Looks like I might have a free week towards the end of April... not sure European travel will be feasible, so was contemplating taking a couple of days to head up to Scotland from Somerset and then riding for 2-4 days before heading back again. I have only ridden outside Somerset/Devon once since moving to Holford in the Quantocks 2 years back and fancy a change of scenery
So... my loose plan - based purely on looking at Google Maps - was to drive to Oban and get the ferry onto Mull, ride there for a couple of days, and possibly day trip over to Cull for a days round-island excursion. Have the option of taking MTB or touring bike. Was leaning towards the latter - as much for a change as anything else.
Have never been beyond Glasgow or Edinburgh, so figure it’s time to have a decent explore. Would be travelling alone, and don’t want to carry too much kit, so would need a roof over my head each night.
Any/all advice or alternative suggestions welcome
Do you mean Coll rather than Cull? I’m not sure it’s possible/practical to do in a day, especially starting on mull unless you have your own boat. The ferry is about 4 hrs from Oban. You would then have the time it takes to get from Coll to Tiree, load/unload and back - perhaps 2.5-3hrs max.
Much closer to Glasgow and quicker to access and with more choice of routes is the Trossachs National Park. Less windswept than the Hebrides and possibly prettier and with more choice of B&Bs, the area around Aberfoyle has a huge choice of gravel riding and quiet roads. You are almost on the fault line between the Highlands and the Lowlands so heading south-east will take you away from bad weather; the area around Comrie for example is drier than a few miles north-west. Comrie Croft has a small trail centre and bike shop, cafe etc. for bad weather days.
As a base I'd recommend you get half a chalet (The Outback) at the back of Mhor84 on the A84 near Balquhidder. The food is really excellent, the craic is good and the beer not bad for Scotland. You could keep the bike in the chalet. Mhor84 is an hour's drive from Glasgow and well-placed for day trips in any direction. Mhor themselves are setting up bike hire this summer. Oh and the place has excellent broadband thanks to the villagers of Balquhidder who installed their own.
Yes Coll... could possibly stop a night there? All options currently on the table
Mhor84 is nice (House lager especially after a ride). The trails in Balquidder are excellent too. A great base.
Just go to Mull. Its lovely, we go every year. Eagles, bothies, beaches and mountains, spectacular.
Mick
I'll be living in Balquhidder by the end of August, hence my promoting the area!
One of my fav places to ride and work on skills. Then Mhor84 on folk night 😛
I had a great trip to Mull, reported back halfway down page two here:
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/scotland-routes-wild-but-mild/page/2/
I’ve not done any real riding on Mull. It feels like touring bike would make more sense there. Personally I’d forget mull and Coll on the same trip - you’ll spend more time on ferries than riding. Mull is big enough on its own.
Coll is amazing in great weather but there’s a reason it’s so sparsely populated - the rest of the year is not so great, and winds are high so Cycling is hard. If I was doing Coll I would do Tiree too (both have hostel type arrangements); and I might look whether the logistics stretch to Barra. Personally I’d be looking at May rather than early April for those!
If Scotland is new to you then certainly Balquhidder will have plenty to entertain without being 3hrs + ferry from glasgow.
If you really want islands with bikes then I’d look at Seil, Easdale, Luing, Kerrera, and perhaps Lismore for hopefully more shelter, some tiny ferries and eccentricity. There’s probably a nice little loop around that lot - there’s an NCN runs down from Ballahuilish I think all the way to Gigha if not further.
If I was going to mull and thought I needed more (you don’t, many people lose a whole day on Iona) I’d tag on Lochaline or Kilchoan ferries.
Drive to Oban. Train to Tyndrum. Train to Mallaig. Cycle back to Oban via Ardnamurchan and Mull.
I think you're find but make sure you aren't clashing with any school holidays. Lot of singletrack roads on Mull that would be miserable to ride on when it's busy
Would be w/c 20th April, so I think the week after the Easter hols... thanks for all the suggestion so far... looking forward to an evening with some maps in the coming days to work it all out
I've started collecting route suggestions for the Trossachs area and here are some I found online:
https://www.trailforks.com/route/callander-brig-o-turk-callander-gravel-loop/
https://www.trailforks.com/route/achray%E2%80%93dukes-pass/
https://www.trailforks.com/route/ben-ledi-and-the-glen-finglas-road/
https://www.trailforks.com/route/three-glens-route/
Mull is awesome, touring bike would be great bet.
Concur that a touring bike is a lovely way to see Mull. We parked at Oban and took the bikes on the 1st ferry over for very little outlay. Day 1 was Craignure to Salen then west onto the B8073 and round the north loop via Calgary and Dervaig to a B&B in Tobermory. Day 2 was Tobermory to Salen, then west again, this time the south loop along the B8035 under the cliffs of Loch Na Keal, then south to the A849 and back to Craignure. Big hills but easy distances with stunning scenery.
If you had time for a 2nd night on the island, go west from the T junction of the B8035 / A849 to Iona / Fionnphort for the 2nd night then back to Craignure on Day 3. Puffin spotting / Fingal's Cave boat trips to Staffa from Fionnphort are also recommended if time allows.
Have just planned a 3 day trip starting in Edinburgh heading over to Arran, Islay and Bute.
Day 1 - Edinburgh to Islay- early train from Edinburgh to Ardrossan, ferry to Broddick, ride to Lochranza, ferry to Claonaig, ride to Kennacraig, ferry to Islay, whisky whisky food whisky
Day 2 - Explore Islay then on to Tarbert - cycle round, distillery tour or two, ferry back to Kennacraig then cycle to Tarbert
Day 3 - Tarbert back to Edinburgh - this is essentially the Tarbert to Wemyss Bay section of the 5 ferries challenge and more of a cycle round Bute.
Looking forward to it.
Have previously done train up to Mallaig then cycled up through Skye, down north and south Uist then back to Oban and train back to Edinburgh.
'd do the Edinburgh Trail - it's on Bikepacking.com
Takes about 3 days with a fair pace - really awesome loop. Easy transport wise. Easy to get to. Lots of diversity in scenery and riding.
I agree with GloabTi.
Trossachs is awesome.
I've run week-long tours from Stirling to Pitlochry and back - and it's a spectacular area.
Don't bother if you like busy roads though 🙂
Glen Lyon is a tarmac road but dead-ends so almost no traffic. The road over Glen Lochay is worthy of a gravel bike. NCN7 to Callander is stunning, off road past Loch Venachar, and the tarmac road around Loch Katrine is closed to traffic. Happy memories.
We have a friend in Dervaig, Nicky, who runs the Glenn Houses chalets, she used to live in Yeovil! It's a beautiful island.
Here's a write-up of a trip I did from Kyle to Oban via Ardnamurchan and Mull. Might give you some ideas.
https://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2012/07/coasting-around-west-day-1.html
https://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2012/07/coasting-around-west-day-2.html
https://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2012/07/coasting-around-west-day-3.html
https://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2012/07/coasting-around-west-day-4-and-summary.html
Looking back over that makes me want to do it again!!