Day 1 London to Northumbria

After having all met at South Mimms services or further up the A1m, we set off.

We will be covering approximately 300 miles on this first day mostly on the A1m up to Darlington, it’s all motorway or dual carriageway so not many sights to see.

However, when we reach Darlington, we come off onto the A68 heading for the Northumbria National Park, we pass through a number of small towns and villages, West Auckland, Firtree, Tow Law to name a few and skirt the North Pennines past Derwent Water, continue to Corbridge and up into the Northumbria National Park, where we have an overnight stay near Rochester.

The A68 is a lovely road with a few twisty bits, long undulating hills and some lovely scenery.

Day 2 Northumbria to Kyle of Lochalsh

Having hit the road, we again have about another 300 miles to cover on this leg.

We stay on the A68 all the way to the Edinburgh Ring Road, passing through the border towns of Jed borough, St Boswells, Lauder and Pathhead. Again, some lovely stretches of varied roads and lovely scenery (weather obliging).

When we reach Edinburgh, we skirt the south side of the city on the ring road and head north west to the Queensferry Bridge, (Forth Road Bridge) and cross the Firth of Forth heading towards Dundee, going past Inverkeithing, Dunfermline and Kinross and then towards Perth.

We skirt the west side of Perth and take the A9 towards Inverness, we generally have a pit stop just north of Perth at Bankfoot to refuel our bodies and bikes.

On this leg of the journey north we start to see some of the stunning scenery Scotland has to offer, it’s about 100 miles from Perth to Inverness passing through the Cairngorm National Park, with some beautiful hills and mountains on the way, and taking the photo opportunities as they come. Passing Pitlochry, Killiecrankie, Aviemore and Tomatin.

As we head north for Inverness, we come off the A9 at Dalwhinnie (Nice distillery here) and head for Laggan, we ride along the side of Loch Laggan and then towards Spean Bridge, (we are at this point cutting across Scotland from the east to the west) once we hit Spean Bridge, we head north along the side of Loch Lochy towards Invergarry, we then turn left at Invergarry and head towards Kyle of Lochalsh. (This is 160 miles) so will take some time. where we find our accommodation for the next four nights.

Day 3 Skye

After a leisurely breakfast we head off to Skye just a hop and a skip from out hotel, we basically spend the day on Skye riding around the roads and taking in the scenery visiting the landmarks Dunvegan Castle, Portree, and taking loads of photos and videos.

We’ve given a whole day to Skye as the island is absolutely stunning and there is a lot of miles to cover, (if you want to see it all) however this is all flexible and be adjusted depending on time and distance covered.

Day 4 West Coast

Today we head to Loch Carron and then up to Torridon and further North to Kinlochewe. We then skirt the side of Lochmaree towards Charlestown and Garioch where we can grab a coffee and cake. (Everyone needs cake, just saying)! We keep going North to Gruinard Beach (beautiful) and keep going along the side of Little Loch Broom to Dundonnell, again some epic scenery and lots of places to take photos etc. At this point we are heading South East back to the main road between Inverness and Ullapool, we continue South East, Once we reach Gorstan we turn right towards Achnasheen, once there we turn left back towards Loch Carron and back to Kyle of Lochalsh.

This is a long ride but there is again some beautiful scenery along the way.

Day 5 Loch Ness

From Kyle we head East to Invergarry and then North up to Fort Augustus where we can stop for coffee and cake (did I mention cake before, we all need cake) … we then head north, on the east side of Lochness up towards Inverness, there are a few photo opportunities along this route which is not travelled by many however some of the sections of roads are great for bikes and some of the scenery is stunning, at this point we can travel to Culloden Moor, (the famous battlefield ground where the 1745 Jacobite Rising came to a tragic end for Bonny Prince Charlie, and further on to Fort George with its rich military history and there is also a possibility of seeing some dolphins in the Moray Firth.

Form Fort George we head back to inverness and then back down the West side of Lochness (the well-travelled tourist route) through Drumnadrochit, past Urquhart Castle back to Fort Augustus, Inver Garry and Kyle of Lochalsh.

Day 6 Kyle of Lochalsh to Northumbria

Today see’s us leaving the Highlands behind us, but not before riding through Glen Coe, with its stunning views and scenery and its rich Scottish Clan history, (there are many songs and stories about what happened here) we head towards Glasgow and pass beside the Iconic Loch Lomond on-route, we then head to Edinburgh skirt the south side of the city and head south back to Northumbria, with one overnight stay before heading south again towards home.

Day 7 Northumbria to London

The first part of todays ride is pretty much back the way we cam on day 1, through the Northumbria Park back towards the A1m. From here its pretty much dual carriageway and motorway all the way back home, to good old London, at various points where people need to peel off we can stop and say our goodbyes and hope to see you all for the next ride North.

Costs

The trip is £750 per person. This covers 6 days Bed & Breakfast. This is based on two individual riders sharing a twin room.

Organised rides each day.

Basic mechanical support, (e.g., Punctures and minor repairs) Individual breakdown insurance is strongly advised.

Fuel, lunch, evening meal and drinks will be paid for by each individual rider.

We have only four spaces available for this trip. Please contact us for further information if required, we are more than happy to work out the best solution that suits you as an individual or as a couple.

We will be looking to do a further trip to Scotland or France later in the year around September, dates and times have yet to be finalised, but as soon as we have them we will publish them on the site.