The Scottish Islands

The best Scottish island is..........

  • Arran

    Votes: 3 60.0%
  • Islay

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • Coll & Tiree

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • Mull

    Votes: 2 40.0%
  • Skye

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • Barra and Uists

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • Harris and Lewis

    Votes: 2 40.0%
  • Orkney

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • Shetland

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • Others

    Votes: 1 20.0%

  • Total voters
    5
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toroddf said:
Ticktockmy.

I am doing this tour in 4 weeks time myself. That Barra wildcamp site; how far from the ferry-to-Eriskay terminal is it ? Is it marked or did you find it by accident ? I will probably choose that wild camp spot myself.

Its about 2 miles from the campsite to the Ferry, the Grid ref for where I camped is NF 694057, as you ride towards the airport you can see the wheelie bins the council have put near to the area which is a good marker to find the spot, normally there are others camping there. If the airport Terminal is closed you will need to make sure you have water with you as no outside tap at Terminal.
 

kewb

New Member
difficult ,
narrowed it down between arran and skye then flipped a coin arran won .
 

pubrunner

Legendary Member
andrew_s said:
I'm voting Shetlands, 'cos I like to do wildlife.
Pubrunner forgot to mention the famous Unst bus shelter, complete with sofa, TV etc (a pity their illicit power supply for it got cut off :wacko: )
It's not that difficult to get to: train to Aberdeen, catch the overnight ferry (£26.50 each way, iirc)

Very occasionally, you can find a tray of (freshly-made) homebakes left in the bus shelter - which go rather quickly.

Close to the bus shelter is the Valhalla brewery. See

http://www.valhallabrewery.co.uk/index.htm

The Sjolmet Stout is wonderful stuff !
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
pubrunner said:
The Sjolmet Stout is wonderful stuff !

That was my favourite.
There was a food & drink festival of some sort on Lerwick pier when I was waiting for the ferry home, and I got to try all 6 options on handpump rather than the more usual bottles.
th_Valhalla.jpg
 

pubrunner

Legendary Member
andrew_s said:
I'm voting Shetlands, 'cos I like to do wildlife.
Pubrunner forgot to mention the famous Unst bus shelter, complete with sofa, TV etc (a pity their illicit power supply for it got cut off :biggrin: )
It's not that difficult to get to: train to Aberdeen, catch the overnight ferry (£26.50 each way, iirc)

You can read more on the Unst Bus Shelter here :

http://www.unstbusshelter.shetland.co.uk/

On this site, it is possible to do a virtual tour of Shetland. 'Click' on the Map Index tab and go where you want.

http://www.originart.eu/oa/frame.html

For the best Shetland pics (imo) this is an excellent site; use the horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen to view the smaller images and then click on them to make them larger :

http://www.panphotos.co.uk/index.html

You can see probably the best tombolo beach in the UK here :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tombolo_St_Ninians_5940.JPG

The St. Ninians Island treasure is an interesting tale; a local schoolboy (Douglas Coutts) was helping out on a dig. He was told to 'keep out of the way', so he went off to dig on his own - and ended up finding the treasure.

http://shetlopedia.com/St_Ninians_Isle_Treasure

http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_collections/collection_highlights/st_ninians_isle_treasure.aspx

Scalloway Castle is an interesting place to visit. You show yourself around. The format used to be (though it may have changed); go to the nearby Wool shop, tell them that you wish to visit the castle. They produce a huge ancient key from beneath the counter and hand it to you. You unlock the gate to the castle and have a look around unaccompanied. You then go back to the Wool shop and return the key. No money changes hands (though you may donate money if you wish) and the whole thing is done on trust. I like that sort of approach.

Just looking at those pics makes me want to go there.
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
Nor can I, despite riding past a "Black Isle Brewery, this way" sign the other week. I'm sure I was on the mainland.
The nearest I can find is the Dark Island (either Benbecula or Orkney, depending on context).
 

Telemark

Cycling is fun ...
Location
Edinburgh
hehe ... the mystery continues :biggrin:;)

I can imagine "it" being a nice place to cycle ;), not many cars go there except the locals and a few tourists during the season, there are bigger honeypots nearby

T
 

Bromptonaut

Rohan Man
Location
Bugbrooke UK
Was on Lewis for the Spring Holiday week, me Mrs B and our daughter and son (17 & 15). Car was a necessity to get family and kit there but bikes hitched along on the roof.

Stornoway to Callanish via the Pentland Road was magnificent. A Lewis coast to coast!!
The return ride on the main road via Garynahine was hard work and made us realise the outbound leg was heavily wind assisted.

We also went down the west of Lewis, beyond Brenish to Mangerstadh. Parked the car a little after Timmsgarry and rode the last 10 miles or so. The road ends only a handful of miles as the Golden Eagles we saw fly from Scarp; the 'rocket post' island we've previously seen from the end of the Husnis road on Harris. Probably 100 miles away by road. Magnificent.
 
OP
OP
T

toroddf

Guest
Another over looked island is Bute, which great for a weekend of pootling about, who could miss the opportunity to see the “Hanging bike of Port Bannatyne”... ;)

I did this ride last Saturday and I am still (silly) grinning like a cream slurping cat. 20 miles of pure joy and countless photo stops. The full ride over Cowal too (see link above) must surely be one of the classic/best rides in this area. A very short ride, but absolute great. Great for a family outing. If we have a list of the best 20 miles bikerides, Isle Of Butes gets my vote as # 1.
 
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