SWIMBO
Member
- Thread starter
- #1
A review of our trip to the Highlands which coincided with the first McMustang meet (ok so we went up a day earlier than originally planned!).
The main driver for the trip was my husband (Actual - don't know how to tag him
), I did some of the motorway driving.
Saturday/Sunday 7/8 May - Pond Hotel, Glasgow
Home to Glasgow (via M6)
Left home at 9:30am, later than planned as we had to drop the dogs off with their holiday family en route due to going a day earlier than originally planned. Should have been a straightforward run up with a change of drivers partway... but nothing goes to plan!
When we arrived at the services where I changed to drive and Mark decided to make the windscreen squeaky clean for me, I saw a Ruby Red rag top pulling out of the car park but was too far away for me to see anything more than that. I did my stint through both sets of M6 roadworks pulled into the next services to change over again and when we went to get petrol some friendly bikers stopped for a chat and then pointed out that we had no rear number plate... of course I got the blame for "allowing" it to fall off when I was driving. A quick phonecall to Halfords in Kendal and it appeared they could replace it for £28 but we'd need a copy of the V5C to prove ownership and the drivers licence, most people would have been in panic mode by then as we were a lot of hours away from home, but worry not as Mark must be one of a few people who scans documents like that and has them sitting on the cloud in case they're needed :clap2: . So it was up to Junction 39 and down the A6 to Kendal, he went in to deal with it all and 30 mins later we were back on the A6 having parted with £28 and the guy in Halfords even fitted it for us. Mark put his "driving at Silverstone" skills to use and we whizzed back through the Shap Valley, he was cutting corners and weaving around and all I'll say is that my recently consumed Licorice Allsorts nearly made a surprise reappearance :lol: . I was so pleased to get back onto the motorway!
No problems for the rest of the run and we finally got to the hotel around 7pm. No issues with the hotel as it had originally been booked as a first night hotel and we weren't bothered about it being anything special, so it served its purpose well.
Sunday 8 May
After a leisurely start we made our way up to Loch Lomond for the first McMustang meet - enjoyed meeting everyone, George had really planned the day well, plenty of stops and photo opportunities, a good lunch at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar and lots of laughs with the stories people told - a brilliant day out and if we can find a way to get up to the next one, even for a day then we'll try to. Thanks to everyone who came, made a great addition to our holiday and well worth coming up a day earlier.
Thanks to Linda and George for their suggestion of Citation in Glasgow for dinner, it was one of the best meals we've ever had... you were right by they way, no need to book as there were only 2 other people eating in the restaurant
Monday 9 May - Glenspean Lodge Hotel, Roy Bridge
Once clear of Glasgow and past Clydebank we got onto the A82 (Rest & Be Thankful viewpoint) which we did the day before with the McMustang Meet, A814 to Arochar, A83 to Inverary, A819 to A85, then took a scenic route from the A85 to the A82 up through Glen Orchy (B8074) - lovely little road that follows the river, then followed the A82 to Glencoe, Kinlochleven, Kinlochmore, Ballaculish (around Loch Leven and known as the Scotsburgring). From there to Fort William where we stopped and tried to find somewhere that did a cream tea but ended up with tea and cake, and then on to the hotel - the hosts here were the best of the whole trip, chatty and knowledgeable about the area, plus others to chat to about Mustangs, Scotland, Mustangs, the Highlands, Mustangs, holidays, Mustangs... you see a trend here?
Tuesday 10 May - Torridon Inn
An early start today, we were at breakfast at 7.33 am - that was our 2nd earliest breakfast of the week. We'd been told that in order to get up and over the Applecross Pass without meeting too many other cars we ought to aim to be over by 11am so we did our best. Up to Fort Augustus, then onto the A87 and following the coast road pretty much up to the Applecross road, as we headed up towards the pass we came round a corner to find roadwork signs and the mobile bank van (RBS) ahead of us, we stopped in a passing place as we could see a few vehicles waiting to come down and we were both stopped while the "mobile road work crew" were working on the road. A few more vehicles added to both sets waiting to get through and about 30 minutes later one of the workmen came down to move everyone into passing places because the top queue would go through first, they seemed to pass slowly but they were done and then our queue went up, it became apparent why it was slow as there was a "gap" in the road surface from one side of the road to the other and there were metal road signs laid across it with one man lining each vehicle up to come across... very interesting!
