UK visit

[Monica A]

Hello UK riders,

The hubby and I are planning a 10 day to 2 week trip in April of 2015 to the UK and I am hoping you all can help with some ideas of what we must see and do. We are thinking of spending a few days in London to site-see (we've been to other parts of Europe but not the UK), then some time in the countryside, and Scotland. I know it's alot to pack into 10 to 14 days. We might just have save some of it for another trip. We were thinking of renting motorcycles for the countryside part, but we are concerned because you all ride on the wrong side of the road. Blah

It's our 25th Wedding Anniversary and we want to do something great to celebrate.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you have.:cheer:

 

[nivag]

Hi,
depending on how long you've got to explore, the Lake District which is reachable comfortably in a day on a bike from London if on route to Scotland and is a beautiful area.
Personally I've not ridden a bike much around Scotland, a few mates have. I'll try and dig out their routes. On another forum though
The weather over here is very hit and miss in April, defo bring waterproofs

Dont worry about riding on the wrong side, you'll get used to it quickly. Riding in London ain't for the faint hearted though, if you have bikes here and I'm free I'll take you for a sightseeing tour. Otherwise central London is much better seen on foot, most of the major sights are close together and despite our moaning public transport is pretty good in London.

 

[Monica A]

Hi,
depending on how long you've got to explore, the Lake District which is reachable comfortably in a day on a bike from London if on route to Scotland and is a beautiful area.
Personally I've not ridden a bike much around Scotland, a few mates have. I'll try and dig out their routes. On another forum though
The weather over here is very hit and miss in April, defo bring waterproofs

Dont worry about riding on the wrong side, you'll get used to it quickly. Riding in London ain't for the faint hearted though, if you have bikes here and I'm free I'll take you for a sightseeing tour. Otherwise central London is much better seen on foot, most of the major sights are close together and despite our moaning public transport is pretty good in London.

We are definately not thinking about riding in London. That sounds too dangerous for sure. I ride a Triumph (now) and I found the factory in Hinkley. Do you know what that is near? And do they do factory tours? I couldn't find too much information on their website.

 

[Monica A]

Oh, I forgot. We are looking forward to the soggy weather. We get little rain where we live. We will be prepared though. Thanks for the warning.

 

[nivag]

Hinckley is about 2.30hours from London and I don't think they do tours, my mate works for a triumph dealer, I'll double check. I've also got a Speed Triple

The only reason I mention about riding in London was a couple of years ago I met a lad that came over and he got freaked by the traffic. Don't think he'd been to a major city before bar the one he flew out of.

This is one of my mates ride report KTMmartin's tour of the North
Might be going a bit further north than you want to go in the time you've got.

 

[payneib]

Get yourselves to Yorkshire. North York Moors, or the Wolds. There's enough bike road here for an entire holiday on its own. I can give you the guided tour if you like?

 

[dbldutch02]

If we're all doing a sales pitch for our areas, here's mine - Wales is lovely to ride around; great roads (and the lack of police to enjoy them), amazing views, and plenty of destinations to justify the ride Happy to show you round a bit, or just buy you a drink when you're passing.

Oh, and the highlands are amazing too, went up there in august and loved it

 

[nivag]

If we're all doing a sales pitch for our areas, here's mine - Wales is lovely to ride around; great roads (and the lack of police to enjoy them), amazing views, and plenty of destinations to justify the ride Happy to show you round a bit, or just buy you a drink when you're passing.

Oh, and the highlands are amazing too, went up there in august and loved it

I agree, Wales is great too, though make sure you've got a full size reg plate....

 

[Kazza]

Wales.

Don't even bother with England or Scotland

Blah

 

[payneib]

Wouldn't go to Wales, the locals will put you in a pot, or worse......

 

[Kazza]

Wouldn't go to Wales, the locals will put you in a pot, or worse......

Don't worry - we won't eat you if you're English - they taste bad Blah

 

[Pagey]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Scotland yet !!!
Beautiful place, awesome roads and the natives are friendly.

