Scottish roads
Hi. We are intending to travel up to Skye in late May from Cheltenham. We have a 7.4m Bailey motorhome and are booked in to Morvich club site. Having never experienced driving north of Glasgow and understand some of the roads may be challenging we'd appreciate some advice as to the best route. The site mentioned the A82 by Loch Lomond as particularly twisty and narrow. Looking forwards to hearing back. Thanks DB
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Its an absolute Doddle for you Yetiowner !!
M5 -- M6 M74 to Glasgow ( Perhaps to Strathclyde Club Site at M74 junction 5 if you can make it that far in one go
)Then M73, M80, M9 to junction 10, A84, A85 to Crianlarich then pick up the A82 to Fort Bill, after that its entirely up to your goodself !
Roads north of Glasgow are not as bad as some folks remember-- They have lorries, holiday sized coaches, etc etc all over the place now-a-days so if they can do it ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,
P.S. Please check up on the Bank Holidays -- they can put lots of traffic out there that you might not see normally, and the Little Darlings have different Holidays to the rest of the country. ( I'm not complaining-- just commenting
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Hi Yetiowner, You should have no difficulties so long as you take it steady and research the route. We have driven via Glasgow to Skye in our Bailey 745 with no difficulties. ABM is correct when he says coaches and lorries travel these routes, so we should be ok.
Use your sat nav as a 'guide only'. If the road sign says unsuitable for HGVs I would not go down myself.
Once on Skye we went to Neist Point in our little Toyota Aygo along narrow tracks and through small farm gates only to find two large German MHs parked up - not sure how they managed that!
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In my opinion, all will be well as long as you avoid the A82 alongside Loch Lomond. Even that is doable but not a pleasant experience.
ABM's route is the one we would use as well.
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The M74 has not been going well lately when there has been a Bank Holiday influx as the work to make it four lanes from Junction 5 (Strathclyde Park CC Site) means it is currently two lanes. The queue has been back to Junction 8 at times, but the good news is it has always been moving, if slowly. So if you are going to that site you can come of at Junction 6 and go through the park if the Motorway is a problem.
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We traveled up to North Ledaig over the new year and on advice from BIL who lives up there we went M74, M8, pass Glasgow Airport then take the A898 over Erskine Bridge. Pick up A82 as far as Tarbert (good road along Loch Lomond) then turn left onto A83 as far as Inverary. At Inverary turn right through the Arch onto A819 and join A85 at Kilchurn Castle. At Connel take A828 over the bridge then follow until the A82 and onto Fort William.
Route avoids the main narrow parts round the Loch Lomond (we came back that way and its a bit tight in places but scenic and easy to do but needs more care) and has lovely views and plenty of stopping points if you wish. As ABM says lots of lorries, coaches and other large vehicles on the road so no worries.
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Coaches and lorries do use the bust routes in Scotland but bear in mind they have professional drivers who do tens of thousands of miles every year, often on the local roads. I let them get by rather than try and get by them!
You will come across logging lorries and triaxle coaches on the A82 along Loch Lomond. The road is occasionally just wide enough to get by with care. You will need to tuck in and stop stop. If you are unsure, just avoid the A82 along Loch Lomond.
Other than that, you'll be fine. Just take your time and be prepared to stop to let local traffic get by.
The M5/M6 from Worcester to Preston can be very busy with occasional stationary traffic almost a given. I think there are also roadworks in Cheshire. Avoid a Friday afternoon and early evening and listen to local traffic reports. Around the central belt in Scotland also gets busy.
ABM's suggested route is the one I'd use to avoid Loch Lomond. Michael T's is a good route if you want to have a look at Loch Lomond and avoid the worst part. I've done them both.0 -
Moffat C&CC site. Fuel, supermarket, eateries.
Invercoe at Glencoe village as an alternative to Bunree.
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Great advice from Aspenshaw... the Loggers don't stop for anyone.. be alert and just stop and let them get by you.. that A82 alongside Lomond is very narrow, take it very slowly. It reminds me of the road alongside Ullswater except it has a lot of heavyweight traffic.
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The route mentioned by ABM is the ideal route to avoid the short stretch of the A82 that can be troublesome ( a campervan had a head in crash with an hgv last week) but still allow you the scenic run through Glencoe.
The Green welly shop at Tyndrum has a large car park for a stop over break from driving and also allow overnighting if needed.
Dont worry about the size of your m/h as ours is 7.5m and never had a problem.
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The only comment I would make about where to break your journey is that Morvich is a long, long way away from you. I live in County Durham, which although is on the 'wrong' side of the country, is nearer than you are and would never aim to get there in one go. I did once come back in one but that was coming onto well known roads as the day wore on.
You need to remember that the roads in Scotland are as slow as the vehicle in front of you - cos getting past it is difficult and also full of pot holes these days. As for the bit of road around Loch Lomond just take it steady - expect that there will be something large coming towards you around the next bend, most of the time there won't be but when there is you've got room to slow and ease to the left.
Don't forget that late May might be when the midges start getting about and they like the weather on Skye.
Finally we love the west coast of Scotland - every 'dead end' road is worth driving down.
Enjoy your trip
Dave
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Some advice from a local. We live on the route to Neist Point in Glendale. We have a lot of trouble with over large motor homes trying to navigate down our single track roads. Neist Point is becoming an open sewer with limited parking and campers staying the night for free!! There is a good site in Dunvegan and its not expensive. So come back away from Neist point. One other place not to go to is the Fairy Pools along the Glen Brittle road.Its totally stacked out with cars campers and coaches. There are plans to increase the car parking and to include motor home parking as well just like the Old Man car park in the north east of Skye. Its a shame that there is so much damage done, litter and loo roll about the place. Its getting totally ruined. The natural and unspoilt nature of Skye is what people come to see. But large vehicles constantly going along single track roads, parking up on passing places etc just churns up all the ground around and causes frustration when locals try to get about the place. Its irretrievably ruining the very thing that people come here to see. Its not just the Brits but all of Europe come here too.
CRF
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In this day and age of inconsiderate people why am i not suprised by your post,,I can only hope that when restrictions are put in place it does not bring to much negativity, usually from, the perpetrators, as has happened around Loch Lomond?
Sorry for the desecration of your lovely area
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