Applecross to Ullapool - best driving route?

[Mostro]

As above, for my planned Scottish tour I'd originally planned to take:
- the northern loop out of Applecross to Shieldaig,
- A896 past Torridon to Kinlochewe
- A832 north past Loch Maree to Gairloch
- loop round to meet A835 and turn north to Ullapool

but....... I'm aware this misses out the much-recommended roads in and out of Achnasheen, so should I:

a) take a quick detour from Kinlochewe to Achnasheen and back again, then carry on as before?

b) miss out the Torridon road and head back to Strathcarron and A890 to Achnasheen?

and/or c) miss out the Loch Maree & Gairloch route (what's the northern part of this road like?) and head inland from Achnasheen to Gorstan and take the A835 from there to Ullapool, passing Loch Glascarnoch?

Decisions, decisions.... I don't really have time to loop round all of these options given the rest of my itinary so recommendations on a postcard please...

[JM]

The road through Torriden to Kinlochewe is mostly if not entirely single track, reasonably good road, and reasonably wide.
The road from Lochcarron to Achnasheen is partly single track but mostly double, a lot of it was upgraded a few years ago, around Achnasheen is the best bits.

I'd go for option B, the road round the coast from Gairloch is good and some of it features in thie video http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/bmw-1-series-m-...

Having said that though, I really like the road from Garve to Ullapool and the Achnasheen to garve road is great too.

Is Ullapool the most north you are going?

[whirligig]

It's a toughy right enough! But I'd agree with above, Applecross, Shieldaig, Lochcarron, Achnasheen, Kinlochewe, Gairloch, Ullapool.
Yes, you're missing out the Shielaig/Torridon/Kinlochewe but I think you'll get the best driving roads that way.

[Mostro]

JM said:

Is Ullapool the most north you are going?

No, on to Kylescu Bridge and Durness, then south from Tongue to Lairg and Inverness. Coming back over the Cairngorms so want to get the route up right.

[moribund]

whirligig said:

It's a toughy right enough! But I'd agree with above, Applecross, Shieldaig, Lochcarron, Achnasheen, Kinlochewe, Gairloch, Ullapool.
Yes, you're missing out the Shielaig/Torridon/Kinlochewe but I think you'll get the best driving roads that way.

I think there's going to be a lot of different answers to this one! Think personally it depends on the car and if you prefer lots of corners or mad speeds. I've been up in 200+ bhp cars (Impreza and RX8) and a small 105bhp car too (Smart Roadster) and I found that some roads suited one car better than the other. The road from Lochcarron to Achnasheen was too fast for the Smart and wasn't as much fun as I expected. The road from Achnasheen to Ullapool is also awesomely fast and was amazing this year in my RX8 in company with a friend in an M3 but would feel like a motorway in my Smart.

Personally the Shieldag - Kinlochewe road is one of my favorites and is amazing in anything.

What car are you doing it in - the Clio in your profile? I owned a phase 2 172 for a few months and it was very nimble and not much slower than my RX8 so that makes it an even harder choice! Personally in your shoes I'd repeat my route from this year - Applecross - Shieldag - Kinlochewe which is twisty singletrack, stunning scenery and fast and challenging towards the end too. Then you can make a decision (over an ice cream at Kinlochewe) between an exciting high-speed blast to Ullapool or a slower, twisty route via Loch Maree. Depending on how long a day you've had as you might be getting quite tired by this point too. We met some Caterhams at Kinlochewe, they went the slow way, we went the fast way about 20 minutes later, and we all ended up in Ullapool petrol station at the same time and we were all convinced we'd made the right choice!


Scotland, May 2011 by giveitfish, on Flickr

I'm sure Carter will be along in a minute to contribute another viewpoint...

[Longers]

Mostro said:

No, on to Kylescu Bridge and Durness, then south from Tongue to Lairg and Inverness. Coming back over the Cairngorms so want to get the route up right.

I've done that route... superb
The coast road from Kinlochewe is scenically stunning, the inland route to Ullapool via Garve and the A835 is quick. VERY quick. As a compromise, if you have the time, you could go Torridon > Kinlochewe > Garve, then turnaround and go back to Kinlochewe and follow the coast road.

That way you get some of the fast flowing stuff to/from Garve on the A832 and the scenic splendour of the coast. Ok, you miss some of the fast A835 to Ullapool but there's plenty more of that from Ullapool to Kylesku And if you haven't considered it already, the Kylesku Bridge Hotel is a cracking place to stop for lunch.

One other tip... Ullapool is not cheap for fuel but it's a lot cheaper than Durness

At the end of the day don't spend too long worrying about the exact route to take - I know from experience whichever route you use up there you'll love it!

Cheers,
L'rs

[PaulHogan]

The section from Gairloch to the A835 is one of the finest driving roads on the planet. And almost always empty...

[Mostro]

moribund said:

Think personally it depends on the car and if you prefer lots of corners or mad speeds. I've been up in 200+ bhp cars (Impreza and RX8) and a small 105bhp car too (Smart Roadster) and I found that some roads suited one car better than the other. The road from Lochcarron to Achnasheen was too fast for the Smart and wasn't as much fun as I expected. The road from Achnasheen to Ullapool is also awesomely fast and was amazing this year in my RX8 in company with a friend in an M3 but would feel like a motorway in my Smart.

Personally the Shieldag - Kinlochewe road is one of my favorites and is amazing in anything.

What car are you doing it in - the Clio in your profile? I owned a phase 2 172 for a few months and it was very nimble and not much slower than my RX8 so that makes it an even harder choice!

Yeah in the Clio this year which is happy with either type of road, though I personally prefer feeling the g-forces rather than outright speed. As it happens, I'm hoping to get a Caterham in the next 12-18 months so the next time I go back may well be in that

Leaning towards sticking with the original plan but adding a detour up to Achnasheen and back at the moment.

[GetCarter]

Mostro said:

As above, for my planned Scottish tour I'd originally planned to take:
- the northern loop out of Applecross to Shieldaig,
- A896 past Torridon to Kinlochewe
- A832 north past Loch Maree to Gairloch
- loop round to meet A835 and turn north to Ullapool

but....... I'm aware this misses out the much-recommended roads in and out of Achnasheen, so should I:

a) take a quick detour from Kinlochewe to Achnasheen and back again, then carry on as before?

b) miss out the Torridon road and head back to Strathcarron and A890 to Achnasheen?

and/or c) miss out the Loch Maree & Gairloch route (what's the northern part of this road like?) and head inland from Achnasheen to Gorstan and take the A835 from there to Ullapool, passing Loch Glascarnoch?

Decisions, decisions.... I don't really have time to loop round all of these options given the rest of my itinary so recommendations on a postcard please...

Def 'a' You are taking the right route to Ullapool - it's longer but much prettier, and it's worth the trip up Glen Docharty (though they have now taken away 'SLOW') If you want a really really fast road turn right at Achnasheen for 12 miles - towards Lochcarron (then turn round and come back, and probably do it again)

Edited by GetCarter on Sunday 5th June 14:37