Highlands

[jock mcsporran]

Dingle Dell said:

Thanks to JM & Jock for the suggestions. I quite fancy the loop through the Cairngorms using the A9, A95, A939, A93, A924 or similar. I'm bound to have a few stop-off's so that will probably keep me busy until I need to head off to Grangemouth.


Sometimes it's better to go clockwise or anti-clockwise on these circular routes because of the views, etc, so would be good to know if there's a preference.

Don't know why but I always prefer clockwise.

[JM]

A 'Cairngorms' route, avoiding the A9.

https://goo.gl/maps/JFEHQaUg1Yx

A93 and A939 (Lecht in each direction) and then adding in the lesser known Cairn O' Mount road.



What car will you be driving DD?

[Dingle Dell]

I'm getting the impression there's not much appeal in the A9! Is it that bad?

I wish I could say I would be taking the Aston, but I cant justify putting almost 1500 miles on it for one days pleasurable driving. Will either be taking the Audi A6 (auto..) or may just hire a Focus or something similar.

To be honest, I'm more interested in taking in the scenery these days (and taking the opportunity to drive on roads that aren't jammed up), than tearing it up.

[coppice]

It has become very fashionable to rubbish the A9, and wrongly in my view. Between Perth and Inverness, it runs through more majestic scenery than any English road and it's well surfaced and maintained.It has average cameras etc but if you just adjust your mindset and enjoy the cruise it's delightful - as long as you have proper driving to do later on .It is not in any sense a bad road - ignore some of the more adolescent sneering - but it isn't a road without traffic or some speed enforcement either . Further North , well above Inverness it can be fabulous with some serious driving to do.

[Zed 44]

Dingle Dell said:

I'm getting the impression there's not much appeal in the A9! Is it that bad?

I wish I could say I would be taking the Aston, but I cant justify putting almost 1500 miles on it for one days pleasurable driving. Will either be taking the Audi A6 (auto..) or may just hire a Focus or something similar.

To be honest, I'm more interested in taking in the scenery these days (and taking the opportunity to drive on roads that aren't jammed up), than tearing it up.

I think the Scottish roads are more suited to the Ford Focus than the other cars you mentioned. IMHO

[GetCarter]

coppice said:

Between Perth and Inverness, it runs through more majestic scenery than any English road

Taken from the A9



It's the worst road in Scotland if you are in a hurry. As mentioned it's a 'mindset' road.

[mikey k]

The problem with the Inverness south section of the A9 is the averaging is 50 mph for HGV's, not cars, so some cars get stuck behind the HGV's many more just assume its all vehicles. When its busy it becomes a frustrating slow procession.
The A9 north of Inverness is better but there are much nicer routes up to the NE IMHO.

[GetCarter]

mikey k said:

The problem with the Inverness south section of the A9 is the averaging is 50 mph for HGV's, not cars, so some cars get stuck behind the HGV's many more just assume its all vehicles. When its busy it becomes a frustrating slow procession.

...and when the road becomes duel carriageway one HGV will overtake another doing 1 mph faster, so the few opportunities to overtake are 'wasted'. There was the possibility that HGVs were going to be barred from using the outside lane on the duel carriageway sections, but I don't know if they ever enforced it (?).

I gave up driving south and fly now (cheaper and quicker), so don't use it any longer.... and when friends come up they usually fly/drive.

[towser]

coppice said:

It has become very fashionable to rubbish the A9, and wrongly in my view. Between Perth and Inverness, it runs through more majestic scenery than any English road and it's well surfaced and maintained.It has average cameras etc but if you just adjust your mindset and enjoy the cruise it's delightful - as long as you have proper driving to do later on .It is not in any sense a bad road - ignore some of the more adolescent sneering - but it isn't a road without traffic or some speed enforcement either . Further North , well above Inverness it can be fabulous with some serious driving to do.

Absolutely - I have to use this road pretty much twice a week and as you say just put the car onto cruise control and relax.Prior to the average speed cameras I found it a far more stressful experience as there was always the pressure ( if that's the right word ) to make progress and get up the road as quickly as possible. When it all boils down to it - you may have made Inverness from Perth 10-15 minutes quicker.

A9 - Golspie north into Caithness can be a fantastic driving road IMO.

[JM]

Zed 44 said:

Dingle Dell said:

I'm getting the impression there's not much appeal in the A9! Is it that bad?

