isle of skye

[tans]

Anyone been? Got to go for a wedding tomorrow.

Got to drive as well, anyone ever driven up there? How long does it take?

[wokinghamred]

Effing long way.

Its 600 miles, so when you get to Glasgow, you are about half way !

[tans]

Leaving at 3am, reckon we can do it in 12 hours?

[wokinghamred]

First time I did it it took 12 hours and was 604 miles.

[wokinghamred]

Fucking Scottish weddings are a pain in the arse.
Drove to one in the Mull of Kintyre, and the journey was such a pain in teh arse, I split up with my long-time girlfriend

[tans]

Cheers its 500 from where we are

[Peter Venkman]

Leaving at 3am, reckon we can do it in 12 hours?

Yes mate you will just about do that in time, my mother in law lives in Edinburgh and I can drive from Chard to Edinburgh in 4 and a half hours at that time of day, not keeping inside the speed limit obviously! and thats 435 miles, have done it to the jock order from here in 3 hours but that was hammering it.

Be careful on the M6 north of Preston as there are lots of speed cameras and police traps and on the A7 in chilly jocko land itself.

Horrible road the A84 and A82 after Glasgow though, very scenic but nasty if the weather is bad and apparently its not too good at the moment up there.

Drive safely.

[Gnasher]

I drove up there once and stopped only in the Lake District for an hour. Bad idea as I got piles!

Sky is very picturesque with big mountains and looks very prehistoric. You can't get to the beach anywhere on the island because of the bloody salmon fisheries!

I think it took 7 hours.

[Samdy Gray]

Yes mate you will just about do that in time, my mother in law lives in Edinburgh and I can drive from Chard to Edinburgh in 4 and a half hours at that time of day, not keeping inside the speed limit obviously! and thats 435 miles, have done it to the jock order from here in 3 hours but that was hammering it.

That must've been extremely hammering it! I did Carlisle to Swindon in about 3 and a half hours and that was with me not really dropping below a ton all the way.

[Peter Venkman]

That must've been extremely hammering it! I did Carlisle to Swindon in about 3 and a half hours and that was with me not really dropping below a ton all the way.

It was at 2am from Chard and on the motorway it never dropped below about 110 with a few forrays a little quicker 125+.

Wont ever do it again, was in a rush to get to Glasgow for a crossing on the 7.30am ferry from Greenock.

[Samdy Gray]

Tans, my only suggestion would be a shit load of Red Bull and some loud music. It's going to be hard to try and keep your concentration for that long. The M6 north of Preston must be the most boring bit of motorway in the world. Pretty nasty if the weather's naff too.

[tans]

Ill bear that in mind cheers, might have to download some happy hardcore for the journey

Ralphy is driving his motor aswell, going to stop for an hour at carlisle or somewhere, hoping to be there by 8

[Ardiles]

Yes mate you will just about do that in time, my mother in law lives in Edinburgh and I can drive from Chard to Edinburgh in 4 and a half hours at that time of day, not keeping inside the speed limit obviously! and thats 435 miles, have done it to the jock order from here in 3 hours but that was hammering it.

****ing hell!  Door to door you'd not be able to fly it that quickly.

Be careful on the M6 north of Preston as there are lots of speed cameras and police traps and on the A7 in chilly jocko land itself.

The other thing I'd say about the M6 & M74 north of Preston is it's a dream to drive on.  One of the most over-engineered roads in this country, in fact...so the temptation to put your foot down (and fall foul of those speed traps) is hard to resist.  I often stick the car in cruise control at 75mph and enjoy the ride.  The scenery through the Cumbrian fells & moorlands near Shap is stunning.

Horrible road the A84 and A82 after Glasgow though, very scenic but nasty if the weather is bad and apparently its not too good at the moment up there.

Drive safely.

I really like the A82 immediately north of Glasgow (ie the section around Loch Lomond).  Depending on traffic you can comfortably manage 70mph in sections if you want to.  But it's the section between Tarbet and Tyndrum that's really notorious.  Really need to keep your wits about you there.

Can't really comment on anything further north than that, but our trips from Hampshire to Argyll - 450 miles - generally take 9 to 10 hours (incl breaks), so Swindon to Skye in around 12 hours sounds about right to me.  Only other advice I would give is do not attempt to rush a journey of that length, or you'll end up hating it.  Leave plenty of time, pick a few stop offs and enjoy it.  In fact, if you can leave this evening and kill some of the distance before stopping over somewhere, I would.

[Peter Venkman]

Definately make time for breaks, I never take breaks when I am rushing but if it does wear you out when you arrive there.

Stop for 15 mins every 3 hours at least, and as Ardiles says there are some lovely roads when the weather is good, not so good when its wet and windy/snowing.

[Batch]

We did Ciren->Skye in a one'r, it took ages, even when you think "hurray Scotland" its still miles.

Quite a nice island in the Summer, not sure about this time of year!

Oh and the only think I knew about Skye was the song "speed bonnie boat" - when we got to the ferry I was disappointed the island s about a stones throw from the mainland. There's a bride now isn't there? That would have been a give away I suppose