Continued on and up to the top where we parked to look at the view, about 10 vehicles had come down at the roadworks and maybe another 5 after we'd passed the area. Just before we were ready to go down the other side a large lorry came up and over, so we were able to keep an eye on him in the distance but never actually caught up with him. I'd read a lot about the pass and had thought that it would be really tight corners, although there were a couple of hairpins they weren't that bad, there were enough passing places for cars meeting and all in all it was a good road, however I'm sure that in the summer holidays it would all be a different story.
When we got to Applecross we went to look at the Inn but the car park was heaving and we didn't want to even try to shoehorn the Mustang in, so we went further on down the coast and had lunch at the Potting Shed in the Walled Garden - I'd thoroughly recommend this as an eating place, tables inside and out, and a group of mums and toddlers/babies on the grass having lunch, free wifi and home cooked food - what more could anyone want? After a leisurely lunch we drove on down to the Torridon Inn and because of our early start we arrived at 3:30pm and had a drink outside in the sunshine as the room wasn't ready - this was the best room of the trip. They weren't that impressed by the Mustang as the barman told me that they'd had the luxury cars through the previous week, the Lamborghinis and Mazeratis!
Wednesday 11 May - Kylesku Hotel
In driving terms, this was the shortest distance we did but in sheer road driving skills on single track roads with passing places this was definitely the most challenging. We followed the coast road as much as possible, through Ullapool and up to Kylesku.
The A837 goes to the north of Loch Assynt, passing the ruins of Ardvreck Castle and the logical route for Kylesku would be to take the A894 as that's the direct route, we carried on the A837 along what would be the most wonderful, scenic and terrifying road we did in the week - it was narrow, very narrow, in the distance it looked like a piece of ribbon, in some places it was only just wide enough for the Mustang, there's a reason why caravans and larger vehicles aren't allowed on that road as the passing places were often more like a slight curve extra to the side of the road, the drops didn't always have barriers next to them and then there were those drops over the other side... we'd go uphill to the crest of the slope and both have to sit up as high as we could and try to see where the road went because the bonnet is so long we couldn't see over the top! Most of the time the road went round a corner on the other side so we could easily have ended up down the side of a valley or in the sea . Mark concentrated on the next bit of the road and I tried to keep an eye on what was coming so I could give him plenty of warning to squeeze into a passing place. We were both pleased to be off that bit of road when we got to the hotel, glad we'd done it but relieved that it was over, the views were wonderful but the road itself was slightly less so!
This hotel was entirely responsible for our week of wonderful weather and the opportunity to join the McMustang Inaugural Meet as they were fully booked the week we originally wanted. They were somewhat more impressed by the Mustang here and said there hadn't been any others up there yet. I'd highly recommend them for their food, the hotel is very hard to book and I'd made our bookings back in December but if you're in the area then try the food.
Thursday 12 May - Craigmonie Hotel, Inverness
We headed north, along the north coast to Tongue with a quick visit to Smoo Cave, lots of steps down and into a dark wet cave, along a walkway to look at a waterfall and back out and up the steps again, then retraced our route a short way to Chocolate Mountain for the Best Hot Chocolate Ever - that was the name of the drink and it certainly was a very nice chocolate hit!
