Highlands

[sjabrown]

Singh911 said:

Could anyone recommend places to stay at the following overnight stops please:

Blairgowrie (or nearby)
Fort William
Torridon
Durness
Fort Augustus
Inverary

Would really appreciate the heads up on good places for lunches in between those as well.

Thanks in advance.

For near Fort William I'd also suggest the Holly Tree in Kentallen.
The George in Inveraray is the place to stay there.

[Craikeybaby]

Had four seasons in a day today, it started snowing on our first run over Bealach Na Ba, then a few hours later we were sat outside Nanny's shop in Shieldaig having an ice cream in the sun! I lost count of how many times we stopped to put the roof up or down!

The Applecross Inn lived up to its reputation, we had dinner there and both enjoyed it. The lunch at the walled garden wasn't bad either.

MR2 on the Bealach Na Ba by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

[mikey k]

Lancs Dave said:

We'll be there next week 8-)

Dave you have an addiction don't you!

[Lochaber]

Singh911 said:

Could anyone recommend places to stay at the following overnight stops please:

Blairgowrie (or nearby)
Fort William
Torridon
Durness
Fort Augustus
Inverary

Would really appreciate the heads up on good places for lunches in between those as well.

Thanks in advance.

The Smiddy in Spean Bridge nice B&B and excellent restaurant with it.

[GetCarter]

FYI The Bealach closed this Saturday (18th April) 10.30 - 13.00 - cycle race.

[Craikeybaby]

I was surprised at how many people were cycling over it yesterday, especially in the snow!

Today we went from Lochcarron back to Perth, via Kinlochleven and Glencoe. The road around Loch Leven was great, I actually preferred it to the Bealach Na Ba.

[Who me ?]

It's possibly OK in a modern car, in today's conditions with lower traffic volumes. Hark back to the late 60's with Moggie design suspension or BMC diesel vans with a top speed of 45/no power steering and engine over front wheels ,and it was hard work . No need for a gym workout on the arms - it happened at work.
Again, try it in a early mark Transit petrol with a broken throttle cable and the idle turned up , so that only engine braking was with choke pulled out .
Don't know if anyone has tried it, but the B 8008 sections off the A830 ( Fort William -Mallaig road),after Lochailort,might give you an idea of a road to challenge the kinlochleven road. it was about 45 miles ,mostly single track . Maniac time was about 45 minutes. Good time was 1h15. it was passable in snow, except for snowploughs ,which had a habit of sliding off. These days it's been upgraded and 45 mins is about average.

[sjabrown]

Craikeybaby said:

I was surprised at how many people were cycling over it yesterday, especially in the snow!

Today we went from Lochcarron back to Perth, via Kinlochleven and Glencoe. The road around Loch Leven was great, I actually preferred it to the Bealach Na Ba.

The Kinlochring has had a number of potholes filled with tar that is yet to bed in - some loose gravel and bumps as a consequence. Other than that it is at it's best as the trees are yet to be in leaf so sight-lines are good.

[danpollard]

Depending on what you're after, we had some great stays with very friendly hosts in Clashnessie (about 45 mins south of Durness) with these guys, who also cooked us dinner;
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1064927

The road to get to them was great too - apparently used by Audi for a TT advert, though I haven't sought it out yet. Managed to get there in a 350Z, so you should be fine!

Fort Williams we stayed here, which was equally lovely with a view of Ben Nevis over breakfast when the mist cleared.

http://www.hotels.uk.com/details/AAB442894/Torcast...

Proper special little tunnel to get there though (image hopefully attached)!!

Singh911 said:

Could anyone recommend places to stay at the following overnight stops please:

Blairgowrie (or nearby)
Fort William
Torridon
Durness
Fort Augustus
Inverary

Would really appreciate the heads up on good places for lunches in between those as well.

Thanks in advance.

[danpollard]

Also, I owe a few people in this thread a huge amount of thanks for helping us plan our road trip over Easter weekend (which is why I came on!). We had an incredible time, and all recommendations were spot on. I said I'd bring a link to photos - I'll try a few with this, but don't want to bring the forum to a grinding halt (there are A LOT more)!!

[danpollard]

danpollard said:

Also, I owe a few people in this thread a huge amount of thanks for helping us plan our road trip over Easter weekend (which is why I came on!). We had an incredible time, and all recommendations were spot on. I said I'd bring a link to photos - I'll try a few with this, but don't want to bring the forum to a grinding halt (there are A LOT more)!!

