What to see in northern Scotland and its west coast?

Freeman

Freeman

Freeman

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I could just Google 'scotland tourism' - but where's the fun in that! It'd be nice to get some ideas from locals maybe, or someone who's travelled around in Scotland and found amazing places not necessarily swamped by tourists.

We're planning a motorbike trip all the way up from the Midlands to John O'Groats (stopping off at the Yorkshire Dales and then Loch Ness). From John O' Groats we're going to head west to Durness, and then head back down along the west coast (I'd really like to get as west as the roads allow us) through Glasgow and ending up in the Lake District.

We want to avoid as much town biking as possible and although our route is great, we've not really planned what we'd like to see. I'd personally like to see some old castles / forts and keep to as much of the country side and amazing roads as possible.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks.
 
If you're doing Loch Ness then I recommend riding down the east side of Loch Ness through Dores, Inverfarigaig and whitebridge rather than the more popular west side of drumnadrochit etc. the east side is much quieter and its single track roads for most of the way. The best bit of the road is the mountain pass beyond whitebridge. There's a viewpoint at the top of the pass with some stunning views and loch tarff just down the road is worth a look as well. There's a brief section of road by loch tarff that's been resurfaced, barely half a mile long, and it's a lot of fun to blast down! If you do pass by Whitebridge it's worth taking the road signposted for Killin. It's a 5 mile trip down to Loch Killin. Lovely views and it's a hidden gem alright.

Also worth a look is the bealach na ba road that leads to applecross. The road climbs to over 2000 feet and is very steep with hairpin bends at the top. It's not a road you can ride fast on but it's still a fun road and very popular with bikers in the summer. The views at the top are incredible. It's like a mini Stelvio pass.

Eilean Donan castle is a must stop for a quick photo even if you don't go in it.
 
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tummelv said:
If you're doing Loch Ness then I recommend riding down the east side of Loch Ness through Dores, Inverfarigaig and whitebridge rather than the more popular west side of drumnadrochit etc. the east side is much quieter and its single track roads for most of the way. The best bit of the road is the mountain pass beyond whitebridge. There's a viewpoint at the top of the pass with some stunning views and loch tarff just down the road is worth a look as well. There's a brief section of road by loch tarff that's been resurfaced, barely half a mile long, and it's a lot of fun to blast down! If you do pass by Whitebridge it's worth taking the road signposted for Killin. It's a 5 mile trip down to Loch Killin. Lovely views and it's a hidden gem alright.

Also worth a look is the bealach na ba road that leads to applecross. The road climbs to over 2000 feet and is very steep with hairpin bends at the top. It's not a road you can ride fast on but it's still a fun road and very popular with bikers in the summer. The views at the top are incredible. It's like a mini Stelvio pass.

Eilean Donan castle is a must stop for a quick photo even if you don't go in it.
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Thank you, really good advice. I think we might try to head down the west side of Loch Ness on day 1, sleep there, then head down to the bottom and back up the East, then continue up the east coast to John O'Groats.

Cheers :)
 
Just avoid Aberdeen and the nightmare roads and drivers contained within.

It's perhaps a little too out there but you could have course get a Ferry from Aberdeen (Edit: Or Thurso seeing as you intend to visit John O'Groats) to Orkney.

I lived there at one point and there's quite a few sites to see. Italian Chapel, Ring o' Brodgar, Standing stones of Stennes, Skara Brae, Highland Park Distillery, a lot of wrecked ships and some nordic remnants such as Maeshowe. There is also a place called Twatt farm which has an interesting name if nothing else.

Other than that I can't think of many places in Scotland worth visiting unless you've never seen a castle before.
 
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Also not many places to see in Scotland? The west coast is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world. I do agree that the east side (Aberdeen etc) is a bit horrible though.
 
Begbie said:
Also not many places to see in Scotland? The west coast is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world. I do agree that the east side (Aberdeen etc) is a bit horrible though.
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Would agree here. It's difficult to state a specific place though as so much of the scenery is just stunning. It's worth just the drive along the west coast.
 
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