in term of English C2C distances, not realising it was 50 miles.

As a race that would still not be my cup of tea, but following the route at a more leisurely pace might.

Pieter

johny c

Pieter,

That route is a canter, we did it in a day. It's the getting there and back that's the bother, as rich will find with only five days to spare. I've toured to the highlands on a number of occasions in years past. The last time was in 2006 when I did two tours back to back. A few days to Islay and Jura, followed shortly after by the big one to Stornoway. I rode 350miles in 8 days, set off from Ayr and got a Calmac ferries 8 day rover ticket at Ardrossan. My wife picked me up at Inverness, I didn't have the time to ride the whole road home on that trip.

a wee slide show of it:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kmSfRZB1UlQ&feature=channel_page

pieterv

Hi Johny,

Looked like a nice route.

I was under the impressin part of the Highland Cross route was off road. Is it, and if so, how much?

Pieter

johny c

Pieter,

I implied, rather than stating it, that the first section from Morvich to Glen Affric was off road. When we cycled the whole route we went on our mountain bikes, because it's off road. Sorry for the confusion, the first 20 miles of the 50 mile route is off road.

I'll try and be more specific.

From the main road to Kyle of Lochalsh, heading north from Shiel Bridge on the A87, you turn off to the right for Morvich outdoor centre, Kintail. Just past the centre, the road becomes a rough track suitable for the likes of a 4x4, which goes on for a couple of miles:



At the end of this track is the climb up the Alta grand:



You'll have to drag your bike up this bit, might take a while with panniers It's rough in places, but at the top of the climb things flatten off a bit. This is from memory going back to the 80's, but it's a trail sometimes muddy from there on. Until the last few miles to Glen Affric car park, on to the yellow brick road as it's known. A stony track, which was torture for an average runner by this stage of the race, it was sore on the feet. On a bike it's a doddle though.

Here's a look at the video section of the highland cross site for better illustration:

http://www.highlandcross.co.uk/Video/Highland%20Cross%201991%20Clip%2001.wmv

http://www.highlandcross.co.uk/Video/Highland%20Cross%201991%20-%20Clip%2005.wmv

http://www.highlandcross.co.uk/Video/Highland%20Cross%201991%20-%20Clip%2003.wmv

rhext

pieterv wrote:

rhext wrote:

I'm planning on doing a version of the Scottish Coast-to-Coast next year with a few friends. We'll be mostly offroad, and I assume you're looking at road cycling, so I'll not bother you with routes etc.

Well, I would be quite interested to hear a bit about the route you are planning to take!

Pieter

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/j ... s.scotland