Just looking for any helpfull hints, decent B&B's etc.

I have two weeks leave to take starting Monday, and depending on the weather forcast I am hoping to take a long drive in the car, take camera gear and enjoy the ride.

I was thinking of a trip over the channel into france, up to denmark and have a drive around, but I am a bit of a travel a phobic.

Last night I was planning a few routes on google and using the man on the road, it looked a bit boring unless I headed high in to Switzerlnd and Finland, and the mileage started to become really stupid.

So a major change in plans and thought about going to the top of the country in the kit car. So thinking of up the East cost, through Wick, then down and accross to Fort William and then down back into the UK.

Any thoughts from locosters above the boarder, will I need my passport and bribe money for the boarder guards

Adrian

Isle of Skye can be brilliant at this time of year - midges have gone,kids back at school and loads of B&B's. Just go to the local tourist office for B&B info/booking. Scenery is stunning,roads are good and the weather in September is better than most other months although you can be unlucky..........

quote:

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Originally posted by inkafone
Isle of Skye can be brilliant at this time of year - midges have gone,kids back at school and loads of B&B's. Just go to the local tourist office for B&B info/booking. Scenery is stunning,roads are good and the weather in September is better than most other months although you can be unlucky..........

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Ye pansy I did that trip in one day in a JBA Falcon

Weather was great apart from Fort William where it just pi££ed down, glad I had a hood this time of year you will get wet

Biggest problem is lack of filling stations and a lot are closed on a Sunday

There are so many places north of the border it is difficult to stop listing them. The B roads are quiet and the petrol stations certainly less than 100 miles apart no matter where you go. Here is my top 10


1) Applecross (from the south of course) and it has a petrol station run by the local community.
2) Skye (must include the Black Coulin's otherwise you are a bit suspect)
3) The Trossacs including "The Dukes Pass" lots of testing drives
4) Anywhere near Perth and Kinross esp the Sma Glen
5) Lead Hills and anywhere near Dumfries
6) The road to Ballater and Braemar (not pronounced Bremmer otherwise you may never return)
7) Knockhill (our own premier racing circuit)
8) Around Stirling esp the Carron Valley resivoir
9) Glen Coe and the 5 sisters + Aeonach Eagach
10) The Borders including St Mary's Loch

Now if that does not temp you are a woos or worse!

as above . I'd add Holy Island on the way up , Falkirk wheel, Tomintoul and as it is a leisurely trip have a look at lots of coastal villages - Gourdon, Buckie etc
atb
Mike

I just got back from my tour of Scotland. Great roads. Tourist information in cities found a place for me to stay most nights. I went from Sheffield Area to Edinburgh. Then from there I did the following places

1) Perth
2) Braemer and ballater ( Visited Royal Lochnagar distillery on the way)
3) Tomintoul
4) Glenlivet ( Visited Glenfidditch Distillery, speyside cooperage)
5) Elgin ( Visited Moray motor museum)
6) Inverness
7) Fort Augustus
8)Fort William ( Quite busy but should be getting quite now. )
9) Oban via Glen Coe( under-mountain hydro plant worth a visit)
9) Falkirk and Stirling ( visited Falkirk wheel)
Back home

Some pictures attached









[Edited on 29/8/13 by femster87]

[Edited on 29/8/13 by femster87]

quote:

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Originally posted by theprisioner
There are so many places north of the border it is difficult to stop listing them. The B roads are quiet and the petrol stations certainly less than 100 miles apart no matter where you go. Here is my top 10


1) Applecross (from the south of course) and it has a petrol station run by the local community.
2) Skye (must include the Black Coulin's otherwise you are a bit suspect)
3) The Trossacs including "The Dukes Pass" lots of testing drives
4) Anywhere near Perth and Kinross esp the Sma Glen
5) Lead Hills and anywhere near Dumfries
6) The road to Ballater and Braemar (not pronounced Bremmer otherwise you may never return)
7) Knockhill (our own premier racing circuit)
8) Around Stirling esp the Carron Valley resivoir
9) Glen Coe and the 5 sisters + Aeonach Eagach
10) The Borders including St Mary's Loch

Now if that does not temp you are a woos or worse!

