Scotland trip - first adventure, any help most appreciated!

[Sagbrit]

Off to Scotland in early June with 3 cars and 1 bike, looking for recommendations on accommodation (with secure car park) and any best routes. Overnights will be Crianlarich, Skye, Tomintoul, Lockerbie. Can be flexible though as these are first thoughts, if there's a great pub then happy to travel.

Day 1
Manchester to Crianlarich area - read that the A82 along Loch Lomond is good drive but busy

Day 2
Crianlarich to Skye (via Mallaig) - read this is one of Top 10 drives in Scotland. Any recommendations for best roads on Skye?

Day 3
Skye to Tomintoul (via Applecross). - any recommendations on that route for good roads?

Day 4
Exploring Cairngorms and travel south avoiding the busy roads ideally. Possible places to stay on A74 route home, Lockerbie/Gretna Green?

Day 5
Heading home.

Thanks guys, any recommendations for accomm and roads hugely appreciated for this newbie to Scotland!

Cheers
Chris

[snowandrocks]

I'll reply later with more information but I think you'll have to forget about secure parking. The places you mention are little more than villages in the middle of some really quite remote countryside. With the exception of maybe the Central belt, security isn't really an issue along your proposed route.

[GetCarter]

snowandrocks said:

I'll reply later with more information but I think you'll have to forget about secure parking. The places you mention are little more than villages in the middle of some really quite remote countryside. With the exception of maybe the Central belt, security isn't really an issue along your proposed route.

Agreed. I've lived near Applecross for 21 years and have never heard of a car/bike being stolen.

If you can try and take in the road between the Skye Bridge and Fort Augustus - past the '5 sisters'. Regularly voted best road in the UK by Bike Mag. Better than anything on Skye.

Edited by GetCarter on Sunday 17th March 14:41

[CypSIdders]

Gretna Green is just a coach stop and an outlet shop.
Gretna itself is just a large council estate, with a shopping village.
Avoid at all costs!

[Red Devil]

Sagbrit said:

Day 1
Manchester to Crianlarich area - read that the A82 along Loch Lomond is good drive but busy

Day 2
Crianlarich to Skye (via Mallaig) - read this is one of Top 10 drives in Scotland. Any recommendations for best roads on Skye?

Day 3
Skye to Tomintoul (via Applecross). - any recommendations on that route for good roads?

Day 4
Exploring Cairngorms and travel south avoiding the busy roads ideally. Possible places to stay on A74 route home, Lockerbie/Gretna Green?

Day 5
Heading home.

Thanks guys, any recommendations for accomm and roads hugely appreciated for this newbie to Scotland!

Cheers
Chris

Day 1.
I would describe the A82 along Loch Lomond as busy and boring rather than a good drive.
So I get off it as soon as possible - https://goo.gl/maps/kgEA4ExiiBy
Alongside Loch Long - https://goo.gl/maps/iX7Vctz2TUr
Inveraray is a much nicer place than Crianlarich. It has a decent whisky shop for starters!
If Crianlarich is your preferred destination then just rejoin the A82 after Arrochar.
https://goo.gl/maps/2VMC4LuD4cS2

Day 2.(Skye)
This loop - https://goo.gl/maps/26cRdYmWUAA2
Elgol - https://goo.gl/maps/GFDED8spKiS2
The grand tour - https://goo.gl/maps/MAMUxNP1gqq

Day 3.
https://goo.gl/maps/p69jquyzs5R2

Day 4.
If you have time this is well worth visiting
https://goo.gl/maps/1626U63T8pP2
If not, then
https://goo.gl/maps/NFt5QEGrRDC2

[Sagbrit]

Thanks gents, that's most appreciated. I will adjust our plans to take in some of those roads to get off the beaten track.

Just one other question, is the ferry from Mallaig to Skye pretty reliable? I appreciate if it's blowing a gale then we should avoid but I don't want to head from Fort William to Mallaig to then learn that ferries not running and then we have to make our way back..

I've read that it's a great drive to Mallaig but then so is Fort William to Skye via Fort Augustus. Any thoughts most appreciated.

[GetCarter]

Sagbrit said:

Thanks gents, that's most appreciated. I will adjust our plans to take in some of those roads to get off the beaten track.

