Accommodation on Caledonian Way

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Kevin67
Posts: 4
Joined: 21 Jun 2021, 8:53am

Accommodation on Caledonian Way

Post by Kevin67 »

Planning on cycling the Caledonian way in July. I can't seem to find much accommodation. Are there plenty of b and b on the route
L+1
Posts: 86
Joined: 7 Jul 2017, 5:47pm

Re: Accommodation on Caledonian Way

Post by L+1 »

I’ve not completed the whole route but I’m familiar with the southern end in particular. In a more normal year, there would be a good supply of B and B in the towns/larger villages - Campbeltown, Tarbert, Oban/Taynuilt and Fort William. And others sprinkled along the route out-with villages. Normally I would expect each village to have at least one B and B.

I think a lot are closed this year - especially the ‘old fashioned’ sort with just a room or 2 in a family home. On the other hand there are very few tour buses on the roads, so you might get into hotels which normally only want mass bookings.
The independent B and Bs can be hard to find. You need to look at all sources - Scottish Tourist board, Air BnB, even just trawling Google maps for any reviews or pins.

Watch out for the Calmac ferry to Campbeltown going out of service. Because Calmac don’t have any spare ship capacity, that ferry is fairly frequently sent elsewhere, as it isn’t considered essential.
Usually it’s big news on local Facebook etc.
But Calmac have a bad habit of showing ‘good service’ on a route which doesn’t run daily, on the days it isn’t scheduled to run. Even if the ferry is hundreds of miles away and they know it won’t be in service on its normal route the next day.

We baled out because the ferry was off, but with hindsight I think we could have got one of the many small road courier companies in Campbeltown to take the bikes to Glasgow and we could (probably) have got the service bus to Glasgow. Strictly speaking the bus doesn’t accept bikes. And of course it gets busy when the ferry is cancelled.
Kevin67
Posts: 4
Joined: 21 Jun 2021, 8:53am

Re: Accommodation on Caledonian Way

Post by Kevin67 »

That's good to know regarding the ferry thanks.
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