OK, so what would you do? Dilemma.
 

I have a midsummer dilemma.................
For my wife's "significant" birthday (not saying which) on midsummers day we're booked in for a week of Michelin-star evening/overnight luxury and daytime torture (walking across peat bogs and climbing mountains - Stac Pollaidh, Suilven, Canisp and the like) in Achiltibuie.
(The lads from Saltire-land can explain to the rest)

The options are, coming from over 600 miles away....
1. Taxi to Luton, SqueezyJet to Inverness, Avis (I get cheap rates) Focus for a week - only just over an hours drive from airport to hotel, but.....
2. Take a few extra days, go in the S8 (M40/M42, M6 toll/std, A/M74, A/M80, A9, A835 etc.) with 1 or 2 overnight stopovers en route (where?)

And yes I HAVE driven the S8 there and back before, not to mention along the "wee mad road" to Lochinver!

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/310472

Opinions and suggestions welcome. +++

Hi HPsauce,,

I went on my honeymoon to Loch Lomond last year and hired a Corsa for 2 weeks.

Don't make the same mistake i made....you'll be wishing you had the 8 with you every day you're driving there :)

Oli

Way too many great roads in that area to be driving around in a Focus

theres only an 8 in gr8t! +++
what better than the comfortable luxury drive to go with the comfortable luxury food :D

If possible I always drive when I go anywhere, clearly Florida was tricky but the 3.5 V6 hire car once we got there was not bad. I just hate any form of public transport, the time it takes me to get to the airport, walk three miles to the plane, spend two days convincing security that a bottle of water and some sun cream isnt that easy to transform into semtex in mid air, and dont get me started on the folks you encounter on planes these days:mad: then another two hours finding your luggage then getting some crap hire car thats cost more than the flight, and your luggage wont fit in the boot and its probably a diesel.

Compare that with walk to S8, drive off, sit in supreme comfort in air conditioned luxury listening to my choice of music, hitting the kick down every time I pass a Hybrid car just for fun to see him choke on a cloud of Co2, stop when I want where I want, and arrive relaxed and unstressed at my destination.

Need I say more?

cheers

Take the '8 and see if we can organise a Scottish mini meet on the way up or back. If you're going up the west route, me, David and Brian are practically on your way and you'd be very welcome here - just a couple of miles from Loch Lomond

8... Had mine when I visited Achiltibuie.. You will hate yourself for not having an '8 on the roads up there.

Without doubt take the 8, much more civilised than squeezyjet,more relaxing and fun. Plus you can take as much luggage as she'll want to take!

Glad I'm not the only one that does this, I'm now rocking Milltek race downpipes too, so the C02 is deadly, and the noise certainly wakes them up too.

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...8/c3a8518d.jpg

:snigger:

What's the dilemma? I would recommend taking the 8 and, I suppose, the wife. ;)

The decision is made. 8 wins! +++

We have SERIOUS "crumblie" issues that may or may not be manageable, but the outline plan is:
Sat 16th June - stay either in Peterborough (ref: crumblies) or York (my sister).
Sunday - heavy driving day, aim to get well past Glasgow/Edinburgh on A9 (>Perth?) towards Inverness. Overnight location undecided as yet.
Monday 18th - hopefully no more than 200 maybe 250 miles, arrive Achiltibuie early afternoon at worst.
.
.
enjoyment :love:
.
.
.
Sunday 24th - sadly leave Achiltibuie - only 630 miles to cover in 2 days.
Sunday night - No idea yet. Scottish Borders if we get that far?
Monday 25th - arrive back home in Buckshire! Work on Tuesday. :(

Any thoughts, suggestions, meet opportunities?

Won't be going near Loch Lomond though this time. Did a year or so back though. Managed to leave home soon after 5am and walk into the original Loch Fyne Oyster Bar at Clachan bang on midday! S8 rules! :D

Good choice
I never willingly choose the plane. As has been said, a truly horrible experience

I envy you the 8 on those roads, fantastic

and for the stopover, how about.....
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R..._Scotland.html

Been a couple of times, loved it. Great food and accommodation.
One of the bedrooms has a raised bed so the views through the window and over the loch can be enjoyed while in bed.

Wishing you and your significant other a brilliant time +++

Good choice HP, hope you have a great time and best wishes to Mrs HP for her Birthday, just hope the Scottish Weather is kind to you+++

If you manage to get past Perth on the road up what about stopping around the Pitlochry area

Yea, Pitlochry, there's a shoe shop my missus likes there..... expensive of course ;)

Thanks for the hotel link, tonupkid.
I wasn't thinking of going via Fort William and Loch Ness, but if we do it's not far off the route.

Pitlochry is certainly a target for an overnight on the way up, especially if we are in York the night before as it's just under 300 miles and leaves a nice mornings run for the next day.

Looks like we'll be in Peterborough (not York) on the Saturday night and not leaving early either, so I've settled on Perth - £29 Travelodge prepaid so can arrive at any time.
About 370 miles and 6 to 7 hours plus stops "depending". :rolleyes:
Leaves under 200 miles for the next morning to get to a seaside seafood lunch. :)

Take care on the A9, I hear there were 4 accidents this week alone and a few fatalities

And another one today. It's a scary road sometimes, the distances are deceptive and lots of folks who can't drive but won't get out the way and let the queue pass.

Yes, nasty road, I don't like it at all. :(
At least we'll be on it on a Sunday morning, bright & fresh and before most of the dawdlers.
Coming back won't be so good though, that'll be a Monday mid/late morning with all the business traffic.

Well we got there and back, and the A9, whilst horrible, is an awful lot easier in an S8. ;)
And the weather was a LOT better than the rest of the UK, only one morning of dampness and one windy day.
Proof:

Great pic +++

B869 just after Nedd going towards Kylesku, looking South.
Got there via the "Wee mad road" to Lochinver first, though this is nearly as tortuous.

The next morning one of our fellow hotel guests, who had a tiny little Toyota (Yaris?) pronounced that they were going to do the same trip that day but were feeling doubtful about the roads (which we have driven many times).
We just said, that's fine, we did that yesterday.

"IN THAT!" :eek: He said.

I didn't dare tell him that I only dropped into 2nd a couple of times......... :rolleyes:

stunning picture, glad you had a good time, does seem that for once Scottish weather wasnt as bad as elsewhere, we drove down to Manchester on Friday and it was a tad monsoon like all the way. Still arrived fresh as a daisy from the 8 though, it really is a very nice way to travel+++

Try these two, all just taken on a cheap old Nokia phone.
1. A mountain panorama (golden beach creeping in on the right):

2. Gleaming white sandy beach and crystal clear sea:

The white beach looks to be taken somewhere along the north coastline, Durness to John O Groats stretch.

Close, the clue was in the picture title - Achmelvich, just north of Lochinver so still on the west side.
It's one of the very few Machair areas on the mainland.
Aerial photo: