Motorcycle Touring: The Scotland Trip

We set of on a truly magical 4 day tour to Scotland, that have left me in a dreamlike state for weeks afterwards. Wifey insists that it was to date the best road trip we have ever had. I will do my best to write down our experience here and hope that this will inspire you to do the same and I am sure you will find a motorcycle road trip very different but highly addictive. Our goal to leave North Hertfordshire and reach John o'Groats where we where planning on taking a ferry to the Orkney Islands and spending a whole day there. This our first long distance trip on the BMW K1200 GT we didn't really know what we where in for. We packed light and set of on the road to Scotland. With only a couple of exceptions all the people we met was helpful, friendly and an absolute pleasure to deal with.  

Day 1: We set of from Letchworth Herts at about 6:00 am and headed towards Edinburgh, we took it easy the weather was excellent and I was keeping all my fingers crossed for it to remain the same. With my dear wifey on the back chatting away on the Autocom which by the way has crystal clear audio even when wearing earplugs makes is difficult not to hear my lovely little puff adder talking to me the whole time. This being said I was pleased to hear she was having a good time, not sure how long she was to remain as upbeat about the long road ahead. With the onboard computer telling me that we can do about 268 miles before needing to stop for fuel we pressed on. I found that the distance of one fuel tank was pretty much as far as I would like to ride before taking a break and stretching my legs, also I learned that you cannot take a break for less than an hour when you take wifey along, she finds motorway services to be a fascinating and enchanting place. After reaching Berwick-upon Tweed we stopped at Conundrum Farm Trail & Fishery to have a drink and something to eat, after speaking to the locals it turns out that the fishery is very popular and well known so if fishing is your passion this might be a worth while stop.. The food in the cafe was good and the service very friendly. We continued on with our journey and finally reached Edinburgh at about 15:00 in the afternoon. We then went about doing the touristy stuff that I won't bore you with. One last thing before moving on to Day 2 I just quickly want to mention that just before the trip I upgraded the seats on the BMW to Corbin Seats I didn't get the heated seats as my bike didn't have it anyway but thought it might be well worth mentioning as I can now easily manage 1000 mile a day journey's without a numb bum.  

Day 2: 

We left Edinburgh with the goal to reach Inverness; little did I know of the exciting roads that lay ahead. We head north taking the M90, A9 to Dalwhinnie situated on the Grampian Mountains very near to the geographical centre of Scotland. This was our first stop for the day, the Dalwhinnie Distillery. You can smell the peat as you get closer to the distillery and I wasn’t surprised when I turned up to see several other bikes in the parking lot. It is always good to bump into fellow bikers to have a quick chat and find out if they know of any hidden gems nearby. After finishing at the Dalwhinnie Distillery we continued on the journey north taking the A889 followed by the A86 and A82 and what followed was an absolutely stunning very scenic and twisty road heading past Loch Laggan a fresh water loch and also part of the Lochaber hydro-electric scheme towards Fort Augustus. I cannot describe how much fun this road was!  When reaching Fort Augustus for a well deserved break and meal we had a bit of a walk around to stretch our legs eat some chocolate and prepare for the last leg of the day to Inverness. In Scotland nobody seams to work on how many miles they live from a place but they rather say how much time it takes. As I found today riding from Edinburgh to Inverness took me the same time as riding from Hertfordshire to Edinburgh. We reached Inverness later in the afternoon.Inverness is the most northern city in Scotland and the fastest growing city in Europe after visiting I can honestly say I wouldn’t mind living there either! The Inverness Castle built on a hill in the city isn’t open to the public but the grounds are, it is still well worth a visit as it is an absolute stunning building if you are into architecture in any way shape or form.

 

Day 3:

We have to start early today as we have to ride all the way from Inverness to John o’Groats to arrive in time to catch the ferry to the Orkney Islands. It is a 122 mile journey along the coast of Scotland and is a very scenic route indeed with several 180 degree turns. As we where leaving Inverness we couldn’t help but notice several enormous oil rigs moored just of the coast, they are truly floating cities I’m sure it is possible that one oilrig may have more lights on it than the entire Inverness City. Pressed for time we don’t have any time to stop on the way to John o’Groats so I’ll tell you a bit more about the trip to the Orkney Islands. Unfortunately due to time restrictions we didn’t take the bike to the Orkney Islands but instead opted for a Maxi guided tour arranged by JogFerry. The tour was excellent and we manage to see Skara Brae and Neolithic Stone Age village, Scapa Flow (Famous for wreck diving) one of Britain’s most historic stretches of water, Stromness, Kirkwall, the Churchill barriers, Ring of Brodgar, Standing Stones and lastly the Italian Chapel built by Italian prisoners of war during WWII. We managed to squeeze all of this in and stayed at a fabulous B&B called Greenland House in Castletown. This was the first B&B that I stayed at where I can honestly say I would love to return to and stay there again. Outside the B&B they have a large sign to greet bikers and let you know they have secure parking plus you can expect the best Scottish breakfast ever.  

Day 4:

Unfortunately day 4 wasn’t very exciting we spent the whole day riding home and it took the best part of 14 hours. However we managed to squeeze so much into the three days we riding through Scotland that I am now convinced that by spending a full two weeks in Scotland would allow to see almost everything you would possibly want to see. I would be surprised even after two weeks if I don’t return to Scotland for an annual ride from now on. I hope that you have found this brief summary of our road trip to Scotland usefully and if you have any experiences you can share about your Scottish holiday please feel free to leave a comment, I’m sure we would all love to read about it! Oh and I'm happy to report my little Puff Adder loved every bit of the trip and she is planning the next road trip as I type! Ride Safe! The Bike Nut