Motorcycling in Scotland – 3 towns and 1,000miles – Part 3.
This is the last part of the three part post following last week’s short Scottish trip.
In Part 1 I wrote about travelling from the North West, through the Yorkshire Dales and my stay at The Buccleuch Arms Hotel in Moffat.
If you missed Part 1 – this link will take you back there.
Part 2 saw me leave Moffat and head for an overnight stop at Buckie on the Moray Firth.
This is the third and final part in this short series of posts.
A very decent overnight stop
I mentioned in Part 2 that my overnight stop in Buckie was at Struan House.
I’ve stayed here a couple of times before and it’s a really comfortable and decent place to stay. Struan House was first built as a private residence and then at a later date became a hotel. It’s a terrific building nicely restored and decorated by the owners Robert and Giffie.
The service is great and the rooms are comfortable – it really is just a good place to stay.
Struan House is my accommodation of choice when travelling that way. Have a look at the pictures below.
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Leaving Buckie
My third overnight stop was in Arrochar a village at the head of Loch Long in Argyll and Bute. Arrochar is located in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.
The journey from Buckie down to Arrochar was a shade less than 200 miles. My route took me down to Mulben, then the magnificently named hamlet of Maggieknockater on the A95 road between Craigellachie and Mulben.
After Mulben it was onwards to Bridge of Avon, Loch Insh, Spean Bridge and then the magnificent Glencoe (see the separate picture set).
Finally I took the A82 to Arrochar. Temperatures during the day had been cooler than the previous day, with a maximum high of just 17c, but it stayed dry – so no complaints from me.
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Heading through Glencoe
What is there to say about Glencoe and the Glen Coe valley that hasn’t been said before?
It really is truly magnificent and is probably the most famous and most scenic Highland glen in Scotland.
I have travelled through the glen many times – on my own on various trips and on a variety of motorbikes and with my wife several times when we have been driving.
I think the first time I drove through Glen Coe was back in the early 1990’s when we took a family holiday in Corpach just outside of Fort William. It’s one of those places that I think is truly memorable and truly atmospheric.
For me it has a real feel of a sense of history and a evokes a feeling similar to that I had when I stood in the Coliseum in Rome – it’s hard to describe that feeling, maybe you know what I mean?
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Towards Loch Lomond
After the sensory delights of Glen Coe it was time for the last leg of the day’s journey with just about 50 miles or so to Arrochra. I made my way via the A82 through the Bridge of Orchy and Crianlarich, down past the Falls of Falloch (a place my wife and I visited a few years ago). Arochar itself is very close to Loch Lomand but actually overlooks Loch Long and is about 15 miles from St Catherines a location my wife and I have holidayed in a couple of times in recent years.
You can read about those trips along with plenty of pictures over on the rainycity blog. Use these links: St Catherines 1 and St Catherines 2
There are some great wildlife pictures in those posts as well – if that sort of thing floats your boat.
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Arrochar – my last stop
I stayed at the Arrochar Hotel on the shores of Loch Long. To be honest the hotel receives mixed reviews but for me it was a convenient stop on my route home and although it is dated in a 1970s/1980s way I found the service to be good and my room was comfortable enough. It’s probably fair to say the hotel would benefit from a refresh and whilst it wouldn’t be my choice for a romantic break it was perfectly fine for the last stop of my trip.
There was another biker staying there riding a very decent looking BMW R1250 GS, we met in the car park and chatted for a while and then chatted again later in the bar.
His bike was festooned with stickers some of which were from something called the ABR festival. The ABR festival is an annual bikers event which is billed as a ‘celebration of adventure motorcycling’. It’s an offshoot of the ABR magazine which started back in 2009
I gather it’s a popular event and attracts as many as around 15,000 people. The event has loads of speakers, music etc and like many things in life it’s whatever floats your boat but I’m not one for events and crowds like that – but it certainly seems a cracker of an event – you can read and find out much more about it at this link
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It’s unhealthy but … fried bread and Eccles cakes
And although fried bread is generally considered unhealthy due to its high calorie and fat content, I can’t tell you how happy I was to see it on the very decent breakfast menu at the Arrochar Hotel. After a filling and satisfying breakfast that included a couple of those golden slices of fried bread I had the bike loaded and was away for around 08:30.
I really enjoyed this short break and can’t imagine I will ever tire of Scotland.
I decided to make a pretty direct route home. This was because I was at the Etihad that evening to watch Manchester City play Wolves. I headed south through The Trossachs National Park, down past Loch Lomond and then for expediency just stuck with the routine but boring trip down the M8 the A74M and then the M6.
All in all a short but very decent trip and a journey of 1,007 miles and home to magnificent home made Eccles cakes, which although containing fruit are really something of an indulgence.
It’s always good to travel but it’s always good to get home as well
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