Tomintoul to Craigellachie

July 5, 2025

When I researched riding in Scotland there wasn’t much data to draw on. The Andersons rode in Scotland at one point in their extensive travels, and I devoured their journal when I did my original planning, although when I went back to find their specific journal so I could refer to it for this discussion, I couldn’t find it. (They have been so many places). However, unless I was in a fever dream, they did more or less ride some of the route we plan to do next week (Eurovelo 1). I also found a journal by cycleblazer Mark M who did the LEJOG RIDE (Land’s End to John O’Groats) in 2024. As part of that ride he rode between Perth and Tomintoul (all in one day) and said it was one of the best days he had ever had on a bike. That inspired me to ride his route through Cairngorms Park. Thank you Mark M, because this week has been great and we wouldn’t have done it without your journal entry! Admittedly, we did in three days what he covered in one, and he wasn’t on an e-bike to boot.

Today we headed to Craigellachie for a two night break. This was our fifth day of riding which is too much for us, in general. Fortunately, today was a short day (37) with minimal elevation gain and we realized when we started the ride that we were tired and happy it was to be an easy day.

We liked Argyle Inn and Diane was a great host.

As we rode closer to Craigellachie the country looked more well-tended, kind of like Napa Valley, only with perfectly groomed distillery properties rather than wineries, and more sheep. 🐏 We pulled into Glenfiddich because it had a whisky lounge that served food, thinking it was a good place for both lunch and a whisky sampling for Dave. It turned out the Whisky Lounge was being remodeled and they had a tasting room but no food. Fyi, Glenfiddich was a large gorgeous property.

Of course the Highlands are thick with distilleries.

Getting organized for the whisky tasting

Eric and Melinda were good sports and agreed to sit down and do a whisky tasting with us, even though it wasn’t really in their (or mine, for that matter) wheelhouse. Polly our server was excellent and we had a fun hour splitting two tastings among the four of us. For those whisky folk among our readers, we tasted a Glenfiddich flight and a Balvenie flight. Balvenie is a well known sister distillery to Glenfiddich and it has a female Malt Master, Kelsey McKechnie.

Eric and Melinda doing some window shopping. They declined to purchase a bottle priced at 122,000 British pounds.

Dave is in his happy place tasting whisky, and that puts Jill in her happy place.

We obtained a suggestion from Polly for lunch at the Sidings Cafe, which was a small tea shop in an old railroad car. It was quaint and we enjoyed Scottish cheddar and tomato toasties and paninis. We were able to ride directly from the Sidings Cafe onto a gravel trail (obviously an old railway track). For some reason Komoot wanted to put us up on the road but the trail looked so nice that we stuck to it after being assured by two local lads that it would in fact take us to Craigellachie. It was 5.4 km of a slightly downhill wonderful ride through the forest running alongside the river Fiddich. It was a great way to work off a slight whisky buzz.

We enjoyed a surprise detour onto an unpaved track.

We arrived in Craigellachie and figured that to reach the town we needed to lift our bikes up a few stairs. We maneuvered through and finally reached Craigellachie Lodge, where we are camped out for two nights. I picked it because it was written up as an excellent whisky hotel in Speyside and it was near Macallan, a favorite distillery of Dave’s. We had the usual fussing around with where to park our bikes and how to find our room and at the end of the day our bikes are parked outside our window where we can see them. It’s a very nice hotel and the whisky list gave Dave shivers up his spine. So much whisky, so little time.

We dined at the Spey Inn (the restaurant in the hotel) and it was lovely and Scottish. We even had whisky ice cream for dessert. Of course, along with the whisky angle, in a Highland hotel you have to put up with a few stuffed stag heads which didn't necessarily add to our culinary adventure.

Happily, venison was not on the menu this evening.

Dave enjoyed a wee dram with his dessert.

This was a wonderful whisky to end my meal. It was smooth, with hints of vanilla and dark fruits.

We met a very nice group dining at the next table. They were English, and had all been at Bristol University years ago. They had dispersed to various places but were there celebrating a 50th birthday for one of their group.

We also enjoyed this little pup in the whisky bar, named Parker. He was being dogsat by the bar tender:

In between riding and dining and drinking whisky we managed to catch a bit of Wimbledon and the first day of the TdF!

Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 2,378 km (1,477 miles)

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Lyle McLeodSounds like you're having a terrific time! Your posts are bringing back a lot of very good memories for K and I. We've hiked and mountain biked ... and sampled just a few whisky's ... in this area over the may years we lived in Scotland (almost 8 in total on two separate expat postings). In the early summer when the weather is fine, it's hard to beat.
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