As usual I am trying to put a budget trip together at the last minute, combining places with affordable airfares and interesting things to do and see. We can find cheap flights between the US and London, and want to do an active vacation. I found a group called Scottish Cycling Holidays that has several trips that might interest us. We enjoy nature and the outdoors and great scenery, however we also would like to see some small charming towns, a few historic sites, and be able to stop at villages for a drink and relaxation during our daily rides. Since we are from the midwestern part of the US, water also calls to us. If we would decide to try cycling in Scotland, which of these itineraries would most closely fit the bill for what we like?

Lochs and Bens
Day 1. Arrive PERTH:
Day 2. PERTH - DUNKELD 25ml(40km)
Day 3. DUNKELD - ABERFELDY 20ml(32km)
Day 4. ABERFELDY - KILLIN 23ml(37km)
Day 5. Rest Day KILLIN
Day 6. KILLIN - FORTINGALL 22ml(35km)
Day 7. FORTINGALL - PITLOCHRY 20ml(32km)
Day 8. Depart PITLOCHRY

North East Coastal Trail
Day 1. Arrive ABERDEEN
Day 2. ABERDEEN ? ELLON 20ml (32km)
Day 2. ELLON ? TURRIFF 27ml (43km)
Day 3. TURRIFF ? PORTSOY/FORDYCE 26ml (42km)
Day 5. PORTSOY/FORDYCE ? ELGIN 30ml (48km)
Day 6. ELGIN - NAIRN 27ml (43km)
Day 7. NAIRN ? INVERNESS 23ml (37km)
Day 8. Depart ? INVERNESS


MORAY COAST AND WHISKY TRAIL
Day 1: Arrive INVERNESS:
Day 2. INVERNESS - NAIRN 25ml(40km)
Day 3. NAIRN - LOSSIEMOUTH 26ml(42km)
Day 4. LOSSIEMOUTH - CRAIGELLACHIE 26ml(42km)
Day 5. Rest Day CRAIGELLACHIE
Day 6. CRAIGELLACHIE - GRANTOWN-ON-SPEY 25(40km)
Day 7. GRANTOWN-ON-SPEY - AVIEMORE 20ml(32km)
Day 8. Depart Aviemore by train for INVERNESS

Kingdon of Fife
Day 1. Arrive PERTH:
Day 2. PERTH - NEWPORT-ON-TAY 29ml(46km)
Day 3. NEWPORT - ST ANDREWS 12/18ml(19/29km)
Day 4. ST ANDREWS - PEAT INN 6/30ml(10/48km)
Day 5. PEAT INN ?
Day 6. ABERDOUR - KINROSS 25ml(40km)
Day 7. KINROSS - PERTH 30ml(48km)
Day 8. DEPART PERTH.

If you know there areas, I'd be very interested in hearing your opinions. Also, if we were to do this would be be better off tatking the cheaper flights to London and then making our way to Scotland, or would we be better off financially just flying directly to Scotland? Thanks so much.

I've been to all the places on all 4 tours -- Not on 2-wheels though.

Off the top of my head "Lochs and Bens" would be my frist choice. It is not on the coast, but it does cover several gorgeous lochs and the Falls of Dochart at Killen.

The "Kingdom of Fife" would offer the most gentle rides - but it misses some of the most scenic parts of Fife.

"MORAY COAST AND WHISKY TRAIL" includes both coastal and mountain scenery, and "North East Coastal Trail" offers more coastal riding.

Any of these would be wonderful and you can't really go wrong. Lochs and Bens would be my first choice with probably North East Coastal Trail my 2nd choice (but it would be a close thing between the 3 others)

I read Lochs and Bens, and thought-that's great.

Then I read North East Coastal trail and thought- that's great.

Then I read Moray Coast and Whisky Trail and thought- that's great.

Then I read Kingdom of Fife and thought- that's less good. Then I thought, they're American (sorry- standard assumption), they'll love it.

So, in a nutshell, they all have nature and the outdoors and great scenery (although the Fife one probably has LESS great scenery); they all have charming towns and historic site and villages. They all have water, although the first one is rivers and lochs, rather than the sea.

Specific critiques-PERTH: ancient capital of Scotland; great location on the river, very good shopping and eating. DUNKELD: ruined mediaeval cathedral, historic mediaeval square owned by the National Trust, gorgeous location by the river; nice pubs (it's only 15 miles from Perth so they must take you the scenic route).ABERFELDY: not THAT pretty a town but a lovely run upriver from Dunkeld past Grandtully and through Strathtay. KILLIN: other end of Loch Tay, passing Bredalbane Castle, Kenmore planned village (the pub has the signature of Robert Burns scratched by the bard himself onto a window), the Crannog Centre, past mighty Ben Lawers owned by the National Trust and then you have the Falls of Dochart at Killin itself. FORTINGALL: I suspect this may be sneaky, taking you over the shoulder of the mountain and down through Glen Lyon, Scotland's loveliest glen. Fortingall isa really pretty village with thatched house, Scotland's oldest tree (a yew in teh churchyard) and it is renowned as the birthplace of Pontius Pilate. PITLOCHRY: Nice run in. pretty without being spectacular. Pitlochry very touristy.

