Cycling UK Forum

My wife and I have been planning a cycling adventure in May starting in Inverness, heading down the Caledonian Way to Oban, taking the ferry to the Outer Hebrides, biking up to Stornaway, taking another ferry to Ullapool, cycling up to John O’Groats, ferrying over to the Orkneys, Shetland Island and down to Aberdeen before cycling north along the coast and back down to Inverness. We now have to shorten the trip by a few days.
Would you recommend that we cut out the Caledonian Way and begin in Oban instead, or forget the last 3-day stretch along the National Cycle Route 1 from Aberdeen to Inverness?
Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

I have cycled along the Great Glen between Fort Augustus and Fort William and I would say that it is OK but can get a bit monotonous especially following the tow path and through the Clunes Forest so I would be inclined to drop this part. The view does not change much over long sections. On the upside, it is traffic-free.

I have also cycled between Ballachulish and Connel and some parts I really liked e.g. the old A road around the head of Loch Creran and I reckon it would be really nice in warm sunny weather.

So if you need to crop a few days from your trip, then I would suggest the whole Inverness-Oban part. A bit of a shame, may be, but it would be quite easy do this part as day trips from the towns on the route, some of which have train stations, or fit it into another tour.

Very helpful. Thank you, Rotavator.

Personally, based purely on scenery I see from a TV drama, I’d cut out the Shetlands if that saves you enough days. Although not my favourite area I think route 1 north from Aberdeen will be a lovely contrast to all that’s gone before.
May is the perfect time for your tour I hope you have a great time.

One side of my family can be traced back to Shetland. They moved to the Black Isle

Haha Paulatic,
Interestingly, one of the reasons we want to go to Shetland is because of what we’ve seen on the TV drama; rugged coast lines, quiet meandering roads, lush green hills, quaint towns…. It’s dramatically different than what we are accustomed to here in the northeast United States.
We are tempted to skip the Orkney’s (unless you think that is a mistake) so as to spend more time in the other places.
Thanks for your advice.
Happy New Year.
George

Paulatic wrote: ↑12 Jan 2024, 10:30am Personally, based purely on scenery I see from a TV drama, I’d cut out the Shetlands if that saves you enough days. Although not my favourite area I think route 1 north from Aberdeen will be a lovely contrast to all that’s gone before.
May is the perfect time for your tour I hope you have a great time.

I think this is worth considering, depending on how much you feel you want to see Shetland. I've been a couple of times for sea kayaking tours (which were amazing) but I didn't come away feeling I'd have to come back with my bike next time. You might park the bikes and explore on foot as an option.

I've done a tour that was Aberdeen to Wick, and while the Aberdeen/Inverness part wasn't as good or dramatic as from the Black Isle up it was still enjoyable cycling and worth doing.

Pete.

Thank you Pete. Good food for thought. I’ll look further into the Black Isle to Wick stretch.
Best,
George

How are you getting to the start of the tour, and does this have an impact on you decision ?
For example I find it easier to travel by rail to Inverness than to Oban, and it would take me longer to get to Oban than Inverness so cutting the start would mean replacing 3 days cycling with 2 days train travel and only saving a day in total.

Thank you, Mr. Benton.
My latest thought is to hire bikes in Glasgow, take a direct train to Oban and start from there. At the backend, we would train from Inverness back to Glasgow. My sense is that this would be easier and cheaper.
Let me know if you disagree.
Thank you.
George

ggardner wrote: ↑12 Jan 2024, 1:48pm Haha Paulatic,
Interestingly, one of the reasons we want to go to Shetland is because of what we’ve seen on the TV drama; rugged coast lines, quiet meandering roads, lush green hills, quaint towns…. It’s dramatically different than what we are accustomed to here in the northeast United States.
We are tempted to skip the Orkney’s (unless you think that is a mistake) so as to spend more time in the other places.
Thanks for your advice.
Happy New Year.
George

Most of the scenic quiet roads on Shetland are away from the inland main road, which is relatively busy, relatively monotonous (as the scenery is away from the coast) as previously commented. It has one town, Lerwick, Scalloway is village size and mostly the rest is small communities. Communities are generally along the coast. Roads near the coast are much better, but difficult to join up to make a tour, accommodation is not plentiful unless wild camping. If you don't cycle along the coasts then you are missing out the reason to go to Shetland. But you need to give yourself time in schedule to go away from the main road to do that. Might be best to give yourself the option to base yourself in Lerwick and sightsee by bus or minibus tours. Cycling wise it lends itself best to day trips by car.

ggardner wrote: ↑12 Jan 2024, 1:48pm Haha Paulatic,
Interestingly, one of the reasons we want to go to Shetland is because of what we’ve seen on the TV drama; rugged coast lines, quiet meandering roads, lush green hills, quaint towns…. It’s dramatically different than what we are accustomed to here in the northeast United States.
We are tempted to skip the Orkney’s (unless you think that is a mistake) so as to spend more time in the other places.
Thanks for your advice.
Happy New Year.
George

Your choice of course, but I'd say the Shetlands don't have anything the Orkneys don't. As others have said there's only one town, which isn't really very quaint; I'd describe the hills as bare rather than lush; the coast lines and meandering roads are also available in the Orkneys. In addition the Orkneys are more set up for tourism so accommodation etc. is easier, and there is a lot of really fascinating archaeology if that's of interest (Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar, Maes Howe etc). I'm not saying the Shetlands aren't worth visiting, just that if I could visit only one set of Northern Isles it would be the Orkneys.
(By the way, I believe not all of "Shetland" is actually recorded on the islands, though it's sometimes hard to tell which bits are or aren't.)

I'd put in a small word for Shetland. I was also lured there for a bike ride by the tv series, and it didn't disappoint. It's true that there's less tourist infrastructure, and also probably a bit less scope for traditional (point to point) touring -- not only because of the road network but also because of the extremely unpredictable weather (esp. very strong winds). I stayed in a couple of places for a couple of nights each, so I could be more flexible about the day rides I chose to do. It's significantly more hilly than Orkney; I think has more puffins, if that's your thing; perhaps more cake fridges? (apologies if I am neglecting Orcadian roadside cake provision, though...); definitely more scope for saying 'ah! there's the Murderers' Hideout From Series 3!' (etc) as you cycle along.

Orkney is also great, mind you...

ggardner wrote: ↑13 Jan 2024, 2:28pm Thank you, Mr. Benton.
My latest thought is to hire bikes in Glasgow, take a direct train to Oban and start from there. At the backend, we would train from Inverness back to Glasgow. My sense is that this would be easier and cheaper.
Let me know if you disagree.
Thank you.
George

If you are starting and ending in Glasgow then your plan makes perfect sense. There is the highland explorer train from Glasgow to Oban which has been specially adapted to take 20 bikes. https://www.scotrail.co.uk/scotrail-highland-explorer

There has been talk on this forum about trains from the way North of Scotland have limited bike spaces and in busy times should be booked in advance. viewtopic.php?p=1773110&hilit=trains+scotland#p1773110 There are also plenty of chat about travelling with a bike as luggage on the busses.

Good luck with your plans, it sounds like a great tour.

I went to Shetland in June 2022 because I wanted to visit the northern isles - Yell, Fetlar and Unst. Anyone visiting the Shetland Islands needs to bear in mind that the weather is often poor, and services - shops, cafes and campsites - are few and far between.
My trip was good in an experience more than pleasure sort of way, and I'd like to go back. However, if time were an issue, as in the OP's case, I'd probably miss Shetland in favour of more accessible attractions further south.
David

Thank you, David.