Fortnight-ish for the west coast of Scotland - suggestions?

[swee'pea99]

I had a great time last summer island-hopping around the more southerly western isles region, particularly on & about Islay. Now I've suggested heading back that way to a friend and he's keen...so we're looking for any thoughts on heading maybe a bit more north this time - train up to Glasgow, then up past Loch Lomond to sort of Fort William way, then maybe Skye, Harris....? Maybe a round trip, or maybe just head north then end up taking a train back to Glasgow. Don't know really - very much just after ideas and suggestions. Any such very welcome and much appreciated.

 

[stuartmac]

As you will know form last year, get the weather and its a trip of a lifetime, get a gale and driving rain and it's a bit a shocker. Still the irn bru, haggis and chips and whisky make up for that

All of the Outer Hebrides are stunning in their own way and the people, places to stay are just magical. You could just stay on the mainland and do something like cycle Glasgow up through Loch Lomond, across Glencoe to Fort William then up the Great Glen to Inverness (cycle the quiet side of Loch Ness) it's stunning. Then from Inverness to Ullapool, across to Stornoway then make your way down to Benbecula and back to Oban or Mallaig, cycle (Oban to Glasgow) or (Mallaig to Fort William) or just get the train back. Mallaig to Fort William on the old road is stunning. Maybe whilst in Mallaig get the ferry to Inverie (Knoydart) and stay in the Old Forge, most remote pub in Britain (used to be my great great Uncle's house when it was a Blacksmiths!! A lot of years ago) great place, landlocked, population of about 80 but a top top highland pub (look it up)

Or stay on the Mainland altogether and cycle the whisky trail more on the East of the country. You can't go wrong up there, lots of hills and midges but if you pick the right roads and stay off the tourist routes you'll miss the traffic which can be a bit crap, lots of motorcycles and touring vans from the continent.

Or do the North Coast 500, becoming quite iconic, supposed to do it 60 miles a day, but you can do what you like.

http://www.northcoast500.com/itinerary/cyclists-(1).aspx

Not short of things to do, the Islands are fantastic but so is the rest of Scotland.

I've plumped for a Channel to Med this year, but I'd go to Scotland at the drop of a hat.

Cheers
Stu

 

[gasinayr]

Why stay on the train to Glasgow, get off at Dumfries do Dumfries and Galloway into Ayrshire ferry across to Arran and over to Argyll and the islands then back to Glasgow for train home

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks Stu - that's amazingly helpful and I'll be sharing it with my friend. Definitely some great ideas to check out. I can see him going for that North Coast 500 - he loves things like that!

Thanks again.

 

[swee'pea99]

Why stay on the train to Glasgow, get off at Dumfries do Dumfries and Galloway into Ayrshire ferry across to Arran and over to Argyll and the islands then back to Glasgow for train home

Thanks for the suggestion. We couldn't actually do that as such, 'cos we'd be coming up on the London-Glasgow train, and as best I remember it doesn't stop there (tho' I could be wrong, and just having one of those senior moments). I'll take a look, but I think we're both a bit heart-set on heading north...

 

[furball]

Thanks for the suggestion. We couldn't actually do that as such, 'cos we'd be coming up on the London-Glasgow train, and as best I remember it doesn't stop there (tho' I could be wrong, and just having one of those senior moments). I'll take a look, but I think we're both a bit heart-set on heading north...

It is possible to get off at Carlisle.
If you are using west coast trains you need to be aware the bike spaces have recently been limited to two and may need to be prebooked. Get yourself a Calmac brochure. Its much easier to plan with the full timetable in front of you rather than looking at different screens on a computer.

 

[pkeenan]

Sounds fantastic. I'm planning a similar trip - something along these lines:

Setting off from Glasgow I'll head to Arran, then maybe across Kintyre to Islay/Jura. Then I'll head back to mainland and pedal up to Oban where I'll take the calmac to Barra, the Uists, Harris and Lewis. I'll be staying with family in Lewis for a few days, before returning via Skye and hopefully Mull. Then a pedal back from Oban to Glasgow via Loch Lomond.

My last Scottish bike trip was mainly north central/east coast stuff - so apart from family holidays (when I was 6 or so!) on Mull and Skye, this whole trip will be new territory for me!

 

[growingvegetables]

... we'd be coming up on the London-Glasgow train

Get off at Lockerbie? You'd have to change trains somewhere ... but it's a nice ride across to Dumfries. Or was 40 years ago!

 

[Rasmus]

There's not a lot of wrong choices - anywhere you go will be an excellent adventure.

My recommendation is to fit in at least a few days around Mull/Ardnamurchan/Morvern.

A few of my favourite spots around the west coast / isles:

Glen Lonan (back road between Taynuilt and Oban)
Calgary Bay to Tobermory on Mull
The B road through Kingairloch on the west side of Loch Linnhe
Hugging the coast from Ardnamurchan lighthouse to Mallaig
Glenfinnan
The Quirang on Skye

(Sadly) haven't spent enough time on the outer Hebrides to make many recommendations, but if you feel like testing the lowest gears on your bikes, try the road to Hushinish on Harris.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with Calmac "hopscotch" combination tickets - lots of money to be saved. And study the timetables for ferries out to the western isles - they run at somewhat irregular schedules.

 

[furball]

Hopscotch tickets no longer offer discounts but there is no charge for bikes so a person with a bike pays the passenger fare.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks all - loads of food for thought here...I shall be busy looking into all these suggestions and seeing how some might fit together. (Tho' I mentioned the North Coast 500 to my friend and it certainly caught his attention!) Have to say re hopscotch tickets that I was amazed at just how cheap the ferries were when I was island-hopping last year - certainly not a problem there. Thanks again.

 

[jay clock]

I misread the title as the Wet coast of Scotland!

 

[mcshroom]

There's lots to have a go at up there. I caught the train up to Lairg with @Ruthie back in the Autumn and we toured round the North Coast to Ullapool then spent some time on Lewis, Harris and Skye before heading back to Fort William for the train home.

Write up of that trip is here - https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=93689.0

We weren't travelling that quickly, were carrying camping gear and had a couple days off. It should be possible to head down to Mallaig, across to Ardnamurchan Point and then tour round Mull if you travel a bit quicker

You could also head up from Arran onto the Mull of Kintyre, and up to Oban which I would think would be a nicer route up than the A82 near Loch Lomond.

 

[robing]

I did this last year: left my car in Oban (or you could go by train). Ferry to Barra, did an Outer Hebrides end to end, then get the ferry back from Harris to Uig (Skye). Cycle the length of Skye and get the ferry to Mallaig. Then cycle to Ardnamurchan and get the ferry to Tobermory. Explore Mull, then ferry back from Mull to Oban. I was lucky with the weather in September, but the midges were out in force!