Customer Comments

Day 1 Stocholm - London (Heathrow) - Aberdeen

Day 2 Aberdeen - Dufftown - Grantown on Spey

We were picked up at the hotel in Aberdeen by Stewart who by the way helped with the hotel reservation, and were taken to Blackburn where the company ScotlandByBike is located. We transferred our luggage to the bike, a BMW R1200GS and got into our riding gear. There were quite a lot of luggage and Stewart were very helpful with extra bags. There was no problem to leave personal luggage bags at the company during the tour. The bike was equipped with a TomTom GPS and we got some information about different routes we could use to find the nicest places and roads in Scotland.

We went out on the roads and pretty soon got used to the left hand drive in Scotland that we had been a little afraid of before we started. We started heading north and took a left into the country and tried to stay on the B-roads. The lovely roads of Scotland started after only a copule of miles, nice sweeping bends and slopes and the views of green hills with sheeps and cows moving around were astonishing. We first stopped in Dufftown, home of the Glenfiddich whiskey distillery. We had a nice lunch and a tour in the distillery of course. The surroundings were very nice. We hit the roads again and and headed for another nice place called Grantown on Spey, a small town situated close to the river Spey. We stopped for the night and found a nice hotel, Ben Mhor Hotel with resonable prices and a good restaurant. All day the weather was nice and sunny!

Day 3 Grantown on Spey - Cairngorms - Ruthven - Drumnadrochit

Another beautiful sunny day started and we headed south-south-west staying on the B-roads running parallell to the A95. In Coylumbridge the GPS got us a little confused so we took a left instead of the planned right but it turned out to be a lucky shot. We got passed Loch Morlich and large mountains raised in front of us. We found out it was the Cairngorms National Park with it's ski resort now dressed in summer beuty. We went up to the lower part if the ski resort and got us some amazing pictures of the views. Back on the planned route we followed the direction of the A9 but still on the B-roads and that took us through a small village called Feshiebridge. Under the small bridge was a really beutiful small river running, we just had to take some photos! Next time we stretched our legs were in Ruthven, were the Ruthven barracks are located, a old defence castle, originally from the 11th century. The views now started to change from the green hills on day one to mountains in the background. We kept going and had a quite mediocre lunch in Spean Bridge after passing the astonishingly beautiful Laggan Dam on the side of the A86. We turned north on A82 and passed Loch Lochy and Loch Oich on the way to the west side of Loch Ness where we stopped for the night in the town of Drumnadrochit where we found a nice B&B. This town is like the Capitol of Loch Ness with the Loch Ness Centre, an exhibition about the lake, the area and of course Nessie, the well known beast that rules the lake. The main resturant and pub, the Fiddler's, served us really nice charcoal grilled steaks and they have a huge assortment of Single Malts from all over.

Day 4 Drumnadrochit - Inverness - Struie Hill - Lairg - Falls of Shin - Kylesku - Drumbeg - Lochinver

This was a pretty long day starting with high temperature and a lot of sun. During the day the temperature was falling a bit and in the evening we had a small rain. On the contrary, the views got better and better! We started following the left side of Loch Ness north to Inverness. We just passed through, more interested in riding the bike than looking at a big city. As soon as possible we got off the big roads and headed towards Lairg. On the way we passed Struie Hill where we were driving in the low laying clouds for a few minutes and then we came through to the amazing Struie Hill viewpoint. The clouds we just passed were runnning down the side of the hill and gave us som nice photos. The roads up to Lairg was not the most entertaining and not the views either but that changed when we turned left in Lairg and headed for Falls of Shin. This is a large tourist attraction with retaurant, shops and of course the falls to look at. After lunch we stayed on the small roads going on a north-westly course. After quite a ride we hit Kylesku, a charming small town with a hotel close to the old ferry pier. We tried to get a room but unfortunately it was no vacancies. We had a guide book telling us that the most beautiful road in Scotland is the B869 situated between Newton and Lochinver and that is an understatement as far as we could see! The road is not much wider than a bicycle lane, the slopes were up to 25% (first gear is recommended with a fully loaded bike!!) and the scenery amazing and alternating between coastline and small mountain lakes with a lot of Heather flowers covering the surroundings. Drumbeg is a village with a hotel in the middle of this road, quite unexpected really. We passed on though, to the town of Lochinver and stayed at the Polcraig Guest House. We can highly recommend that B&B, high quality rooms, excellent service and the best breakfast on the tour. There is also a really nice restaurant and pub in the town.

