General: Scotland

[Shadeyman]

I'll be traveling to Lairg in Scotland the 20th of Febuary to see an old friend. Plan to see a few places while we're up there, Fort William, Isle of Skye, John O'Groats, Isle of Lewis etc.. I'm expecting the 4 day trip to add about 1500 miles to our XC90's mileage so it will put my car maintenance skills to the test.

Never been this far North of the wall before, lovely part of the world I hear.

If any of you guys need a courier for parts etc. let me know. Nothing to big mind.

[Arctic fox]

It is a beautiful part of the UK. Be sure to pop into the "Green Welly" for Cullen Skink soup, it is absolutely superb.

We just spent a weekend up there recently in the XC. Snow was like a foot deep on the road to Callander and beyond. XC loved it.

Bring some of the white stuff back with you and have a great time

[Yosser]

Wouldn't bother too much with John O'Groats TBH.

From Lairg I'd probably head straight up to Tongue and round by Durness and then down the west. Torridon, Applecross, over the bridge to Skye but back by boat to Mallaig, head via Fort William (not stopping for long there) to Glencoe - whe're you'll find the Green Welly awaiting you as you come off the moor at Tyndrum!

There will probably be weather at this time of year, so plans may have to change. A lot of highland/west coast Scotland will be closed too. Not too many tourists this time of year.

Wherever you go, enjoy yourself, and take care. For a large part, this is indeed a beautiful part of the UK (and long may that continue).

[Orca2]

As you come through Glencoe stop at the White Corries ski centre you can go up the chairlift to the top even if you are not skiing, there is a bumper snowfall this year, theres a little cafe up there , a bit basic but on a clear day, the view is stunning.
If you have any major problems on the way back get in touch I have a dry warehouse, perfect for lying under sick volvos!

[kenny]

Do not stop at the Green Welly, it is very over priced and on par with any of the poor quality motorway service stations.
Keep going a few miles and stop at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel, you will get a quality meal well made freindly service and all very well priced.

[JRL]

Did a run up the west coast with my daughter on the way back to uni in Aberdeen last September. My daughter at uni..not me I hasten to add!

Some beautiful scenery indeed although places like Fort William and Oban weren't that great. Inverarry is a nice little spot, Loch Lomond is very nice and the run up the side of Loch Ness to Inverness is stunningly beautiful in places although Historic Scotland seem to have walled the whole side of the loch off so apart from a few parking spots you can't see an awful lot of it.

If we had more time I would have struck off west from Inverness and done a bit more exploring.

Give yourself plenty of time to sightsee and book your accommodation in advance. £150 a night for a twin room in Inverness is not something I could afford so we headed over to Aberdeen instead. Probably the sheer amount of tourists but every B&B was fully booked.

[chrisrixy]

I'd agree about John O'Groats - although major redevelopment underway so it may improve! The advice to head north to Bettyhill or Tounge, then west to Durness (Smoo Cave is worth a look) is good (lots of single track roads still). Come south through Assynt (www.assynt.info) for the most spectacular scenery in the UK.

If you wish to see the islands then consider the ferry to Stornoway from Ullapool, drive down to Harris or Uist and get a ferry back to Uig on Skye (stopping at the excellent Uig Hotel) then head down Skye and take the ferry off Skye to Mallaig .... But this route misses out Torridon - which is nearly as stunning as Assynt..

The distances are big - Ft William to Lairg allow 4 hours + - so consider more than 4 days to enjoy properly.

It's true that many (read most) hotels and B&B's are closed in the far north - check ahead. Drive with care if you take the A9 Perth to Inverness, and fill up with fuel at Inverness (or support our local garages at £1.50/litre).

Enjoy.

[Yosser]

Originally Posted by kenny

Do not stop at the Green Welly, it is very over priced and on par with any of the poor quality motorway service stations.
Keep going a few miles and stop at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel, you will get a quality meal well made freindly service and all very well priced.

I mentioned the Green Welly in response to it having been mentioned in a previous post. It ain't haute cuisine, that's for sure, but it's probably better than a poor quality services. It should be noted that it's the only fuel for a few miles too.

That said, the Bridge of Orchy Hotel is good - at least, it has been on the handful of occasions I've been over the past 20 or so years.

Moving on, if you really do fancy a trip to J o'G then why not nip over to the Orkney Isles?

Trip up the Churchill barriers, Italian Chapel at Lamb Holm, beautiful wee streets of Stromness, scary cliffs at Yesnaby, Scara Brae, obligatory photo of roadsign at Tw@tt....

[Orca2]

Bridge of orchy hotel food is great, a mate was up in Glencoe on contract and spent a month there he came home about 2 stones heavier, It was run by Aussies then and though the rooms are a bit tired the welcome is superb.
Definitely visit Schmoo cave as mentioned, absolutely stunning beach.

[Shadeyman]

Thanks for the advice guys.

We plan to go up the West coast starting at Ben Nevis. Stay over night in Fort William then onto the Isle of Sky, missus wants to see Spar Cave, then onto visit my friend Robin in Lairg(hotel is right next to the Loch). From there we plan to visit a few places, the beach at Achmelvich, Smoo Cave, Thurso, Tongue, John O'Groats, Ackergill Tower and maybe a few other places before heading South to Lochness where I've booked us into another hotel right on the Loch. The fella the holds the Guinness World Record for hunting for the Lochness Monster for 21 years lives in an old library truck a few hundred yards from our hotel so I'll be visiting him to buy one of his hand made Nessy models. On the way back I plan to visit Daz, another friend who lives in Edinburgh, may end up staying the night if we end up in a pub.