We went south on the A836 through Altnaharra, Lairg and Bonar Bridge and then turned onto the B9176 for Struie Hill and the viewpoint, then heading south on the B9176 through areas with lambs on the road as it was the middle of the lambing season and then onto empty straight roads where Mark was able to push the speed. We joined the A9 and headed into Inverness for our hotel, the Craigmonie was a bit old fashioned but surprisingly had the best and biggest bathroom of the week with a bath and separate large shower. We went into Inverness for dinner as we felt we ought to stretch our legs after spending so many hours just driving and when we got back to the hotel Mark lay down for a rest... that was at 7:30pm, his rest turned into a full night's sleep as we were up just before 7.00 am, so his little snooze lasted nearly 12 hours! :lol:
Friday 13 May - heading back home
This was our earliest start of the week as it was a long way back home - 8.5 hrs if there was no traffic and we didn't stop anywhere, but we're veterans of the long haul having driven back home from both Venice and Salzburg in less than 24 hours!
There was a sprinkling of rain and was the first time we'd seen any in the week, we didn't have the dreaded PZero's on the car so there would be no issues on that front. The journey home was relatively smooth, there were some hold ups as was to be expected and the slight issue of me taking the wrong turn from the services at changeover and heading north by mistake :doh: woops! Luckily the next exit was a short distance so I could come off, over and back down the south side :lol::lol:. Let's just call it a lapse of concentration... we got home about 7.00pm with Mark doing most of the driving, but that could have been because he was very refreshed with nearly 12 hours sleep the night before!
All in all, this was a really good trip, I'd spent hours and hours planning the route at the end of last year, my thanks to the Pistonheads as I read every single post on the forum about the Highlands, posted the route there and got some comments and advice, the hotels were agonised over but really there were only 2 criteria when it came to booking - wifi and onsite parking. Some places had already been decided from the posts on the Pistonheads forum, namely the Torridon Inn and the Kylesku Hotel which is why we changed to the week before when the Kylesku was full on our original chosen week; and in the end that worked perfectly because we were able to go to the McMustang Meet which made a brilliant start to the holiday. Its also made a great springboard for the next trip we're doing - the Pyrenees at the end of June which was all organised (by me) as soon as the Highlands bookings had been done.
And now for the photos, its hard looking back to work out which photos belong to which narrative, plus some are mine and some are Mark's so I've just posted a selection:
The main driver for the trip was my husband (Actual - don't know how to tag him
), I did some of the motorway driving.Saturday/Sunday 7/8 May - Pond Hotel, Glasgow
Home to Glasgow (via M6)
Left home at 9:30am, later than planned as we had to drop the dogs off with their holiday family en route due to going a day earlier than originally planned. Should have been a straightforward run up with a change of drivers partway... but nothing goes to plan!
When we arrived at the services where I changed to drive and Mark decided to make the windscreen squeaky clean for me, I saw a Ruby Red rag top pulling out of the car park but was too far away for me to see anything more than that. I did my stint through both sets of M6 roadworks pulled into the next services to change over again and when we went to get petrol some friendly bikers stopped for a chat and then pointed out that we had no rear number plate... of course I got the blame for "allowing" it to fall off when I was driving. A quick phonecall to Halfords in Kendal and it appeared they could replace it for £28 but we'd need a copy of the V5C to prove ownership and the drivers licence, most people would have been in panic mode by then as we were a lot of hours away from home, but worry not as Mark must be one of a few people who scans documents like that and has them sitting on the cloud in case they're needed :clap2: . So it was up to Junction 39 and down the A6 to Kendal, he went in to deal with it all and 30 mins later we were back on the A6 having parted with £28 and the guy in Halfords even fitted it for us. Mark put his "driving at Silverstone" skills to use and we whizzed back through the Shap Valley, he was cutting corners and weaving around and all I'll say is that my recently consumed Licorice Allsorts nearly made a surprise reappearance :lol: . I was so pleased to get back onto the motorway!
No problems for the rest of the run and we finally got to the hotel around 7pm. No issues with the hotel as it had originally been booked as a first night hotel and we weren't bothered about it being anything special, so it served its purpose well.
