Getting up to Scotland

The black art of moving from A to B on foreign soil
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Elmer J Fudd
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by Elmer J Fudd »

Oop North John wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:33 pm Yes, but unfortunately I don't think it saves much time / money. If I was not so time constrained, then wandering down through Ireland would be a great start to the trip. The other problem with Ireland is that it tends to be wetter than even England / Scotland, and ideally I'd jump straight to the sun kissed shores of Spain without sampling the variables of northern Europe's weather.
I thought it the boring bit you wanted to avoid, Cork to Santander would do that, if cost or time, nothing will beat just plodding on down.

I tend to go via Ireland to France (from Ayrshire) and get the overnight Dublin to Cherbourg boat on the way out and back via Hull to miss out the "Sarf" of England.
Oop North John
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by Oop North John »

Oop North John wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:33 pm
Elmer J Fudd wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:10 pm
Oop North John wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:09 pm
fatowl wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:30 pm Thanks to everyone for all the replies, i'm investigating a few ideas.
I'd be interested in what solution you use, as I'm in the north of Scotland and fancy using the ferry to Spain, and it's nigh on 600 miles of boring UK dual carriageway / motorway there, and the same to get back home :cry:
Have you considered going via Ireland?
Yes, but unfortunately I don't think it saves much time / money. If I was not so time constrained, then wandering down through Ireland would be a great start to the trip. The other problem with Ireland is that it tends to be wetter than even England / Scotland, and ideally I'd jump straight to the sun kissed shores of Spain without sampling the variables of northern Europe's weather.
Just looked a ferry prices and its €756 for me, the bike and a cabin, with no mention of food yet for Rosslare to Bilbao. Almost double the UK Plymouth to Santander when I looked earlier :o
Cornishman
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by Cornishman »

I think some common sense is needed here. A trip from Devon to Scotland for a tour is equivalent to going from Devon to the Pyrénées. If someone was suggesting that it would be at least two good days on a 125 and many people would put their bikes in a van and enjoy the tour when they get there. It’s the same for Scotland, there’s no easy answer, no magic solution; if the bikes are going to be used for the whole trip needs to allow four days on top of the time spent in Scotland. It’s a serious trip, not something that can be squeezed into a long weekend. If i5 was me I’d forget Scotland and take my bike to Southern Ireland.
Spike941
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by Spike941 »

Admittedly I was on a 1215cc Explorer, but left the Cotswolds at 5am, met my pal on the shores of Loch Lomond at midday for a long weekend cherry picking the NC500. Had a great time, but the slog up the M5/M6/M74 isn’t one to be repeated too often, but worth it I guess. The Pyrenees might be nearer, but would take a fair bit longer, but again worth it. Tried them both, weather was considerably better heading south, especially in November.
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Snaf MKII
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by Snaf MKII »

McVicar wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:48 am Sounds like you need to fly and hire a bike
Can a 125 be hired in Scotland, I'm assuming there's a restricted licence involved.
Return flights are currently £175ish plus baggage and hire cost of a bike.
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by McVicar »

Yeah, the post before mine got a bit mixed up and I was talking about Scotland to Spain.
fatowl
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by fatowl »

Spike941 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:05 pm Admittedly I was on a 1215cc Explorer, but left the Cotswolds at 5am, met my pal on the shores of Loch Lomond at midday for a long weekend cherry picking the NC500. Had a great time, but the slog up the M5/M6/M74 isn’t one to be repeated too often, but worth it I guess. The Pyrenees might be nearer, but would take a fair bit longer, but again worth it. Tried them both, weather was considerably better heading south, especially in November.
Unfortunately, my son is on L plates, so we're on non-motorway, which means a slow slog. This is the problem.
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Godspeed
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by Godspeed »

fatowl wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:21 pm
Spike941 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:05 pm Admittedly I was on a 1215cc Explorer, but left the Cotswolds at 5am, met my pal on the shores of Loch Lomond at midday for a long weekend cherry picking the NC500. Had a great time, but the slog up the M5/M6/M74 isn’t one to be repeated too often, but worth it I guess. The Pyrenees might be nearer, but would take a fair bit longer, but again worth it. Tried them both, weather was considerably better heading south, especially in November.
Unfortunately, my son is on L plates, so we're on non-motorway, which means a slow slog. This is the problem.
It’s a slow ride, but not a bad one. I’m usually heading up to Fort William so I guess that’s the difference from you up to Bristol.
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fatowl
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by fatowl »

Godspeed wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:42 pm
fatowl wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:21 pm
Spike941 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:05 pm Admittedly I was on a 1215cc Explorer, but left the Cotswolds at 5am, met my pal on the shores of Loch Lomond at midday for a long weekend cherry picking the NC500. Had a great time, but the slog up the M5/M6/M74 isn’t one to be repeated too often, but worth it I guess. The Pyrenees might be nearer, but would take a fair bit longer, but again worth it. Tried them both, weather was considerably better heading south, especially in November.
Unfortunately, my son is on L plates, so we're on non-motorway, which means a slow slog. This is the problem.
It’s a slow ride, but not a bad one. I’m usually heading up to Fort William so I guess that’s the difference from you up to Bristol.
I can get a nice route up to Chester/Warrington area, and then it turns to poo until Preston.
The alternative, is to go to the right of Birmingham, but that adds miles to the route. Either way, I can't see it's do-able in a day, so we need a stopover somewhere. It's not a deal breaker, but it doesn't help.
Tonibe63
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Re: Getting up to Scotland

Post by Tonibe63 »

You don't want a slog up there and definitely don't want a slog coming back especially if it is raining. I would look at a long drive up with 2 bikes on a trailer and get accommodation that will let you leave the car+trailer in their car park as you will also be staying there on the way back. Then ride on in Scotland on a 4 day route before returning for an overnight and car+trailer collection for the comfy drive home.
Forget the sight seeing on the way up and back from Devon.
The other option which we increasingly use for UK touring is to rent a chalet/lodge/static caravan and take 2 bikes in a van or car+trailer. That way we can take lots of gear, have somewhere to get our head down for a few hours on route, have somewhere to park the van, we can dry wet gear out, we can come/go/eat etc when we please. Then we do a number of day rideouts in long loops in a similar format to the Crieff Cloverleaf https://www.cloverleaf.scot/the-routes/
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