Nobby's Scottish Road Trip - 996 miles in 4 days

[Newportnobby]

Having seen a YouTube vid of a trip along the scenic A82 in the Scottish highlands, I decided to do a quick 1000 mile road trip in 4 days a couple of weeks ago. The intention was to film the entire trip on my dashcam, downloading each days films onto a memory stick and then formatting the SD card in the dash cam ready for the next day. The maximum allowable length of each film is 3 minutes. The first day went exactly according to plan except that, having made a mental note on a piece of paper to remove my car reg from the settings, I forgot.

Day 1 Home to Crianlarich via M6/M74/M8/A82

I set off earlier than planned and so, having had a decent run in a right mixed bag of weather, arrived at my destination too early to check in, so I whizzed up the road to take a pic at Fort William station. There was actually a Black 5 in the station with hordes of passengers detraining so I took the chance to go to the loo (they charge 20p) and when I emerged it had gone!
By far the best part of the A82 is between Crianlarich and Fort William but I can't decide whether northbound or southbound is best
The day ended at my hotel in Crianlarich and I had over 300 x 3 minute films to transfer plus any still photos so my evening was mapped out for me

Loch Lomond at Firkin Point



A82 Crianlarich to Fort William

72.How puny and insignificant are we humans FR by Mick Hollyoake, on Flickr

Fort William station.



A rear view on the way back from Fort William to Crianlarich

101.Much better in the sun RE by Mick Hollyoake, on Flickr

Day 2 Crianlarich to Boat of Garten (Strathspey Steam Railway) and thence to Oban.

Disaster!! The dashcam refused to work, kept giving a message about the battery and shut down.

I didn't need to call in at Fort William station on the way out as I'd done it the day before, but soon got caught up in road works/diversion on my way to Boat of Garten, so much so I thought I was going to run out of petrol but found a small service station at Dalwhinnie (yes, of whisky fame). He knew what he was doing as he charged higher than motorway prices for his fuel but had a captive audience as we were all in the same straits.

Rainbow in the mountains



On arrival at Boat of Garten I found the only person there was manning the shop and selling tickets. The next train was 1½ hours off and I just couldn't hang around. I had places to be!






A very long and protracted journey from there to Oban mainly due to someone having fun and changing the diversion signs around to fool the tourist Sassenachs. Believe me, it worked.

Overlooking Loch Lochy



Day 3 Oban to Lochgilphead round the Argyll Coastal route thence to Tarbet then onto Cambuslang

With the dashcam still not working I headed off southwards from Oban and had a thoroughly enjoyable mooch around the coastal roads until ending up at my final overnight stay in Cambuslang, despite the car's satnag not having the foggiest idea where the Premier Inn was







Day 4 Cambuslang to home
Nothing to say apart from motorway all the way and maybe a speeding ticket yet to arrive

I do collect fridge magnets from my ports of call so................



The dashcam problem turned out to be just the lead from car ignition to the dashcam holder having become disconnected, maybe on some of the roads/cattle grids I used at one point on Day 1        

I've managed to reduce almost 11 hours of film from Day 1 down to 5½ hours but am loath to condense further. Still, I won't inflict it on you

[chrism]

Looks like you had a good trip, Mick.

By far the best part of the A82 is between Crianlarich and Fort William

I would second that - as far as you went 

However, to tempt your appetite further, far better is the stretch beyond Fort Bill, turning off at Invergarry onto the A87 to Kyle of Lochalash and beyond to Uig on Skye.

That offers you the Commando Memorial, cracking views of Lochs Lochy, Oich, Garry, Loyne and Cluanie before you drop down into Glen Shiel, past the site of the Battle of Glen Sheil to the coast at the head of Loch Duich, then along the side of the loch to Eilean Donan Castle and, finally, Kyle of Lochalsh.
From there, the bridge takes you across to Skye, which is even better. IMO, than it was getting there 

[Newportnobby]

Thanks, Chris.
Now I know the dashcam does actually work and have easily fixed the problem, I want to go back next year to film the Coastal Route again, stay in better hotels, and will take your advice and maybe go further.
The hotel in Oban was rubbish and got a good panning from me in their reviews.

[Foxhound]

Thanks, Chris.
Now I know the dashcam does actually work and have easily fixed the problem, I want to go back next year to film the Coastal Route again, stay in better hotels, and will take your advice and maybe go further.
The hotel in Oban was rubbish and got a good panning from me in their reviews.

You could also look at coming back via Lochcarron, which is stunning. (Slightly biased as it's where my wife grew up).

[Train Waiting]

I'm glad you had a good trip, Mick.  All very familiar to me (lived in Inverness on two occasions and Mrs Poppingham's from there), but from a while ago as we tend to head south on holiday nowadays.

With the dashcam still not working I headed off southwards from Oban and had a thoroughly enjoyable mooch around the coastal roads until ending up at my final overnight stay in Cambuslang [...]

Absolutely fabulous to see Cambuslang as a holiday destination.

With all good wishes.

John

[Newportnobby]

Absolutely fabulous to see Cambuslang as a holiday destination.

  

[chrism]

You could also look at coming back via Lochcarron, which is stunning. (Slightly biased as it's where my wife grew up).

Then continue around the coast and over Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle) to Applecross - unbeatable.

[Snowwolflair]

Absolutely fabulous to see Cambuslang as a holiday destination.

  

He does go for the exotic 

[SD35]

Lovely trip Mick.

Another nice circuit once you're in Fort Bill is down to Mallaig, ferry to Skye, lunch in Sligachan then back over the bridge to Kyle then back to Fort Bill.

I've managed to convince Mrs 35 to have another week in Boat of Garten this week.  The fact that 27050 is due out all day on the Strathspey again this Friday is just one of those happy confidences.

Honest. 

[crewearpley40]

Had fun by all accounts. Some happy memories in those photos Mick. Were you with your friend from Dundee by any chance?

[chrism]

Lovely trip Mick.

Another nice circuit once you're in Fort Bill is down to Mallaig, ferry to Skye, lunch in Sligachan then back over the bridge to Kyle then back to Fort Bill.

A nice alternative to the Skye Bridge would be to go to Kylerhea and take the MV Glenachulish, the last manually operated steel turntable ferry in the world, across to Glenelg, then up over the Ratagan Pass and back down to rejoin the A87 at Shiel Bridge.

[Bealman]

Apart from the mishaps and crappy hotels, great stuff, Mick.

[TrevL]

Nice, very impressive  Go on your bike next year

[Foxhound]

You could also look at coming back via Lochcarron, which is stunning. (Slightly biased as it's where my wife grew up).

Then continue around the coast and over Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle) to Applecross - unbeatable.

Becky often talks about me driving the Bealach one day, primarily to watch me squirm at the thought, I get vertigo....

[Newportnobby]

To avoid Inverness I used the B851/B862 to Fort Augustus. Over 30 miles of sweaty single track road with passing places. Why sweaty? I just couldn't believe the poor driving by some, and they can't have been all tourists   I reckon the locals just bully through with scare tactics, especially when it was school closing time and they had to get their little darlings somewhere else in a hurry
That was a good hour + of my life I did not enjoy