Highlands

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Discussion

GetCarter

29,358 posts

278 months

Monday 14th April 2014
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stevoknevo said:
In the last week alone the road has been closed just outside of Fort William due to a fatality
He was the local sparky. Worked on my house. Suspected heart attack at the wheel. His brother died the day before the funeral yikes

BertieWooster

3,229 posts

163 months

Monday 14th April 2014
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Just come back from three days driving round the Highlands with Mrs Wooster. We had a fantastic time and it was driving paradise. The weather was good apart from one day when it rained non-stop - however the driving experience and scenery were still amazing.

Our final route can be found here. In total we did around 680 miles in the time we were there.

Most of the time the roads were empty (even the A82 down from Inverness to Fort William). My favourite stretches were the A82 through Glen Coe, the A838 from Durness to Tongue and the A836 from Tongue to Lairg. cloud9

With regard to some of the comments above about BiB - I saw a couple of traffic units around Fort William and another unit conducting speed checks in a village (I forget the name). Apart from that, and a solitary PC on patrol in Ullapool, I didn't see anybody else.

On accommodation - I would thoroughly recommend the Tongue Hotel to anybody heading up to the far north. The food was excellent and the service from the staff was superb.

A few photos from the trip:


Our hire car


Empty A82 going past Loch Ness


A82 heading into Glen Coe


Commando Memorial near Spean Bridge


Road to Applecross


Applecross towards Shieldaig


Boat near B869


Rush Hour


A836


More A836

BertieW

Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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Off to the far north tomorrow. thumbup
The weather up there looks to be very hit and miss over the next few days.
C'est la vie. Might keep a few day trippers at home though.

GetCarter

29,358 posts

278 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Red Devil said:
Off to the far north tomorrow. thumbup
The weather up there looks to be very hit and miss over the next few days.
C'est la vie. Might keep a few day trippers at home though.
Looking good here: http://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/shieldaig

Lancs Dave

146 posts

188 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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Just got back from a fantastic 5 day road trip with my lot

Hyperen

51 posts

155 months

Thursday 17th April 2014
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After wanting to drive to Scotland for years and putting it off as too difficult/expensive, I decided that was no longer an excuse having gone and lived in Australia for 6 months. So as part of a 10 day holiday in Scotland after returning from Oz, I rented a car out for 4 days with the intention of finally seeing and driving the Highlands.

Weather was always a gamble in Mid March - my rationale was that it's probably a gamble anytime of year, even in Summer! It was a mix of cloud, wind, rain and fog with snow on the mountain tops - all seemed to add to the drama and beauty actually.

The rental turned out to be a brand new diesel Renault Clio. Hardly my idea of the perfect fun car but was pleased enough to finally be deemed old and hopefully responsible enough to be trusted with a rental!

Thanks to some of the regular posters on this thread for their advice - this was my eventual route for anyone interested: Clicky

Here are a few photos:


Loch Leven


A896 just before Bealach Na Ba


View (or lack of) from the Bealach Na Ba - as the altitude rose after some hairpins, it got very foggy all of a sudden and I decided I couldn't continue so had to do a five point turn on a very high and narrow mountain road in thick fog - makes you glad your driving instructor taught you the proper way utilising the handbrake! yikes


My 'GetCarter' shot!


The result of all that driving!

My thoughts on the diesel Clio: Quiet and effortless on the motorway, stop-start disconcerting at first but makes total sense very quickly. But on the twisty roads, hated it's lack of engine braking and longed for a nice revvy petrol engine. Gearbox felt like slush and even struggled to find gears sometimes - very surprising for a brand new car when my previous 15 year old cars (Puma and MX-5) still felt great after 100k miles. Overall though, enjoyed the experience.

And as for driving in Scotland? Absolutely fantastic roads, some of which are so wide open and quiet you wonder why the NSL is only 60MPH! It was also very quiet when I went with hardly any 40MPH dawdlers - I even got overtaken myself quite a few times! Amazing scenery - the roads and scenery reminded me of all the best roads I've been to in the UK yet e.g. Snake Pass, Evo Triangle, Elan Valley to name a few, but on a much grander scale! Even the roads you drive merely to get to the 'good' ones can turn out to be just as fun as some of those famous ones mentioned earlier. Have decided I'll definitely have to come back again when I get a sporty car!

stevoknevo

1,672 posts

189 months

Friday 18th April 2014
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
stevoknevo said:
In the last week alone the road has been closed just outside of Fort William due to a fatality
He was the local sparky. Worked on my house. Suspected heart attack at the wheel. His brother died the day before the funeral yikes
frown Devastating.

Blown2CV

28,697 posts

202 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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Back in Glasgow after a fantastic few days around Ullapool, and before that a coupla days in Edinburgh. Some proper roads and views, including getcarter's shout. Best bit is the lovely weather whilst the rest of the country has it st.

Rich A

248 posts

158 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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Some nice photos, Hyperen.

Hyperen said:
And as for driving in Scotland? Absolutely fantastic roads, some of which are so wide open and quiet you wonder why the NSL is only 60MPH!

Amazing scenery - the roads and scenery reminded me of all the best roads I've been to in the UK yet e.g. Snake Pass, Evo Triangle, Elan Valley to name a few, but on a much grander scale! Even the roads you drive merely to get to the 'good' ones can turn out to be just as fun as some of those famous ones mentioned earlier.
This is spot on. You can't overestimate just how good it is.

