Day 1 : North Shields to Irvine ~ 190 miles ~ 5 hours riding

There is a Premier Inn about a mile from the port that has a large car park at the front and will be an ideal place to meet.

We leave the docks and head north east into the Kielder Forest Park stopping for morning coffee on the banks of the reservoir.

The route will continue westerly on narrow quiet backroads across moorland and soft rolling landscape through Newcastelton, Langholm, Lockerbie where we might break for lunch.

After lunch we progress westerly bypassing Dumfries going towards the Galloway Forest Park breaking for afternoon tea in Moniavie or Carsphairn. Moniaive runs a Folk Festival usually in the first week of May, a Gala around the 3rd weekend of July and a Bluegrass festival in September. Currently there is nothing planned for June but we might be lucky and find some entertainment on in the village.

After Carsphairn the roads will widen and during the final leg will make our way to the coast near Ayr where we join more major roads that we follow north wards to end the day at The Riverside Lodge in Irvine where we are booked for dinner bed and breakfast.

The hotel is 4 star rated and more business than tourist. It has 128 bedrooms ranging from single to family. All are en-suite. The restaurant serves a mix of dishes using locally sourced ingredients offering classic (fish, chicken), grill (steak and burgers), Italian (pizza, pasta) and other dishes, so there should be something to suit most palates.

Day 2 : Irvine to Ft William ~ about 200 miles (320km) ~ 5 hours riding

We head north towards Glasgow crossing the Clyde at Erskine to make our way into the Trossachs National Park where we shall stop briefly on the shore of Loch Lomond for those who want to take photographs. As we leave the lowlands the landscape will begin to change to become more rugged with mountains and more lochs.

The route will deviate from the main A82 that heads along the western side of Loch Lomond to cross over to Gareloch then northwards to Arrochar before progressing to Inveraray where we stop for light refreshment.

Heading south we largely follow the western shore of Loch Long to Lochgilphead the turn north following the west coast where the group will catch a glimpse of some Scottish islands including Jura, Scarba, Luing and Shuna. We shall also cross "the bridge over the Atlantic" as visit the Isle of Seil where we stop for lunch.

Re-joining the main road we make our way towards Oban where I’ll take another deviation to cross over to Connel then onwards north along the east shore of Loch Linnhe to end the day in Fort William. 

The Ben Nevis Hotels has good leisure facilities so pack your swimwear if you fancy a dip in the pool after the days ride. The hotel will be booked for Bed and Breakfast only. There is a good selection of restaurants in Ft William catering for all tastes though expect to walk a mile each way because the hotel is away from the town centre. If you like seafood the Crannog is particularly good.

Day 3 : Fort William to Perth ~ about 180 miles (288km) ~ 5 hours riding

As we leave the hotel we pass "Neptunes Staircase" where eight locks lift vessels from Loch Linnhe (a sea loch) into the Caledonian Canal that cuts through Scotland from Ft William to Inverness. We follow the canal a while then turn to the east passing the Commando Memorial and onwards to Laggan Dam, a popular viewpoint. Further on we deviate to the south for a stop at the Diagio Distillery at Dalwhinnie albeit any sampling of the produce would need to wait until we arrived at the hotel at the end of the day using the samples you get to take away.

We then get back on the road as originally planned, pass the Highland Folk Museum and a little further east we pass the ruins of Ruthven Barracks as we make our way around the Cairngorm National Park breaking for lunch at either Tomintoul or the Lecht Ski Centre. Those with a particular interest in Whisky could drop into a shop in Tomintoul that stocks over 600 single cask whisky's.

These are the highest altitude roads in Scotland so no great surprise that from here we descend as we pass Breamar, close to the Royal estate of Balmoral, and onwards to Glenshee Ski centre where we shall break for afternoon tea. The Cairnwell Pass near Glenshee is Scotlands highest road at 2200ft, low by Alpine standards but the old road here had a couple of hairpin bends and a 33% incline certainly made it a challenge. The road is far better now and the gradient much reduced. It remains a popular stopping point though there are many other viewpoints along this route, so stop as often as you like.

We shall end the day at the Best Western Queens Hotel in Perth. The hotel is opposite the railway station and therefore close to the city amenities. It also has a gym if you need a workout after a day in the saddle.

Day 4 : Perth to South Shields ~ about 186 miles (298km) ~ 5 hours riding

As the group have little interest in historic buildings nad want to ride throuh nice countryside with good views the route back to North Shiends will favour of catching some great riding today.

Departing Perth and crossing into Fife we leave the highlands and return to lowlands so you will notice a change as we pass through Glenfarg and onwards passing Loch Leven on our right and we make our way mainly on back roads towards the River Forth crossings.

Unless anyone particularly wants to visit Edinburgh I recommend we circumnavigate the capital and make our way into the Borders breaking taking a refreshment break at Soutra before continuing south past Kelso to Kirk Yetholm where 
I will then take you along an interesting road that leaves Scotland heading due north as you cross the border into England. 

This brings us into the Northumberland National Park where we shall stop for lunch in the village of Etal at the Thatched roofed Black Bull Hotel. 

We next make our way to the east coast passing Bamburgh Castle and largely following a coastal rout to Warkworth where we stop for afternoon tea. There is also a chocolatier in the town that you might want to try and compare with your home produce. We complete the journey back at the Ferry Terminal.