Planing a 4 day road trip in the TVR
Discussion
random thoughts
avoid tourist bits like Loch Ness and the castle unless you like Japanese cameras
Applecross is a must and Dumphries and Galloway is often forgotten so empty roads
a trip to Rannoch Station (off peak) and ride the train to Ben Nevis
A9 can be good or congested in different parts watch for cars on wrong side of road
A9 from Inveness up the east coast can be lovely with the old croft building and castle on the coast at Wick
the middle bit of the very top of Scotland is just factory foresty with nothing to see
with just one car and two of us we've not bothered booking for B&B we've always found somewhere and have stopped in some very nice and posh places for very reasonable B&B prices sometimes ones that would easily outshine a four star hotel and much freindlier and interesting
ETA: links
Laidhay Croft Museum
Castle Girnigoe & Sinclair just north of Wick not Old Wick Castle
avoid tourist bits like Loch Ness and the castle unless you like Japanese cameras
Applecross is a must and Dumphries and Galloway is often forgotten so empty roads
a trip to Rannoch Station (off peak) and ride the train to Ben Nevis
A9 can be good or congested in different parts watch for cars on wrong side of road
A9 from Inveness up the east coast can be lovely with the old croft building and castle on the coast at Wick
the middle bit of the very top of Scotland is just factory foresty with nothing to see
with just one car and two of us we've not bothered booking for B&B we've always found somewhere and have stopped in some very nice and posh places for very reasonable B&B prices sometimes ones that would easily outshine a four star hotel and much freindlier and interesting
ETA: links
Laidhay Croft Museum
Castle Girnigoe & Sinclair just north of Wick not Old Wick Castle
Edited by na on Saturday 16th June 18:09
There are some long roads with light traffic where you can maintain high speeds so be ware
‘Bealach nam Bo the only true Alpine pass in Britain’ - ‘Pass of the cattle’ to Applecross – off the A896/A890
http://www.applecross.uk.com/
up there too is the Heights of Kinlochewe / Glen Doccherty - A832
http://www.kinlochewe.com/
A82 Glen Coe
can also take you to Rannoch Moor but not the rail station that’s from the B846 (A9)
there’s the A836 from John O’Groats to Thurso if you went up to Wick but remember what I said about the middle bit up there
of course North Yorkshire and Northumberland are fantastic too
as just one example there’s the living museum to visit for a day (or two) at the Bemish Museum with of course the fully licensed Sun Inn pub from yesteryear with modern real ale – sometimes we forget the great things close to us
‘Bealach nam Bo the only true Alpine pass in Britain’ - ‘Pass of the cattle’ to Applecross – off the A896/A890
http://www.applecross.uk.com/
up there too is the Heights of Kinlochewe / Glen Doccherty - A832
http://www.kinlochewe.com/
A82 Glen Coe
can also take you to Rannoch Moor but not the rail station that’s from the B846 (A9)
there’s the A836 from John O’Groats to Thurso if you went up to Wick but remember what I said about the middle bit up there
of course North Yorkshire and Northumberland are fantastic too
as just one example there’s the living museum to visit for a day (or two) at the Bemish Museum with of course the fully licensed Sun Inn pub from yesteryear with modern real ale – sometimes we forget the great things close to us
Er don’t go to Scotland during midge season and if you do don’t venture out for even a 30 seconds dash without midge spray on as I can personally assure you that you’ll still have reminders a couple of weeks later
If you can visit outside of the school holidays and weekends so much the better although even if you can't some parts will still be very quiet
If you get on the roads, main or even less so, to popular tourist places you can get stuck behind, tractors, coaches, caravans and motorhomes - the coaches on the bigger roads can really motor though
Personally I’m not a big fan of Skye and find the east coast as interesting as the more popular west coast and anything bigger than a small town I avoid and by-pass whenever I can and the big castles and houses and places with all their stolen wealth and finery don’t interest me, how ordinary folk lived through the ages is fascinating and there’s plenty to tell in Scotland – it doesn’t have to be heavy or formal either
There are plenty of small distilleries about so you don’t have to stick to the better known names – personally we plan our stops around the current CAMRA Good Beer Guide (the bible, all others are false, paid for entries) - 2013 out mid-September
Inveraray Jail is a traditional place to visit that’s not crowded (or at all if you go mid-week)
The Highland Wildlife Park has something of interest regardless of the weather
There’s a lovely museum of a deserted village, about a mile from the new village on a main-ish road, deserted in the 30/40/50s(?) were the doctor’s(?) house was the only one with a water pump inside, only a very small village where you can see how people used to live but I just can’t remember where, you could walk round the houses even if the site was shut as there were no fences and when open you had a guide, I’m not even sure if there was an entrance charge if there was it was minimal and obviously forgotten
We’ve done a few Bears tours up there as well as visits on our own but unless my wife has kept any of the tour routes that’s all from me
If you can visit outside of the school holidays and weekends so much the better although even if you can't some parts will still be very quiet
If you get on the roads, main or even less so, to popular tourist places you can get stuck behind, tractors, coaches, caravans and motorhomes - the coaches on the bigger roads can really motor though