ABERDEEN; LOVELY CITY, HOW COULD YOU BYPASS IT??? (seriously, very pleasant, Victorian in the main. civic dignity. For some reason I always think it should be twinned with Philadelphia. Busier and not as pretty as Perth. But it's at the seaside. ELLON: This a waste of a day. Really. TURRIFF: boring market town. Scenery very agricultural. Nice castles en route. PORTSOY/FORDYCE: Heading back to the seaside and a string of lovely little mediaeval fishing towns and villages. ELGIN: Apart from the Cathedral and Scotland's best cashmere,Elgin doesn't have a lot to recommend it. NAIRN; back to those fishing villages again. nairn itself is a pretty little seaside town with a great climate. INVERNESS: My view on Inverness are well documented. But you pass a great battlefield, some stunning prehistoric sites, more fishing villages and some tremendous castles.

INVERNESS: see above. NAIRN: see above LOSSIEMOUTH: fishing villages. CRAIGELLACHIE: upriver along the Spey. At this part you're still quite lowlandish in scenery and you're moving along the country's greatest (well, after the Tay and the Tweed) salmon river, to whisky country. If you're staying in the Craigellachie Hotel, that's a reason for doing this route all by itself. GRANTOWN-ON-SPEY: about here you're moving into serious Highlands. Mountains all round. AVIEMORE : more of the same moving up the Spey. Aviemore's a bit of a 1960s dump, but it has hugely improved recently.

And lastly:

PERTH: see above. NEWPORT-ON-TAY: Lowlying route along the firth of the Tay. Spectacular views over the river at Newport. Otherwise agricultural scenery.ST ANDREWS; Home of Golf, mediaeval cathedral and castle and town, ancient university, great beaches. roaming royalty. What more need I say? PEAT INN: Are you staying at the Peat Inn? What are they charging for this tour??? Second best restauarnt in the country. Worth it for this along. If you're staying in a B&B, on the other hand, you're at a road junction in the middle of nowhere
KINROSS :lots of mediaeval villages, Flakland Palace, Loch Leven, vane Farm bird reserve, castle Mary QoS was locked up in.PERTH see above

Anything else we can help with?

(I think my choice would be 1 or 3,depending on how important the sea was to you. If it was take it or leave it, I, like Janis, would take 1)

Thank you so much for the valuable advice. The personal comments really help one to decipher what is just another bunch of tourist babble to the uninformed person. Now all I have to do is to see if I can still find that cheap airfare i had discovered yesterday. That is one of the problems with those of us who try to do last minute planning. Sometimes by the time we can make an informed decision on destination, the good airfares are no longer to be found. One more question, is it horribly expensive to get to these areas from London? Would we be better off trying to just get a flight in to Scotland from the US?

By the way, these are self-guided tours that stay in B & Bs. that is why they are so reasonable. (I should add that I mean reasonable compared to other cycling packages I have found on the continent. this is still a lot of money, but the ourfitters of cycling packages seem to command a pretty penny). The tours include cycle rental, maps and directions, and 7 nights in shared bath B & Bs for a price of L290 to L350 (sorry I don't know how to get the pound symbol) per person.

Another thought, we live in Minnesota which is the state of 10,000 lakes, and we have lots of rivers too. Knowing that would you still recommend Lochs and Bens as a 1st choice?

OK - I assumed these were supported bike tours with a relief wagon, etc. If it is just "give you a map, here's a bike - have a go" those are pretty expensive. £42 to £50 per person per day for basically a B&B w/o private baths and a bicycle. The typical B&B WITH ensuite baths in most of those areas would run about £40 double, give or take a couple of £. These tours are costing you up to £100 per day for two - those better be pretty fabulous bikes to cost £60 per day to rent!

You could rent bikes, ride over the same routes, and stay in better accomodations for a lot less.

I think I have nothing further to add to the choice issue. You have to do SOMETHING for yourself

You can get a cheap air carrier (sorry, low-cost) into Aberdeen Edinburgh or Inverness. Easyjet to all three and Ryanair (I think) to Edinburgh.

A direct flight from where-ever to Edinburgh or Glasgow would be worth it if you could get it. Any change and you might as well take the London hop

janis and Sheila--

Your thoughts are much appreciated. I'm now searching the airfares again. I need to be able to confirm those before I can confirm anything else. I think it might be Lochs and Bens though.

We have wanted to take a European cycling vacation for a long time but the costs are so prohibitive. Many of them on the continent (the supported ones) are close to $2000 a person a week. That is way way way out of our price range. janis--I agree that this outfit is charging a horrendous amount of money for what is basically rental cycles, but these organizations seem to know tha they can stick it to the tourist.

julies: Why not look into doing it on your own? At least do a price comparison. Bikes can be rented and you can go where you want - and except for maybe in August in the most popular areas you don't even have to book your B&Bs ahead of time.

You could generally follow one of the itineraries provided - or go where ever you want.

I've never hired a bike in Scotland but a quick web search brough up a LOT of sites that average about £40 for a week's rental.

So £40 for a bike plus £140 to £200 for really NICE B&Bs w/ private baths - and good maps for a couple of £.