WCRVBB-T11-TOUR OF SCOTLAND 735 km in 12 Stages

TOUR OF SCOTLAND

Això és la volta circular a Escòcia començant i acabant des de Edinburgh, utilitzant carreteres secundàries que van cap a l'oest, fins a Oban, i llavors atravessant el Canal de Caledònia i totes les Highlands per carreteres de passos estrets fins al nord, i saltant finalment a les illes Orkney, per acabar baixant amb vaixell fins a Abeerdeen i llavors amb bici fins a retornar a Edinburgh.

Esto es la vuelta circular en Escocia comenzando y terminando desde Edinburgh, utilizando carreteras secundarias que van hacia el oeste, hasta Oban, y entonces atravesando el Canal de Caledonia y todas las Highlands por carreteras de pasos estrechos hasta el norte, y saltando finalmente a las islas Orkney, para acabar bajando en barco hasta Abeerdeen y entonces en bici hasta retornar a Edinburgh.

This is the round trip to Scotland beginning and ending in Edinburgh, using roads that go west, to Oban, then crossing the Caledonian Canal and the Highlands on roads with narrow passages to the north and finally jumping on the Orkney islands, ending down by boat to Abeerdeen and biking down to return to Edinburgh.

SUMMARY OF THE ROUTE

This trip was made in twelve stages, trips with ferry from Thurso to Orkney and from Orkney to Abeerdeen, and a final train connection from St Andrews to Edinburgh.

Here you have the map of the trip:

You start in Edinburgh, where you can visit the Castle and the Royal mile as the main attractions, and the street festival if you are there in August. The first two stages heads west to Oban, visiting the Stirling Castle as the main attraction. The first stage has a little traffic as you are heading of the big city, but after Callander you start a very long stage but crossing quiet roads that head to the coast.

In Oban, you can visit the quiet harbour and a famous wisky destilerry. From Oban you head to Inverness, in the second part of the route, along all the Caledonian Canal, with along loch (lakes) and rivers and ship elevators ships can cross from one side to the other one of the island. To Fort William, the road passes next to the sea. From Fort Williams you travel next to some rivers and lakes. The most interesting part is from Fort Augustus to Invereness, where you find the Loch Ness. We don't pass on the west side, and instead we climb a slope in the east side, where you have excellent views to the lake.

After Loch Ness you reach Inverness, a very vively and touristic city in the gate of the highlands. There you can visit some whisky destilleries and an interesting castle. Now you enter the narrow roads of the highlands, with the passing places to cross the cars. Smooth hills and almost no trees but caracteristic vegetation of the zone. There you can find the tipical wooden sheep and hairy cows. We stop in Lairg, in the heart of the higlands, and on the second stage you reach Bettyhill, with an impressive landscape of the north coast.

After Bettyhill we head east to Thurso, following the rocky coast with sheep and cows just over the sea. You can also see some seals on the cold waters, impressive lighthouses and very quiet villages over the sea.

In Thurso you take the ferry to Orkney Islands, where you can visit Skara Brae (primitive houses), Ring of Brogar (megalitic constructions like Stonehedge), Yesnaby Cliffs. This is another stage.

From this place we return by ferry to Aberdeen, where we have two more stages through very pleasant and smooth fields next to the sea, whith the must visit to the Dunottar Castle, perhaps the most impressive of Scotland.

The stage stops in Montrose, and the last stage we take the train to Edinburg, but you can bike this part if you have one more day.

WHICH BIKE
We do the trip with a mountain tandem with road tires. All the way is paved with local roads with few traffic. In Highlands, it's very pleasant with almost no cars.

WHEN TO GO
Best time is june or july, because it's a rainy place. Temperatures are quite pleasant during this months. If you go en August, you will find Edinburgh full of tourist for the Edinburgh festival. It's interesting if you want visit the tatoo and the street perfomances but otherwise it can be a little anoying, even to find somewhere to stay at night.

WHERE TO STAY
Bed and breakfast is a very interesting option with the possibility to contact with local people which are very kind. There are some hostels with a very high standard of comfort with little money.

DIFFICULTIES
There are no many difficulties except for the rain if you don't have luck.There are not hightmountaints, but the roads are a bit hilly, with light slopes.

HOW TO GET THERE
By plane to Edinburgh is the best choice if you travel from abroad England island.

STAGES
Here you have all the stages:

Podeu contactar amb vicens.borrell@gmail.com per mes informació.

You can find the other world cycling routes of the WCRVBB project clicking here to access.

You can click over this other project bike routes or search the tags in google.
- WCRVBB, for cyclotourist routes with saddlebags around the world.
- DCRVBB, for one day routes around Europe.
- KCRVBB, for one day routes with kids around Europe.
- COLVBB, for climbings of Tour de France, Vuelta a Espanya, Giro di Italia, ...
- BCNVBB, for one day routes around Barcelona.
- RBTTCASSA, for MTB routes around Cassa de la Selva (Girona).

Have a nice trip!

1: WCRVBB-T11-TOUR OF SCOTLAND 735 km in 12 Stages Ver detalle
2: WCRVBB-T11-TOUR OF SCOTLAND 735 km in12 Stages Ver detalle
3: START: EDINBURGH AIRPORT Ver detalle
4: STAGE 1: LARBERT 40 km Ver detalle
5: STAGE 2: CALLANDER 50 km Ver detalle
6: STAGE 3: OBAN 120 km Ver detalle
7: STAGE 4: FORT WILLIAM 74 km Ver detalle
8: STAGE 5: FORT AUGUSTUS 62 km Ver detalle
9: STAGE 6: INVERNESS 54 km Ver detalle
10: STAGE 7: LAIRG 77 km Ver detalle
11: STAGE 8: BETTYHILL 73 km Ver detalle
12: STAGE 9: THURSO 59 km Ver detalle
13: STAGE 10: STROMNESS 4 km Ver detalle
14: STAGE 11: KIRKWALL 47 km Ver detalle
15: STAGE 12: MONTROSE 75 km Ver detalle

WCRVBB-T11-TOUR OF SCOTLAND 735 km in 12 Stages

Lugares de interés (POIs) del Mapa

1: WCRVBB-T11-TOUR OF SCOTLAND 735 km in 12 Stages

2: WCRVBB-T11-TOUR OF SCOTLAND 735 km in12 Stages

3: START: EDINBURGH AIRPORT

4: STAGE 1: LARBERT 40 km

5: STAGE 2: CALLANDER 50 km

6: STAGE 3: OBAN 120 km

7: STAGE 4: FORT WILLIAM 74 km

8: STAGE 5: FORT AUGUSTUS 62 km

9: STAGE 6: INVERNESS 54 km

10: STAGE 7: LAIRG 77 km

11: STAGE 8: BETTYHILL 73 km

12: STAGE 9: THURSO 59 km

13: STAGE 10: STROMNESS 4 km

14: STAGE 11: KIRKWALL 47 km

15: STAGE 12: MONTROSE 75 km

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