Having recently completed my third national trail by treadmill, I was keen to continue my virtual walks. Unfortunately, no other national trials have been fully 'Street Viewed' (including some that claim to have been!), so I looked further afield... and came up with an exciting alternative.
In the summer of 2018, my wife and I spent the first week of a Scotland walking holiday based near Machrihanish at the southern end of Kintyre. We like to 'bag' islands, and one day we took a ferry from Claonaig across to Lochranza on the Isle of Arran and did a fantastic walk in the top-right corner of the island.
Although we'd only seen a small part of Arran, we thought it looked an amazing place and wanted to see more one day. Below: Satellite view of Arron; ferry arriving at Claonaig; just having disembarked at Lochranza:
So that's what I've chosen as my next virtual walk. I'm starting by the ferry in Lochranza and walking all around the coast - a distance of about 65 miles - in an anti-clockwise direction. There's a proper trail around Arran called the Arran Coastal Way, but it hasn't been 'Street Viewed'. However, the trail often goes along the road, so following the coast road is almost as good - and there'll nearly always be the sea to look at!
I'm planning to do 12-13 miles a day and this morning I got nearly as far as Machrie:
This view as I arrived at Catacol is typical - the road is nearly always very close to the sea and Kintyre can be seen across Kilbrannan Sound:
There were times when the area around Carradale was clearly visible. We did some walks there and I must have been able to see Cnoc nan Gabhar just to the north because we got to the trig point there!
Crossing the bridge at Dougarie:
With hindsight, I suspect I chose this walk subconsciously because we've been watching Outlander every evening for the last week.
I love Scotland!