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John o groats is great, huge open wilderness with mountains way in the distance and you can see the islands with their massive cliffs over the sea, it's very picturesque to say the least. In the old days you could pop into Dounreay powerstation and get irradiated. I use to live in Balintore which is lovely old fishing village, Tains quite nice too and worth a visit. Last time it was up that way I stopped for petrol and the woman who ran it was quite miffed I wanted to fill the car myself don't get that often these days

Put your headlights on for the A9 as there loads of overtaking and most seem to try and overtake like 5 cars in one go.

[Edited on 29/8/13 by Mr Whippy]

Well thanks for the responses, basically avoid the weekend seems to be a general comment and try for Applecross. But which road, is it the coast or the one from the A896?

Ok found it!

I can do approx 140 to 150 miles on a tank, plus I can carry a 5 litre can if required, must get an app for the smart-phone or at least find out all the filling stations and plan a route.

John O groats is probably to say I have done it, but why not.

Fingers crossed for nothing bad

Adrian

[Edited on 29-8-13 by AdrianH]

Honest, John O Groats is a tip and avoid the A9 like it had a plague. It is the second most dangerous road in Scotland especially to Kit cars. Take some advice!

If your adamant to get up to John o groats I would strongly suggest going up the west, Loch Lomond, Oban (via rest and be thankful) fort William, Skye, applecross, then jink across to Inverness and up to John o groats. Then come back down the east side then back in to Pitlochry, Perth etc. That way you avoid the bad bits of the A9 Between Inverness and Perth.

To get to Applecross would make sense to go up the West coast, Oban I will give a miss, had a family member live there, and will not go near, had enough trips to that place and Mull.

If going in to Applecross from the south, it looks as though the only way out without back tracking is to go up around Loch Fulda and through Inverbain to the A 896.

sdh2903:- Please tell me more, where is the A9 bad and why, is it the road conditions, other drivers etc? What route are you suggesting as I am not following you at the moment, unless you mean Inverness, Elgin, Inverurie, Braemar then Pitlochry and down to Perth?

What ever the route as I am up to 860 miles and still up at Inverness, so will probably have to rationalise somewhere

Cheers

Adrian

West coast is so much nicer than the east which can look a bit crap only issue is bikers and caravans on the twisty west coast A roads though they are a damn sight better than when I was a kid. Whenever we have foreigners come over for work visits I always tell them Aberdeen shire is a very bad example of Scotland

Me and the wife & tiny are just back from a weeks holiday in Skye which was just fabulous and extremely relaxing. So much so the missus has decided we should buy a caravan, I was gob smacked

[Edited on 30/8/13 by Mr Whippy]

A9 - I would avoid between Perth and Inverness in general, it's a busy trunk road and there are countless accidents, lots of unmarked police and speed cameras.

Rough routing:

A82 to Loch Lomond, a83 over the rest and be thankful to Lochgilphead, A816 through Oban, a828 up by loch linnhe to fort William, a82 toward fort Augustus, a87 all way to Skye, from Skye to lochcarron then to applecross. You will have to back track but applecross is worth it. Out of applecross A890 to Achnasheen from here A832 then a935 to Dingwall and A9 north to J.O.G. Although I wouldn't bother as somewhere like Ullapool is much nicer.

Back down very roughly: Elgin, aberlour, grantown on Spey, tomintoul, ballater, braemar, Pitlochry, dunkeld, Perth.

Can't you tell I'd been planning a mooch up north.

John o groats is good to say you've been but I've been twice now and felt very underwhelmed on both occasions. There really isn't much to see and it's a 250 mile+ round trip from Inverness

I am now assuming 'rest and be thankfull is a place', will have to find this on google map.

Planning to use camping sites if possible with my little two man tent and use a B&B when I need to dry out.

Looking at the weather forcasts for next week.


