Scottish road trip-Advice appreciated

[reflexboy]

In June the fairer half and I are planning a road trip from home (Surrey) to Scotland. We drove up there two years ago and stayed near Callander and had a great time.
We like driving through areas with good roads and great scenery and although not 'pro walkers' we do enjoy a couple of hours ramble in our £40 Sports Direct boots!!-Definitely not pro!

I was really just after a bit of advice of where to go and what to visit type thing. We enjoy the rural side of things, and are happy to occasionally see a big town/castle, however the point of this holiday is to get away from the hustle and bustle of living and working where we do.

We have a max of two weeks to spare, and have already decided to drive up in one day to stay where we did two years ago on the shores of Loch Lubnaig, near Callander. Our accommodation is already booked for this first leg for four nights stay, where we can explore Loch Lomond, Trossachs and the great Duke's Pass.

After that we had the following in mind and this is where you, and any locals to the area come in for some advice please.

We were thinking of going on from Callander to Glencoe, Fort William, Isle of Skye, up to Inverness, and then on the way back explore the Cairngorms, before finally going down for a few nights in Edinburgh, with a half day visit to relatives in Bo'ness.

So, is there much to see in the above places and is it worth the drive to the Isle of Skye or is it a long way to go for not much? Also any advice on great scenery and driving roads? I particularly enjoyed Duke's Pass from Callander to Aberfoyle. I think Steve(***) mentioned this a few times!!

Many thanks in advance for your help.
PS-Going in mid June, so what's the best way to deal with the midges.:bannana:

 

[Ted]

Stopping in the log cabins? I enjoyed a week there a few years ago.
Well, on that side it is absolutely worth going up a few miles to the Braes of Balquhidder - really beautiful.
Again, if you are stopping in the log cabins it isa cracking walk along the disused railway track to the next town, but it is a good twelve mile round trip so hope you are reasonably fit.
The western highlands are, for me, the most beautiful place. Glencoe is stunning, but I always feel it has a real sense of foreboding. You will also find it busy with tourists. You may want to drive the beautiful road through Glen Etive - it's a few miles and ends at a ruined jetty. Well worth the drive.
Fort William is a tourist trap, but turn right on the way out and you head into Glen Nevis. Follow the road to the end with the ben to your left, park up at the end, and walk through the gorge to the falls of Steall. Magnificent.
Of course if you turn left out of Fort William you take 'the road to the isles' to Mallaig. You go through arguably the most beautiful glen in Scotland, Glenfinnan, - stop a while at the monument, and past the silver sands of Morar - if the weather is good it is just like a tropical beach.
Moving north, don't miss the seven sisters of kintail, and take a run over the top to Glenelg. You may even want to stop at the Glenelg Brochs - they are amazing structures.
More to follow .....

 

[Ted]

Back agin.
While you are up there you MUST take the Bealach na Ba aka the applecross pass.
Once you are at the top, you can pull over and you will see a radio mast. If you wal up to it - a bit of a task tbh, you will be on the edge of a drop that I reckon is about two thousand feet. Scary stuff!
Follow the road round to Applecross and Sheildaig. It's not fantastic but it is a nice drive.
As you go north you can miss out Ullapool. It's not very nice.
Skye, for me, is not all it is cracked up to be, but there is a great vista of the Cuillins on the way back from Portree. The Cuillins are a very harsh set of hills that some people like, but I personally dont find attractive. While you are there, the kyle of Lochalsh is beautiful and Plockton is worth a visit if only for the palm trees on the road through the village.
Lots more to see up that way - just get on and drive- it is all fantastic country.

