Cycling UK Forum

Hello all,

I have been following the forum for some time, but this is my first post.

It may be useful for others who may wish to use the Ardrossan to Campbeltown ferry that its 2023 start date has been further delayed until June 1st.

We had planned our Caledonian Way tour based upon using this ferry and wanted to go mid May (before the midges) but this is not now possible. We had planned on leaving the car at Ardrossan and the catching a train from Inverness to Glasgow at the end, then ride back to Ardrossan.

The bus service from Glasgow to Campbeltown does not take bikes so we are stumped.

Does anyone have any bright ideas?

Many Thanks

Ian

I guess the obvious option is to take the ferry from Ardrossan across to Arran, then cycle across Arran (NCN73), then ferry from Lochranza to Claonaig, either then picking up the Caledonia Way there (it routes through Claonaig anyway) or cycling down (and back!) to Campbeltown?

https://explore.osmaps.com/route/551309 ... sCategory=

Are you certain the bus won’t take bikes?
It’s allowed me to book one on.

Thanks for the replies,

I asked them about two bikes and received the following reply.

Dear Ian,
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately, we do not offer train travel as we are a coach company.
We do have services that operates from Glasgow to Campbeltown, however, we do not have the capacity on these coaches to have two bikes be brought on board.
I apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards,
Linzi | Customer Service Advisor
Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd/ Megabus.com
Buchanan Bus Station, Killermont St, G2 3NW
: http://www.citylink.co.uk http://www.megabus.com


So maybe they allow one, but not two.

I will have a look at the other route suggested, and see if that works.

Paulatic wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 11:57am Are you certain the bus won’t take bikes?
It’s allowed me to book one on.
708AED2E-9FB5-4F8F-98F7-ED0B2771BE82.png

A four hour plus bus journey with bike for £1?
Or have I missed something?

Sweep wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 12:36pm

Paulatic wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 11:57am Are you certain the bus won’t take bikes?
It’s allowed me to book one on.
708AED2E-9FB5-4F8F-98F7-ED0B2771BE82.png

A four hour plus bus journey with bike for £1?
Or have I missed something?

That’s the first time I’ve seen a charge I wonder if it’s a reservation charge?
In Scotland your bus pass works all over the country. I can even go to parts of England, Carlisle& Berwick, for free.

Traction_man wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 11:53am I guess the obvious option is to take the ferry from Ardrossan across to Arran, then cycle across Arran (NCN73), then ferry from Lochranza to Claonaig, either then picking up the Caledonia Way there (it routes through Claonaig anyway) or cycling down (and back!) to Campbeltown?

https://explore.osmaps.com/route/551309 ... sCategory=

This is the way.
As an aside, the road down to campbelltown is lovely, with great views over to Arran, but it is punishingly up&down. I'm not sure I could do it twice!

Ian the woodworker wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 12:08pm So maybe they allow one, but not two.

Are there several buses a day?
A couple of hours wait by one for the other to arrive might be an option, It's not uncommon for groups traveling by train to have to split up like this,

Pendodave wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 1:39pm

Traction_man wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 11:53am I guess the obvious option is to take the ferry from Ardrossan across to Arran, then cycle across Arran (NCN73), then ferry from Lochranza to Claonaig, either then picking up the Caledonia Way there (it routes through Claonaig anyway) or cycling down (and back!) to Campbeltown?

https://explore.osmaps.com/route/551309 ... sCategory=

This is the way.
As an aside, the road down to campbelltown is lovely, with great views over to Arran, but it is punishingly up&down. I'm not sure I could do it twice!

Avoiding having to do the same route twice, there is some excellent information on Kintyre (offroad/quiet) cycling routes here

https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/planning ... ute#bottom

plus an interactive map here

https://argyll-bute.maps.arcgis.com/app ... b39a22986d

which may help with planning alternatives

Thanks for that.

I will take a look.

Hop across to Ireland and get the Kintyre Express ferry from Ballycastle to Campbeltown?
https://kintyreexpress.com/
Not cheap though.

Traction_man wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 11:53am I guess the obvious option is to take the ferry from Ardrossan across to Arran, then cycle across Arran (NCN73), then ferry from Lochranza to Claonaig, either then picking up the Caledonia Way there (it routes through Claonaig anyway) or cycling down (and back!) to Campbeltown?

https://explore.osmaps.com/route/551309 ... sCategory=

That's the way I'd do it too.
Brodick to Lochranza is about 15 miles although bits of it are quite up and down - I'd allow 2hrs if you've got touring / bikepacking kit and about 3hrs and a lot of swearing if it's a howling gale coming round the corner of Goat Fell!

The ferry crossing from Lochranza to Claoniag actually shows up on Strava heatmaps as a lot of cyclists simply leave the GPS running! It's a popular route for island hopping.

Thanks all for the replies.

Looks like Arran might be the solution.

A few years ago we did a CTC tour of the Inner Hebrides starting at Ardrossan. We were supposed to catch the ferry to Campbelltown, but there was a problem with the ferry, so we ended up catching the ferry to Arran (Brodick) staying the night there and riding up to Lochranza the next day, to catch the ferry to Clonaig.

At the end of the tour, we caught the train from Mallaig back to Glasgow via Fort William, then caught another train back to Ardrossan. There’s good and quite cheap parking at the ferry port at Ardrossan. I think we paid about £16 in total for 10 days parking.