Cycling the Scottish Highlands...with people from Netherlands/Belfast. Any tips?

[John Saxby]

Might be good to get rualexander's advice:  Scotland is brilliantly sunny on his routes -- we have super photographic evidence!

[peter jenkins]

I did LEJoG in 2006 and went from Dumfries to Arran to Oban, Fort William, then used the Caledonian canal path for quite a way en route to Inverness. Then sort of up the middle to Bonar Bridge, Crask (a must do for cyclists), Altinharra and Tongue.

It's all good. And the natives are friendly as long as you don't have an English flag on your panniers.

Cheeers,

pj

[macspud]

In the Highlands we usually get the best of our summer May into June, Sunny, no/few midges, fewer tourists clogging the roads. That is usually though not always. The first half of this year (2013) it hardly rained at all here on the west coast (we had many hill fires due to drought conditions) whilst else where in the UK floods were common.

[rualexander]

Might be good to get rualexander's advice:  Scotland is brilliantly sunny on his routes -- we have super photographic evidence!

Yes, but I take very few photos when it is wet and windy!


Agree with macspud that May and June are the best months for weather on average.
Away from the central belt and the busier trunk routes, you can't really go wrong for quality cycling in Scotland, if you get the right weather.

Proof that the sun doesn't always shine :

[John Saxby]

Dang!  Rual, great fotos as always, but now I feel I'm losing my innocent dreams at such a tender age ...   J.

[jags]

wow that last photo  tells a story
looks super tough lovely but tough.

[JWestland]

I did LEJoG in 2006 and went from Dumfries to Arran to Oban, Fort William, then used the Caledonian canal path for quite a way en route to Inverness. Then sort of up the middle to Bonar Bridge, Crask (a must do for cyclists), Altinharra and Tongue.

It's all good. And the natives are friendly as long as you don't have an English flag on your panniers.

Cheeers,

pj

Well living in NI taught me to stay away from flags anyway...

[JWestland]

My dad is a bit concerned about the train trip from Newcastle to Dumfries with the bikes.

Are they OK if you phone in ahead that you are bringing bikes? Or is it sometimes busy and you can get left behind?

[Donerol]

You need reservations.  Although you can make these up to the point of departure you would be much better to make them in advance, as space is limited. The East Coast Rail site is recommended for being able to book cycle spaces with your tickets - despite the name it covers the whole of the UK.

Once you have chosen your train, tick the box to choose seat reservations. The drop-down list includes bicycle options. If there isn't space available it will be flagged up so that you can choose a different train.

Actually I just tried it and couldn't get it to work for the direct train. It does if you change at Carlisle (not a difficult change). Maybe an email or phone call would help.
Edit: I see the direct train is Northern Rail which doesn't do reservations - just turn up and take your chance. Only two bikes per train and not many trains at that......  And then I can't get the NE site to do seat reservations on the Carlisle-Dumfries leg....

In other words, plan well in advance  

No need to worry - see rualexander's and bobs' posts below. 

[bobs]

There are direct services from Newcastle - Dumfries operated by ScotRail. These trains take 6 bikes. It is better to book in advance and you can do it on the ScotRail website at no cost.

Bob

[Donerol]

There are direct services from Newcastle - Dumfries operated by ScotRail. These trains take 6 bikes. It is better to book in advance and you can do it on the ScotRail website at no cost.

Bob

I've just tried it on the Scotrail site and can't find any bike booking option there?  That service is operated by Northern Rail.

[bobs]

The direct trains from Newcastle - Dumfries are Scotrail trains.

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/cycling

[Donerol]

You must have a better source of information. I'm happy to admit that I am being dumb, but your link makes no mention of that route at all, let alone that it is operated by Scotrail.

All the booking sites that I have tried,  including Scotrail's, agree that that service is operated by Northern Rail, which takes two bikes per train on a first com, first serve basis.

I would love to find the Scotrail service with 6 bikes as I have a tour in mind.... could you post it?

Thanks

[rualexander]

You need to download the pdf timetable from Scotrail via bobs' link above, Glasgow to Newcastle service, there are three direct trains a day which pass through and stop at Dumfries. There are several other trains per day listed with the Newcastle arrival time in italics which indicates that the Scotrail portion of the journey ends in Carlisle and you have to get a connecting service to Newcastle.

[bobs]

I would love to find the Scotrail service with 6 bikes as I have a tour in mind.... could you post it?

Scotrail operate direct services Glasgow - Newcastle  via Carlisle. These are Scotrail units with 6 bike spaces, Scotrail crews work the services between Glasgow and Carlisle and then its Northern crews Carlisle to Newcastle. The same applies in reverse. Finding a space on the train should not be a problem. If you phone the number given they can advise you.



https://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Glas-Newcastle13.pdf

Bob