SW Scotland - 9 Hours - October
Discussion
Morning all,
A couple of mates and I have booked Stena Line's Car Club Day on the 16th October.
Essentially, it's a cheap Belfast-Cairnryan day return.
I'll be getting off the boat about 10am and have to be back to port at 7pm.
Any recommendations on roads worth checking out?
It'll be the middle of October, could there be issues with any of the higher roads?
A couple of mates and I have booked Stena Line's Car Club Day on the 16th October.
Essentially, it's a cheap Belfast-Cairnryan day return.
I'll be getting off the boat about 10am and have to be back to port at 7pm.
Any recommendations on roads worth checking out?
It'll be the middle of October, could there be issues with any of the higher roads?
There's some great roads in that area and they're relatively quiet - but the A75 and A7 get busy and are a bit boring.
The A712 from Newton Stewart to New Galloway is brilliant if you like twisty roads. Other good roads that I've driven on are the A702 and B729. A bit further afield - to the east of the M74 there's the A708 up past St. Mary's Loch and the A701 north of Moffat (the A701 is my normal route north to the Highlands).
The B709 and B725 in the Castle O'er area look tempting bit I was disappointed by these - mainly because of the logging lorries and the potholes they create.
I hope you have a great time!
The A712 from Newton Stewart to New Galloway is brilliant if you like twisty roads. Other good roads that I've driven on are the A702 and B729. A bit further afield - to the east of the M74 there's the A708 up past St. Mary's Loch and the A701 north of Moffat (the A701 is my normal route north to the Highlands).
The B709 and B725 in the Castle O'er area look tempting bit I was disappointed by these - mainly because of the logging lorries and the potholes they create.
I hope you have a great time!
Have a look here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
If you're looking at north of England as well, one of the best roads I know is the A686 between Penrith and Haydon Bridge through Alston - an absolute classic but it can get quite busy at popular times as it's well known - plus I've seen a mobile speed camera van on it (but loads of people flashed me to warn me).
The A689 between Brampton and Alston isn't bad and then the B6277 south from Alston to Middleton is great, with lots of open sweeping bends and lovely views (but watch out for sheep). The B6276 from Middleton to Brough is brilliant but challenging in places with sharp bends over blind brows after fast sections so be careful. The A689 - B6277 - B6276 is one of my usual routes back from Scotland to Manchester when I'm in my Lotus. The trouble for you is that you'll want to avoid the A66 as it's a dreary soul-destroying road - although if you could endure it for about 15 miles (some of this being dual carriageway so not long time-wise) you could take the B6412 to Langwathby and then the A686 up over the hill (with some nice hairpins) to Alston - but see my warning above about traffic at popular times and speed camera vans. It's worth stopping at the top for the view across to the Lake District on a nice day.
The A689 between Brampton and Alston isn't bad and then the B6277 south from Alston to Middleton is great, with lots of open sweeping bends and lovely views (but watch out for sheep). The B6276 from Middleton to Brough is brilliant but challenging in places with sharp bends over blind brows after fast sections so be careful. The A689 - B6277 - B6276 is one of my usual routes back from Scotland to Manchester when I'm in my Lotus. The trouble for you is that you'll want to avoid the A66 as it's a dreary soul-destroying road - although if you could endure it for about 15 miles (some of this being dual carriageway so not long time-wise) you could take the B6412 to Langwathby and then the A686 up over the hill (with some nice hairpins) to Alston - but see my warning above about traffic at popular times and speed camera vans. It's worth stopping at the top for the view across to the Lake District on a nice day.
I’m back, had a brilliant time, cracking weather all day.
Followed these 2 tips, 2 great roads. Some of the scenery was stunning although I was mainly focussed on not becoming a part of said scenery.
After this, we decided to go to Lockerbie for lunch and a look at the air disaster memorials. From there, the plan was originally to go along the A76 to Ayr but we got a wee bit tight for time so we cut across from New Cumnock (steady on) to the coast at Girvan, along the B714. This was easily the highlight of the day. A good mix of flowing sections and twistys rising high up into the mountains. The road was utterly deserted as well, just us and the sheep.
After that, we headed along the coast road to Cairnryan, where we got the boat back to Belfast.
The day’s given me a real taste for Scotland, will have to get planning a NC500 trip next year!
hoegaardenruls said:
RichardJS said:
The A712 from Newton Stewart to New Galloway is brilliant if you like twisty roads.
The section that carries on towards Crocketford isn't bad either..After this, we decided to go to Lockerbie for lunch and a look at the air disaster memorials. From there, the plan was originally to go along the A76 to Ayr but we got a wee bit tight for time so we cut across from New Cumnock (steady on) to the coast at Girvan, along the B714. This was easily the highlight of the day. A good mix of flowing sections and twistys rising high up into the mountains. The road was utterly deserted as well, just us and the sheep.
After that, we headed along the coast road to Cairnryan, where we got the boat back to Belfast.
The day’s given me a real taste for Scotland, will have to get planning a NC500 trip next year!
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