Ticktockmy
Guru
- Location
- Crawley, West Sussex
On South Harris take the East Coast Road (Golden Road) between Leverburgh and Tarbert. Via Roghadal, geocrab (Cafe)
Outer Hebrides summer 2014
- Thread starter jurjan
- Start date
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nice road, we'll take it 
And another question: what maps did you all use?
We have most of Sustrans national cycle route maps of Scotland, but there are none for most of the islands and most of western Scotland. And other maps we found (Landranger and Explorer) are like 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 in which case we would need quite a lot of maps.
And another question: what maps did you all use?
We have most of Sustrans national cycle route maps of Scotland, but there are none for most of the islands and most of western Scotland. And other maps we found (Landranger and Explorer) are like 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 in which case we would need quite a lot of maps.
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
Regarding Ullapool to Newcastle.
You could cycle from Ullapool to Inverness, northabout via Laxford Bridge if time permits, or southabout via Aultguish and Garve. An alternative might be to cycle from Ullapool to Kyle of Lochalsh and take a train (or cycle) from there to Inverness. From Inverness you can get a train direct to Newcastle (East Coast trains) or with a change at Edinburgh.
There is also the possibility of getting your bikes on a bus from Ullapool to inverness, but I have not yet seen this possibility confirmed for summer 2014.
You could cycle from Ullapool to Inverness, northabout via Laxford Bridge if time permits, or southabout via Aultguish and Garve. An alternative might be to cycle from Ullapool to Kyle of Lochalsh and take a train (or cycle) from there to Inverness. From Inverness you can get a train direct to Newcastle (East Coast trains) or with a change at Edinburgh.
There is also the possibility of getting your bikes on a bus from Ullapool to inverness, but I have not yet seen this possibility confirmed for summer 2014.
nice road, we'll take it
And another question: what maps did you all use?
We have most of Sustrans national cycle route maps of Scotland, but there are none for most of the islands and most of western Scotland. And other maps we found (Landranger and Explorer) are like 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 in which case we would need quite a lot of maps.
The UK Ordnance Survey (OS) used to do a travel map at the scale of 1:250000, that was adequate for touring in the Western Isles. It is no longer available in printed form, but you can download the maps from the OS. The download gives you 100km x 100km tiles in the tiff format. You would need to cut and paste sections together to create maps for the areas you want to visit.
You can get the maps from: https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendatadownload/products.html - they will send you an email with a link to the download.
Will
Ticktockmy
Guru
- Location
- Crawley, West Sussex
I use the memory Map computer based maps, and print of a strip map, however I also carry a A5 size copy of Philips concise road atlas, which, which provides generally a good enough road map for cycling around the UK.
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
There are no longer any good UK maps at a smaller scale than 1:50,000. Most people either end up buying one of the better road atlases and pulling the relevant pages out, relying on GPS, or using some other map such as Michelin.
And another question: what maps did you all use?
We have most of Sustrans national cycle route maps of Scotland, but there are none for most of the islands and most of western Scotland. And other maps we found (Landranger and Explorer) are like 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 in which case we would need quite a lot of maps.
I saw the problem coming and stocked up on the 1:250,000 maps when they went out of print.
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
We picked up a new series of maps (can't think of the name) back in September when at the Tourist Information Office in Ullapool. I think there were 5 or 7 to the series covering the whole of Scotland. Even for the mainland they were fine for navigating with and given the lack of roads in the Outer Hebrides should be more than adequate for there. It was a new 'manufacturer' to me... I will try to see if I can locate the copy we purchased because they were ideal for what we wanted (west coast JOGLE) and even marked campsites! They were not expensive either.
thanks everyone on the map issue tips, we will look into it.
We found a 1:300,000 in a local shop, but we will look into the download/print option as well. And we are very interested in the name of that new series SatNav mentioned.
We were hoping for something in the 1:100,000 range, like the Sustrans cycling route maps which we really like. But probably the 1:250,000 and 1:300,000 will indeed be good enough for areas like this with not a lot of roads...
We found a 1:300,000 in a local shop, but we will look into the download/print option as well. And we are very interested in the name of that new series SatNav mentioned.
We were hoping for something in the 1:100,000 range, like the Sustrans cycling route maps which we really like. But probably the 1:250,000 and 1:300,000 will indeed be good enough for areas like this with not a lot of roads...
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KneesUp
Guru
I think this is a newer version of the maps I have at home somewhere.
http://www.waterstones.com/watersto...and/6328991/?gclid=CLLjovGzirwCFZHJtAodl1cAAg
It's 1:50,000 although I'm not sure it covers the islands.
