MOTORCYCLING SCOTLAND"S NORTH COAST 500, 2025

 

MOTORCYCLING SCOTLAND"S NORTH COAST 500, 2025

We rented motorcycles in Glasgow and spent the next nine days riding through Scotland's remote, but incredibly beautiful north coast.

We did a lot more than 500 miles because we did several side trips and didn't follow the official route exactly.

On this trip, we were cold, hot, wet, tired, but always excited to see what was around the next curve in the road and there were tons of curves.

DAY ONE: GLASGOW TO SKYE (208 miles)

This was my steed for the trip and she performed wonderfully.

 

 

We had rain off and on for this first day.  This turned out to be normal for most of the trip.

DAY TWO: SKYE TO POOLEWE (138 Miles)

So, this is what the weather looked like for today's ride, which included going waaaaay out of the way to see a lighthouse.  Twas going to be a moist day for sure...

Knowing it was going to a cold, wet day, we fueled up on caffeine before riding into all of that green stuff on the weather map.

This photo doesn't do the weather justice.  It was pouring down rain and would for most of the day.  The extremely narrow, one lane road, uphill and in the pouring rain proved to be challenging for me, but my gear kept me dry and the scenery kept me happy.

After surviving the weather all day, of course we had to try the local offerings.

DAY THREE: POOLEWE TO ACHRIESGILL (134 Miles)

                                           

 

A beautiful park with a nice hiking trail long a very steep gorge.

 

It's hard to see, but this guy  had a face tattooed on the back of his head...creepy.

This is the whisky the innkeeper recommended and he knew what he doing, both at the bar and in the kitchen.  This scotch was outstanding, but he said it's not available in the U.S. 

The inn at our Airbnb for the night.

DAY FOUR: ACHRIESGILL TO HELMSDALE (165 Miles)

John O'Groats is the northernmost point of mainland Scotland and it was stunningly beautiful.

 

A distillery in John O'Groats

Old Pulteney Distillery in Wick, Scotland

We toured the distillery and I bought Erin a bottle of their version of Drambuie, which was incredibly good.

 

Our Airbnb for the night.

 

Here are a couple of different versions of the Murray Crest of Arms.

This was my favorite scotch of the whole trip.  I'll keep my eyes open for it in the U.S.

DAY FIVE: HELMSDALE TO INVERNESS (69 Miles)

We toured Dunrobin Castle.  It's amazing how well the aristocracy lived back then.

I just liked this guy's beard.

A beautiful English garden

This was the children's play room

 

We saw a falconer who gave a demonstration with his falcon and his hawk.

These birds are incredible.


DAY SIX: INVERNESS TO OBAN (108 Miles)

Urquhart castle was an amazing old ruin on the shores of Loch Ness.  

 

A trebuchet and a terrible little jail cell.

Sir Andrew on the shores of Loch Ness

We had to visit the Oban distillery.  The place was really beautiful and it had a cool, rustic vibe, but honestly, I was not a big fan of any of their whisky offerings.  It was still a lot of fun testing them out though...

 

Our dinner in Oban was by far the best food I had on the entire trip.  I can't remember the name of the place, but it was a fancy "reservations are required" kind of place, but the food, service and atmosphere were outstanding.

Had to get a post dinner scotch.

We took an evening walk along the waterfront.  Oban was my favorite town on the north coast trip.

 

Our very nice and HUGE Airbnb for the night.

DAY SEVEN: OBAN TO GLASGOW (92 Miles)

 

Back in Glasgow and back at The Crookston Inn.

We returned the bikes to the rental shop and had rain more on than off all day.  It was nice to get back to the hotel, where we could relax.

DAY EIGHT: GLASGOW (0 Miles)

Today was a zero day. I took a long walk to a lunch spot, hung out at the hotel, napped and went out for fish and chips for dinner.

DAY NINE: GLASGOW ON FOOT

Took a short train from the hotel to Glasgow for a walkabout.

 

 

 

 

 

DAY TEN AND ELEVEN: GLASGOW

Walked around, hit up some museums and tried some different food and visited a few bars.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's a wrap for this trip.  It was a ton of fun and the challenging riding conditions made me a much better rider.  As hectic as the itinerary was and as often as we were wet, cold and tired, it's the adversity that binds people together to "embrace the suck."  

A little footnote: KLM lost Curt's bags on the way over AND on the way back and his motorcycle broke down on the last day of his riding on the Isle of Man, requiring him to rent a transport vehicle to the ferry port and push the bike onto it.  He never let any any of this get to him and he just went with the flow.  There's a lesson here for some of us.