 

[reflexboy]

Stopping in the log cabins? I enjoyed a week there a few years ago.
Well, on that side it is absolutely worth going up a few miles to the Braes of Balquhidder - really beautiful.
Again, if you are stopping in the log cabins it isa cracking walk along the disused railway track to the next town, but it is a good twelve mile round trip so hope you are reasonably fit.
The western highlands are, for me, the most beautiful place. Glencoe is stunning, but I always feel it has a real sense of foreboding. You will also find it busy with tourists. You may want to drive the beautiful road through Glen Etive - it's a few miles and ends at a ruined jetty. Well worth the drive.
Fort William is a tourist trap, but turn right on the way out and you head into Glen Nevis. Follow the road to the end with the ben to your left, park up at the end, and walk through the gorge to the falls of Steall. Magnificent.
Of course if you turn left out of Fort William you take 'the road to the isles' to Mallaig. You go through arguably the most beautiful glen in Scotland, Glenfinnan, - stop a while at the monument, and past the silver sands of Morar - if the weather is good it is just like a tropical beach.
Moving north, don't miss the seven sisters of kintail, and take a run over the top to Glenelg. You may even want to stop at the Glenelg Brochs - they are amazing structures.
More to follow .....

Many thanks Ted. I will write all the above down ready for June. Yes,The Forest-Holidays Cabins. Love them. Been to the ones in the Forest of Dean twice, Yorkshire three times and Deerpark about five times. Apart from Strathyre, Deerpark in Cornwall is one of my favorites and I first went there as a child in the 70's

 

[Ted]

View attachment 41037 View attachment 41036 The view of Loch Lubhnaig from our cabin and Mrs Ted on a walk in the Braes o' Balquhidder.
Went past there last year when we had a few days in Glen Lyon - that is worth a visit if you are on that side - there is a pretty impressive (and scary) dam at the end.

 

[reflexboy]

That decking looks familiar Ted. Great stuff. Will report back at the end of June.

 

[Druk]

Ted is quite correct about taking the Glenelg road after seeing the 'Sisters'

This is the ferry at the end of the road and takes you over to Skye (return by the bridge). however...unless the sisters have been hard at it since I was last there, there are only five of them not seven . Sorry Ted



While on Skye don't miss the B8083 from Broadford to Ergol. Single track dead-end road but just magnificent scenery and the view over to the Cullins from Ergol is just the best.

While you're on the Dukes Pass take the unsurfaced toll road (£1) at the summit. Easy drive despite gravel surface, we did it in an SL last year and it's V pretty.




.


.

 

[BEJ]

If you want to go further north, take "the Mad Road" from Lochinver to Scourie. It is the B road on the left as you exit Lochinver. Take your time and admire the fantastic views as you follow the coast north.
Watch out for the golden eagles!!

 

[moonloops]

Ah fond memories of the A82 at warp 9+ for over an hour without seeing any other traffic..

 

[Druk]

IMHO.. Fort William, Inverness and Kyle 0f Lochalsh are pretty much not worth spending time there. Portree is nice and has good eateries and a couple of hotels and plenty B&B's.

If you have time...from Inverness get to Nairn then take the A939 heading for Grantown on Spey, passing Corgarff Castle and further to Ballater. There turn right A93 to Braemar passing Balmoral. Carry on A93 Glenshee and Devils Elbow to B950 on right linking with A924 to Pitlochry, good hotels and grub and plenty B&B's. Hydro Dam worth a look. Easy run from there to Edinburgh.

Corgarff Castle.


On the A939


Braemar. Worth a moments stop.



.

 

[del320]

Previous threads by R2D2 and Marvin16x and also myself and *** (late of this parish) could give you some ideas but after driving all the way from Surrey, I would not want to see you taking out two weeks of your life driving like a looney all over the country. You just can't do it all!

What sort of accomodation do you intend staying in? S/C log cabins, B&Bs or good hotels? And for how long at each? This is crucial as you could finish up in some right dump when, in fact, there are some real gems - as far as B&Bs go.

Three nights in each of three or four carefully selected locations will allow some great day trips - but at the height of summer don't reckon on much more than 150 miles per day if you want to see any more than a blur!

Certainly Kintail, Skye and the far NW are well worth the effort whilst Fort William and Aviemore are worth avoiding!

 

[Tinytots]

Oban (Aspen Lodge B&B, this is quiet and beautiful), Glen Coe, Fortwilliam (Guisachan guest house Fab), Aviemore, Balater and Balmoral. Fantastic.