This is Apple Cross, just a sample of the Highlands

 

[sntaylor]

Well, my first post here, but, I'm from Scotland and definitely recommend anywhere really, but especially going north from Glasgow, road works are the only issue really.... I went up to a wee place called glenelg in the summer and got the ferry over to Skye, I'd definitely recommend those roads! The views are fantastic regardless of where you go up north

 

[MotoGoLoco]

10 day to 2 week trip in April of 2015 to the UK and I am hoping you all can help with some ideas of what we must see and do.

Hi - this sounds like something I'd be able to help with!

So, I'm going to go right ahead and assume that as you've come all this way over here, you'll spend the full 2 weeks here

Arrive in London and spend a day or 2 getting that out of your system (never really see the appeal of spending a fortune wandering around an enormous overcrowded city but what do I know!?).

Then - jump on a plane and get yourself to Scotland, Edinburgh to be a little more specific. Flight's only about an hour.

From there, speak to these nice chaps BMW Motorcycle Rental in Scotland | A spectacular motorcycle holiday in Scotland and hire yourselves something two-wheeled and fun.

NOW the really good fun bit can start.

I could give you enough riding itineraries to last you a year, let alone a week, but how's this for starters:

Day 1 - Edinburgh to Pitlochry
116 miles

Pretty nice - up n over the Forth Bridge, a wee splurge of motorway to get you North but it's not that far at all.

Off the motorway at Kinross, swing a left and nip through Crieff (Ewan McGregor's home town). Lunch stop at Killin (take yer pick loads of nice wee cafes/pubs in there) then along the banks of Loch Tay, through Aberfeldy and stop off in Pitlochry.

A bustling hotspot it mebbes ain't, but there's enough pubs and eateries there to keep you entertained of a Sat evening - and, it IS a really nice spot.

B&B - Silvehowe
Hotel(s) - Acarsaid is good, or there's always Atholl Palace if you're feeling posh.

DAY 2 - Pitlochry to Fort William
181 miles

This is good.

This is a really damn good day's riding - Glenshee, the Lecht, Balmoral Castle (do say 'hi' to the Queen for me on your way past, there's a chap)... Aviemore for lunch somewhere - again, plenty to choose from.

Balmoral Castle

The road between Aviemore and Fort William, past Laggan Dam is, for all intent and purpose, motorcycling pornography. Enjoy!

Laggan Dam

Fort William - Plenty of places to stay here - find your favourite and book in. Wander into town and grab a pint & burger at the Grog n Gruel (decent real ale pub on high street) and try not to get eaten alive by the midges.

DAY 3 - Fort William to Strathcarron
157 miles

You thought yesterday was good.....? You're not going to believe this then.

Say cheerio to your hosts early, cos you've got a ferry to catch - A830 from Fort William to Mallaig (*possibly the best biking road in the world - but there's plenty of competition, of which you'll have covered most during this week), hop on the ferry and chill out whilst it nips you over to Skye.

Keep an eye out for the Harry Potter train on your way...

Just a quick taster of Skye, cos frankly, as nice as it is - you've got better lined up. Over the bridge, dodge the Japanese tour buses and grab a snap of your beloved next to Eileen Donan Castle.

Head North, cursory nod towards Strathcarron Hotel, and keep going - cos you're off to ride the Bealach Na Ba to Applecross for lunch my friends. If you or your other half like seafood, this is among the best you'll ever get anywhere in the world. If not, there's a chippy van opposite the Inn.

Applecross seafood

What better way to let lunch settle than a nice little coastal hug, back in via Lochcarron (veeeery pretty but you'll be getting used to that by now) and back to Strathcarron (assuming they've got room). Nice place, Andrew the owner's a biker etc - they'll look after you.

Strathcarron Hotel
http://www.motogoloco.com/strathcarron-hotel-ac-47-a-113

DAY 4 - Strathcarron to Loch Lomond
205 miles

"We've been riding round Scotland for 4 days and we haven't even seen Glencoe yet?!?!"

I hear's ya. Fear not, it's coming.
Today, in fact.

Slightly bigger day's riding, at just over 200 miles, but what a day's riding it is.

- Eileen Donan Castle (again) - tick
- Awesome road - tick
- Fort Augustus (pretty wee canalside village) - tick
- Awesome road - tick
- Comically named 'Loch Lochy' - tick
- Awesome road - tick
- Spean Bridge Commando Memorial - tick
- MORE awesome road - tick
- Kinlochleven Loop - tick
- Glencoe - tick
- Loch Lomond - tick

Glencoe - you're SURE you'd rather spend all week in London when there's this up the road...?

