SCOTLAND 2006
DAY 1- Saturday 02 September
Arrived Edinburgh
Weather: drizzle
Sites: Royal Mile
Hotel: Royal Terrace Hotel
Supper: unremarkable pub in Edinburgh
Notes: Great city to visit, easy to get around
DAY 2- Sunday 03 September
Edinburgh
Weather: mix of sun & cloud
Sites: Edinburgh Castle, Old Town/New Town Bus Tour, Fireworks with the Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Hotel: Royal Terrace Hotel
Supper: Maggie Dickson’s Pub in the Grassmarket
Notes: Edinburgh is expensive
DAY 3- Monday 04 September
Train: Edinburgh to Cupar
Motorbike: Cupar – Newburgh – Perth – Crieff – Lochearnhead – Crianlarich – Dalmally – Connel – Oban
Weather: Partly cloudy
Sites: Oban Distillery Tour, Famous Grouse Experience
Hotel: Barriemore Guest House
Supper: Waterfront Seafood Restaurant
Notes: Oban nice town, easy to walk around, couple of very good restaurants, but expensive
DAY 4 – Tuesday 05 September
Motorbike: Oban – Connel – Stalker Castle – Benderloch – Ballachulish – Fort William – Invergarry – Shiel Bridge – Eilean Donan Castle – Kyle of Lochalsh
Weather: Rain, rain, rain
Sites: Stalker castle
Hotel: Kyle Hotel
Supper: Waverly Restaurant
Notes: (MC) by noon, my waterproof hiking boots were full of water… stopped and bought a pair of knee high green wellies, and a second pair of waterproof pants… wore both pairs of water proof pants and wellies for the rest of the day.. saw very little because of the rain and low cloud cover… in the end, just headed straight for Kyle of Lochalsh… hung everything up in the room, turned on the heat to dry everything out… our worst day in terms of driving. (BC) fairly wet, but tough it out unlike some softy.
DAY 5 – Wednesday 06 September
Motorbike: Kyle of Lochalsh – Portree – Dunvegan Castle – Talisker Distillery – Broadford – Plockton
Weather: Rainy periods, cloudy
Sites: Isle of Skye, Dunvegan Castle, Talisker Distillery
Hotel: Plockton Inn, Plockton
Supper: Plockton Inn, great meal in the hotel pub, fantastic smoked salmon, crab, prawns, oyster shooters… yum.
Notes: nice ride on Skye, good roads, lots of other bikes, dramatic changes in scenery, the Cuillens (mountains) to fishing ports (Portree), to glens….. Plockton very neat, off the main road. Went to the local pub where two fiddlers and an accordion player performed traditional music…
DAY 6 – Thursday 07 September
Motorbike: Plockton – Achintee – Ardarroch – Shieldaig – Torridon – Beinn Eighe – Kinlochewe – Garve – Beauly
Weather: Rainy periods, sunny periods
Sites: Beauly Pipe Band concert, highland dancing in the town center
Hotel: Lord Lovett Arms, Beauly
Supper: Lord Lovett Arms, great venison pie
Notes: fantastic ride through the Torridon Mountains, high one-track roads, barren highlands to moors, best ride of the trip.
DAY 7 – Friday 08 September
Motorbike: Beauly – Urquhart Castle – Inverness – Culloden Battlefield – Tomitin Distillery – Aviemore – Kingussie – Insh – Cairngorm Mountain – Kingussie
Weather: Sunny ! yahoo.
Sites: Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle
Hotel: Scothouse, Kingussie (pronounced kin-you-see)
Supper: Scothouse, disappointing pheasant breast
Notes: no monster sightings, great ride through Insh on a rural back road to Cairngorm Mountain
DAY 8 – Saturday 09 September
Motorbike: Kingussie – Dalwinie Distillery – Blair Castle – Pitlochery – Foss – Fortingall
Weather: Sunny ! again!
Sites: Pitlochery Highland Games, Edradour Distillery (Smallest in Scotland)
Hotel: Fortingall Hotel, great hotel, out in the country (two pheasant hunters showed up in their Land Rover, wearing Harris tweed jackets, plus fours, neck ties, with three bird dogs… right out of a movie), great rooms, supposedly Ben’s is haunted….
Supper: Fortingall Hotel, fantastic meal
Notes: Highland games were great, dancing, pipe bands, individual pipers, hammer throw, track & field, bike racing, tug of war, simultaneously all on one field… beautiful country side around Fortingall… best overnight stop.
DAY 9 – Sunday 10 September
Motorbike: Fortingall – Aberfeldy – Trochry – Cupar Angus – Dundee – St. Andrews – Cupar – Flisk – St. Andrews
Weather: Sunny ! unbelievable.
Sites: St. Andrews Links, Fisk Schoolhouse, St. Andrews Castle, St. Andrews Cathedral
Hotel: Hazelbank Hotel, St. Andrews
Supper: Greyfriars
Notes: St. Andrews easy to walk around, see everything…
DAY 10 – Monday 11 September
Motorbike: St. Andrews – Cupar – Cairney Lodge – Cupar
Train: Cupar – Edinburgh - Glasgow
Weather: Sunny
Sites: Cairney Lodge near Cupar
Hotel: Artto Hotel, Glasgow
Supper: Altnacraig Restaurant
Notes: Glasgow Center very untouristy, great architecture, walked along the Clyde River
(meanwhile hurricane Florence hits Bermuda, Privateer sinks, now on the bottom of Pitts Bay)
DAY 11 – Tuesday 12 September
Depart Glasgow for Home
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