Planning an epic road trip/thrash !

[J-Tuner]

Afternoon all

I am potentially planning on a bit of a epic road trip all the way to the man of hoy in the orkney islands. The girlfriend has always wanted to go there so planning on taking her up in the MX5.

The easy way would be to let the sat nav do the work but i want to make sure i take in some of these awesome roads i see popping up on here from time to time and really enjoy what the MX5 was born for. Would like some nice views along the way that we can stop off at and take in.

So - if you were departing from M1 Jct 8 - what driving roads should i try and get onto as part of the journey up ?

Cheers

Steve

[Quick silver]

Steve, if you are planning a short stay in North Wales I'd gladly arrange to meet up with you & show you around - if so I'd be looking at heading for/up the A5 from your neck of the woods.

[Wilburo]

Stickers changed his name! That's confusing :/

[J-Tuner]

Quick silver said:

Steve, if you are planning a short stay in North Wales I'd gladly arrange to meet up with you & show you around - if so I'd be looking at heading for/up the A5 from your neck of the woods.

Thats a kind offer mate I'll get in touch if we come your way ! Got to sit down and think about this carefully methinks

[snotrag]

Head north to midlands
Cut into Pennines/peak district
Head West ish
Joint onto m6 nr Manchester,
Up the lakes
Scenic route through lakes
Onto Glasgow
Up West of Scotland, and round the top in a loop,
Then up to Hoy.

Easy, made it up in my head in 30 seconds!

[MG Mark]

Did a grand week up in Scotland with the missus and the MX5 last year. If you are going up the west coast of Scotland as suggested (and it is much much better than the east coast) then make sure you take in Bealach Na Ba, which is the road to Applecross - UK's own mini Stelvio. Lovely run up - speeded up , but watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybzZP2FdiXs - and the run down the other side into Applecross itself has fantastic views of Skye and the Inn at Applecross does B&B9book ahead though) and fantastic food. An absolute must. Good narrative here; http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/applecross-...

Enjoy.....

MG Mark

[Gizmo!]

snotrag said:

Head north to midlands
Cut into Pennines/peak district
Head West ish
Joint onto m6 nr Manchester,
Up the lakes
Scenic route through lakes
Onto Glasgow
Up West of Scotland, and round the top in a loop,
Then up to Hoy.

Easy, made it up in my head in 30 seconds!

Sounds good to me.

[J-Tuner]

Cheers guys Gonna plan my route hopefully over the next week!

[Quick silver]

Wilburo said:

Stickers changed his name! That's confusing :/

Sorry guys - I only learned this week that the login name could be changed, it's a long story but 'Stickers' was always a mistake..........Quick silver is more suited & is a permanent replacement - I promise

[tenohfive]

For the first stretch I'd go the way I go to see the family - come off at J13 M1, hit the A6 and follow it north - watch for cameras on the first section, theres a couple of sneaky feckers (one where it goes from dual to single carriageway nearly got me my first 3 points.)

I take it as far as the A14 and whilst not the most scenic route it is a great road for some gentle twisties with plenty of opportunity to make progress. Always go that way as far as Kettering - M1 would be slightly quicker (by about 10 minutes) but it puts a smile on my face, even in my TDi Bora.