The Oak Tree Inn at Balmaha is nice, at the other (less busy) side of the Loch, failing that there's plenty of options.

DAY 5 - Loch Lomond to Newton Stewart
175 miles

A gorgeous morning's ride through the Trossachs and a short ferry ride to cut out the grey blotchy bit we call the 'Central Belt'.

A wee bit of motorway & A roads to get you clear of Ayrshire, but then you're into the beautiful setting of Galloway Forest Park and a night in Newton Stewart.

Arrochar - Trossachs

Glentrool (Galloway Forest Park)

DAY 6 - Newton Stewart to Edinburgh
145 miles

The last day, so why not end it on a high by riding the finest biking roads you'll find anywhere in Scotland (/Britain/Europe?)...

Another zip through Galloway Forest Park, because well frankly it's fantastic, cut through the magnificent Dalveen Pass

Dalveen

Down a fast but flowy road to the bikers haven of Moffat and to prepare yourself for the best of the lot - the Three Lochs Run between Moffat and Dalkeith.

Stop at the top of the hill climb for a photo stop like this one:

Hand the bikes back to the hire company, grab a taxi into Edinburgh and spend a night or two there (it's a truly beautiful city) before flying back to London and home again.

Find me a better way to spend 2 weeks in the UK and I'll not believe you anyway

Enjoy - if you need any more pointers or advice, please feel free to get in touch.

Enjoy!

James @ MotoGoLoco.com

 

[payneib]

A small warning on Scotland. Well, not really a warning, just a heads up. It's a beautiful place. With beautiful people. Excellent roads for biking, and fantastic atmosphere for "apres bike". Just remember to approach it with the knowledge in the back of your mind the US Department of Agriculture has declared their national dish unfit for human consumption. Keep that in mind, and you'll know what to expect! Lol

 

[Andz]

in the back of your mind the US Department of Agriculture has declared their national dish unfit for human consumption

deep fried Mars bars?

 

[Cloggy]

I agree with everyone here, Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire (Dales and Moors), lake district. I also really like the peak district myself.
Depending on your route you could also stop in Chester (if travelling through Wales), York (if travelling through Yorkshire) and/or Edinburgh (if travelling through Scotland) all these places have lots of history and character:thumbup:.

 

[Pagey]

Bet you wished you never asked now Monica Blah

Who would of thought for such a small island we have soooo much to see

 

[MotoGoLoco]

Bet you wished you never asked now Monica Blah

Who would of thought for such a small island we have soooo much to see

So, so true - we're spoiled, really because pretty much everything is within a day's ride away. Not that you'll want to spend an entire day just going from A to B mind you, there's plenty to see in between.

Enjoy - hope you get something good planned!

 

[Monica A]

So, so true - we're spoiled, really because pretty much everything is within a day's ride away. Not that you'll want to spend an entire day just going from A to B mind you, there's plenty to see in between.

Enjoy - hope you get something good planned!

Thank you so much for your thorough report. I want to leave today and spend a couple of months (atleast) riding through your beautiful country. But then again, I'm ready to ride anytime. lol

We winterized the bikes for storage a week ago and I'm still sad. I again have one stored in our home office. I hope we don't need anything in the closet because the bike's in the way.

View attachment 55586

The other three bikes are in the motorcycle shed in the backyard. My hubby's dirt bike is in the cargo trailer. He still rides it. I'm happy to let him go with his buddies and I stay home in the warm house with the dog.

This is my Triumph before covering them all up for a long winter's nap.

View attachment 55587

We are still working on a plan for our trip. We are leaning towards less time in London proper and more time exploring the countryside. We aren't big fans of big cities either. Edinburgh is on the plan for sure. We are thinking about not riding this trip, but enjoying the scenery by train and automobile. Next trip, we want to ride once we are more familiar with the area. But you never know, we might change our minds. I will be in touch for sure.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I would love to see Wales sometime too. Ireland as well. We have been to The Netherlands and Belgium so we know how special and amazing Europe is and can't wait to experience the UK and Scotland.

Thank you again for all the recommendations and great pictures.