Katana Owners Club U.K.

Hi guys,
The missus and I are going to Scotland for a vacation next June. Flights are already booked, so no biking vacation.
We'll be spending our first three days or so in Edinborough, so we will the last two nights. Apart from that we're pretty much open for anything. Tanja wants to visit some historic places, obviously. Any hints, do's and don'ts? A certain destillery or two worth visiting and I should not miss?

Cheers Pedda

How far do you wish to travel? Will you have a hire car?
Most head up Fort William and the highlands ...distilleries don't you know?
Stirling is a very welcoming place with a good castle and loads of walking type places around it.....of course you could visit Tamsin in a traditional country pub in an area natural beauty .....Fintry.
From an engineering point the Falkirk wheel is worth a trip.
Remember this traveling around Scotland and it is not uncommon ....as in it is very common to be travelling around ..say loch lomand and there is an accident or problem with rain....even in June ...the diversion is 85 miles ...yep 120 km! But you get to visit place you never thought of.

Thanks Fossie. I guess we will rent a car for a few days. Makes things easier.

Also: we intend to visit Scotland every now and then in the future. So if we miss a sight somewhere, we have a glimpse at it sometime later. No friend of that Japanese type of vacation.

I think anywhere on the west coast would be great and you can't go wrong.

We were at a wedding at New Lanark last September ( World Heritage site https://www.newlanark.org/ ) and looked around some of the Southern highlands which we had only passed through before and they were very nice as well and closer to Edinburgh (if you have limited days). We actually stayed at the New Lanark mills in a cottage right next to the River Clyde. Funnily enough we were thinking of heading up that way next week to explore further and go to Edinburgh as haven't been before.

The route down from Edinburgh on the back roads to St Mary's Loch (there was a Katana meeting there a few years back organised by SamK on here - the Tibbei Shiels Inn - KeKat has fond memories I believe!)) and on to Moffat look quite nice. We took in a Lead Mine as well at Wanlockhead which was good (though maybe you have had enough of mines...)

I guess most will head north and west though, towards Loch Lomond (maybe direct to Inveraray (looks nice, castle looks good)) and up through Glen Coe to Fort William. From there maybe across to Skye (visited the Talisker Distillery and Dunvegan Castle on Skye a few years back on a bike trip). On that trip we missed Applecross which I hear is a great road in to the village a lovely place to visit, which was a regret. We rode from Aberdeen right up and round the north coast and also went to Orkney. They have made part of the route we took into the North Coast 500 (nc500) with it's own website - https://www.northcoast500.com/ to market that part of Scotland more.

Going north you can head to the Cairngorms, via Pitlockry (Nice town) and then Glenshee (did that about 3 years ago) to Braemer (nice) and of course you have Balmoral where the Queen sometimes lives!!!

I do have a couple of brothers near Aberdeen, but that side isn't so interesting until you get to the Cairngorms IMO.

Also as going in June that is high Midge season...

Cheers Bob, lots of Infos! Will have a look into it.

Hi Pedda, no doubt that you will be doing some "research" into the local beverage so may I recommend a lowlands brew called Glengoyne. Also, it is traditional to greet Scots with the affectionate term 'yer big jesse'. Happy Holliday.

jmac wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:26 am

Also, it is traditional to greet Scots with the affectionate term 'yer big jesse'. Happy Holliday.

It’s also traditional when in Glasgow to ask for a “Glasgow kiss” you won’t be disappointed

Glengoyne. On the list with it.

What's it all about with jesses and kisses?

All depends how far you want to travel and how much time you have in between the Edinburgh days.

The weather in June is usually not bad, by Scottish standards.
You'll still need a variety of jackets... light jacket, rain jacket and heavy jacket.

A good wee tour from Edinburgh would be first south towards Peebles, with Roslin Chapel en route and The Leadburn, a biker friendly bar/guest house.
Then west towards New Lanark and the world heritage site.
Head then towards Glasgow, skirting around the south side on the M74.
Stop off for a coffee at the Ducati/Triumph or Harley dealers at Hillington. They are across the street from each other and both have their own cafes.
Next over the Erskine bridge following the A82 along Loch Lomond.
At Crianlarich, you can take the A85 towards Perth or continue on the A85 to Tyndrum and The Green Welly. Another biker friendly stop off before the Highlands really start.
Depending on time, you could then continue on A82 to Glencoe and pick up the A828 at Ballachuilish heading south.
Pop down the A85 to Oban, excellent fish & chips, before heading back towards Perth.
From there head down towards Dunblane, or cut across from Creiff to Dunblane.
As mentioned, Stirling castle is worth a visit.
Then on down to the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies. The Kelpies are more impressive lit up at night.
And then you're back to Edinburgh.

There are numerous stop off points along that route, and you could easily take 2 weeks depending on how often you stop.
Check out https://www.distillerytours.scot/ and see which distilleries you fancy seeing. I reckon there's about 10 on, or not far off, that route.