Cycle touring was never this difficult!

Back in the day, and I’m thinking mid 1990s through to maybe 2010, we used to just set off on our trusty touring tandem with no fixed plans, no pre-arranged accommodation* and clutching our Caledonian MacBrayne Island Hopscotch tickets**. And we rarely ran into problems getting on ferries or finding somewhere to stay.

Our last Scottish cycle tour was back in 2017 since our attempt to tour in 2018 foundered due to missing our first ferry in Oban and then having all the ferries cancelled due to a storm. In subsequent years we were unable to tour owing to family circumstances and the Covid pandemic.

This year we intend to do a loop starting and finishing in Oban, taking in Barra, South Uist, Benebecula, North Uist, Harris, and Skye. 

Castlebay on Barra, complete with Kisimul Castle in the bay

Planning the tour was pretty straightforward at first, though I needed to enquire at a couple of B&Bs before finding somewhere near Tarbert. However, I had various issues with finding accommodation on Skye. Eventually I decided I’d have to arrange accomodation in Mallaig and cross from Armadale on the last ferry on that day (1835 departure). This would also mean a nearly 60 mile ride from Uig to Armadale - quite a long day in the saddle. Anyway, needs must and I booked accommodation in Mallaig.

And then…

I was working my way through ferry bookings and hit a wall at Armadale-Mallaig. The last two sailings on the day we were travelling had been cancelled (though still in the published timetables). I verified this over a couple of phone calls to Caledonian MacBrayne.

With my plans once again if not in tatters, then in serious disarray, I had to reconfigure things.

It took several hours of emailing B&Bs at an increasing distance from Armadale - and each of these came back with a response of no accommodation available. I then telephoned a B&B that was without an email address or website and finally was able to arrange a room for us, and not far from Armadale!

A bit later, I was able to buy tickets for the 7 ferry crossings in our tour. Tickets for two adults (the tandem goes free) came to £86.70, which seems pretty good value.

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* We were younger then, and used to camp frequently (usually every other night on average). This was quite convenient since we could camp if we couldn’t find a B&B. This did come with the cost of dragging extra luggage round on the tandem.

** Island Hopscotch tickets came in different sets reflecting commonly used series of ferry crossings. As far as I remember, they were basically open tickets and didn’t represent bookings on specific ferries. We just used to rock up to the ferry terminal hand over the relevant ticket and then board the ferry. Simpler times!