That doesn't look like it worked, so here's one more - any more and I'll feel self-indulgent!

[Craikeybaby]

I'm back down south and back in the office

I had a great week up in Scotland, just under 1,400 miles in 7 days (including 1 day without driving), the roads in the Highlands are great, even the ones you end up driving on to get to your hotel etc are excellent. We came home via the North York Moors and after Scotland, even they seemed a bit underwhelming.

[coppice]

[quote=danpollard]
Fort Williams we stayed here, which was equally lovely with a view of Ben Nevis over breakfast when the mist cleared.

/quote]

The first time that 'Fort William ' (singular) and 'lovely ' have appeared in the same sentence ..the town that always feels like East Germany circa 1963 to me !

[sjabrown]

coppice]anpollard said:

Fort Williams we stayed here, which was equally lovely with a view of Ben Nevis over breakfast when the mist cleared.

/quote]

The first time that 'Fort William ' (singular) and 'lovely ' have appeared in the same sentence ..the town that always feels like East Germany circa 1963 to me !

Fort William has some redeeming features: there is a choice of 3 main roads to leave by, and the surrounding area is far better than the town.

[Who me ?]

The town has declined over the years. It possibly started in the 60's when the Pulp Mill was built ,and the Plantation ( to those not familiar with the town -a housing estate built higher up on the side of Cow Hill-where the TV mast sits), with the resulting influx of overspill from the lowlands to fill job vacancies in the mill at Corpach . Something not appreciated by visitors is the rain, but how many places can boast that when it rains ,they don't have to clean grime off the windscreen, or car. The HIGH Street has changed for the worse. It used to be a lovely mix of local shops and small branches of big name shops, most of which have disappeared.

[Hooli]

sjabrown said:

coppice]anpollard said:

Fort Williams we stayed here, which was equally lovely with a view of Ben Nevis over breakfast when the mist cleared.

/quote]

The first time that 'Fort William ' (singular) and 'lovely ' have appeared in the same sentence ..the town that always feels like East Germany circa 1963 to me !

Fort William has some redeeming features: there is a choice of 3 main roads to leave by, and the surrounding area is far better than the town.

The best bits of Fort William are to your left as you enter it from the South.

[Who me ?]

One road in the area ,I never see mention of is the Lundrava road up to Blarmafoldach . The start is on the island at the south end ( it's that road on the right) and continues on a single track winding road for approx 4.5 miles .It's on a par with the Glen Nevis road for twists and turns. Not much at the end, except private grounds with a Lochan, but the views coming down ,over Loch Linnhe are great . And for the off road bikers, just north of the town on the Inverness road is a sign to the "North Face", where there's several biking trails.

[sjabrown]

[quote=Who me ?]One road in the area ,I never see mention of is the Lundrava road up to Blarmafoldach . The start is on the island at the south end ( it's that road on the right) and continues on a single track winding road for approx 4.5 miles .It's on a par with the Glen Nevis road for twists and turns. Not much at the end, except private grounds with a Lochan, but the views coming down ,over Loch Linnhe are great . And for the off road bikers, just north of the town on the Inverness road is a sign to the "North Face", where there's several biking trails.
[/quote]

The Blarmafoldach road is a cracker. Good for access to the WHW midway between Kinlochleven and the Fort. Last time I drove up it was to get home when the A82 was shut between town and Corran. Parked near the farm, half a mile on moorland then ran the 3 miles on forestry road home.

[Zed 44]

Long ago and after two trips to the Highlands, I decided this time I would not bring the GTR. Bumpy, cratered, mostly straight, narrow roads albeit with passing places and loosely scattered with sheep are no fun.

Instead I was going to bring the Peugeot but after just returning from Monte Carlo, I'm afraid I was just too spoiled by French roads to consider going the same distance the other way and endure the bad roads, over-priced poor quality hotels and potentially bad weather.

So, I'll just be going to Edinburgh.

P.S. Scenery is great when the sun shines and the people are great too.

[Who me ?]

Sja- I suspect the end of this road is close to a track leading to the forestry road leading down to close to Onich. I once had a ate who had a croft high up from Onich, and I'd suspect that it's only a short hop over the hills to the end of the Lundrava road.