Tour started on August 11, 2007

As die-hard Ireland fans, we decided this year to "experience" the truly beautiful Scotland

Especially for bikers, it's a beautiful country with breathtaking scenery and roads that we believe were designed solely for motorcyclists. Long, quiet, few villages, but plenty of beautiful curves perfect for carving through the bends. Our thanks to the Scotsman who designed these roads! We had a fantastic time riding, were always rested and relaxed, took two showers, and covered approximately 3,000 km (1,867 miles) on our first Scotland tour.

Ah yes, kilometers…in Scotland, speed and distance are given in miles. And don't forget: there are so many beautiful routes in Scotland that you can easily lose track of time. But you should definitely think about refueling, because especially in the sparsely populated Highlands, you should start looking for petrol stations about 80 km before your tank runs out; otherwise, things could get very tight.

We quickly discovered that the Scots also have a huge heart for hospitality, friendliness, and coziness. Everywhere we went, we were welcomed warmly and received tips on sights and places to eat. Even when we stopped to check the map for the next leg of our journey, someone would approach us to explain a longer, shorter, or better route. Those who spoke with a Scottish accent, in particular, took great care with their pronunciation and always looked us in the eye to make sure we understood them.

The Scots have a very relaxed and, in our opinion, mostly cautious driving style, both by car and by bus. They drive calmly, sometimes even very leisurely, but none of the drivers behind them honk, tailgate, tailgate, pressure, or overtake recklessly. They have time. If the driver in the lead notices a buildup of vehicles behind them, they pull over to the side of the road or a parking area and let all the following vehicles pass. Checking the mirror is a frequent occurrence, and we had no complaints there either. Only a few tourists, especially those with a small "D" in a blue box, couldn't grasp or adapt to this calm and collected driving style, which was a real shame.

Regarding "cautious driving," we noticed that the turn signals on every Scottish car worked perfectly, and no one (!) cut us off or pulled out of a side street or parking lot at the last minute. Even when we were still 200 meters away from the waiting car, drivers consistently waited until we had passed. The only exception was a car with Italian license plates that pulled out of a side street right in front of us, even though the driver had seen us coming.

We should mention one small drawback: there's no dedicated map set of Scotland that's small enough to fit in a tank bag. Beforehand, only general maps were available in Germany (bookstores and online). We found one of the best maps for our needs at Urquhart Castle; it's usable, clear, and has important information already highlighted. The only slight drawback is that it omits the southern part of Scotland, including Loch Lomond and Edinburgh. The map is from Collins Publishers and is called "Touring Map Scotland." Once we got home, we found another fantastic map set (1:250,000 scale).

Finally, a word about the food: the food wasn't exactly cheap, but contrary to other opinions and stories, we thought it was absolutely okay and it tasted good too.

Of course, we also took pictures on this tour, which can be found in the photo gallery.

Just like with Ireland, the same applies to Scotland: we'll be back!

And now, enjoy reading our tour reports and looking at the pictures!