Adrian

Interesting thread! I was thinking of taking a trip up to Scotland this week as well to visit some friends.... a tossup between taking the Polo or the TVR.... The noise and thirst of the TVR on motorways rather put me off though

[Edited on 30/8/13 by tegwin]

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=rest+and+be+thankful&hl=en&ll=56.226749,-4.856987&spn=0.133981,0.437393&sll=58.083685,-4.910889&s spn=4.078749,13.996582&hq=rest+and+be+thankful&t=m&z=12&iwloc=A

I am jealous!

This is towards the rest and be thankful a few weeks ago


Description

[Edited on 30/8/13 by sdh2903]

Here is the route 13 kit cars of various parentage are taking on Sunday 1st:

http://goo.gl/maps/9XXCU

It should be one of the classic runs out in Scotland:

http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic/103688-next-scottish-run/page-7

I made it a point to stop at Rest and be Thankful when i was in the UK last September. Luckily it was on the way to my mums village, Tighnabruaich. The reason i wanted to stop there was to see the old hillclimb route. Its a pity that they dont use it more often.

Also, just past Loch Restil on the A83 is the Butter Bridge, a neat old stone bridge. Made a stop there to take a few pictures and nearly fell in the water.

I heard they were resurfacing it as a relief road as the main road was subject to land slides (in winter mostly).

Still doing it, heading up Thursday to hopefully miss a rain band passing over. Stopping at Luss camp site Thursday night and heading over to Loch Ness Shores for a couple of nights using that as a base. Probably heading back Sunday or Monday but will be watching the weather maps.

Have been waiting for an action camera to turn up, one of these eBay Item Just getting tested out for battery life on desk now, have made a simple mount bracket for the roll bar. Main thing is it is supposed to be waterproof! Using it mostly as a incident cam, so if I do anything stupid it will not get posted.

Cheers

Adrian

Look out for speed cams wherever you go... especially where a 70mph dual-carriageway turns into a 60mph ordinary road. I often saw a speed cam shortly after this change.

Oh - every time I've been to Fort William it's pee'd down - and I've been there a few times!

Well up here at the moment, I drove up Thursday and stopped at Luss on the banks of Loch Lomand, took a few snaps there. Met up with a couple of lads doing the lands end to John O Groats run on motor bikes for fun and cancer charity, they looked knackered.

Friday was a drive up to Loch Ness and am presently at Foyers. I may not get as much as I thought in driving wise but I do keep stopping to have a look around. The Green Welly place has good grub, but I could not afford their outdoor gear. Had a couple of hours around Fort William.

Friday late afternoon and evening and this morning was a complete wash out, drove up to Inverness and was soaked through. Have spent the afternoon and evening getting stuff washed and dried. Hope to use Sunday as a day driving trying to cover some ground.

Have a car problem after getting soaked, as described by another on here. The flasher relay is constantly clicking when ignition is on, but works fine when using indicators. I think the relay has water in it and will try and check when I can strip it down, either that or the indicator switch is sufering from water.

Raining again now so giving up and going sleep.

Adrian

quote:

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Originally posted by AdrianH The Green Welly place has good grub, but I could not afford their outdoor gear.

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Back home after drive from Loch Ness, looked at the weather and gave up next time not a small tent, or rethink what I am taking with me.

Just for proof I did something?


John O Groats

1100 miles

Adrian

no car in the picture didn't happen where are the vids? up north tours are always risky for the weather. a couple of guys from my local club (skcc) did it in the snow this year!

Trying to edit videos in Linux and software not providing edited output at the moment.


Shores of Loch Lomond

Shores of Loch Lomond

Shores of Loch Lomond

Luss Campsite

Shores of Loch Lomond

Adrian

if you fancy a big adventure i think we may be doing the alps again in 2014 if your interested?







[Edited on 10/9/2013 by ashg]

A couple of us did Applecross Unplugged in early April this year. 2200 miles in 5 days. We live in East Kent and spent a day traveling up (509 miles) and a day traveling back (506 miles) but the three days in the middle (1200 miles) I highly recommend.