Personally I’m not a big fan of Skye and find the east coast as interesting as the more popular west coast and anything bigger than a small town I avoid and by-pass whenever I can and the big castles and houses and places with all their stolen wealth and finery don’t interest me, how ordinary folk lived through the ages is fascinating and there’s plenty to tell in Scotland – it doesn’t have to be heavy or formal either
There are plenty of small distilleries about so you don’t have to stick to the better known names – personally we plan our stops around the current CAMRA Good Beer Guide (the bible, all others are false, paid for entries) - 2013 out mid-September
Inveraray Jail is a traditional place to visit that’s not crowded (or at all if you go mid-week)
The Highland Wildlife Park has something of interest regardless of the weather
There’s a lovely museum of a deserted village, about a mile from the new village on a main-ish road, deserted in the 30/40/50s(?) were the doctor’s(?) house was the only one with a water pump inside, only a very small village where you can see how people used to live but I just can’t remember where, you could walk round the houses even if the site was shut as there were no fences and when open you had a guide, I’m not even sure if there was an entrance charge if there was it was minimal and obviously forgotten
We’ve done a few Bears tours up there as well as visits on our own but unless my wife has kept any of the tour routes that’s all from me
You posted as I was typing – I’ll just add this
We’re all different and like different things so you may not go for my suggestions I just give them as that and a brief explanation of my personal tastes so you know what I’ve not considered
Day one to me would be Inverness area, perhaps Dingwall
If I was at Alwnick, which we were a few New Years back, I’d have to call in at the Star at Netherton when it’s open
Personally I’d be looking at getting and stop further away from a big city like Glasgow, I’d suggest for a TVR two days of roads nearer, around or above the Inverness area
Four days is a good look see to give you a flavour of what’s there to see how much you might want to go back for many more or longer visits
Wherever you go you’re sure to like at least some of it and get a better idea for the next times – that’s not to say you might like all of it - enjoy
We’re all different and like different things so you may not go for my suggestions I just give them as that and a brief explanation of my personal tastes so you know what I’ve not considered
Day one to me would be Inverness area, perhaps Dingwall
If I was at Alwnick, which we were a few New Years back, I’d have to call in at the Star at Netherton when it’s open
Personally I’d be looking at getting and stop further away from a big city like Glasgow, I’d suggest for a TVR two days of roads nearer, around or above the Inverness area
Four days is a good look see to give you a flavour of what’s there to see how much you might want to go back for many more or longer visits
Wherever you go you’re sure to like at least some of it and get a better idea for the next times – that’s not to say you might like all of it - enjoy
LMMAC said:
a stay at the Cameron Loch De Vere Hotel
as I said each to their own, not my particular cup of Darjeeling, I’d sooner have a bit more money for beer, petrol and perhaps another night stop overwe stopped at private places in Scotland for the price of a very reasonable B&B, one had it’s own lake (loch?), another had in it’s back ‘garden’ a riverside walk and own nature reserve
we’ve found in Scotland and England (not any in Wales yet) private reasonably priced B&B where very comfortably off people offer rooms in their lovely homes mostly for the sake of just meeting people and having them stay, true paying guests, where their properties have been impressive as their welcome – personally I’ve never found the same in a hotel for four times the price
The |A830 from Fort William to Mallaig is a great road, twisty and fast. I travel it every few months as my parents run a B&B in Morar. in Morar is the famous silver sands a beach with sand like the Maldives. (if its dry)
At the end is Mallaig where you can get the ferry to Skye and travel through Skye and over the bridge to the Eileen Doune castle.
This site helps
http://www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/
On the way stop at Glenfinnan which is where the monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie is, now made famous for the viaduduct used in Harry Potter. The Steam train goes over twice a day.
If you do go to Glenfinnan stop at the Glenfinnan Hotel, the bar food is really fantastic and i always hang out there - i think its the most scotish hotel you can find, recommend a stay if you can but must do the bar.
I use the road for blasting in the Maserati, but watch the 30's in Fort William and Arisaig.
Hope that helps
At the end is Mallaig where you can get the ferry to Skye and travel through Skye and over the bridge to the Eileen Doune castle.
This site helps
http://www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/
On the way stop at Glenfinnan which is where the monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie is, now made famous for the viaduduct used in Harry Potter. The Steam train goes over twice a day.
If you do go to Glenfinnan stop at the Glenfinnan Hotel, the bar food is really fantastic and i always hang out there - i think its the most scotish hotel you can find, recommend a stay if you can but must do the bar.
I use the road for blasting in the Maserati, but watch the 30's in Fort William and Arisaig.
Hope that helps
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