Scotland Driving Roads.

[MudasarKhan]

Hi,

Finally I've got some time to myself and fancy a road trip with some friends. I have never been to Scotland and I'm a big fan of beautiful scenery and great driving roads.

The day would be a Wednesday this coming October, and I've been recommended Edinburgh, Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe. Was wondering if anybody perhaps could add to that? Or perhaps recommend alternatives? Would I be able to cover all three in a day?

Will be travelling from the North West of England, setting off early. Planning to stay in Scotland until approx 11pm and then driving back home. I'll be driving a C220 cdi sport.

Also need PH's help to recommend some nice food places on the route. My friends are English and love steak and chip's and/or similar foods. I need Halal food but dont mind sandwiches.

Thank You

[weezb]

There was a thread on this the other day

http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...

With regards to Halal food you will be well served certainly in Glasgow (and probably Edinburgh, maybe Aberdeen, Dundee and possibly Inverness other than that I'm not sure, to unlikely).

http://www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAction.do?keyword...

Edited by weezb on Saturday 25th September 23:22

[Papa Hotel]

Bealach na ba. Thread done.

[MudasarKhan]

Thanks Weezb. That first link certainly came in useful.

Papa Hotel. - I don't know what to say.

Edit - oops. It's weezb not weebz.

Edited by MudasarKhan on Sunday 26th September 00:01

[sherman]

The rout youare thinking of is fine but you should be able to go further than just Glen Coe if you have all day probably all the way to Applecross and back. It will involve a lot of hard driving though. Also be prepared for your fuel consumption to plummet. If you are still in the North past about 6pm beware that alot of the petrol stations will close. Late opening fuel stations are still a rarity in the north west.

The Green Welly Stop at Tyndrum is good for petrol, food and a browse round the car park as there is quite often some nice cars there.

[speedtwelve]

Give it max chat across Rannoch Moor/Glencoe, revel in the unsurpassed scenery, and hope you have some kind of electronic countermeasures on board to suppress plod hiding half-way along with a laser speed gun. Enjoy. The roads and scenery are fabulous.

[MudasarKhan]

Have done quite a bit of research now and the following is more or less the intended route.

Manchester
Edinburgh
Rannoch Moor
Glen Coe
Bealach Na Ba
Applecross
Manchester

Did want to go to Loch Ness but don't think I will have the time.

Thank you for your helpful replies.

[thinfourth2]

Beware scotland is a bigger country then most southerners think.

[heebeegeetee]

thinfourth2 said:

Beware scotland is a bigger country then most southerners think.

And distances need to be measured in hours, not miles.

[RosscoPCole]

thinfourth2 said:

Beware scotland is a bigger country then most southerners think.

Very true. Was going to Thurso once and when I reached Inverness it said 109 miles still to go and took a good 2.5 hours!

[speed8]

As said, be wary of just looking at distance and thinking it's not too far.

I'm heading up in October from Leeds to Great Glen area. I've given myself 6 hours for the trip and even at that it might take me a little longer (might be a little less ) . The route maps say it should take me 7 1/2 hours but I know the roads and some of the shortcuts for getting through a Glasgow rush hour, etc.

Anyway, I'm sure you've realised what I am trying to say. The route you've chosen is either a very long days driving at best and impossible at worst for a daytrip. Spend a night somewhere and split it up. Plenty of B&B's round Loch Ness area for an overnight stop.

[MudasarKhan]

speed8 said:

Anyway, I'm sure you've realised what I am trying to say. The route you've chosen is either a very long days driving at best and impossible at worst for a daytrip. Spend a night somewhere and split it up. Plenty of B&B's round Loch Ness area for an overnight stop.

I do understand what you are saying. I have looked at it time wise and it is a very long drive.

However I've worked hard over the last 24months (12 of them as cabbie) and have put down deposit on a c220 cdi and will be collecting few days before my birthday. Will be getting some rare time off and thought I'd get to know the car, go out with the lad's, all rolled into one etc. I have plans for the following day therefore my reason for a 1 day trip.

But regardless of long hours experiance as a cabbie, I would'nt push my luck and will find a place to stay overnight if the need arises.

Thanks once again.

[chim]

MudasarKhan said:

speed8 said:

Anyway, I'm sure you've realised what I am trying to say. The route you've chosen is either a very long days driving at best and impossible at worst for a daytrip. Spend a night somewhere and split it up. Plenty of B&B's round Loch Ness area for an overnight stop.

I do understand what you are saying. I have looked at it time wise and it is a very long drive.

However I've worked hard over the last 24months (12 of them as cabbie) and have put down deposit on a c220 cdi and will be collecting few days before my birthday. Will be getting some rare time off and thought I'd get to know the car, go out with the lad's, all rolled into one etc. I have plans for the following day therefore my reason for a 1 day trip.

But regardless of long hours experiance as a cabbie, I would'nt push my luck and will find a place to stay overnight if the need arises.

Thanks once again.

If its a new car to you take it easy, some of the roads up there can hold a few surprises and it can be a long way down if you misjudge a corner on some of the higher routes.

+1 for the timing as well. If you have never been you well spend a lot of time going slow with your jaw at you're knee's and stopping to take in the scenery.

[MudasarKhan]

chim said:

MudasarKhan said:

speed8 said:

Anyway, I'm sure you've realised what I am trying to say. The route you've chosen is either a very long days driving at best and impossible at worst for a daytrip. Spend a night somewhere and split it up. Plenty of B&B's round Loch Ness area for an overnight stop.

I do understand what you are saying. I have looked at it time wise and it is a very long drive.