The Unplugged bit in the title was due to the fact we didn't pre-book any hotels and just used sat nav POI and google to find somewhere each night.


Heres a video of our trip. Mines the multicoloured indy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNH4UKUl39U

This is one of the hotels we found to stay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10mDLn5UQPM



Feel free to u2u me if you want any advise or if I can help you in any way.

Good hunting...........Neil

quote:

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Originally posted by AdrianH
To get to Applecross would make sense to go up the West coast, Oban I will give a miss, had a family member live there, and will not go near, had enough trips to that place and Mull.

If going in to Applecross from the south, it looks as though the only way out without back tracking is to go up around Loch Fulda and through Inverbain to the A 896.

sdh2903:- Please tell me more, where is the A9 bad and why, is it the road conditions, other drivers etc? What route are you suggesting as I am not following you at the moment, unless you mean Inverness, Elgin, Inverurie, Braemar then Pitlochry and down to Perth?

What ever the route as I am up to 860 miles and still up at Inverness, so will probably have to rationalise somewhere

Cheers

Adrian

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The Alps does look nice, I bet that takes some planning to do, certainly would not be stopping in a 2 x 2 tent.

Still struggling with videos at this end, will get some up later, probably with no sound as the inbuilt mic was just overwhelmed with wind noise, will try tape over it next outing.

Just trying to reduce the video sizes at they are into hundreds of megs.

I am also undertaking a bit more sealing around the bulkhead to stop the water throw up into the foot-wells, especially the passenger side, camera bag was soaked.

The flasher problem disappeared when the car dried out.

Adrian

[Edited on 11-9-13 by AdrianH]

To complete this thread here, is a like (I hope) to Youtube videos.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jME5Ej9pFIui5FI0voDHA/videos

They are basic, no sound and I find quite boring!

Adrian

Considering they are your early attempts (hope I am not being rude) at video editing they are 9/10. What camera are you using? I have been following your exploits again 9/10 you have entertained me immensely. I wish more on this group documented their adventures especially in Scotland. Do it again please!

The camera is one of these eBay Item

It has two settings either 1920*1080P at 30 frames per sec, or1280*720P at 60 frames per sec. A few things that are set via a text file. It is supposedly a 5megpixal camera?

Fitted with a 32Gig mini SD card is could record for over 3 hours, and the battery dies around 2.5 hours, so It seems to give decent use. The inbuilt microphone as on most of these devices is next to useless and many seem to tape over the ole to reduce wind noise. If these are meant to be on a cycle helmet doing slower things then probably will be fine. File sizes are large. The camera records in 3 minute blocks and each block is 228.2 MiB

I appreciate your kind comments. Using Linux I have gone through about 5 editing packages before I found a basic one I can understand that would still give a video output you could watch, many gave a black screen so can only think they did not recognise the format correctly, or possibly me being thick.

My biggest problem is uploading videos with a very slow upload speed from home. All three videos were downloaded at the same time but each one would take around 3 hours to youtube.

I have a few more videos to do, a run down the back roads of Loch Ness the B552, mainly single track road with passing places. And one after leaving John O Groats I drove through Thurso and on the A836 turning left to go back down to Inverness on the A897 through very small Hamlets, that’s when the recording started. Several times I had to slam on the breaks and reverse into a passing point for cars because I saw them too late. At the end let a rangers vehicle past and tried to keep up with it!

One last comment about the roads. many said to avoid the A9 from Inverness to Perth, I didn’t and used it to come back home, but in many places the surface is crap was was capable of bouncing my steering around. I know that my suspension is probably set harder then it should for road driving but there were some humps in the road from patching that were just yucky!. Being behind queue’s of traffic I can deal with.

Adrian

quote:

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Originally posted by AdrianH
One last comment about the roads. many said to avoid the A9 from Inverness to Perth, I didn’t and used it to come back home, but in many places the surface is crap was was capable of bouncing my steering around. I know that my suspension is probably set harder then it should for road driving but there were some humps in the road from patching that were just yucky!. Being behind queue’s of traffic I can deal with.

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