Day 5 Lochinver - Ullapool - Inverewe Garden - Plockton (Sunday)

This was another hot and sunny day. The roads were nice, turning back and forth through the glens and over the mountains. They took us to Ullapool where we streched our legs. We kept on going pretty soon and headed for Inerewe Garden where we had lunch and looked around some in the tourist shop. We skipped to go into the garden itself because we could not endure the hot weather with our bike-riding gear so we hit the roads again. The roads to Plockton were narrow and there were som tourist cars going pretty slow and the opportunities of overtaking were few so the ride took some time. At last we got there but the B&B's downtown were filled up but we found one on the entrance of the city. This B&B was run by an old lady and was not of the same standard we had got used to but it was ok and we paid only £22 per person. Plockton as attraction is a bit overrated according to us. Sure, you can find palmtrees in Plockton but they looked better in Ullapool to be honest. The food was good though and we met some nice people at the bar before we went back to the house for a good nights sleep. Something to keep in mind in Scotland, at least out on the countryside, is that a lot of places are not open on Sundays, not even gas stations. We had a scary moment for a while but managed to get to an open place half an hour before the closed.

Day 6 Plockton - Eilean Donan Castle - Fort William - Loch Leven - Glencoe - Lochearnhead

After an interesting breakfast with the old lady in Plockton we pointed the front wheel at Eilean Donan Castle. This is a castle with a lot of history heading back to the 13th century. It has been changed, destroyed by the English and then rebuilt again. We can recommend a visit if you are at all interested in castles and history. At a parking place along the road to Fort William someone had worked hard doing hundreds of small piles of stones, no idea why but it looked rather funny.We arrived at Fort William for a lunch at the high gourmet restuarant called McDonalds, well, at least we were not hungry afterwards. Up on the bike again to get away from the heat. This was the hottest day of the trip and it must have been around 35 degrees celsius in the shadow, not to mention the temperature inside our riding gear! Faboulus scenery again as we headed for Glencoe. Just before Glencoe we took an extra trip on B863 around Loch Leven. We recommend you to do that too, great road and a beautiful lake to keep your eyes on and you probably won't miss a thing because when you return to A82 you are in Glencoe, spot on. This is the place if you like deep valleys between large mountains, really beautiful and breathtaking scenery. After Glencoe the roads straightens out and you almost think that you are on the moon for a while. Very little trafic, no houses, no people, no cattle, just stoney areas with mountains in the background and a tarmac snake cutting through the landscape. Suddenly we found ourselves in Lochearnhead, we spotted the Lochearnhead hotel on the north side of A85 and on the opposite side the very nice looking Loch Earn with a mini-beach. We got ourselves a room and headed straight for a swim, still around 30 centigrade in the air. After that we had a nice dinner on the hotel-terass with the lake as the scenery.

Day 7 Lochearnhead - Stirling - Dunkeld

For the first day of the tour we had real rain when we started in the morning. We were a bit lucky though because we had planned to go to Stirling and visit the Wallace monument and the Falkirk Wheel. The first is a memorial monument in remembrance of the well known Scottish liberation fighter Sir William Wallace. It's an impressive building over 60 metres high and containing a museum showing the history of Wallace, the battle for Scotland and the construction of the monument itself. The Falkirk Wheel is a remarkable piece of engineering. Instead of using a large number of normal locks to move boats the 35 m height diffrence between the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal the wheel was built as an elevator for ships. The double-tank counterweight concept using the Archimedes principle is very energy saving and also nice looking! After visiting those two tourist traps we started to head back north to get a little closer to Aberdeen again as we were going to return the bike on day seven. More rain hit us during an hour or so but stopped after that. We were almost dry again when we came to Dunkeld and found a room at the B&B called The Bridge. This is a very nice B&B with rooms in perfect shape, nice people and good breakfast. Very close to the B&B is the hotell Atholl Arms with a good resaturant and just i bit further away is a bar that usually has live music played in the evenings. This was the only day we got wet at all and probably that is some kind of record for Scotland, but of course, we are only even more happy that happened to us.

