Hi,

Am planning a long weekend in the Highlands. Looking to hire a cottage near a descent pub and lots of riding. Was thinking Fort William or Glen coe.

Can anybody suggest anywhere descent to stay in either of those places or another spot to be based?

Torridon is a bit to far:(

Holly Tree Hotel at Kentallen has some separate cottages, and I quite like it for a bit of grub and a jar.

Fort William is a hole in the ground. Glencoe village all a bit Royston Vasey. Kinlochleven is nice though. Can’t recommend cottages etc though I’m afraid.

lochlihnnelodges.co.uk I think it is

When?

There are some lodges at Onich which are very nice. The hotel is nice for food/beer

http://www.birchbrae.com

>Kinlochleven is nice though.<

😉

Compared to Fort William a lot of places are “nice”

OP depends on what you are looking for and when you are going – weather can **** things up big time.

If you are prepared to move around ( say 45 mins car journey) Kingussie is a pretty good base.

The Clachaig Inn in Glencoe is always worth a visit, all you need is a suitable cottage nearby. I hear Jimmy Savilles old house is empty at the moment….

Kinlochleven is nice

😯

When?

4 days over the weekend at the end of april.

If you want nice then you want to head east – Kingussie, Aviemore area. Plenty of cottages, lodges, log cabins, etc and nowhere near as dreary, grey, miserable and soul sucking as Fort Bill, Kinlochleven or Glencoe.

The Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore is particulalry good for food and drink as well, especially if you’re partial to a drop of the water of life…

>If you want nice then you want to head east<

With respect mate that’s just bollocks.

I know I recommended Kingussie but that’s in no way to suggest that West is bad. Could sit here for hours waxing lyrical about West Coast locations.

OP are you looking to explore (use the car a little) or do you want doorstep stuff?

Given what everybody’s said on the this thread and the other recent one, Aviemore and Kingussie are much nicer towns than Ft Bill, Kinlochleven and Glencoe, hence my qualifying comment specifically referring to the towns rather than the areas in general. I don’t dispute the West Coast has some stunning scenery – I much prefer the geography there to the more understated profiles of the East Coast.

The OP was asking for somewhere nice to stay and a decent pub so that’s what I confined my response to…

Kinlochleven is nice though.

😯

Aviemore and Kingussie are much nicer towns than Ft Bill, Kinlochleven and Glencoe

Glencoe is a village, and a very very small one at that. When most people say they want to stay in Glencoe I suspect they are referring to Glen Coe area.

Agree about Fort William and Kinlochleven though, although I’ve always found aviemore a bit of a dump.

Well, I like kinlochleven. Has a tiny-town feel despite having a reasonable amount of shops etc, just far enough from the main road, ridiculously good riding, right on the Way… And not so helpful for the OP, but cheap quality accomodation.

Fair dues…

For sure, we aren’t exactly awash with picture postcard villages. However there are plenty of gems….mostly like our riding I guess – if you want the best you have to put yourself to a wee bit of trouble. FWIW Onich / Inchree is a good bet around the Coe / FW area. Centrally placed but not doorstep riding.

>I’ve always found Aviemore a bit of a dump.<

Up until 10 years ago I doubt you’d find anyone that would disagree with you. Seemed the tourism blurb almost prefaced any mentioned of the place with an apology… I think that’s changed now they’ve torn down the last of the old centre, refurbed the station, titivated the High Street etc etc. FW touts itself as the outdoor capital but in reality it’s got a way to go to rival Aviemore as a destination. Doesn’t help when your first glimpse of the place is the entire arse end of the high street / overtones of the Redneck element. I’ve stayed in Alan Kimbers place but I don’t like the town.

aye, i was being a bit harsh, it’s been gradually getting better over the last decade to the point where I like going up for the weekend rather than being dragged kicking and screaming! My mate bought an apartment there about 10 years ago and we all laughed at him…guess who is laughing now 🙂

You’re right though, Aviemore is hard to beat in terms of location for mountain sports, but remember is actually Lochaber which is the outdoor capital of the UK, not Ft Bill. it’s just Ft Bill using the OC marketing to its advantage.

When you take Lochaber as a whole, it’s difficult for Aviemore to beat it, but I 100% agree with you on Ft Bill v Aviemore.

For a long weekend the OP probably really needs somewhere where he can ride from the doorstep to maximise bike time, rather than spending time trying to find the hidden gems – that’s for a longer stay or to be kept a secret for the locals… 😉

Same applies for Aviemore or any of the other places, east or west, though really.

Galloway is nice

Kinlochleven is nice though

Did you know that the saying ‘Stick it where the sun don’t shine’ originally referred to Kinlochleven?

>Galloway is nice<

If you like that sort of thing 😉

Each to his own. I could easily tolerate the grimness of Kinlochleven village for the mountains and riding it has on it’s doorstep.

http://glenaffric.org/