 

[artyman]

Here's a video I did through Glen Coe in September, a trip sadly curtailed when I fell and sprained my ankle, whilst photographing a train at Glenfinnan entailing a trip to A&E at Fort William.
Glen Coe Trip - YouTube

The trossachs are nice and the West coast is superb, in fact it's a bit difficult not to find somewhere nice, the big drawback for me is the distance from the South Coast.

 

[reflexboy]

Wow! So many replies. Thanks to you all. I will take a look at the places you mentioned when I get in from work later and plot a route and seek out accommodation.

 

[flying haggis]

if you make it to Inverness and fancy a day off driving take the train to Thurso and back long day but it goes nowhere near roads for mile after mile

 

[Rayny]

For some other ideas, you might like to do a forum search for :
Post by : ***
with the subject : touring

For the journey up you might like to try the A1(M) and A1 as far as Scotch Corner, then use the A66 to join the M6 near Penrith. In my opinion it is a more pleasant route.

 

[Rayny]

Also, I asked a similar question a couple of years ago and the thread gave me some good pointers:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/ot-o...8-requesting-advice-our-scottish-members.html

 

[RST1979]

I haven't read all the posts but as I travel most places (and live north of the "Gap" Alex is hoping to close)...

Come up east side, your choice A1 or the cross country routes -east cost of the borders is OK. Come up through Edinburgh, stop at South Queensferry and see the 4th Rail Bridge (stopping point -"kidnapped fame"), go across the forth road bridge, take the coast road EAST -go up through Pittenweem, Crail, Lower Largo ("Robinson Cruso"?), head on up through St Andrews. I would head north from Dundee -your choice, coast road or A96 Aberdeen has nothing for me but there's plenty of castles etc also "Dunnotar Castle" (Frankenstein?), I would either head up on the A96, or preferably take the long road through Fraserburgh, Banff and Bucke (nothing there but a nice drive), end up at Elgin and head west. On your way post you might pass a place called "Brodie", then on to Inverness -look for signs for "Cawdor" -I can't remember which, but one of the two was supposed to be the influence for "Hamlet", in reality they're both nice stately homes with good tea shops.

You have to stop in Inverness, it's really lovely (obviously biased), nice big town (not really a city). Stay overnight -go and see castle Urquhart, 20 mins drive away. Now, from here, your choice whether to go up north up on the A9 and go up John O'groats direction. I would say if you stay in Inverness -do Loch ness morning then go back and go up to Dornoch / Bonar Bridge afternoon.

Next day come from Inverness and head West, past Loch Ness (all the way, it's not a particularly nice road to Ft William), her rain and some pubs will greet you, stop off at the war memorial on the way. Glenfinnan viaduct I have yet to see, it's close to Ft William though.

From there my memory of the roads is less but head south and follow the west coast down. Can't remember if it heads down to Perth, but if you get the chance stop in Pitlochry, and see a show at the theatre. From there there's a few routes, I can't remember but the west coast ones end up more Glasgow, if you were to go through the Trossachs you'd end up at Stirling -Stirling Castle is well worth a visit, but I prefer the Wallace Monument.

From that head wherever down south -save for a plug for my home town Linlithgow -Jewel in the area, birthplace of lots of folk, Mary Queen of Scots etc and 1,200 year old burgh (15 mins from S Queensferry).

Ididn't go into the very north roads much because at the very top of the country they turn into some "hard core driving". You can turn out of Inverness, east, head for "Dingwall / Strathpeffer", go up through Ullapool / Gairloch -if you head north on the east side -up through Assynt -awesome views but not nice toads -as you come up across the top west it can turn into farm tracks towards Tongue -then towards Douneray and cut across country -bleak farmland (not very interesting).

.....Phew. I can't imagine why anyone likes coming up here. I like rolling farm land and country pubs!

 

[RST1979]

PS: that was fairly comprehensive. You can duck and dive off that through the likes of speyside, but don't expect any half decent roads. It's the west coast bit I can't remember too much and you can do loops out to the islands (again -I find some of the roads quite hard going), one thing though -avoid Aviemore (it's too boring) so work your way down off the A9.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ted]

'Hail Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor'!