Hi everyone! Thanks for this wonderful community 🙂 I learned so, so much from all the posts here and enjoy each trip report. I returned from my first, longer bike touring trip in July, which was in Scotland. It was SUCH an amazing experience!
My itinerary was:
Day 1: Take ferry from IJmuiden to Newcastle
Day 2: Arrive in Newcastle, take train to Glasgow, sleep in Airbnb in Glasgow
Day 3: Take train from Glasgow to Oban, sleep at Oban Holiday Park
Day 4: Take ferry from Oban to Craignure (Mull), start biking (Bike day 1) from Craignure to Salen, sleep
At Salen Bay Campsite
Day 5: Bike from Salen to Kilchoan (bike day 2), take ferry, sleep at Ardnamurchan Campsite
Day 6: Bike from Kilchoan to Arisaig (bike day 3), sleep at Camusdarach campsite
Day 7: Semi- restday, bike from Arisaig to Mallaig (not listed in the komoot file, but this was about 10km), take ferry, sleep in Airbnb close to Armadale
Day 8: Bike from Ardvasar/Armadale to Lochcarron (bike day 4), sleep at the Wee campsite
Day 9: Bike from Lochcarron to Shieldag (bike day 5), taking the passage of Bealach na BÃ (Applecross pass), sleep at Shieldag camping and cabins
Day 10: Bike from Shieldag to Achnasheen (bike day 6), sleep at Ledgowan Lodge Bunkhouse & Campsite. There are no shops in town, so you will have to bring your own supplies.
Day 10: I scheduled to bike from Achnasheen to Contin (bike day 7) and sleep at Riverside Caravan Park and campsite, but I ended up staying another night in the bunkhouse, as the weather was terrible and my body needed some rest.
Day 11: Scheduled to bike from Contin to Moy (bike day 8) (just below Inverness), but I ended up cutting the route short, taking the train from Achnasheen to Inverness and bike to Moy from there. I stayed at Auchnahillin Holiday park.
Day 12: Took it easy, biked to Inverness and wrote some post cards. Slept at Auchnahillin Holiday park again.
Day 13: Bike from Moy to Newtonmore (bike day 9), stayed at Spey Bridge Caravan and camping Park.
Day 14: Bike from Newtonmore to Blair Atholl (bike day 10). Sleep at Blair castle caravan park
Day 15: Bike from Blair Atholl to Killin (bike day 11), stay at Cruachan Farm, Caravan & Camping Park
Day 16: Bike from Killin to Stirling (bike day 12), pass along Doune Castle to make my Monty-Python-loving heart very happy, sleep at Airbnb in Stirling
Day 17: Visit “the Dunmore Pineapple” , sleep at Airbnb in Stirling
Day 18: Train to Newcastle, sleep at Airbnb in Newcastle
Day 19: Visit Newcastle, sleep at Airbnb at Newcastle
Day 20: Roll down to the ferry back to ther Netherlands and toast to an amazing first solo trip!
PS. First time posting here, so still figuring out how to add text to pictures and such 🙂
But you also did parts of the west coast that I didn’t (I wish I’d had the time…), so it’s still very interesting to see the differences between our routes and the places we visited. I can imagine the hills on the isles and the coasts (combined with how exceptionally wet the summer was) weren’t easy! Conquering Bealach na Ba is something you can be very proud of.
And even where our tours overlapped, the differences a few weeks can make… It’s *wild* to see that Drumochter Pass with green grass and blue skies – I have it imprinted in my brain as a dark and stormy place!
>
>pass along Doune Castle to make my Monty-Python-loving heart very happy
I sadly missed out on Doune Castle, but I did ride past Castle Aaargh, not far from Oban!
4 Comments
Hi everyone! Thanks for this wonderful community 🙂 I learned so, so much from all the posts here and enjoy each trip report. I returned from my first, longer bike touring trip in July, which was in Scotland. It was SUCH an amazing experience!