Just one other question, is the ferry from Mallaig to Skye pretty reliable? I appreciate if it's blowing a gale then we should avoid but I don't want to head from Fort William to Mallaig to then learn that ferries not running and then we have to make our way back..

I've read that it's a great drive to Mallaig but then so is Fort William to Skye via Fort Augustus. Any thoughts most appreciated.

Just phone the Ferry on the day and see if it's running ok.

Malaig run and Fort William > Sean Bridge, Skye both great roads... driving on the latter better.

Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 19th March 12:28

[av185]

A87 Invergarry Skye one of my favourite UK A roads.

[GetCarter]

av185 said:

A87 Invergarry Skye one of my favourite UK A roads.

Funny how my photo turns up every time... and still nobody admits to nicking it!

[s70rmp]

Cant wait we're doing that road next Monday !

in a new (to me) car as well. First big trip in it.

[GordonL]

Err you don’t go to Fort Augustus to get to Skye, you turn off the A82 at Invergarry.
The drive up the A82 isn’t great, there are a few nice views at the Commando memorial above Spean Bridge but apart from that it’s pretty average.
The road over Glen Garry is pretty good with some cracking views over Kintail at the top. The road to the Skye bridge is pretty decent (used to be my weekly commute from Ft Wm to Kyle every Monday!)
The A830 over to Mallaig is nice, there are lovely views over the small isles as well as the Harry Potter viaduct at Glenfinnan. There are some decent twisty bits and some very long open straights as you approach Mallaig.
Overall I’d choose the Mallaig route because I like breaking the trip by taking the ferry.


I've read that it's a great drive to Mallaig but then so is Fort William to Skye via Fort Augustus. Any thoughts most appreciated.

[Sagbrit]

Thanks, great to know that both routes are good options. I've read somewhere on here that the guys on the ferry are used to loading low slung cars so hopefully we can get on and off with splitters still intact!

[Red Devil]

GordonL said:

Err you don’t go to Fort Augustus to get to Skye, you turn off the A82 at Invergarry.
The drive up the A82 isn’t great, there are a few nice views at the Commando memorial above Spean Bridge but apart from that it’s pretty average.

The whole section from North Ballachulish to Fort William is pretty dire imo. The chances of getting a clear run are not great.
When going via Invergarry be careful on the long straight stretch right alongside Loch Lochy. It's a classic overtaking spot.
Unfortunately the laybys are favourite places for a speed trap - https://goo.gl/maps/yg2evjQXEeS2
The warning signs in both directions are sneakily placed so that by the time you spot them it's too late.

[av185]

Eilean Donan Loch Duich A87 with Skye in the background.

Went up early May 2017 and had a glorious week around 20 degrees perfect weather.

[av185]

Cuillins from A87 at Sligachan Skye.

[Who me ?]

Sagbrit said:

Day 2
Crianlarich to Skye (via Mallaig) - read this is one of Top 10 drives in Scotland. Any recommendations for best roads on Skye?
Cheers
Chris

On the A830 ( Fort William -Mallaig ) section, if you have the time, deviate on to the B8008 sections,. This was the main A830 for many years and will give you an idea of the roads we drove in the 60/70's .

[Red Devil]

Mid September 2016.

Cuillins from A683 - https://goo.gl/maps/LP2WLh74WyA2


From the opposite side at Elgol - https://goo.gl/maps/jYa8bw91RXz

[GordonL]

The guys on the ferry are great, I once managed to lock my keys in the ignition of my roadster and they had it open again before we reached Skye. :-)
If you did go the Glen Garry route then the other fun alternative would be to take the old ferry from Glenelg over to Skye, well worth the diversion.

[coldel]

Personally I would be going on the internet and googling accommodation asap as when we did Scotland in 2016 pretty much everything that was decent i.e. parking on site, enough rooms etc. was booked up by February. Its a very busy and popular route.

[Sagbrit]

Stunning photos and useful route recommendations guys. Really appreciated, wish I could just drive there now!

I'm looking at accommodation this weekend. Will try to find places near water as nothing like a morning brew with a view. Trying to stick within a budget so nothing too fancy.

Looking at Inveraray, Portree (any good pubs/B&Bs people can recommend for Skye?), and Tomintoul.

My thinking is to stick to roughly 200/250 miles a day to allow for traffic/photo taking/coffee!

I have a feeling this will be the first trip to Scotland of many...