Planning a route from Swindon to Orkney

[8mph]

Following advice from another thread, I'm using cycle.travel to plot a route from Swindon to the Orkneys. It's created a route for me in about two seconds but if anyone has any alternative suggestions I'd be very grateful. I'm not looking for the quickest route, just something fairly direct and scenic. I'll be camping and travelling on a touring bike with 35mm tyres, setting out sometime in early October.

Here is the route:

https://cycle.travel/map?from=Elcom...5232481,-1.8126087&toLL=58.9818247,-2.9587261

 

[robing]

Komoot. You can choose road, touring, MTB routes and now even gravel. I've used it all over the UK and Europe including lejog last year and it's been pretty much faultless. I have the Wahoo bolt for navigation and the komoot routes are all on there.

 

[Drago]

Just a tip from a Northern islander - it's just Orkney, not the Orkneys. Orcadians are an odd lot and can offtimes be a bit snooty with outsiders, and to call the island group the Orkneys will get their backs up.

Good luck with the ride.

 

[8mph]

Just a tip from a Northern islander - it's just Orkney, not the Orkneys. Orcadians are an odd lot and can offtimes be a bit snooty with outsiders, and to call the island group the Orkneys will get their backs up.

Good luck with the ride.

Cheers, I'm heading to Sanday to visit old friends.

 

[8mph]

Komoot. You can choose road, touring, MTB routes and now even gravel. I've used it all over the UK and Europe including lejog last year and it's been pretty much faultless. I have the Wahoo bolt for navigation and the komoot routes are all on there.

I'll have to have a look, thanks.

 

[Drago]

Cheers, I'm heading to Sanday to visit old friends.

Lovely! And just before the weather really turns. Lots of pics!

 

[8mph]

Any thoughts with regard to prevailing winds, or alternative routes up the East coast through Lincoln and Yorkshire?

 

[8mph]

Lovely! And just before the weather really turns. Lots of pics!

I set off to France during a spell of high pressure last November and got caught out by the "Beast from the East". Took a week off in August and got caught for days in a gale. Might as well head North this time!

 

[Drago]

There will be wind. The air up there never stands still, even on a good day. On a bad day you will be unable to stand up outdoors. Let's hope it's the lower end of the scale!

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

Komoot. You can choose road, touring, MTB routes and now even gravel. I've used it all over the UK and Europe including lejog last year and it's been pretty much faultless. I have the Wahoo bolt for navigation and the komoot routes are all on there.

Komoot chooses more main roads than cycle.travel, it's quite a lot slower, and you have to pay for some basic features (e.g. GPX export). I'd agree that it's better than RideWithGPS etc. but I don't see a compelling advantage over the cycle.travel route that the OP planned. But then I am biased.

 

[8mph]

I don't see a compelling advantage over the cycle.travel route that the OP planned

I typed in the start and end points then hit "enter"!
Maybe I'll just go along with the route I have and travel South down the East coast, taking in Northumbria, Durham, Yorkshire.
Thanks for the input.

 

[uphillstruggler]

Cheers, I'm heading to Sanday to visit old friends.

I have had some dealings in the past with some people at the Sanday heritage centre, very nice people indeed.

I am envious as I didn’t get to visit as part of the works

Have a great trip, you obviously know that pictures are compulsory

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It goes up through that Warrington corridor, which has plenty of urban. Personally I'd cut across in the Peak District then head north through the Pennines, or use the Trans Pennine trail then head north via York.

 

[8mph]

It goes up through that Warrington corridor, which has plenty of urban. Personally I'd cut across in the Peak District then head north through the Pennines, or use the Trans Pennine trail then head north via York.

Thank you so much , this is precisely the kind of input that I was hoping for. I still haven't planned a return route so tips like these are invaluable!

 

[srw]

It looks as if your route uses the John O'Groats ferry, which appears not to run after the end of September. Year-round car ferries run from Scrabster near Thurso (certainly), and as far as I can tell also from Gill's Bay. Or there's a longer route several days a week from Aberdeen, which would maximise your time on the islands. Weather in Scotland in October could be rough - really rough.