The Best Cycling Routes in Scotland

Cycling Routes in Scotland

The routes that share the label "cycling routes in Scotland" are not one kind of ride. One is a 500-mile road loop of the far north, another a signed cycle route the length of the Highlands, a third a gentle five-day ride along a canal and a loch.

What they share is the ground: long distances between towns, real climbing, single-track roads, and weather that turns fast. Scotland rides bigger and emptier than England or Wales. The far north in particular is remote enough that resupply and daylight both need planning.

This guide covers the four routes we run, one by one, with the distance, the days and the terrain for each. It closes with how to choose between them and the questions riders ask most.

The North Coast 500

The North Coast 500 is the longest and most demanding ride here. It is a roughly 516-mile loop from Inverness around the far north of Scotland, up the west coast through Wester Ross and Assynt, along the north coast, and back down the east.

It is a road route, not a traffic-free path. It runs on single-track and A-roads that carry summer traffic. The climbing is relentless in the west, where the road pitches in and out of every sea loch, and the villages thin out north of Ullapool.

Our tour rides the full loop over ten days, at 94 to 125 kilometres a day, finishing at John O'Groats before the run back to Inverness. It suits a fit rider who wants Scotland's hardest and most remote road-cycling week.

The ride takes in the sea lochs and peaks of Wester Ross, the mountains of Assynt, the fishing port of Ullapool, and the empty far-north coast around Scourie and Bettyhill before the turn for home at John O'Groats.

• Distance: ~516 miles (830 km)

• Duration: 10 days

• Route: Inverness loop, via Ullapool, the north coast and John O'Groats

• Surface: Public road, much of it single-track

The Caledonia Way

The Caledonia Way is Scotland's flagship signed cycle route. It is National Cycle Network Route 78, about 234 miles from Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula to Inverness, and the west-coast counterpart to the North Coast 500: longer in days but gentler underfoot.

A good share of it runs traffic-free. Old railway paths and canal towpaths carry much of the route, with quiet roads linking them. The line threads the western sea lochs to Oban, then up through Fort William and the Great Glen to Inverness.

Our tour covers it over nine days, from Campbeltown north. It suits riders who want a long Highland route with more traffic-free riding than the North Coast 500 offers. It carries less of the far north's exposure, too.

Along the way it passes the Kintyre coast, the harbour town of Oban, the western fringe of Glen Coe, and the string of lochs through the Great Glen to Loch Ness and Inverness.

• Distance: ~234 miles (National Cycle Route 78)

• Duration: 9 days

• Route: Campbeltown to Inverness, via Oban and Fort William

• Surface: Mixed traffic-free path and quiet road

The Great Glen Way

The Great Glen Way is the gentlest and shortest of the four routes. It runs about 79 miles from Fort William to Inverness, along the natural fault line that splits the Highlands, and follows the Caledonian Canal and the shore of Loch Ness for much of its length.

Yes, you can cycle the Great Glen — on the canal towpath and the low-level cycle route, not the walking trail. The official Great Glen Way footpath climbs onto high forest ground that is not all rideable, so the cycling line stays low, beside the water.

Our tour rides it over five days, north from Fort William, and forms the northern third of the Caledonia Way above. It is the best first Scottish tour. It is short enough for a long weekend and mostly flat beside the canal.

It passes Neptune's Staircase, the flight of locks at Banavie, the lochs and swing bridges around Fort Augustus, and the full length of Loch Ness beneath the ruins of Urquhart Castle.

• Distance: ~79 miles

• Duration: 5 days

• Route: Fort William to Inverness, along the Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness

• Surface: Canal towpath, forest track and quiet road

The Cairngorms

The Cairngorms route stays inland, away from the coast's wind and exposure. It crosses the largest national park in the United Kingdom, on the Highlands' quieter eastern side, through Speyside, Aviemore and the passes toward the south.

The riding here is a mix of quiet roads, estate tracks and old military roads, through pine forest, open moor and some of the last high plateau in Britain. The climbing is steady rather than severe. There are none of the west coast's constant sharp pitches.

Our tour crosses the park over seven days, from Inverness south to Dundee by way of Grantown-on-Spey, Aviemore and Blair Atholl. It suits riders who want Highland scenery without the far north's remoteness.

It runs through Speyside's whisky country around Grantown and Aviemore, under the Cairngorm plateau, and over the hills past Blair Atholl and its castle toward Perthshire.

• Distance: ~7 days of riding across the national park

• Duration: 7 days

• Route: Inverness to Dundee, via Aviemore and Blair Atholl

• Surface: Quiet road, estate track and old military road

Choosing a Route

Start with the Great Glen Way for a first Scottish tour. At five days and roughly 79 mostly-flat miles beside a canal and Loch Ness, it needs the least experience and fits a long weekend rather than a full week.

Choose the North Coast 500 for the biggest challenge. It is the longest, hardest and most remote of the four, a road loop of the far north for a rider who wants Scotland at its most demanding.

The two in between trade coast for reach. The Caledonia Way is the long signed route with the most traffic-free riding, Campbeltown to Inverness. The Cairngorms route is the one to choose to stay inland. It crosses the national park rather than following the exposed western seaboard.