Sunday 8 May
After a leisurely start we made our way up to Loch Lomond for the first McMustang meet - enjoyed meeting everyone, George had really planned the day well, plenty of stops and photo opportunities, a good lunch at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar and lots of laughs with the stories people told - a brilliant day out and if we can find a way to get up to the next one, even for a day then we'll try to. Thanks to everyone who came, made a great addition to our holiday and well worth coming up a day earlier.
Thanks to Linda and George for their suggestion of Citation in Glasgow for dinner, it was one of the best meals we've ever had... you were right by they way, no need to book as there were only 2 other people eating in the restaurant
Monday 9 May - Glenspean Lodge Hotel, Roy Bridge
Once clear of Glasgow and past Clydebank we got onto the A82 (Rest & Be Thankful viewpoint) which we did the day before with the McMustang Meet, A814 to Arochar, A83 to Inverary, A819 to A85, then took a scenic route from the A85 to the A82 up through Glen Orchy (B8074) - lovely little road that follows the river, then followed the A82 to Glencoe, Kinlochleven, Kinlochmore, Ballaculish (around Loch Leven and known as the Scotsburgring). From there to Fort William where we stopped and tried to find somewhere that did a cream tea but ended up with tea and cake, and then on to the hotel - the hosts here were the best of the whole trip, chatty and knowledgeable about the area, plus others to chat to about Mustangs, Scotland, Mustangs, the Highlands, Mustangs, holidays, Mustangs... you see a trend here?
Tuesday 10 May - Torridon Inn
An early start today, we were at breakfast at 7.33 am - that was our 2nd earliest breakfast of the week. We'd been told that in order to get up and over the Applecross Pass without meeting too many other cars we ought to aim to be over by 11am so we did our best. Up to Fort Augustus, then onto the A87 and following the coast road pretty much up to the Applecross road, as we headed up towards the pass we came round a corner to find roadwork signs and the mobile bank van (RBS) ahead of us, we stopped in a passing place as we could see a few vehicles waiting to come down and we were both stopped while the "mobile road work crew" were working on the road. A few more vehicles added to both sets waiting to get through and about 30 minutes later one of the workmen came down to move everyone into passing places because the top queue would go through first, they seemed to pass slowly but they were done and then our queue went up, it became apparent why it was slow as there was a "gap" in the road surface from one side of the road to the other and there were metal road signs laid across it with one man lining each vehicle up to come across... very interesting!
Continued on and up to the top where we parked to look at the view, about 10 vehicles had come down at the roadworks and maybe another 5 after we'd passed the area. Just before we were ready to go down the other side a large lorry came up and over, so we were able to keep an eye on him in the distance but never actually caught up with him. I'd read a lot about the pass and had thought that it would be really tight corners, although there were a couple of hairpins they weren't that bad, there were enough passing places for cars meeting and all in all it was a good road, however I'm sure that in the summer holidays it would all be a different story.
When we got to Applecross we went to look at the Inn but the car park was heaving and we didn't want to even try to shoehorn the Mustang in, so we went further on down the coast and had lunch at the Potting Shed in the Walled Garden - I'd thoroughly recommend this as an eating place, tables inside and out, and a group of mums and toddlers/babies on the grass having lunch, free wifi and home cooked food - what more could anyone want? After a leisurely lunch we drove on down to the Torridon Inn and because of our early start we arrived at 3:30pm and had a drink outside in the sunshine as the room wasn't ready - this was the best room of the trip. They weren't that impressed by the Mustang as the barman told me that they'd had the luxury cars through the previous week, the Lamborghinis and Mazeratis!
Wednesday 11 May - Kylesku Hotel
In driving terms, this was the shortest distance we did but in sheer road driving skills on single track roads with passing places this was definitely the most challenging. We followed the coast road as much as possible, through Ullapool and up to Kylesku.
The A837 goes to the north of Loch Assynt, passing the ruins of Ardvreck Castle and the logical route for Kylesku would be to take the A894 as that's the direct route, we carried on the A837 along what would be the most wonderful, scenic and terrifying road we did in the week - it was narrow, very narrow, in the distance it looked like a piece of ribbon, in some places it was only just wide enough for the Mustang, there's a reason why caravans and larger vehicles aren't allowed on that road as the passing places were often more like a slight curve extra to the side of the road, the drops didn't always have barriers next to them and then there were those drops over the other side... we'd go uphill to the crest of the slope and both have to sit up as high as we could and try to see where the road went because the bonnet is so long we couldn't see over the top! Most of the time the road went round a corner on the other side so we could easily have ended up down the side of a valley or in the sea
. Mark concentrated on the next bit of the road and I tried to keep an eye on what was coming so I could give him plenty of warning to squeeze into a passing place. We were both pleased to be off that bit of road when we got to the hotel, glad we'd done it but relieved that it was over, the views were wonderful but the road itself was slightly less so!This hotel was entirely responsible for our week of wonderful weather and the opportunity to join the McMustang Inaugural Meet as they were fully booked the week we originally wanted. They were somewhat more impressed by the Mustang here and said there hadn't been any others up there yet. I'd highly recommend them for their food, the hotel is very hard to book and I'd made our bookings back in December but if you're in the area then try the food.
Thursday 12 May - Craigmonie Hotel, Inverness
We headed north, along the north coast to Tongue with a quick visit to Smoo Cave, lots of steps down and into a dark wet cave, along a walkway to look at a waterfall and back out and up the steps again, then retraced our route a short way to Chocolate Mountain for the Best Hot Chocolate Ever - that was the name of the drink and it certainly was a very nice chocolate hit!
We went south on the A836 through Altnaharra, Lairg and Bonar Bridge and then turned onto the B9176 for Struie Hill and the viewpoint, then heading south on the B9176 through areas with lambs on the road as it was the middle of the lambing season and then onto empty straight roads where Mark was able to push the speed. We joined the A9 and headed into Inverness for our hotel, the Craigmonie was a bit old fashioned but surprisingly had the best and biggest bathroom of the week with a bath and separate large shower. We went into Inverness for dinner as we felt we ought to stretch our legs after spending so many hours just driving and when we got back to the hotel Mark lay down for a rest... that was at 7:30pm, his rest turned into a full night's sleep as we were up just before 7.00 am, so his little snooze lasted nearly 12 hours! :lol:
Friday 13 May - heading back home
This was our earliest start of the week as it was a long way back home - 8.5 hrs if there was no traffic and we didn't stop anywhere, but we're veterans of the long haul having driven back home from both Venice and Salzburg in less than 24 hours!
There was a sprinkling of rain and was the first time we'd seen any in the week, we didn't have the dreaded PZero's on the car so there would be no issues on that front. The journey home was relatively smooth, there were some hold ups as was to be expected and the slight issue of me taking the wrong turn from the services at changeover and heading north by mistake :doh: woops! Luckily the next exit was a short distance so I could come off, over and back down the south side :lol::lol:. Let's just call it a lapse of concentration... we got home about 7.00pm with Mark doing most of the driving, but that could have been because he was very refreshed with nearly 12 hours sleep the night before!
All in all, this was a really good trip, I'd spent hours and hours planning the route at the end of last year, my thanks to the Pistonheads as I read every single post on the forum about the Highlands, posted the route there and got some comments and advice, the hotels were agonised over but really there were only 2 criteria when it came to booking - wifi and onsite parking. Some places had already been decided from the posts on the Pistonheads forum, namely the Torridon Inn and the Kylesku Hotel which is why we changed to the week before when the Kylesku was full on our original chosen week; and in the end that worked perfectly because we were able to go to the McMustang Meet which made a brilliant start to the holiday. Its also made a great springboard for the next trip we're doing - the Pyrenees at the end of June which was all organised (by me) as soon as the Highlands bookings had been done.
And now for the photos, its hard looking back to work out which photos belong to which narrative, plus some are mine and some are Mark's so I've just posted a selection:
Sponsored
Last edited:
