Motorcycle touring and cruiser tour Scottish Circuit

Day 1 Glasgow Airport - Glasgow - 10

Day 1 - Glasgow Sightseeing - Customers will arrive are various times if day but those who are here early can spend time sightseeing around Glasgow. Accommodation is in Glasgow's city centre top quality 4* hotel, so those who need to recover from jet lag can just retire to their room. Glasgow offers lots to see and do. Art lovers or those interested in history and artifacts might like to visit the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum though there are other museums and art galleries and all are free to enter including The Burrell Collection, The House for an Art Lover, Huntarian Art Gallery, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Gallery of Modern Arts etc. With the city’s rich heritage innovation and ship building you might like to visit The Riverside Museum of Transport and Travel or the Glasgow Science Centre. For horticulturists there is the Botanic Gardens and Kibble Palace, the Peoples Palace and Winter Garden and numerous parks. Other places of interest are, Scotland Street Museum, The Police Museum, The Tenement House and many more. The city has an abundance of historic buildings mostly from the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian era so you might just want to take a stroll and at the houses, offices, cathedrals, churches, synagogues, mosques and more. There simply is no shortage of interesting architecture. Those who prefer live entertainment can head to the many of the city's bars, concert hall and theatres. If you are into sports there are many stadia and arenas. In short you will find little difficulty finding something to do in Glasgow.

Day 2 Carberry - 150

Day 2 – Glasgow to Carberry – We exit Glasgow on an urban motorway before we join urban roads that pass through the Clyde Valley to Lanark. This is where we take our first stop at a restored 18th century cotton mill and workers village called the New Lanark Visitor Attraction. It sits on the banks of the River Clyde where once it drew power from water wheels. We shall take a few hours exploring before we continue east to Peebles where we break for lunch. Our route then continues east to Melrose and onwards to Kelso before reaching Duns then cross the Lammermuir Hills to the Royal Burgh of Haddington. We shall take several brief stops along the way for photographs such as at Melrose Abbey dating back to 1136 which is the burial ground of several Scottish Kings including the location of the heart of Robert the Bruce. Kelso Abbey is of similar age dating from 1128 though largely destroyed under the orders of Henry VIII in 1540. We end the day at Carberry Tower the former home of Lord Elphinstone. The 16th Lord Elphinstone, married Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon, sister of Queen Elizabeth, the Mother of Queen Elizabeth II. Today Carberry is a Hotel and if some may be fortunate you may be allocated one of the bedrooms where the princesses Elizabeth or Margaret slept when staying at Carberry.

Day 3 Carberry - Ballater - 160

Day 3 – Carberry to Ballater - We depart Carberry and take the Edinburgh by pass as we make our way to the Forth bridges. The iconic Forth Rail Bridge from 1890, the 1964 Forth Road Bridge will both be seen from the Queensferry Crossing that we use to cross. It was opened most recently in 2017. Once on the Fife side we pass Aberdour then onwards through the Fife countryside to take a short refreshment break at Falkland where some might want to visit the Palace. Our route continues to another town and Scotland’s oldest University, St Andrews, better known as the birth place of golf. Some might want to stop to take pictures, then we move onwards to cross the River Tay and break for lunch just north of Dundee at Glamis Castle the childhood home of the late HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, where we break for lunch. The final leg of this route crosses Glenshee to Braemar where we pass the Royal residence of Balmoral to end the day at Ballater.

Day 4 Ballater - Brora - 150

Day 4 – Ballarer to Brora – We leave Deeside to progress into Speyside where those who appreciate Scotch Whisky will see many familiar brand names including Glenlivet and Glenfiddich as we snake our way around the eastern side of the Cairngorm National Park before taking a morning coffee stop in Dufftown where some might want to go for a stroll to visit the Whisky and Heritage Centre or the local purveyors of our national drink. We continue through soft rolling hills and moors to Nairn where we stop for lunch. Those more interested in history may prefer we visit nearby Fort George or the Culloden battlefield site. The last leg of this route this day will take us north bypassing Inverness and over the Beauly and Cromarty Firth's to end they day at Brora.