Day 8 Dunkeld - Kingussie - Grantown on Spey - Dufftown - Aberdeen

The last day of the trip we had sunshine again, splendid! We started off on the A9 and we were caught in very strong winds during part of the trip to Kingussie. The winds were quite chilly and it was a struggle to keep the bike from being all over the road. In Kingussie we had a nice stop for scones and a cup of warming tea. We kept going again and backtracked the same roads we used on day 3 until we reached Dufftown and the Glenfiddich Destillery for the second time. On the way we passed some highland cattle and got us a few nice photos. We did some shopping at the distillery shop. Because of this we didn't have to carry that with us during all of the trip. After yet another nice lunch we pointed the bike at Blackburn again to meet up with Stewart from ScotlandByBike to return the bike. Stewart gave us very good service and drove us back to Aberdeen city and the Kildonian Guest House. Very nice place with good rooms for only £25 per person. This was booked through www.scottishaccomodationindex.com before we left Sweden and we reccomend you to do that because there were not many vacancies in Aberdeen!

Day 9 Aberdeen - London (Heathrow) - Stockholm

What we think about the trip:

We must say that we had high expectations before the trip but we were a bit afraid that bad weather would spoil part of it. Now afterwards, we must say that everything were beyond our expectations. If you should say anything negative it must be that it was to hot some days and that is surely not a big problem! The service given by ScotlandByBike and Stewart was the best possible. Pick up at hotell, help with all needed luggage on the bike, best thinkable bike for the ride, info about good roads and suggested routes to follow. At the end of the trip he took us back to Aberdeen city and stayed to assure that someone was at the B&B before he took off. A huge thanks to Stewart and his company for a really nice and memorable vacation in the beautiful Scotland.

Best regards
Tomas and Jenny

The story of the Ozark hillbillies in Queen Mary's Court...

When faced with a short notice "use it or lose it" vacation what do you do? Go riding! But - where? OK - one map, one dart, and one co-worker wearing a band aid later it was decided - Scotland it is!

Next step - find an "outfitter" that could handle the job. After facing the usual bazillion "Interminable Net" choices I hit the trifecta - Scotland by Bike.

Now - having all of seven whole days to get tickets bought, lodging, gear and bike rental sorted, restaurant reservations made, maps studied (Rrrrriiiiggghhhhtttt), and the other plethora of predicaments to address - Will I look fat in this rain jacket? Where can I get my hair done? What color toenail polish should I wear? (Not to mention the wife's wants' and needs) - I decided I'd test Stewart from Scotland by Bike's organizational skills by.. well - throwing him to the wolves. Imagine this phone call..

"Yeah Stewart - I'd like to rent a bike - when? Five days from now. For how long? I dunno - between four days and two weeks - somewhere in that time frame. Have I ever ridden in Great Britain? Why no - is that a problem? Left side you say? How interesting. well - we can work out those niggling details later..Oh yes - I forgot - could you kindly arrange lodging, riding kit, 5 star dining and valet service for wherever we may end up there Old Chap? Jolly good that!"

You get the picture - (keep in mind he received this call while on the "Continent" trying to herd another bunch of kittens through the Champagne valley's of France) at this point I'm figuring he's either cussing me in at least three different languages or will just ignore me altogether (I couldn't have blamed him if he had) so I awaited the verdict.

Lo & behold - next day - bike rental - done. Lodging and gear shopping - arranged. Restaurant list - provided. Toenail color - black - it matches the bike! ;-)

So - we arrive in Aberdeen and meet up with Stewart - take care of the details outstanding, get the kit bought and sorted, and the first morning of the trip who do I get as a guide? Why - it's retired motorcycle officer Kevin! Now - with the "checkered" driving record I have I'm beginning to have some concerns about our budding guide / tourist relationship. All doubts were soon cast aside as I saw nothing but taillights and that special "Would you please try and keep up!" look of aggravation on his single furrowed brow..

All kidding aside - he made SURE we were up to speed on the traffic patterns and procedures, gave helpful guidance on our particular bikes handling quirks and foibles (as well as a very diplomatic review of my riding skills - props to you Bro!) so we were able to start enjoying the ride without having to wrestle through yet another different bikes shake down cruise. (Those of you who do the continental shuffle on rental bikes know what I'm talking about.)

Obligatory familiarization ride - check.

Then it was off into that famous Scottish countryside we've all heard so much about. Piece of advice - make SURE your jacket is zipped ALL the way up as the nice little astrological pattern tattoo of wasp stings is something you'll want to avoid unless rolling Samba dances are your thing. After a few days of gently rolling, straight out of a painting countryside (East coast) Kevin had had enough of the slack jawed drooling and thought discretion was the better part of valor (God Bless ya laddie for putting' up with our foolishness!) and turned us loose on the native Scottish population.