I wish I could say I would be taking the Aston, but I cant justify putting almost 1500 miles on it for one days pleasurable driving. Will either be taking the Audi A6 (auto..) or may just hire a Focus or something similar.

To be honest, I'm more interested in taking in the scenery these days (and taking the opportunity to drive on roads that aren't jammed up), than tearing it up.

I think the Scottish roads are more suited to the Ford Focus than the other cars you mentioned. IMHO

Nobody would want to take Aston on the A939...

https://youtu.be/xkAT82-R0S8?t=75

[dtiom]

Just back from a five day tour of the Highlands, the weather over the weekend was quite poor but we covered most of what we had planned.

Usual route - Lancaster - Glasgow - Fort William - Skye - Applecross - up the coast to UIlapool where the weather was hideous. We decided to head east for some sunshine rather then keep heading north into more rain and poor viz. We camped on Skye and Ullapool, the midges on Skye were interesting!

There was a cyclist on the Bealach na ba who had taken a turn for the worse and was being attended to by a group of people, nothing on the news sites about it but I hope they pulled through.

Need to return again this year to try again with some decent weather. Awesome ride covering about 1500 miles.

Not many pics due to the weather and enjoying the riding.

Top of Skye


Skye campsite - midge heaven

[Dingle Dell]

JM said:

Nobody would want to take Aston on the A939...

https://youtu.be/xkAT82-R0S8?t=75

Ha! Too late now, I have a Focus hire car.

I will return in the Aston one day, when I have more than one day free (and the weather is a bit better...)

[mon the fish]

I'm planning an Applecross trip for September from Aberdeenshire. Torridon Inn is already booked for the night, but I need some suggestions for lunch.

I reckon Lochcarron area will fit in time-wise, is the Lochcarron hotel any good? The plan is to get lunch before having a leisurely drive up and over to Applecross

[GetCarter]

mon the fish said:

I'm planning an Applecross trip for September from Aberdeenshire. Torridon Inn is already booked for the night, but I need some suggestions for lunch.

I reckon Lochcarron area will fit in time-wise, is the Lochcarron hotel any good? The plan is to get lunch before having a leisurely drive up and over to Applecross

The Lochcarron Bistro is worth a look, or if you are into fish, the Kishorn Seafood Bar, or The Bealach Cafe.

I was taking photos for the Bealach Cafe yesterday... they don't do huge meals but enough to fill you up.

Edited by GetCarter on Friday 5th August 11:00

[mon the fish]

GetCarter said:

The Lochcarron Bistro is worth a look, or if you are into fish, the Kishorn Seafood Bar, or The Bealach Cafe.

I was taking photos for the Bealach Cafe yesterday... they don't do huge meals but enough to fill you up.

Edited by GetCarter on Friday 5th August 11:00

Thanks for the heads-up

There's 10 of us going altogether, the bistro looks a decent shout, cheers for that

[mikey k]

I've started using the Bealach Cafe when ever I do this run. Great food and good service. I'm sure they could reserve a large enough table for you?

[GetCarter]

mon the fish said:

Thanks for the heads-up

There's 10 of us going altogether, the bistro looks a decent shout, cheers for that

Lochcarron Bistro is very small... not good for 10... Bealach Cafe 36 inside and more outside. It's situated right at the bottom of the Bealach.

[Craikeybaby]

mon the fish said:

I'm planning an Applecross trip for September from Aberdeenshire. Torridon Inn is already booked for the night, but I need some suggestions for lunch.

I reckon Lochcarron area will fit in time-wise, is the Lochcarron hotel any good? The plan is to get lunch before having a leisurely drive up and over to Applecross

No. Ended up there once when the bistro was closed.

[chalda]

May I ask you for help identifying some Loch?

In Episode 3 of "Oz and James drink to britain", the team of Oz Clark and James May proceeds in their Rolls-Royce along some Loch in Scotland, driving from Alloa to Islay (they say this in the film at least). Some of their passage looks like this:





The film sequence appeals to me very much. Could anybody locate that? If it was taken in two different locations, the location of the first picture would be most appreciated. Thanks!

[Red Devil]

Both are east of Inveraray on the A83 near the head of Loch Fyne.
Top one here - https://goo.gl/maps/RWEuKqogVDp
Bottom one here - https://goo.gl/maps/NPDzhHyZdS52