However I've worked hard over the last 24months (12 of them as cabbie) and have put down deposit on a c220 cdi and will be collecting few days before my birthday. Will be getting some rare time off and thought I'd get to know the car, go out with the lad's, all rolled into one etc. I have plans for the following day therefore my reason for a 1 day trip.

But regardless of long hours experiance as a cabbie, I would'nt push my luck and will find a place to stay overnight if the need arises.

Thanks once again.

"spend a lot of time going slow with your jaw at you're knee's and stopping to take in the scenery".

Thats exactly what I want to be doing!

Edited by MudasarKhan on Sunday 26th September 11:45

[northo]

Try this - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en...

The road to Glencoe is a good one, but best driven early in the morning. It's worth taking a detour at Tyndrum down to Dalmally and back, as that's a great section of road.

The road from Glencoe to Kinlochleven is also an often missed classic - short but sweet.

Ideally, if you have the time you should try to drive down to the Kyle of Lochalsh from Invergarry but that is a really long day out for you. The road from Spean Bridge to Dalwhinnie is absoultely brilliant & has recently been resurfaced.

Here's a suggestion:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&a...

Takes in some of the best roads in Scotland. Probably a bit tight for one day though. I have done 490 miles in a day in Scotland, and I literally had to crawl out of the car at the end of it. (see here - 900 miles, 36 hours, 3 tanks of gas and 1 big smile.....)

For future reference, I'm working on a website to pool all this information - www.lapofscotland.com

[MudasarKhan]

northo said:

Try this - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en...

The road to Glencoe is a good one, but best driven early in the morning. It's worth taking a detour at Tyndrum down to Dalmally and back, as that's a great section of road.

The road from Glencoe to Kinlochleven is also an often missed classic - short but sweet.

Ideally, if you have the time you should try to drive down to the Kyle of Lochalsh from Invergarry but that is a really long day out for you. The road from Spean Bridge to Dalwhinnie is absoultely brilliant & has recently been resurfaced.

Here's a suggestion:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&a...

Takes in some of the best roads in Scotland. Probably a bit tight for one day though. I have done 490 miles in a day in Scotland, and I literally had to crawl out of the car at the end of it. (see here - 900 miles, 36 hours, 3 tanks of gas and 1 big smile.....)

For future reference, I'm working on a website to pool all this information - www.lapofscotland.com

Thank you very much! These links certainly came in useful

Just when I thought I had it all planned am confused now.

Seriously considering your recomendation on the Moffat loop, because them pictures were just epic.

Edited by MudasarKhan on Sunday 26th September 12:19

[moribund]

Is getting up to Scotland the night before an option for you? If you can find a cheap hotel doing the M6/M74 in the dark will save a lot of time and get you straight into the action in the Highlands for a memorable day. Dumbarton Travelodge has some £29/night family rooms (sleep 3) available on some dates for instance, also Perth.

I've done 3 pure driving holidays in Scotland now plus lots of other enjoyable trips, there are some very fast roads but on balance you'll be going slower than you plan due to scenery, tight bends and sometimes traffic too. You can do 40mph for miles behind a lorry/caravan on some of the A roads to and from the best bits. 3 days is ideal from Yorkshire, I guess the same for you - I'd consider treating this trip as a taster for a longer future visit

[moribund]

Great routes above, for what it's worth here's my suggestion -

Google route

- get to Dumbarton for a night
- Loch Lomond and Glencoe early morning before traffic (pre dawn on Lomond would be good, then dawn on Glencoe would be awesome if not raining - sunrise 7:30am?
- Road to Mallaig is very fast to start and very pretty
- then single track followed by fast quiet roads to get the full Scottish experience
- short ferry hop
- loop towards Oban for a different and interesting route home, or back via Glencoe if flagging

This gets you the proper highland experience with hills, sea, lochs, fast roads and slow roads in 1 long day.

Google says 10 hours, I think 15 hours travelling incl. stops and ferry

Edited by moribund on Sunday 26th September 12:55

Edited by moribund on Sunday 26th September 12:58

[whirligig]

Rannoch Moor to Applecross may only be 150 odd miles or so but be prepared for it to take anything up to 4 hours when you are unfamiliar with the roads. Regardless of what car you are driving - when you are drinking in nice scenery and navigating single track roads it will take longer than you think.

You might be better heading up as far as say, Dornie (Eilean Donan Castle) then Lochcarron, then Garve, Inverness, LOch Ness side, Fort William again rather than heading al the way to Applecross. Not that it is not worth it but by taking that route you are only on very single track roads and more viable to do the mileage in your limited time scale.

[MudasarKhan]

moribund said:

Is getting up to Scotland the night before an option for you? If you can find a cheap hotel doing the M6/M74 in the dark will save a lot of time and get you straight into the action in the Highlands for a memorable day. Dumbarton Travelodge has some £29/night family rooms (sleep 3) available on some dates for instance, also Perth.

I've done 3 pure driving holidays in Scotland now plus lots of other enjoyable trips, there are some very fast roads but on balance you'll be going slower than you plan due to scenery, tight bends and sometimes traffic too. You can do 40mph for miles behind a lorry/caravan on some of the A roads to and from the best bits. 3 days is ideal from Yorkshire, I guess the same for you - I'd consider treating this trip as a taster for a longer future visit

The night before is not an option unfortunately. Truth be told this will be a taster and a future visit is most likely. It's just am being greedy and want the best all in one day!

Will be a long drive, but I will be doing high mileage all that week anyhow. Blackpool, Bolton, Leicester, Bradford, Leeds, Thorpe Park and Scotland all planned trips with different friends and family all within 4days.

My pizza shop is going to be closed due to a re-furb and have booked 4 days off the day job too. Thought id make the most of it as it will be my birthday and I'l have a new car too. So much happening in one week, but am Scotland is going to be the icing on the cake.