1st stop - the pilgrimage to Loch Ness - Nessie was being a bit coy I guess since she decided not to make an appearance at the ball - so we rode around her beautiful home, astounded at the color and scenery.

Then west to Gairloch. and more beautiful scenery. The ride was not challenging, just nice easy sweepers on good roads, decent weather, no sheep to deal with (yet), and the promise of a comfy bed and meal to look forward to.

Upon our arrival in Gairloch we stayed at the "Old Inne" - quaint, down to earth, good 'ol fashioned Inne in every sense of the word. Good food, beverages, and service, with "domesticated" wild ducks for entertainment. If you get a chance stop in - it's worth the stay.

Then we headed south - southwest - over the mountain and to the Isle of Skye. Ahhhhh. here's where it get's really good. Stewart graced us with his presence for this section of the journey and off we went. What a ride! Stunning scenery - be careful on those one lane roads dotted with sheep, I think they're just looking forward to the opportunity to become a new speed bump - and with the oohing and ahhing from the missus pointing out the views we had to stop just to drink in the melancholy magnificence of the land. The scenery on the west coast has a sad, forlorn beauty - 1500+ years of conflict and combat will not be ignored - but stand on a mountain with the wind in your hair and the sun on your face and it's easy to see why the Scottish people have the fierce pride and love of country they hold so dear. . It's not like any place you've seen and you do have to see it to believe it.

From there we crossed the bridge onto the Isle of Skye. The scenery in the northern part of the Isle is so achingly gorgeous you'll swear somebody hit you with a ball peen hammer square in the forehead! You'll have to wipe the drool off your chin and tear yourself away from the view long enough to get a camera to capture it. It's like walking in a postcard - and it doesn't matter what the weather is like - it's still gorgeous. Not quite as mountainous as the coast but more rugged terrain. Some unique geologic features exist in the northern part of the Island along with the (now) infamous Flodigarry Hotel. Put this in your PDA folks - if you get a chance - make reservations well in advance and hope you get a chance to stay there - if you do - convince Stewart and crew to dine with you - say hello to Pascale for me - and pour enough of the good stuff into Stewart and Kevin and they may tell you the story of the Hillbilly's in Flodigarry Hills - a sordid but amusing tale of a bacchanalian feast run amok.. where passions and politics mixed, world issues were deciphered and discussed, and the finer points of distillation were talked about and tested - again and again and again..

After a few days of "recuperation" at the Flodigarry (hearing bagpipes in the early AM fog was off the hook!) we took off again for a circuit round the North of Scotland, past Gairloch (watch out for the cattle that look like a cross between Sam the Sheep Dog and a Long Horn Steer on Steroids - I thought somebody was erecting a statue in the middle of the road until it moved), up to Tongue (don't forget the "I love tongue" shirt - 'Nuff said!), back down to Inverness and across to Aberdeen for the return.

Can't BEGIN to say enough about this trip - Stewart, Kevin and crew were Spot On with EVERYTHING! Made sure we were taken care of, comfortable, confident, and most importantly allowed us the freedom to discover Scotland in our own way. Having to put this kind of trip together in less than five days would be a challenge for a company ten times bigger in size - and I seriously doubt it could have been better.

The Scot's are by far some of the most friendly, unassuming, helpful, witty, and enjoyable folks you'll ever have the pleasure to meet, the scenery makes you stop and just soak it in, and the riding is challenging enough to be fun, but not so challenging that you can't enjoy the views.

Scotland by Bike has that personal touch so desperately needed in this industry that all too often is lacking. The bikes were well maintained and sorted (BMW Rules!) the guide service and history lessons from the local perspective is indispensible, and however much (or little) guidance is wanted is what you'll get -along with the opportunity to make some new friends and if you're lucky - a few nights you can tell stories about for years to come!

Greg and Debbie USA

An amazing journey

The whole Scotland trip was an amazing journey for all three of us as you can tell by the excellent ride report and pictures that Ana has posted but I have to mention Stewart from Scotlandbybike

One of the key factors to the success and overall enjoyment of this trip was Stewart from Scotlandbybike. From my initial contact until we returned bikes the exceptional level of service, assistance provided and just an overall feeling of nothing is too much trouble provided by Stewart was top shelf.

Stewart has over 20 bikes to choice from so all 3 of us were able to select a type or make of bike that we wanted to ride on the trip. I was amazed that with the exchange of a few emails and a couple of phone calls we were able to rent 3 motorcycles in Scotland. I have had more problems renting a car from my local Hertz dealer.