My itinerary was:
Day 1: Take ferry from IJmuiden to Newcastle
Day 2: Arrive in Newcastle, take train to Glasgow, sleep in Airbnb in Glasgow
Day 3: Take train from Glasgow to Oban, sleep at Oban Holiday Park
Day 4: Take ferry from Oban to Craignure (Mull), start biking (Bike day 1) from Craignure to Salen, sleep
At Salen Bay Campsite
Day 5: Bike from Salen to Kilchoan (bike day 2), take ferry, sleep at Ardnamurchan Campsite
Day 6: Bike from Kilchoan to Arisaig (bike day 3), sleep at Camusdarach campsite
Day 7: Semi- restday, bike from Arisaig to Mallaig (not listed in the komoot file, but this was about 10km), take ferry, sleep in Airbnb close to Armadale
Day 8: Bike from Ardvasar/Armadale to Lochcarron (bike day 4), sleep at the Wee campsite
Day 9: Bike from Lochcarron to Shieldag (bike day 5), taking the passage of Bealach na BÃ (Applecross pass), sleep at Shieldag camping and cabins
Day 10: Bike from Shieldag to Achnasheen (bike day 6), sleep at Ledgowan Lodge Bunkhouse & Campsite. There are no shops in town, so you will have to bring your own supplies.
Day 10: I scheduled to bike from Achnasheen to Contin (bike day 7) and sleep at Riverside Caravan Park and campsite, but I ended up staying another night in the bunkhouse, as the weather was terrible and my body needed some rest.
Day 11: Scheduled to bike from Contin to Moy (bike day 8) (just below Inverness), but I ended up cutting the route short, taking the train from Achnasheen to Inverness and bike to Moy from there. I stayed at Auchnahillin Holiday park.
Day 12: Took it easy, biked to Inverness and wrote some post cards. Slept at Auchnahillin Holiday park again.
Day 13: Bike from Moy to Newtonmore (bike day 9), stayed at Spey Bridge Caravan and camping Park.
Day 14: Bike from Newtonmore to Blair Atholl (bike day 10). Sleep at Blair castle caravan park
Day 15: Bike from Blair Atholl to Killin (bike day 11), stay at Cruachan Farm, Caravan & Camping Park
Day 16: Bike from Killin to Stirling (bike day 12), pass along Doune Castle to make my Monty-Python-loving heart very happy, sleep at Airbnb in Stirling
Day 17: Visit “the Dunmore Pineapple” , sleep at Airbnb in Stirling
Day 18: Train to Newcastle, sleep at Airbnb in Newcastle
Day 19: Visit Newcastle, sleep at Airbnb at Newcastle
Day 20: Roll down to the ferry back to ther Netherlands and toast to an amazing first solo trip!
PS. First time posting here, so still figuring out how to add text to pictures and such 🙂
Komoot file: [https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/collection/2704277/-scotland-oban-to-stirling-west-coast-and-highlands](https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/collection/2704277/-scotland-oban-to-stirling-west-coast-and-highlands)
Awesome photos – thank you for sharing this! Looks like you had a great ride! Now I wanna!!
cool photos!
Very cool! Impressive for a first trip.
I did [my own](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/1ff4ghd/three_weeks_of_cycling_scotland/) three-week tour through Scotland just a month after you. I even stayed at some of the same campsites you did!
But you also did parts of the west coast that I didn’t (I wish I’d had the time…), so it’s still very interesting to see the differences between our routes and the places we visited. I can imagine the hills on the isles and the coasts (combined with how exceptionally wet the summer was) weren’t easy! Conquering Bealach na Ba is something you can be very proud of.
And even where our tours overlapped, the differences a few weeks can make… It’s *wild* to see that Drumochter Pass with green grass and blue skies – I have it imprinted in my brain as a dark and stormy place!
>
>pass along Doune Castle to make my Monty-Python-loving heart very happy
I sadly missed out on Doune Castle, but I did ride past Castle Aaargh, not far from Oban!