Me n Emzed bin talkin 'bout this, so...   This will take in the islands of Arran, Islay, Mull and Skye. Visiting the distilleries, and maybe purchasing summat fer when the sun goes down. This is primarily a camping trip, but stopping at a b&b sometime mid-route. The ferry company CalMac do a deal for c£130. Campsites say £10 per night, and the b/b £30. Kick off Sat May 18th, wiv a view to meeting up in Glencoe the following w/e with Steve H's party. Everybody books themselves, but fuller details tba.   You don't hav to be a whisky devotee to come along, but there is a small penalty clause - u hav to buy me a wee dram!                                                                                                                                                                             

Remember to leave liver with a responsible adult before you start...                                                                                                                                                                               

this trip sounds amazing!! I need to check my school holidays. This is my idea of touring!!                                                                                                                                                                             

1066
Please can I ask you to be XK's official "carer" for the week?
You will need to explain that he is clinically special and apologise a lot.
                                                                                                                                                                             

Sounds like a crackin way to see the Islands and sample the alternative Scottish water of life  Price for the Island hopping sounds good value as well.  If you had time back on the mainland there is the Whiskey Experience in Kirkoswald that is worth a visit as well.                                                                                                                                                                              

Enjoy the whiskey and scenery folks!                                                                                                                                                                             

  I'm looking forward to this   By the way BK & Mo, there is no "e" in Scotch Whisky   That's the Irish stuff which we might be doin year after next   Having given liver and kidneys a good recovery period   And Steve, have you met 1066   She might be worse than XK   As hard to believe as that may be                                                                                                                                                                               

well i can thoroughly recommend the isle of arran whisky and the Talisker (isle of skye!) only sorry i'll not be doing this - im off to france/spain for 2 weeks the following week.   ps XK definitely need supervised by a responsible adult whos prepared to slap him round the head when he misbehaves ...otherwise you'll spend all your time getting chucked out of places!                                                                                                                                                                              

  Do you know any "responsible" adults Debs   Who are BM'ers likely to take this tour    If so, please  forward me their details   And I'll have descreet word before we embark                                                                                                                                                                                 

Not sure what way you are going to Skye but theres a wee tiny ferry at Glenelg across to Skye just before you get to Loch Duich. It only holds 6 cars but is supposed to be the original crossing from days of old. Well worth it just for the novelty of it if nothing else .Only runs in summer season                                                                                                                                                                             

  Well Zed, I'm not sure if it's included in the "package" which XK has found   But if not it may be worth trying to fit it in "one way" just for the craic   We could make a quick return to whichever side we "were" on via the new "toll free" bridge   Definitely worth a consideration, thanks for the info mate   As an aside, I have been thinking for some time about trying to "do" as many of these small ferries as possible during a week long tour   But that will have to be sometime in the distant future and the subject of another thread                                                                                                                                                                               

its not included Em as calmac dont run it!                                                                                                                                                                              

  Thanks for that Debs   I'll try to get a trip sorted on it                                                                                                                                                                               

Update:   There are two Whisky Trails run by CalMac. a southern one and a northern one. They also do a combined trail for 121 notes.   The only fly in the ointment is that they don't link up ie. it does not include the ferry from Islay to Oban. They say this will cost an additional 26 quid. This seems a bit steep as the ferry back from Islay to Kennacraig - incl in the 121.00 - will not be necessary. So we could always ride up to Oban from Kennacraig instead.   Prices are for rider and bike.                                                                                                                                                                             

Breaking News:   Just bin on the dog to Calmac to query the addnl charge. They say this was incorrect, and that the ferry from Islay to Oban is included . In addition, the ferry price from Mallaig to Armadale is for a return. I have an email to confirm. The price is 121.50.                                                                                                                                                                             

Have also just realised that if we are to meet up with Steve H's party in Glencoe for the bank holiday, we would have to  start the tour on Sat April 28th.  I thought he meant the spring bank hol at the end of may - doh                                                                                                                                                                             

  Great news about the ferry prices XK   You've done your "homework" there OK   Shame about the proposed tour dates though   I've been making plans for the "original" dates   Was hoping to have enough funds by then to finance the trip   Not sure I'll have saved enough cash, if we move the tour forward   I've been looking forward to this little jaunt   It would be my 1st "holiday" for about 6 years   It will be dependent now on whether I get an increase in me pension   Which, knowing this shower who are in charge, might well be canceled or deferred by then                                                                                                                                                                                

Hi XK,
pleased to see you're planning a trip to see and ''drink in'' the beauty of Caledonia. I would love to be a part of this trip . BUT , is a week long enough ? There are nine distilleries on Islay alone.
I'm game for a longer trip or two separate trips,
Dusty x

Hey Dusty, where u bin?   I'd luv to make it longer, but my bank manager is a tight sod   The idea isn't to visit every distillery, just 1 or 2 on each island. We hav to allow time for a bit o riding                                                                                                                                                                             

Ok , great ,
I was checking out the ferry times on CalMac's website and I gave up after half an hour coz it made my head hurt . Have you worked out an itinerary yet ?
Dusty x