Local knowledge needed - two Danes travelling through the UK this summer

Tim Cullis · Post by **Tim Cullis** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 7:53 am

Stonehenge is OK, but the really exciting henge is at Avebury a bit to the north, which is so big the henge encircles the village, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury Close by to Avebury is West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill. There's a long avenue of stones from Avebury towards Silbury Hill.

Lots of novel campsites in the Lake District, see http://www.lakedistrictcamping.co.uk/ One of my favourite is in Langdale (long valley) next to two great pubs, see http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holiday ... -langdale/

The Falkirk Wheel is well worth a small diversion to visit in Scotland, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel

El Dudeness · Post by **El Dudeness** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 7:55 am

Time is indeed very tight.

I have been looking over it once again and have included sections on at least three stages with motorway so that we can enjoy the REALLY good stuff...

Redsoul · Post by **Redsoul** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:06 am

+1 for Avebury .....I live in Devizes which is about 3 miles away and visit often...lovely pub in Avebury to stop and eat called the red lion...think it's supposed to be the most haunted building in England .

DogManStar · Post by **DogManStar** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 3:56 pm

Redsoul wrote:Loch lomand to loch ness along the a82 is a fantastic route.Riding through glencoe is an unforgettable experience.What you might like to try is as you approach loch ness is take a left onto the a87 which is one of the most stunning roads I have ridden anywhere in Europe.Just b4 the isle of Skye on the a87 is the Eilean Donan castle which is also worth a visit.While on the subject of castles half way up loch ness is Urquhart castle which yet again is worth a visit.

On entering Scotland, I'd recommend taking the A75/A751/A77 from gretna to glasgow as that takes you round the coast road encompassing Ayrshire and parts of Dumfries and Galloway, then when you do get to glasgow head towards the Erskine Bridge and over towards and onto the A82 where you can follow it up to Loch Lomond and beyond, if you need a guide I'd be happy to spend a few days showing you the roads.

Moorso · Post by **Moorso** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 4:07 pm

Let me know when you're heading to Ireland and I'll see if I can be as helpful as everyone else here for that trip.

AustinW · Post by **AustinW** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:37 pm

For places to stay on a budget try independent hostels. http://www.independenthostelguide.co.uk ... op=desktop. The book is worth buying. Hostels charge £10 to £20 for a bunk. Plus you get somewhere warm, dry, a kitchen, shared sitting room - which is very sociable, and usually a drying room. I use them quite a lot.

In Scotland west is best but if you run out of time abandon plans for Loch Lomond etc as its a long way and visit Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish borders, and hadrians wall. In Galloway stay at my mates B&B - http://castledouglasbedandbreakfast.weebly.com/. Not a budget b&b but worth it. For budget accomodation in Galloway try Galloway activity centre. http://www.lochken.co.uk/accommodation

One other thing progress on uk roads can be painfully slow. Use motorways to avoid big towns and urban sprawl. Places like Bristol, Warrington, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, can take hours to drive through compared to minutes on the motorway. As you leave Wales I would use the M56 & M6 to get north at least as far as Kendal. You aren't missing much and will do all that in about 90minutes. The non motorway route will take 3-4 hours and a few dozen speed cameras. Same for Glasgow - M74 or M77 from well South and M8 through to Dumbarton.

Enjoy.

Sent from my iPhone with a smile

El Dudeness · Post by **El Dudeness** » Thu May 02, 2013 11:31 am

Ok - so the past month I've been reading through the thread and doing a bit of preliminary planning and have within the past week come to the following conclusion:

What the heck am I thinking???!

As a couple of you mentioned, the time on hand didn't really correspond to the level of ambition regarding the length of the route and even though I know it can be done, I believe you should devide Scotland in to one trip and England and Wales into another when you only have 7 days on hand.

We will be coming in to Newcastle with the ferry from the weed capitol of Europe, Amsterdam on tuesday the 23/07 and leaving with the boat from Harwich on sunday the 28/07.

SO my friends. Can I ask you once again on helping us finding a nice route and things to see and do in Scotland in the time given?

I'm thinking up through Northumberland, around Edinburgh and basically going round Scotland anti clockwise hitting Loch Ness, Thurso, Durness, Apple Cross, Isle of Skye, Loch Lomond, Lake District over to York and basically donw to Harwich?

How does that sound?

PeterT · Post by **PeterT** » Thu May 02, 2013 11:36 am

Sounds like a plan.

Now.... just as my opinion was that Ayreshire and Galloway are lovely places but I would skip past them to get to the Highlands if I was pushed for time (I would kick Cate Blanchett out to let Gwyneth Paltrow in). So too I would skip Thurso and Durness and head straight from Inverness to Ullapool if pressed. The roads up there are great and the coast dramatic in a different way but the Wester Ross Coastal Route south from Ullapool trumps it, for me.

In the same way, I wouldn't advocate skipping the lakes to visit my own stomping ground, the Eden Valley, which is beautiful and quiet

If you have the time you should do it all. IMO

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Thu May 02, 2013 6:27 pm

I have only just seen this thread so apologies for not coming forward sooner.

As "Pete T" stated the lake district and Eden Valley is stunning and should not be missed.

We have a campsite in Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria. CA17 4AP where we hold the ABR rally in April each year, you are more than welcome to stay as our guests.
Maria and I would be really pleased to show you around while you are staying in the area either just as a day out with a circular route or heading north and leaving you to continue on.
Please have a look at takoda campingor give Maria a ring on +44 17683 72587

Best regards,
Paul & Maria

nb, I am riding the Arctic highway in September and so might bend your ear a little B)

Milshy · Post by **Milshy** » Thu May 02, 2013 8:48 pm

PeterT wrote:Sounds like a plan.

Now.... just as my opinion was that Ayreshire and Galloway are lovely places but I would skip past them to get to the Highlands if I was pushed for time (I would kick Cate Blanchett out to let Gwyneth Paltrow in). So too I would skip Thurso and Durness and head straight from Inverness to Ullapool if pressed. The roads up there are great and the coast dramatic in a different way but the Wester Ross Coastal Route south from Ullapool trumps it, for me.

+1 for this advice, Eastern side of Scotlands nice, but not a patch on the west.

Also earlier i recomended going up the A68.. thats fine up until you get to England/Scotland border called Carter Bar, A big rock with Scotland/ England on it. Once your in Scotland there are speed cameras,lots of speed cameras!! on this A68 road.. A much better route up to Edinbrough is via Bonchester bridge(A6088) to Hawick then the excelent A7 to Selkirk, Galashiels, and onwards to Edinbrough.. This road runs more or less parallel to the A68, but its a much better ride. B)