All in all this isn't a very useful post. Sorry. I have seen puffins on Handa as late as mid-July though, if that helps?
http://www.waterstones.com/watersto...and/6328991/?gclid=CLLjovGzirwCFZHJtAodl1cAAg
It's 1:50,000 although I'm not sure it covers the islands.
All in all this isn't a very useful post. Sorry. I have seen puffins on Handa as late as mid-July though, if that helps?
CycleTourer
Veteran
- Location
- Bury St. Edmunds
I can concur with all the other posters that the Outer Hebrides is a lovely ride. Places that we enjoyed the most definitely are Callanish, the Blackhouse museum at Na Geàrrannan, the Dun Carloway Iron Age Broch, Vatasay, Berneray, but out of all the islands Harris stood out for us as one of the nicest, may be it was down to having the best weather but the sandy beaches and the beautiful blue sea with the backdrop of the mountains of North Harris, just jaw dropping!
Just to throw something else into the mix. Most people seem to go straight to Barra from Oban but have you thought about catching the ferry to Col & Tiree and then going on to Barra both of these islands are IOHO just as nice as some of the Outer Hebrides with some stunning beaches and lovely machair and if you are there at the right time the flowers are wonderful. And if you are really lucky on the two islands you might just get to see the elusive and rare corncrake, although you will definitely hear them!
There is an account of our trip that we did back in 2011 with a few photos of Col & Tiree and the Outer Hebrides here.
Which ever way you go we hope the weather is good for you and you get southerly winds, as we had a long run of northerlies and it was hard work. Oh and I nearly forgot, if you are going on to Lewis from Harris you have the delights of the climb up the An Cliseam on the A859 which isn't one of the steepest climbs we have done but it is still a good pull and with a fully loaded touring bike it will certainly get the old lungs going!
Just to throw something else into the mix. Most people seem to go straight to Barra from Oban but have you thought about catching the ferry to Col & Tiree and then going on to Barra both of these islands are IOHO just as nice as some of the Outer Hebrides with some stunning beaches and lovely machair and if you are there at the right time the flowers are wonderful. And if you are really lucky on the two islands you might just get to see the elusive and rare corncrake, although you will definitely hear them!
There is an account of our trip that we did back in 2011 with a few photos of Col & Tiree and the Outer Hebrides here.
Which ever way you go we hope the weather is good for you and you get southerly winds, as we had a long run of northerlies and it was hard work. Oh and I nearly forgot, if you are going on to Lewis from Harris you have the delights of the climb up the An Cliseam on the A859 which isn't one of the steepest climbs we have done but it is still a good pull and with a fully loaded touring bike it will certainly get the old lungs going!
CycleTourer, that sounds like a very nice route you took, you took about four weeks for your trip?
we'll be hoping that we'll have some of your luck with the weather, the pictures seem very sunny.
We hadn't thought about the Inner Hebrides, thanks very much for that tip!
What do most people use for traveling with CalMac?
just buy single tickets?
string hopscotch routes together?
Island Rover?
some very obscure, but very useful option?
thanks,
Jurjan
we'll be hoping that we'll have some of your luck with the weather, the pictures seem very sunny.
We hadn't thought about the Inner Hebrides, thanks very much for that tip!
What do most people use for traveling with CalMac?
just buy single tickets?
string hopscotch routes together?
Island Rover?
some very obscure, but very useful option?
thanks,
Jurjan
You really need to work out what's best for your journey. If you want to use a lot of ferries within the 8 or 15 day island Rover periods that can be your best bet but if you decide to spend longer on the islands thereby reducing the number of ferry journeys it may not be the most cost effective option. The Hopscotch tickets save money compared to individual single tickets. Hopscotch tickets need to be used within a month so if you buy the appropriate set of tickets as you go along, there shouldn't be any time pressures.
Furball,
yep, that's what we thought.
We don't like to overplan (it's a holiday fer Pete's sake), but with ferries some of the rules change.
I think our best option will be to tentatively plan a route, add up the ferry tickets and compare to the Rover tickets and Hopscotch.
Thanks,
Jurjan
yep, that's what we thought.
We don't like to overplan (it's a holiday fer Pete's sake), but with ferries some of the rules change.
I think our best option will be to tentatively plan a route, add up the ferry tickets and compare to the Rover tickets and Hopscotch.
Thanks,
Jurjan