Mysterious and Misty Scotland

BaltiCCycle 2019

4th – 30th July

the route prepared by Bob Laing

map | route day by day | conditions of participation | résumé | photo Hyde Park

A country of myth and legend with men in skirts drinking whisky and eating deep-fried Mars bars. It also has the National Cycle Network featuring some of the most spectacular and dramatic scenery plus castles and sites of historic battles with much of the route on quiet roads, many of which are traffic-free.

This year BaltiCCycle will cycle round Scotland in a clockwise direction starting and finishing at Edinburgh. There is much to see and do in Scotland’s capital city so, the official start date has been arranged to allow several days for sight-seeing before starting cycling. The ride will finish at Edinburgh on 30th July just before the Edinburgh Festival starts on 1st August when the city and most accommodation including campsites gets very busy. However, it does allow anyone who wishes to continue drinking whisky and eating fried Mars bars to seamlessly extend their stay into Edinburgh’s cultural Fest.

The route starting from Edinburgh will travel south towards the border with England visiting the Kagyu Samye Ling Buddhist monastery en route. From there through the lovely Glen Trool to Ardrossan to catch the ferry to the Isle of Arran and from there another short ferry crossing to the Mull of Kintyre as made famous in the song by Paul McCartney. These will be the first of several ferry crossings on this trip. The route will avoid Glasgow and continue up the west coast via Oban to Fort William where there will be an opportunity to climb Ben Nevis, the United Kingdom’s highest mountain at 1345 metres. The route will continue on the ‘Road to the Isles’ with a night on the Isle of Skye then back to the mainland and along the north coast before turning south to Inverness. From there the route will continue southwards via Loch Tay and Callander to Stirling and the monument to William Wallace – The Real Braveheart. Finally, a pleasant meander along the north of the River Forth before crossing the river with views of the iconic Forth Rail Bridge and Queensferry Crossing to Edinburgh.