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| Axel Member Since: 22 Jun 2011 Location: Bochum Posts: 107   
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Hi Folks,
currently planning a trip to Scotland again in May or June 2012 ... Final destination will be the Isle of Skye for a week or so (wife found a nice cottage near Kyle Rhea which we would like to rent) .... probably combined with a stopover in the Loch Lomond area for another 2-3 days .... 
Any suggestions or recommendations??? 
Thanks!  Best Regards,
Axel |
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18th Oct 2011 6:03am |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665  
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Crikey! Where do we start!
Firstly, you have chosen the best time to come to Scotland. The days have lenthened well (May has long daylight hours, from mid-June, it barely gets dark at night). The famous Scottish Midge is not at it's worst. The weather is usually at it's best. I guess it depends on what you are looking for, there's the wilderness areas of Knoydart & Sutherland, the heritage such as Edinburgh, Urquart, Stirling (and many more) Castles & towns... I would suggest that Edinburgh is worth a look as a tourist, the Castle, Royal Mile, and Princes Street. As you drive North towards Skye, the best route (not the quickest, which would be via the A9/Dalwhinnie) is via Stirling, Callander, Glencoe, Fort William, and on to Kyle of Lochalsh (near your rented cottage). On that route, Glencoe is definitely worth a few photos. Fort William will be your last large town (a good place to get your Diesel at a sensible price). I would say it's a good detour to visit Urquart Castle and see some of Loch Ness: http://web.undiscoveredscotland.com/drumnadrochit/urquhart/ After that, you'll drive through more lovely areas, and past Eilean Donan http://www.eileandonancastle.com/ Once on Skye, there's a couple of suggestions: Lovely pub/day out http://www.steininn.co.uk/ - and just near a shop called Skye Skins also worth a look. Lovely (but slightly expensive) restaurant http://www.threechimneys.co.uk/ If you want to go hillwalking, Blaven would be a good trip http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/blabheinn.shtml On eof the best Kayak guides in the UK is there http://skyakadventures.com/ Slightly further afield: http://www.whirlpool-scotland.co.uk/facts.html http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/iona/abbey/index.html http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/kinl...index.html http://www.cocoamountain.co.uk/balnakeil/ - if you get as far North as Durness (which is a lovely drive), Balnakeil beach is fantastic...oh and there's a chocolate factory there! Lots more...but this will get too long! Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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18th Oct 2011 7:44am |
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| Axel Member Since: 22 Jun 2011 Location: Bochum Posts: 107
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Wow!!!! Great info!!! Thanks a ton!!!!
 Best Regards,
Axel |
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18th Oct 2011 8:33am |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10382
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Shout on your way past and Mrs Greeni and I will roll up with you...
We want do Applecross ! |
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18th Oct 2011 8:34am |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10382
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Great post Martin, Kyle of Lochalsh is on our 'list of places to go' in Scotland.. Strangely, the chocolate factory is now on the list too! Hope you don't need a ticket to get in.... a gold one! May take the kayaks as well ! |
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18th Oct 2011 8:41am |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665
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Thankd for the feedback guys. Applecross is indeed fantastic. As well as driving over the Bealach na Ba (there's a famous classic rock climb here called the Cioch Nose), Applecross itself (and the pub) are awesome. It's also a cracking kayaking location...and we all get to have a play at being Monty Hall in our Defenders 
Problem with Applecross is that it's become too popular since Monty Hall, and accommodation is scarce (i.e. it's solitude is it's jewel, but that in turn means that there's not much there...thank goodness...it could be Torramolenos soon!). The camp site is good tho, and there's also wooden wigwam thingies you can rent on the campsite if you dont want a tent)... Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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18th Oct 2011 8:56am |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10382
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 I've never heard of Monty Hall????
If it's anything do with TV, I won't be surprised... I wanted go after Ken (here at S4x4) said he went years ago before they put the new road in ! (He's well travelled) I google imaged it and though 'that'll do' ! Mrs Greeni and I are doing a lot of touring next year with bikes/kayaks/kites when my Expedition Trailer is built...after moving house a couple more times of course! |
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18th Oct 2011 9:04am |
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| Axel Member Since: 22 Jun 2011 Location: Bochum Posts: 107
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That's the area we went to this June (2011)! Had a wonderful time there!
 Click image to enlarge We liked Scotland so much that we decided to go again next year! Next time - as I said - we want to focus on the Isle of Skye and the area around Loch Lomond. @Brendan: Probably travelling North from Newcastle (Port) via Carlisle > Glasgow > Fort William > Isle of Skye .... including a 2 day stopover in the Loch Lomond area .... Eventually we will have to go back to Newcastle to catch the boat back to the continent .... Best Regards, Axel |
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18th Oct 2011 9:41am |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8581
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Reason why I asked Axel was that if you were coming in via Hull in May time, you might be able to catch the Driffield show early May.
Coming in via Newcastle, there are some cracking lanes in North Yorkshire. Also you might want to take in Holy Island going up north. However please take careful note of the time of tides on the causeway. Whatever you do, enjoy yourself. Brendan |
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18th Oct 2011 10:04am |
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| Axel Member Since: 22 Jun 2011 Location: Bochum Posts: 107
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Will do!!!
Thanks, Brendan! Best Regards,
Axel |
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18th Oct 2011 11:26am |
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| markalpha Member Since: 23 Apr 2008 Location: Downham Market Posts: 690  
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Off to Aviemore next week for a few days. Can't wait.
You'll have a great trip Axel we did a similar trip years ago, now planning a return trip as we loved it so much. Will be interesting to see how things have changed in 15 years. West coast is amazing. Martin has mentioned some cool places to visit. Martin can you hire decent mountain bikes in Aviemore, will need 2 Full suspesion bikes and a kids bike suitable for 8 years old. |
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18th Oct 2011 4:56pm |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665
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Hmmm, certainly front sus (hardtail). There's a few places: Mike's Bikes: http://www.aviemorebikes.co.uk/hire.html Bothy Bikes: http://www.bothybikes.co.uk/hire.html Active: http://www.activeoutdoorpursuits.com/ Fat Tread: http://www.fattreadbikes.co.uk/ (Fat Tread used to do more up-market brands, but they seem to be moving away from bikes, and more towards kayaks). Drop me a PM if you like, I can suggest some very good routes, and if I'm in Aviemore we could meet up and do some early-morning-before-the-family-gets-up-for-breakfast rides... I use a hardtail (Van Nicholas with Rohloff hub gears / 6"-travel Pikes up front - perfect for the terrain). The bike in the avatar is a Orange 5 (quite "old school" nowadays, but I used it for an endurance race last year).
You can hire full suss here IIRC http://www.laggan.com/wolftrax.htm but it's about 25 miles away... Great day out for serious trail riders tho... Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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18th Oct 2011 7:45pm |
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| markalpha Member Since: 23 Apr 2008 Location: Downham Market Posts: 690
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Thanks for that Martin.
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18th Oct 2011 8:24pm |
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| Mike_B Member Since: 23 Jan 2011 Location: Moray Posts: 550 
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I work in moray, so I'll be up fpr coming to say hello when you get over here. presume you're going to do a few distillery tours too?
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13th Nov 2011 12:51pm |
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