If you're thinking of a highlands trip, just plan it and go. World class roads on our doorstep.

vrsmxtb

Original Poster:

2,002 posts

155 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Anyone else up there the week commencing 23rd June perchance? I'm at an MX5 track day at Blyton Park on the saturday 21st so thought it'd be rude not to carry on Northwards the week after! biggrin
Will probably do my usual NW Highlands run, maybe Skye too.


Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
Red Devil said:
Off to the far north tomorrow. thumbup
The weather up there looks to be very hit and miss over the next few days.
C'est la vie. Might keep a few day trippers at home though.
Looking good here: http://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/shieldaig
Blown2CV said:
Back in Glasgow after a fantastic few days around Ullapool, and before that a coupla days in Edinburgh. Some proper roads and views, including getcarter's shout. Best bit is the lovely weather whilst the rest of the country has it st.
Despite it coinciding with the Easter holiday weekend our annual thrash was blessed with an amazing lack of day trippers and tourists. Plus 4 days of unbroken sunshine. We use Ullapool as our base camp so that we don't have to pack/unpack our each day. Will post some pics tomorrow when I've had a chance to download them.

The drive back yesterday was something else. The cloud cover over the Durham/Yorkshire fells was so low I could barely see the road!

Who me ?

7,455 posts

211 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
stevoknevo said:
In the last week alone the road has been closed just outside of Fort William due to a fatality
He was the local sparky. Worked on my house. Suspected heart attack at the wheel. His brother died the day before the funeral yikes
Just spotted this bit. Local to you GC ,or Lochaber.

PHuzzy

2,747 posts

171 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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Just had a friend ask if I was up for a last minute holiday, I suggested driving up to Scotland for a few days and having a great road/scenery road trip.
In the last few hours I've formulated a little plan from bits and pieces on here and was hoping you seasoned pros could give me any advice on hits and misses.

The current plan is :
Mon 28/4 to Fri 2/5
Scotland Road trip.
Day 1- Home to Glencoe (overnight stay).
Day 2 - Glencoe to Torridon (overnight stay) via 'Scotsburgring' & Applecross.
Day 3 - Torridon to durness (overnight) via A832 to Ullapool and quick detour up Glen Docherty for picture heaven.
Day 4 - Durness to Fort Augustus(overnight) via Tongue, Bonar and Muir of Ord.
Day 5 - Fort Augustus to home.

I've roughly estimated mileage and driving time to between 5 and 6 hours per day which gives us loads of time to stop for lunch, photos and taking in the scenery.

Any inserts or deletes welcome. Thanks in advance.


Edited by PHuzzy on Thursday 24th April 01:31

GetCarter

29,358 posts

278 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
[quote=Who me ?]
Just spotted this bit. Local to you GC ,or Lochaber.
[/quote]

Local to here.... Dougie Moyes. (His van read D.C Moyes)

Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 24th April 06:15

GetCarter

29,358 posts

278 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
PHuzzy said:
Just had a friend ask if I was up for a last minute holiday, I suggested driving up to Scotland for a few days and having a great road/scenery road trip.
In the last few hours I've formulated a little plan from bits and pieces on here and was hoping you seasoned pros could give me any advice on hits and misses.

The current plan is :
Mon 28/4 to Fri 2/5
Scotland Road trip.
Day 1- Home to Glencoe (overnight stay).
Day 2 - Glencoe to Torridon (overnight stay) via 'Scotsburgring' & Applecross.
Day 3 - Torridon to durness (overnight) via A832 to Ullapool and quick detour up Glen Docherty for picture heaven.
Day 4 - Durness to Fort Augustus(overnight) via Tongue, Bonar and Muir of Ord.
Day 5 - Fort Augustus to home.

I've roughly estimated mileage and driving time to between 5 and 6 hours per day which gives us loads of time to stop for lunch, photos and taking in the scenery.

Any inserts or deletes welcome. Thanks in advance.


Edited by PHuzzy on Thursday 24th April 01:31
V Good. Day 2 is slightly less driving. Day 3 - yep, 832 via Gairloch with detour is good. Takes longer but is v pretty. Also, about 10 miles after Ullapool at Drumrunie turn left towards the Summer Isles, then right on the tiny little road via Inverkirkaig to Lochinver... then onto Durness (or stay at Kylescu Hotel, which is nice).

That detour will take in this road:



..and the road via Inverkirkaig to Lochinver is as pretty as it gets.

mikey k

13,011 posts

215 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
Love that road
always empty and stunning views!

PHuzzy

2,747 posts

171 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
V Good. Day 2 is slightly less driving. Day 3 - yep, 832 via Gairloch with detour is good. Takes longer but is v pretty. Also, about 10 miles after Ullapool at Drumrunie turn left towards the Summer Isles, then right on the tiny little road via Inverkirkaig to Lochinver... then onto Durness (or stay at Kylescu Hotel, which is nice).

That detour will take in this road:



..and the road via Inverkirkaig to Lochinver is as pretty as it gets.
thumbup Ace, thank you very much.

Ennoch

371 posts

137 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
... then onto Durness (or stay at Kylescu Hotel, which is nice)...
The younger barman there is a bit of a petrolhead too so if you turn up in something nice you'll probably be asked about it! Always good food on the go there too.

Blown2CV

28,697 posts

202 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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Ullapool, out the front of our B&B



Some others near ish by









Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Friday 25th April 2014
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mikey k said:
Love that road
always empty and stunning views!
Not on Easter Sunday it wasn't. smile A whole gaggle of MX5s turned off the A835 here.
Whether their destination was Achiltibuie or Lochinver it would mean passing GC's pic (Loch Lurgainn).