The Peterhead Whisky Loop

This is the first route in Real Riders, Real Routes, from my friend and Cannonball legend Jim Horne. It's one of the routes he rides quite often from home, a full 200-mile-plus day out. Read Jim's full interview for his story.

Peterhead to Dufftown

The loop heads inland from Peterhead through Ellon, Oldmeldrum, Colpy and Huntly. In Jim's notes, the stretch from Oldmeldrum all the way to Coupar Angus has brilliant scenery and awesome mostly quiet biking roads. Then comes Dufftown, which he calls the whisky capital of Scotland.

Speyside in autumn

On the whisky road

Tomintoul, the Lecht and Braemar

From Tomintoul, where Jim stops for coffee at the Old Fire Station, the road climbs over the Lecht, past the ski centre and down by Corgarff Castle to Braemar. Braemar has plenty of cafés if you need another break.

Jim with a rather large Tomintoul 14 in the Tomintoul whisky shop

Corgarff Castle, between the Lecht and Braemar

Pine forest roads in the Cairngorms

Glenshee and the Road South

Glenshee is Jim's favourite place in Scotland, and Tea @ The Shee at the ski centre is his lunch stop. Don't miss Jim's favourite stop, the wee bridge which crosses to the old military road.

Jim at the wee bridge, Glenshee, on a chilly day

From there it's south to Blairgowrie, then east through Coupar Angus, Forfar and on to Montrose.

Tea @ The Shee, Jim's lunch stop

Choose your finish

From Montrose there are two ways back to Peterhead, and both GPX files are free. The inland route takes quiet country roads back through Aberdeenshire (about 445 km). The coast road is Jim's original finish, up the coast from Montrose with sea views (about 448 km).

What's in the GPX

Both files are GPX tracks made in Kurviger and work with Garmin, TomTom, Calimoto, OsmAnd and most other navigation apps. Check the route in your app before you ride. These are the main stops along the way:

#	Stop	Why stop
1	Peterhead	Start and finish on the north-east coast
2	Oldmeldrum	Where Jim's favourite quiet roads begin
3	Huntly	Market town on the road west to Speyside
4	Dufftown	The "whisky capital of Scotland" — whisky shops
5	Tomintoul	Coffee at the Old Fire Station and the whisky shop
6	The Lecht	High moorland pass past the ski centre
7	Corgarff Castle	Down the valley from the Lecht
8	Braemar	Plenty of cafés for a break
9	Glenshee	Lunch at Tea @ The Shee and the wee bridge
10	Blairgowrie	South out of the hills
11	Forfar	East through Angus
12	Montrose	Choose your finish: inland or coast road

Before You Go

• The Lecht and Glenshee are some of the highest roads in Britain. Check the weather and road reports, especially early and late in the season.
• Watch for sheep, deer and gravel on the high roads.
• Distillery tours are for pillions or the end of the day. As Jim says, they're not ideal for tasting while you're riding.