North west scotland when and where!

andyrich_1

I've yet to cycle around any of Scotland so this year I've got a 14 day tour in mind. I've heard plenty about the midges and the rain. When is a good time to go or is it always going to be a compromise between one or the other.

The other side of the trip is where to go. As a starter for ten I was thinking of flying into Inverness and hoping to make my way to some of the islands on the north west coast. Does anyone out there have any suggestions?

The bike set up I have is a road bike with camping gear etc so no off road stuff for me.

nwallace

For the Hebrides from Inverness you would need to either cycle across to Ullapool to get to Lewis, Through the Great Glen to Fort Bill and then up to Mallaig for Skye or down to Oban for Mull, Coll, Tiree and Barra.

Midgie Season is Tourist Season, tourists apparently have a severe inability to drive hire cars on the "narrow" roads up there.

rankbadyin

Hi Andy
Early May and late September the midgies are less of a problem, if you were starting in Inverness I would suggest heading north west to Durness via Altnaharra and Glen Hope the A836 turns in to a single track road with little or no traffic to speak of.
Durness has a YH and bunk house to staying but there is not much else on the way up after Invershin.

The road from Durness to Ullapool is pretty lumpy and again little in the way of places to stock up. From Ullappol you can get the ferry to Stornaway and island hop using the Cal-Mac ferries all the way down to Skye/Oban depending on what takes your fancy.

If you need more specific info pm me

Cheers
Rankbadyin

chasctc

September and especially May are the best months for weather and midges but only by Highland standards ie it could easily be worse than you're used to. May 2008 was fantastic - the best in 30 years. It's hard to beIieve 2009 will be as good.

You havent stated your mileage so below may be too much/too little.

Starting in Inverness head NW towards Tongue then W to Durness (and possibly Cape Wrath) and down the W coast keeping to the sea all the way to Kyle of Lochalsh (except Applecross unless you're very fit!). Over to Skye and off at Armadale (Skye is more for walkers; Glenbrittle, Trotternish etc are great scenery but the main road is not fun) Mallaig to Lochailort to Kilchoan and over to Mull. This is by far the best cycling island (if you like hills) and perhaps Iona. Back to the mainland at Oban and up to Inverness along the Great Glen (keep E of Loch Ness). You should enjoy quiet roads except A82 ie between Ballachulsh and Fort Augustus.

If too little then add across Skye to Uig and Harris then down to Barra and back to Oban (but you might miss Mull). Or start in either Glasgow or Edinburgh!

peter_andrew

101 Bike Routes in Scotland
by Harry Henniker (Author)
See amazon for very cheap 2nd hand.
Well worth it with loads of tips palces to see and stay
I used it for day tours when i stayed up around Ullapool

Peter