Generic Touring Thread

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frankenbike
I have been having a tough time at work but the upside is that as of 1 September I'll have 1-2 months off with no work to do. In an effort to give me something to look forward to I want to plan a mega-tour, maybe a month long, living as a bit of a hermit. Will probably stick to Scotland to minimise expenses and easier wild camping and so on.

I have all the gear (and a vague idea) and would like to do lots of cycling, lots of backpacking (on foot) and lots of camping. I can borrow a (small) car indefinitely.

Here's a list of places I'd like to go:
- Have always wanted to ride up Applecross (with full touring gear obviously) so that's on the bucket list.
- Have "done" Skye by bike but would love to walk up some of the Cuillins.
- I have "done" Harris and Lewis, Mull, Arran, lots of the west coast and islands. I can get to most of those in a day from Edinburgh so want to take the opportunity to go further afield.
- I've not walked up Ben Nevis yet so want to get that in some day.
- I have always wanted to go to Assynt.
- I have always wanted to go to the Orkney Islands. And if I'm going up there, might as well pass through John O'Groats just to say I've been there.
- I have also always wanted to go to Shetland, but would have to get the ferry from Aberdeen I guess? Maybe save that trip for another time.
Anything else I should try to fit in? Based on the above that I think a reasonable plan would be something along these lines:
1. start in Fort William/Ben Nevis
2. go up to Skye, hang out for a few days, walk up some Cuillins
3. ride up Applecross
4. make my way up to Assynt, do some more walking
5. potter along the north coast to John O'Groats
6. backtrack to Thurso, ferry to Orkneys, cycle around a bit
So that's all fine. What I'm having some difficulty figuring out how I'm going to manage to take hiking gear, touring gear, a bike and myself in a Ford Fiesta, and how I'm going to transport the car from one place to another. The car limits me to doing circular routes starting and ending at the same points, which is a bit annoying, as I can't ride from eg. Fort William to Skye. I guess normally people would go in a camper van but there's no way that I can afford to rent or buy one so that's out.

Has anyone done anything like this? What was your car solution? Should I just split this into two trips, one in a car with hiking stuff and one two-week bike tour?

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pastry_bot in reply to @frankenbike

There is a 'Touring Scotland' thread which looks like it contains some good advice. Any reason why you couldn't park up somewhere and then return two or three days later after doing a big loop using camping gear? Sounds like your problem is too many options...

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frankenbike in reply to @pastry_bot

Yeah, I was going to post there but then thought this thread got more traffic :) it's the car part that I'm more stuck with. Also if people can suggest cheap destinations outside of the UK I'm up for that, so not absolutely set on Scotland. Scandinavia might be nice but solo it's a daunting prospect (also, absolutely not cheap!)

Any reason why you couldn't park up somewhere and then return two or three days later after doing a big loop using camping gear?

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. Backpacking for a few days on Skye, touring loop around Applecross, backpacking in Assynt, touring around Orkney. Just have to hope no one breaks into the car to pinch my bike...

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