Cycle Touring in Northern Scotland

Guidebook to a 528 mile circular cycle tour around northern Scotland, starting and finishing in Inverness. The route follows quiet main roads and minor country roads, and is easily accessed and well provisioned. It can be comfortably completed within a fortnight and boasts stunning scenery and rich historical interest.

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Overview

This guidebook describes a 528-mile cycling route in northern Scotland. Starting and finishing in the highland capital Inverness, the circular route passes through the ancient counties and districts of Wester Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Easter Ross and the Black Isle and is suitable for mountain, touring and road bikes: the going is entirely on asphalt-surfaced roads, though many are quiet with little traffic. The circuit can be comfortably completed in a fortnight.

Featuring clear and concise route description, together with 1:150,000 mapping, gradient profiles, suggested schedules and invaluable practical information - including complete lists of all hostel/bunkhouse accommodation, official campsites and services for cyclists and advice on other accommodation and refreshment opportunities, this guidebook provides all the information needed to plan and execute a terrific cycle tour. Alternative routes are provided in case you should wish to avoid the steep ascent of Bealach na Bà or the undulating Assynt peninsula, or to include the busier A9 east coast road.

The route boasts stunning scenery and rich historical interest and cyclists will be treated to mile upon mile of unspoilt wilderness. The journey takes in varied landscapes of craggy mountains, verdant glens, rolling peat moorland dotted with lochs and wild rugged coastlines - and if the scenery isn't enough, there are many distilleries and micro-breweries on or near the route guaranteed to entice. With notes on history, geology, wildlife and local points of interest, the guide offers a perfect way to get to know Scotland's captivating far north.

Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
Background
The route
Natural environment
Preparation
Getting there and back
Navigation and information
Accommodation
Food and drink
Amenities and services
What to take
Safety and emergencies
About this guide
The route
Stage 1 Inverness to Garve
Stage 2 Garve to Lochcarron
Stage 3 Lochcarron to Shieldaig (direct route)
Stage 3A Lochcarron to Shieldaig (via Applecross)
Stage 4 Shieldaig to Gairloch
Stage 5 Gairloch to Ullapool
Stage 6 Ullapool to Lochinver
Stage 7 Lochinver to Kylesku
Stage 8 Kylesku to Durness
Stage 9 Durness to Tongue
Stage 10 Tongue to Melvich
Stage 11 Melvich to John o’ Groats (coastal route)
Stage 12 John o’ Groats to Melvich (inland route)
Stage 13 Melvich to Altnaharra
Stage 14 Altnaharra to Tain
Stage 12A John o’ Groats to Lybster
Stage 13A Lybster to Brora
Stage 14A Brora to Tain
Stage 15 Tain to Nigg (for Cromarty ferry)
Stage 16 Cromarty to Inverness
Stage 15A Tain to Dingwall
Stage 16A Dingwall to Inverness

Appendix A Facilities summary table
Appendix B Tourist information
Appendix C Hostels and bunkhouses
Appendix D Campsites
Appendix E Cycle shops and cycle hire
Appendix F Munros near route (mountains over 914m)
Appendix G Distilleries en route
Appendix H Useful contacts

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Reviews

the perfect way to appraise oneself of scotland's hidden treasures is by bicycle

the perfect way to appraise oneself of scotland's hidden treasures is by bicycle

the author has neatly packaged this 528 mile (855km) northern route into fourteen stages, leaving from inverness, the capital of the highlands, and returning to the same town. this makes it remarkably convenient if you intend arriving by car, train, bus or aeroplane. though the daily stages never exceed 50 miles (80km), if you're possessed of the honed physique to which we'll all gladly admit, it would be simples to combine a couple of stages in a single day if you so desired. in fact, should you be restricted to a week's holiday rather than two, undertaking the tour over a mere seven days would extend your daily mileage to a relatively easily accomplished 75 (121km). the choice, as they say, is yours.

in common with all the excellent cycling guides from cicerone press, the introduction covers all the basics such as a concise history and geography of the area covered by the route, the wildlife that can be observed when not puffing and panting over the 'bealach na ba' (an alternative route is also described), where and when to eat and, perhaps most importantly, the weather likely to be encountered as you wend your merry way back to inverness. the routes followed include the wester ross coastal trail, the north and west highlands tourist route, and part of the national cycle network.

along the way, the author has inserted snippets of information relating to aspects of the relevant parcours:

"Until the mid-1970s, the only approach (to Applecross) was by sea, or via road over the Bealach na Ba (pass of the cattle). Originally a drove road the Bealach was cnverted into a parliamentary road in 1822, although it remained dirt surfaced until it was asphalted in the 1950s."

the image atop the same page informs the reader that the pass has a maximum gradient of 20%.

ever the armchair tourist, the chances of me getting my act together and actually heading into the northern regions are disappointingly slim. however, one of the finest aspects of cicerone guides is their eminently readable nature. aside from the turn by turn instructions, the images and the sidebars provide a potted history of unvisited scottish regions, though i should admit at this point that i have actually been to smoo cave near durness. but i didn't know there was a nato refuelling base near drmchork, nor that there's a town called tongue close to achuvoldrach, the latter sounding like a character from a harry potter movie.

this may be the wrong time of year to consider heading out into the great (northern) outdoors, given the prevailing climate ("...it can be dreich one moment and bright, warm sunshine the next. In northern Scotland, winds can blow from any direction..."), but it's never too early to plan a spring or summer break for 2020. let mike wells and cicerone be your guides.

brian palmer, washingmachinepost, thursday 3 october 2019

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