Sunny Scotland! Advise needed

[Growls]

I'm sure that camp site is fine but craignuire doesn't have much apart from a couple of pubs and a coop, unless it has changed over the last 8 years since I was there.

If you are landing first thing Sunday then make the most of the day and have a proper run round the Island. I would head south first and then west which will take you round by dervaig and Calgary bay, then on to Tobermory. Have your tea In Tobermory. there are plenty of pubs, a coop and a few shops there. There was a great fish restaurant and indian but the scallops and chips in a plastic tray from the cafe on the pier are recommended. Head back to the campsite by Salen and via the dual road to craignuire.

That way you see the best bits during the day.

If you have time then a trip to Iona is worth it. Leave your bike at fionnphort (pronounced fin-na-ft) and jump on the ferry, its a lovely walk to the abbey and you'll get to see John Smiths grave.

You'll not manage much more in a day I would think.

Fuel up before you go. Diesel was £1.10 a ltr in 2004 so I would guess that it'll be about £1.80 now.

[Teammaddie1]

Brilliant everything I need know right there. Cheers Throttled.

[Throttled]

Fuel all over that part of the world is expensive and when I did my tour on my KLE, range 130 miles I had to plan stops for fuel. Plus many only open 9 to 5 ish.

I would certainly fuel up in Oban, Ft William and Kyle of Lochalsh, suffer the higher prices around Durness and then things get better again at Wick and heading south.

[Teammaddie1]

Interesting stuff. Cheers G.

[Throttled]

Brilliant everything I need know right there. Cheers Throttled.

Your welcome. I had such a good time doing roughly that route last year I am doing it again in June this year. I did it last year in July and hardly saw any other bikers at all and none where I camped :huh:

To wet your appetite, Kylesku Bridge



Tongue



Dunnet Head

[moto al]

Hi bud .may the weather sometimes is the best of year up here .stick to the west coast in the time you have .great wild camping,& some brill camp sites .if you want some bril wild sites please send me a pm .& I will give u some belters.cheers .al

[Teammaddie1]

That would be fantastic moto al. can't seem to work out the PM though. Proper numpty :silly:

[-Ralph-]

Yes OK, so if moving every day then a full tour of Scotland is no problem in 6 days, so long as you don't want to do a ferry tour of all the islands, that's another 6 days.

Couple of camp sites to look at

http://www.portreecampsite.co.uk/
http://www.beinglascampsite.co.uk/ (if you go that way)

Also something to think about if starting your tour on the west coast, I'm going to suggest something quite unorthodox.

I find some of the main trunk roads in Scotland mind numbingly tedious. They are very picturesque for sure, but they are the nearest thing the Scottish Highlands has to a motorway - wide straight and carrying traffic. I mean roads such as

The A82 from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William
The A85 from Stirling to Tydrum (it gets better from Tyndrum to Oban)
The A9 from Perth to Inverness
If coming from the England you also have to put up with the M74, M8, Erskine Bridge and A82 to get to the Highlands, which is fine if you want to get there quickly, but otherwise it's just a long bit of the journey to get to Oban.

Some other alternatives to look at to get you off the beaten track earlier in the journey, but get you to Oban just as quick, is to catch the ferries out to the islands from the south west coast of Scotland and work your way north from there. The roads from the border to these ferries through Dumfries and Galloway are also a lot more interesting than the M74!

There's a very short hop and cheap ferrys that takes you

Onto the Kyles of Bute:
From McInrays Point near Gourock, to Hunters Quay near Dunoon. That's the one I always use.
From Gourock to Dunoon.
From Weymms Bay to Rothesay

Right over onto the Mull of Kintyre:
Adrossan to Brodick, Arran, have a ride round and see Arran, then get the ferry from Lochranza, Arran to Claonaig

A ride down to Campbeltown is spectacular for the road, but ride back in the same day as the town itself is a dump.

Just food for thought!

[-Ralph-]

read that post again teamaddie, i've corrected a few typo errors

[Throttled]

......

A ride down to Campbeltown is spectacular for the road, but ride back in the same day as the town itself is a dump.

Just food for thought!

Steady on! If you come into Campeltown from Carradale you get a much better impression of the town. It is just unfortunate that the main road goes past the worst part of the town. Do a loop down the B842 via Carradale and then back up the west road A83 and that is a great run.

I meant to add, many roads are single track and require a technique to drive/ride. This is a great site for tips

http://www.islayinfo.com/islay_driving_ ... roads.html

In many places it is common for all drivers to acknowledge all other drivers, so you will end up nodding at not just other bikers!