taxi to john o groats

[redfox]

You overestimate the speed of the train. The van is quicker. My bike was ready ands waiting for me at Thurso. Shame the van driver wouldn't let me travel with the bike

LOL, I did wonder when writing the comment.

We really do have a piss poor train service in this country compared to other countries in Europe.

 

[bianchi1]

I was about to post this question. I am riding a LEJOG from 2nd - 17th August and will need to get to the station in Wick from JOG to get a train on the morning of the 17th (a Sunday). Your taxi could take me and my friend back down to Wick from JOG on the Saturday evening if that helps. Our plans aren't set in stone just yet as I am currently reworking the mileages, but it's a thought. Even better we could take the taxi back to Inverness on the Sat night and fly down to Brum the next day, but we'd have the problem of bike bags...unless you want to recycle the ones you use to come up on the plane... we should PM about this.

The taxi firm i was planning to use are based in Thurso, so i guess would charge you again for a trip going south from JOG. I think I am going to use a used cardboard bike box from my local bike shop on the plane and just throw it away at the other end. You are quite welcome to have it and i could poss shove an old canvas bike bag in there as well if you need another. What have the rail firms told you about traveling with your bike? I plan to be at JOG at around 2/3 pm on the sat 16. Funny isnt it that the hardest thing about this ride seems to be the transport to the start and finish!

 

[dodgy]

How about UPSing your bike to somewhere local to the start?

Dave.

 

[Kirstie]

The taxi firm i was planning to use are based in Thurso, so i guess would charge you again for a trip going south from JOG. I think I am going to use a used cardboard bike box from my local bike shop on the plane and just throw it away at the other end. You are quite welcome to have it and i could poss shove an old canvas bike bag in there as well if you need another. What have the rail firms told you about traveling with your bike? I plan to be at JOG at around 2/3 pm on the sat 16. Funny isnt it that the hardest thing about this ride seems to be the transport to the start and finish!

Thanks bianchi1 I just PMd you back! The rail firms just say that you need a reservation. Our main problem is the time it takes to get back from JOG, so flying would be a good solution for us.

 

[ronstrutt]

Also the your bike doesn't go on the train, they cart it up to Wick in a van. So you have to hang around and wait for it, re-assemble (again) and then cycle the 17 last miles.

I think they've abandoned the van now, but when I used it the van was there long before the train and I got there to find the bikes unloaded and ready to ride off!

 

[ronstrutt]

We really do have a piss poor train service in this country compared to other countries in Europe.

Not really the fault of the railway. In the 1980s the Department of Transport decided to fund some major new bridges on the A9 north of Inverness which vastly cut the road journey time. It was suggested that these bridges be built to carry a diverted railway line so that the Far North trains could share in the reduced journey times.

Guess what the reply from the Department of Transport was?

 

[bonj2]

sod off?

 

[User482]

I used these people (http://www.puffinexpress.co.uk/bike.htm ) to get me from JOG to Inverness. Quicker than the train and cheap, but they can only take 2 bikes.

 

[Kirstie]

I used these people (http://www.puffinexpress.co.uk/bike.htm ) to get me from JOG to Inverness. Quicker than the train and cheap, but they can only take 2 bikes.

Great suggestion!

 

[redfox]

I used these people (http://www.puffinexpress.co.uk/bike.htm ) to get me from JOG to Inverness. Quicker than the train and cheap, but they can only take 2 bikes.

What a good idea, shame they only take cyclists from JOG to Inverness. Maybe there is money to be made for someone with a mini-bus and trailer prepared to ferry end-to-enders between Inverness and JOG.

 

[theloafer]

hey bianchi 1 why not give these a go we used them on last lelog to get back from inverness one way hire... http://www.europcar.com/EBE/module/booking/FirstStep.do

 

[BobLauder]

Great suggestion!

I used these people (http://www.puffinexpress.co.uk/bike.htm ) to get me from JOG to Inverness. Quicker than the train and cheap, but they can only take 2 bikes.

Hi, Thanks for this very usefull suggestion. We (2) are planning to arrive in JOG on Monday 18th or Tuesday 19th and this looks like the solution to getting back to a town.

As has been commented here figuring out how to get to LE and from JOG has been more difficult that I had anticipated. My plan to use the train in both directions failed as I was never able to get a reservation for the bikes.

I'm getting a one way hire to Penzance and cycling the last bit, so this seems to get me from JOG to Inverness, and now I only need to get from there to Lancaster.

Thanks for all of the helpful comments here.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Arch]

What a cool thing to say to any non-cyclist who is amazed by the idea of you riding LeJoG:

"Oh, the riding was easy! It was getting to and from the start that was hard..."

 

[snorri]

I don't want to get into a debate as to which is the fastest/cheapest/best way to get to John O' Groats, but would point out that some of the info offered on this thread is outdated.
There should be no great problem cycling from the airport to Inverness railway staion, approx 8 miles on level terrain although the road can be quite busy at morning and evening rush hours. Although there is a saying in these parts that flying is OK only if you've got the time to spare.
There are three trains daily from Inverness to Wick, if you are unable to book a bike space on any of these, then consider taking one of the six trains a day which take you as far as Tain or Invergordon. Scotrail do not take cycle bookings for these shorter hops, but apart from the connection leaving Inverness around 18.00, I have never seen a cyclist refused.
I believe Scotrail no longer transport cycles by van, but I think they only ever did that in the southbound direction (the van carried a load of empty coffins northbound).
Have you considered the rail sleeper service north to Inverness? Always room for bikes in the guards van, and very cheap if you book in advance, look for Bargain Berths on the Scotrail website. Even at the full fare, it is not so expensive if you think of it as B&B on wheels.It gets in to Inverness at 08.30.
Another option to consider north of Inverness is the bike bus run by Tim Dearman
http://www.timdearmancoaches.co.uk/durness.htm

 

[Anthony]

I did JoGLE last year and I found getting to John O'groats fairly easy. We booked the overnight sleeper form euston to inverness. Like snorri said, we booked it online and got a bargin bearth for about £19 each!!! Then we got the train form inverness to wick, and our bikes went in the van. we had no problems, the bikes were waiting for us in wick.