I am heading up to Scotland in June on my TTR as my other half is going to be in Glasgow with work and I was thinking of heading up to Skye while I'm there. Just a thought though, has anyone on here visited anywhere in Scotland on a bike and got any recommendations of must ride roads, places to stay (I am planning on camping) etc.
Always nice to get any advice from someone who has been before.
I could take you some of the way from Stretton near Warrington through the Trough of Bowland, Sedbergh, Kirkby Stephen, Brampton, Longtown, Moffatt etc up to Jocksville if the day works out. I am actually going to Glasgow meself on the 26th June but I'll be on the Smt and not hanging around. I can definitely send you a route to keep you well away from the crowds.
You will go on some of the great roads on the way to Skye, i.e through Loch Lomond and Glencoe and Fort William etc, make sure you stop at the green welly stop petrol station/cafe just before you get to Glencoe for a bacon butty and a chat with all the other bikers that roll up there frequently. After you have done Skye, I recommend going north just a bit further and visiting Applecross, there is a awesome mountain pass road that takes you there, and when you get there, there is a really good very reasonably priced campsite with restaurant/bar and there is a really nice pub too with views across the bay to the Isle of Raasay. You can expect to see views like this if you go to Applecross:
-- Edited by peteBLUEttr on Friday 10th of April 2015 01:46:13 PM
Thanks for your offer The Mancunian very kind of you, but I am planning on doing that bit as quickly as possible to make the most of the time up in Scotland.
Brilliant Pete, that's the sort of thing I was after, I will make a note of that and try and plan it into the trip.
Yeah the Applecross 'pass of the cattle' really is a great road with awesome views. And it is nice sitting outside the pub there with a pint looking out across the bay, its only about an hour further north when you get back on the mainland. There will more than likely be some bikers there to chat to too. June is a great month for scotland, I also go in june. Longest days and fewest amount of midges flying around etc.
One question then Pete, and it might sound daft, but how abundant are filling stations if I am going from Uig on Skye to Applecross and then possibly over to Edinburgh? Obviously some of it is quite rural and as I am on the TTR with not a massive range I thought I would just check!
Some rural ones shut on Sundays, you're generally ok though if you get some while you can. If I were going mooching off the main roads I'd take some with me just in case.
Yes there are definitely fewer around in the highlands than down here but its not that bad. You can get over 70 to a ttr tank cant you. Like Steve says you could just fill up at every station you see within reason obviously. If you only wanted to fill at convenience i.e when you are stopping for a rest then yes you could carry a bottle with some in.
Day 1 - Plymouth to Kendall
Day 2 - Kendall to Glasgow (free night in a hotel as my better half will be there with work)
Day 3 - Glasgow to Uig
Day 4 - Uig to Applecross
Day 5 - Day 7 still to be decided but I do want to take in York on the way home!
Thanks j180, perhaps I will just carry a spare bit of fuel just in case!
There are sometimes one pump beside small village/hamlet shops in highland settings which you have to keep your eye out for like in the attached picture, and as you can see they tend to be relatively expensive obviously because of their out of the way location. I got by just fine when I went on my old hog and that bike only used to do 120 to a tank. On the way over to skye I recommend going on the ferry from mallaig because the A87 to get to mallaig is a great road. Also if you have time I recommend you checking out the east side of loch ness as there are some quite interesting twisty scenic roads around there with some places to possibly wild camp if that is your thing!
I stayed at Hollowgate farm B&B, Selside near Kendal on the way back down from scotland once, ha they had art deco furniture in there and bakelite fixtures it was like being thrown back to 1910 and eerie too, maybe you could stay there Nige?!...cheap though....
-- Edited by peteBLUEttr on Thursday 28th of May 2015 04:40:32 PM
That sounds good Pete, but I've already booked up some campsites now with the one in Kendall included. The Kendall one is the expensive one costing me £13.50 for the night!
The plan is now firmed up as...
Day 1 - Plymouth to Kendall
Day 2 - Kendal to Glasgow (free night in a hotel as my better half will be there with work)
Day 3 - Glasgow to Applecross
Day 4 - A day around Skye and back to Applecross
Day 5 - Applecross to Haddington
Day 6 - Haddington to York
Day 7 - York for the day
Day 8 - York to Plymouth
Will be leaving on Sat 13th June and really looking forward to it now. Does seem a bit daft that not long before downsizing to the TTR I had a BMWR1150R and before that a 1250 Bandit, yet its the TTR that's made me do this trip!
I did fancy it, but it was just tying in where I wanted to stay and the time to do it all. If this goes well I'm sure I will be dragging my brother up there next year!
You will go on some of the great roads on the way to Skye, i.e through Loch Lomond and Glencoe and Fort William etc, make sure you stop at the green welly stop petrol station/cafe just before you get to Glencoe for a bacon butty and a chat with all the other bikers that roll up there frequently. After you have done Skye, I recommend going north just a bit further and visiting Applecross, there is a awesome mountain pass road that takes you there, and when you get there, there is a really good very reasonably priced campsite with restaurant/bar and there is a really nice pub too with views across the bay to the Isle of Raasay. You can expect to see views like this if you go to Applecross:
-- Edited by peteBLUEttr on Friday 10th of April 2015 01:46:13 PM
Mate that place looks like somewhere I could spend days play around on a trials bike...
.
-- Edited by petenz on Friday 29th of May 2015 11:03:41 PM
There is some great vistas up there, there isn't very many legal trails in scotland though as j180 will tell you. There are some nice rocky mountainous ones in north wales though.
So the big Scotland trip has began I suppose, guess Nige should be rolling up at Kendal in the next few hours... Did you wack an iPod on for for the motorway Nige? You try the Kendal Mint Cake?!... Looking forward to the report.
-- Edited by peteBLUEttr on Friday 19th of June 2015 11:56:16 PM