Day 5 Brora - Brora - 200

Day 5 – Brora circuit – We begin with a trip a little south to tour Dunrobin Castle, the stately home of the Earl of Sutherland, with turrets more reminiscent of a French chateau than a Scottish Castle. This style was the work of Sir Charles Barry between 1835 and 1850 and following a fire was largely restored by Sir Robert Lorimer. We take a tour of the castle before continuing with our ride though some might prefers a rest day and head back to the hotel whilst the rest of us head west. The scenery will change dramatically as we leave Dunrobin on the east to cross Scotland to Lochinver on the West. Lochinver remains an important fishing port en-route we shall pass the steep sided Suilven and other mountains that help emphasise the stark contrast between east and west and stop at one time to look over to the Summer Isles. We shall probably take a stop at Altnacealgach, a pretty spot overlooking Loch Borralan, for an early lunch. The return journey will take us through Ullapool then back to the east to the spa town of Strathpeffer and to see the Mermaid of the north at the pretty fishing village Portmahomack.

Day 6 Brora - Uig - 190

Day 6 – Brora to Uig - Leave Brora turning south towards Inverness then deviate towards Beauly and on to Drumnadrochit where we traverse the eastern shore of Loch Ness and take a short refreshment break. Continuing along the shore of Loch Ness for about 10 miles then head west towards Skye taking a stop at Eilean Donan Castle; one of the most recognisable of Scottish castles. There has been a fortress on this tiny island since the 6th century but the current castle was reconstructed from ruins between 1911 and 1932 to recreates the castle of circa 1719 when it was destroyed during the Jacobite uprising. The castle has a good café where we break here for lunch. We next cross to the Isle of Skye, Scotland’s largest island, and make our way up the coastline with views over to the islands of Scalpay and Raasay and onwards to Portree, the islands capital and largest town which has been voted one of the most beautiful villages in the UK. Continuing north past The Storr, a rather distinctive rocky hill and later Kilt Rock, a 90 meter tall cliff whose structure resembles a pleated kilt, we reach the north end of the island and turn to the south where we stop at the Skye Museum of Island Life, a cluster of thatched cottages offering an insight of the living conditions of crofters on the island around the 19th century. We end the day at a hotel in Uig.

Day 7 Uig - Oban - 175

Day 7 – Uig to Oban – We begin with a short ride to visit Dunvegan Castle the home of the MacLeod Clan chief then we progress south to Sligachan and onwards to Armadale where we take a ferry back to Mallaig on the mainland. From here we ride east towards Fort William. Along this route you may catch sight of the steam trains that operate along the line and most impressive as they cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct where we take a stop at the Visitor Centre to learn more about the Jacobite uprising or simply enjoy a light refreshment and the views of the viaduct and monument. Later approaching Ft William we take a brief stop at Neptune’s Staircase, the work of Thomas Telford, an impressive rise of 8 locks at the southern end of the Caledonian Canal created 1802 to 1833. This is the longest canal staircase in the British Isles. From here you can also see Britain’s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis, in the backdrop. We continue south to Oban where we end the day at a hotel overlooking the bay and out to the island of Kerrera with Mull in the distance.

Day 8 Oban - Glasgow - 145

Day 8 – Oban to Glasgow – Leaving Oban and heading south we visit the Isle of Seil by crossing the "Bridge over the Atlantic". From the town of Easdale we look over to the Island of the same name which is the smallest inhabited Island within the inner Hebrides. Continuing to the south we reach Dunadd Fort, the iron age capital of Dal Riata one of the Kingdoms of Scotland. Here you will learn more about the historic kingdoms of Scotland that united in 843AD and that Dal Riata joined that union in the 11th century. At Crinan we take a refreshment break. Here the Crinan Canal joins the Atlantic Ocean. The canal has been in operation since 1801 and connects Ardrishaig on Loch Gilp with the Sound of Jura to afford shorter navigation between the Clyde and the Inner Hebrides. We largely follow the canal to Ardrishaig before turn north to the model village of Inveraray designed in 1747 by William Adam. The work was carried out by John Adam and later Robert Mylne to create the town we see today. We stop here for lunch though some might want to visit the castle or visit the jail. Our route then takes us around Loch Fyne, Scotlands longest loch, and across the "rest and be thankful" to Arrochar and onward to Loch Lomond making a stop at Luss, a 19th century conservation village. We take a brief stop here before completing our journey and the tour back in Glasgow. Hired bikes are returned and you retire to the hotel where you started the tour for dinner, bed and breakfast.

Day 9 Glasgow - Glasgow Airport - 10

Day 9 - Homeward bound