Hello.

Gonna be driving from Hexham to Skye on Sunday. Google maps recommends A69 to Carlisle, A/M74 through Glasgow, A82 through Fort William, then A87 over to Kyle of Lochalsh.

Anyone done this route or similar? Any recommendations for other routes?

Sharing the driving with my girlfriend but would like somewhere nice to stop for lunch/distillery tour on the way so any ideas there would be very welcome. If there are distillery tours to be had on the way I'll probably do the first leg of the drive before we hit the distilleries as my girlfriend hates whisky (yeah, she is a bit odd).

Cheers,
jon

Hi Jon,

Thats the way that I would do it and probably the most direct route as well as the most scenic, the route up from Glasgow past Loch Lomond is stunning, prepare to be in awe as you drive over Rannoch Moor and through Glencoe!!

Bod

I'd take the A9 rather than the A82

I'd take the A9 rather than the A82

Really? Going via Edinburgh instead you mean?

I would go A68 to edinburgh, M90, A9 to Dalwhinnie and then A86 to Spean Bridge, A82 to Invergarry and then A87 to Kyle of Lochalsh.

Not much in it TBH, depends on time of day etc.

A9 to Dalwhinnie

Sounds promising 🙂

I took the boat back from Skye last time (Armadale to Mallaig then across to Ft William). It adds a little time and money to your journey, but takes 40 miles off the drive, and makes a nice break. Next time I'd be tempted to take the M8 all the way through Glasgow and go over the Erskine bridge – the A82 through the city is more direct but is very congested. The other option is to avoid Glasgow and take the A84 via Stirling, but I don't think there's much difference time-wise.

Dalwhinnie is a one-horse-town. And the horse got bored and left some time ago. But someone there has a sense of humour.

Cheers for all the suggestions. I'm quite liking the idea of going via the Edinburgh/A9 now, mainly because Dalwhinnie would make a good rest stop and change of driver point. I can go do the distillery tour and have a dram or two while my girlfriend either comes on the tour (and I get her dram) or has a mooch round Dalwhinnie. Quite fancy driving over the Firth of Forth too. Not sure why, it just excites me.

Edit: Based on the "one horse town" comment, perhaps a "mooch round Dalwhinnie" isn't a great suggestion for my girlfriend…

Going via Edinburgh is longer and slower IMO / IME

Going via Edinburgh is longer and slower

According to Google Maps it's 8 miles further than the Glasgow/Fort Bill route. Time-wise it reckons and extra 15 minutes but I will take all of the time prediction with a very large pinch of salt.

Your route sounds more direct. The A68 is a "more interesting" route if that is a factor.

Lots of hills and corners, and the ever-present danger of getting stuck behind a tractor/lorry/caravan, but quite scenic in parts (through Northumberland National Park, past Catcleugh resevior, through the border at Carter Bar, Dun Law wind farm and Soutra Pass).

(I'm just down the road from you in Wylam)

One alternative worth considering would be to take the Stirling road from just south of Glasgow and up the A85, rejoining the A82 at Crainlarach. That way you still get the drive across Rannoch Moor and through Glencoe, but miss out the A82 along Loch Lomond which is probably the most awful road I've driven on. Beautiful scenery, but the road itself is terrible, and at this time of year there is a very good chance of getting stuck behind something hideously slow as well. The A85 route adds 4 miles to the A82 route if you are coming from Carlisle.

Having done the above too many times to mention, I'd go A68 through borders, then Melrose/Gala- edinburgh bypass (avoids slow going on the new road and bypass usually), A9, Edradour (Pitlochry), Falls of Bruar (ooh er) or Dalwhinnie for a stop, Laggan, Spean Bridge etc… definitely faster and more interesting driving if you're going over the bridge.

I'd only go the west to get the ferry, and only then if it was dead of night or very early morning at this time of year- Glasgow is always a mess, as is Lomond/Rannoch Moor (with caravans etc), the A9 is a much faster road with safer overtaking. Taking the ferry is good too though, and can be combined with some great west coast scenery if you're not fussed about time. [edit] if you do go west, Brampton-Langholm- Gretna will save you time as you cut the corner off at Carlisle.

The Loch Lomond road has the serious disadvantage of not only being a poor road, but with great scenery and a heavily tourist used road as well, so there is a strong chance of being stuck behind someone pulling a caravan and with little chance to overtake.
Going by Edinburgh it's M9/A9 which is reasonably good roads until single carriageway sections start.
Going by dalwhiinnie means you stop to eat at Blair Atholl which is nice and the the A86 is spectacular
Alternatively at perth, take the A827 Creiff road, which joins the A82 at Crianlarich which takes you over Rannoch Moor and through Glen Coe (I would challenge you to not stop and get out of the car to ooh and aah at the scenery on that road.
Also, just to confuse things further, nobody's mentioned the Road To The Isles (A830) from Fort William to Mallaig then a ferry to Armadale. Check the costs of a ferry, and remember if you're taking kids that this road passes the Glenfinnan viaduct (and yes, a steam train does go over it, yes, the Harry Potter train did go over it)

Seconded. A84/A85 through the Trossachs and Glen Dochart is if anything even more scenic and it has places to overtake on so you don't run the same risk of getting stuck behind awful holiday traffic on Loch Lomond side.

Some more excellent comments, thank you very much.

I think I'm pretty much decided on the Edinburgh/A9 route. Crossing the Forth Road Bridge and the temptation of the Dalwhinnie distillery have swung it for me.

Sounds like either route is going to be stunning though so can't wait!

I'm just down the road from you in Wylam

Don't live in Hexham (sadly). Up there for a wedding on Saturday and heading straight up to Skye on Sunday.

Cheers all,
jon

If you are going for the A9 route, a stop at Ballinluig is a must. The cafe at the petrol station to be precise. I can't emember what it's called, but they do one of the best all day breakfasts. Just the thing before hitting the distillery. Speaking of which, distillery at Edradour, then Dalwhinnie, if you're in no particular hurry. 😉

Oh, please be VERY careful on the A9. Lots of foreign tourists+dual carriageway changing to two way traffic = AAARGGHH 😯

I like the look of Edradour. Maybe I'll go there instead of Dalwhinnie. Never tried Edradour but I'm more than willing to give it a go. Cheers for the advice on the A9. I'll look out for them on the wrong side.

I had a holiday in Scotland in June. We went up the east side (A9) and came back down the west. We stopped at Dalwhinnie for the distilery tour and thought it was very corporate and not that good. We then drove on up to Inverness, and then across to Gairloch on the west coast.

We thought the A9 and the east of Scotland was not a patch on the west coast scenry wise and wouldnt go that way again.

I drove back from Dunvegan on Skye to Sheffield through the night and it took 9 hours.

I would certainly recommend the West Coast route, Glasgow – Loch Lomond – Fort William – Kyle of Lochalsh for the scenery which is amazing. However I wouldnt recomend it for getting stuck behind tourist doing 30mph. From Dunvegan to Glasgow took just under 5 hours leaving at 10:30pm with absolutely no traffic. During the day I am sure you could probably add another hour to that at least with all the really annoying tourist who insist on driving at 30mph.