When we collected the bikes they were all in prime condition, cleaned and filled with Gas and each bike came with

• full luggage
• TomTom GPS
• First Aid Kit
• Disc Locks
• Digital tire pressure gauge
• Patch kits

Stewart had even taken the time to scrub in the new tires on Ana's bike rather than sending her out on completely fresh and slippery rubber.

The lengths that Stewart went to ensure he catered to our every requirement was impressive. Even this short list shows how much Stewart was willing to ensure that our trip was everything we had hoped for

• When I found out that all the bikes had GPS mounted on them I wanted to prove the routes to all of us. Stewart eagerly offered to load the GPX file onto all the machines if I emailed the file.
• After looking at our planned routes Stewart provided us with his local knowledge and recommendations of better (more fun) roads
• Prior to arriving in Scotland we had asked that the bikes be fitted with power outlets (BMW style) so that we could run our heated gear. It was not possible to hook up Ana's bike in time with the right power outlet so Stewart went one step better and wired up then provided Ana with a heated vest
• When WE decided to disable one of the bikes (long story), Stewart once again rose to the occasion . He allowed us to use another bike so we could continue on with our trip without delay, while he dealt with the stranded bike.

All three if us can not thank Stewart (aka Mr. Scotlandbybike) enough for making this such a memorable trip and look forward to seeing him again in May.

Thanks again for everything
Graeme, Skip and Ana

This was GREAT !

This was GREAT! It was our first trip ever to travel on bikes abroad and we think the standard is set sooo.... high that it will be difficult to beat. Scotland is beautifull, the scottish people are the nicest and scotlandbybike gave us an outstanding service.

Duncan gave us a ride to the train station after the trip and he was very helpful and nice.

The bike was superb (BMW 1200) and Stewart you were so helpful and fun to talk to, thanks a lot for everything!! We will definatly try to come again and with more people from Iceland!

Skjöldur and María from Iceland

So powerful it brings tears to your eyes !

Hi Stewart, We got back to Sydney last night, and straight back to work this morning, my head is still reeling from what a wonderful trip I've had in Scotland and I realise now how much I hate this place!

I think the weather just made it all the more beautiful. Honestly, your country blows me away, I've never seen anywhere so breathtaking, so powerful it brings tears to your eyes, so rich in history and culture it would take me years to explore and experience all I want to.
As for the bikes, I'm afraid you're created a monster mate, because never have we ridden bikes that feel so much like a part of your body that you don't have to think about what you're doing while riding them. Our GSXRs are great bikes, but they'll hurt you if you don't keep your mind on the job the entire time. The BMWs on the other hand, you don't have to think about corners or throttle or brakes, or strong wind or oil or gravel, they just plow through anything. Remember how we were supposed to go through Devils Elbow? We got to Oban and thought, hang on, did we miss Devil's Elbow or what? We didn't even notice it, and it's supposed to be the worst or most difficult section of road along that stretch. And our gear was spot-on, we were bone-dry and warm.

Sorry about the long email, but it's so hard to put into words what we experienced. The wonder at the mountains and lochs, the emotion at the Commando memorial, the tears as the piper played Scotland the Brave with the highlands behind him, the joy of the bikes, the fantastic food, the warm welcome everybody gave us, even the rain and wind seemed to say to me, this is Scotland, and this is why the Scots call this home. I would not have that trip any other way, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks so much again Stewart, from the bottom of my heart, for making it possible for us.
We'll send some photos soon. Take care mate. We hope to be back someday.
Justin Australia

Superb Bikes !

We wanted to write and thank you for making out trip to Scotland fantastic, the 3 bikes we hired were superb and they had everything we needed, the sat nav on the bikes is great.

The routes you gave us covered everything we wanted to see and more.

We had a wonderful time in Scotland and I hope we will be back again.

Chloe UK

If I'm ever back in Scotland, I'll definitely rent with you guys again

Duncan was great and really helpful.  He even came out to meet me when I got lost on the way back to the shop.  The Triumph was a nice bike.  The luggage worked very well and I'm glad the panniers were large enough to hold the helmet so I didn't have to lock it to the bike where it could get wet.  
I got to meet some nice people when I stopped to ask for directions! . I guess if I was really clever, I should have used this trip as an excuse to buy my own Garmin. That way, the wife couldn't argue too much.  
If I'm ever back in Scotland, I'll definitely rent with you guys again. Thanks!

Sam USA