Scotland MTB Trail Safari

To secure your place on the Ultimate Scotland Wild Trail Safari Tour A 30% per person, booking deposit is required. Deposits are non refundable and the full balance is due 8 weeks before your arrival in Scotland.

If you snore, prefer your own privacy or simply want to spread out and would like your own room there is a single occupancy option for your own room. This depends on availability and is limited to a certain number of rooms per property per week. 

If this is of interest then please contact us for prices, your deposit will then be calculated at 30% of your total holiday cost.

Big mountains, awesome trails and stunning scenery make the mountain biking in the Scottish Highlands among the best in the world. This a real trip of a lifetime: we sample a little of everything on offer as we journey east to west across the Highlands, riding different trails every day. The scenery is amazing and diverse: from the Caledonian pines of Rothiemurchus to the slabby, bare slopes of Torridon. The riding is equally as varied. During the week we’ll enjoy a little of everything - from remote 4x4 tracks, miles from the nearest road, to long, rocky mountain paths and sinuous peaty singletrack that sneaks through heather-covered glens 

Day 1

Travel Day - Arrive in Aviemore at the accommodation, coffee and cake and bike set up. Meet your guides and if time allows go for a warm-up pedal in the local forest from the accommodation. 

Day 2

Rothiemurchus/Lairig Ghru
Distance: Various options
Ascent: Various options

We’ll have an easy ride on day 1, riding from the door of our accommodation into the lovely Rothiemurchus Forest. We’ll enjoy some great, reasonably easy singletrack as well as some incredible scenery. We’ll round off the morning with the bottom section of the Lairig Ghru, one of the best short trails we’ve ever ridden, and then meet the minibus for a late-ish lunch. Anybody wanting to save themselves for day 2 (a biggie) can spend the afternoon relaxing. Those with energy left will ride west into Glen Feshie and the Inshriach Forest, where the singletrack gets a little steeper. This section can all be done as a linear route so we can meet the bus in the Inshriach Forest and head back to Aviemore from there. Second night in Aviemore. Dinner in La Taverna Italian restaurant, Aviemore. 

Day 3
Glen Tilt
Distance: 55km
Ascent: 1,000m

The classic Glen Tilt circuit is about 55km with 1,000m of ascent. It sounds huge, but it’s actually nothing like as tough as it sounds. The big attraction of this route is the scenery and the remoteness of it all. A lot of the miles are on good 4x4 tracks that literally fly by, and after an afternoon swim under the Falls of Tarf (anyone brave enough?), the last 20km are gently downhill. It may be possible, for those that want it, for the bus to drop some of us at the trailhead cutting out around 200m of tarmac climbing! Second night in Aviemore. Dinner in the Winking Owl pub, Aviemore.

Day 4
Glen Affric
Distance: 20km (short route)
Ascent: 400m (short route)

After a big day yesterday, there’s an option for this to be a much shorter day with some easy forest road climbing and some great, mainly non-technical singletrack. All among some of the Highland’s best scenery. But there’s also an option of another epic – including some of the best technical singletrack we’ve ever ridden (29km/500m of ascent) –we can make a final decision the evening before. Fourth night in the Torridon Hostel. Dinner in the wonderful Torridon Inn.

Day 5
Torridon
Distance options from 25km to 46km
Ascent: 600m to 1,200m

There are a few options for this day depending upon weather, what we did the day before and how everyone’s feeling. The biggest of the classic loops is around 46km with 1,200m of ascent and is a real monster – probably best done in good weather only. Opt-outs are available if anyone’s really feeling it (this is a holiday after all!). Whatever happens, we’ll have an epic day in one of our favourite places to ride. Fifth night in the Torridon Youth Hostel. Dinner in the amazing loch-side Gille Brighde restaurant in Diabaig.

Day 6
Torridon
Distance: 17km (or 34km for an out and back)
Ascent: 300m (600m for out and back)

A shorter day that sees us cross the Applecross Peninsula on some sumptuous singletrack that delivers us to a great pub or tea shop. It would be rude not to grab lunch here. The trail is fantastic to ride in the other direction too, if anyone’s got the energy to ride back! Sixth night in the Torridon Youth Hostel. Dinner in the Torridon Inn. 

Day 7
Sligachan, Skye
Distance: 18km
Ascent: 270m

We’ll have a lot of travelling today as we head to Skye to ride, then south for our final night in Spean Bridge. The Sligachan Glen trail is awesome – we follow sandy and rocky singletrack the length of the glen, passing beneath the jagged peaks of the Cuillin Ridge (of Danny Macaskill fame). The trail visits a stunning remote beach, where toe-dipping (or more) is optional Seventh night in Coire Glas in Spean Bridge. Last supper in the acclaimed Old Station. 

Day 8

Travel home! 

We will meet you at your accommodation in Aviemore, if you are arriving from international destinations, please make sure you leave enough time to arrive and recover from any travel.

We can also help with Airport transfers and onward travel from international airports such as Edinburgh and Glasgow. 

• Advised bike - 140mm - 170mm Enduro bike *
• Fitness - 3*
• Skills and Technical ability - 3*
• Riding Style - All Natural / Spirit of Adventure

The riding standard and fitness level required to ride the ultimate Scotland trip is of a high intermediate / advanced standard, happy riding red trails with rock, roots and technical features, there is are also several harder sections but everyone can walk some. It's not a race!.

We try to run relaxed trips where everybody pulls together – it’s a team effort. But this is big country and there are always some big ups, some long days, and some technical downs. A sense of humour is often required. The trips also involve riding 6 days back to back, although it’s possible to take voluntary rest days if needed.

Follow our Ability Assessor to see if this holiday is for you

There’s no getting around it, 7 mountain bikers on a trail will be pretty conspicuous, and we’ll have some impact on both the landscape and other trail users. As a company, MTB Guiding is 100% committed to minimising our impact in every way we can. We operate a strict ‘pack it out’ policy for all litter (including apple cores, banana skins and orange peel). We want to try to leave as little trace of our passing as possible.

While we’ll enjoy some epic descents and trails during the week, please ride at a speed you can control and at a speed that reflects your line of sight and abilities. We’ll almost certainly meet walkers in places and I’d love any interaction to be as positive as possible. Let’s give mountain bikers ‘a good name’!. 

It is essential and a required part of your booking process that you have holiday insurance in place for your trip that covers against medical and personal accident and all the activities including mountain biking you will take part in. 

We have worked with Yellow Jersey Cycle insurance for the past 3 years now and feel they offer the perfect Travel and Bike insurance package. All Atlas Ride Co. clients also receive a 10% discount on their Mountain Bike and Travel policies. Your discount code will be in your booking confirmation. 

Yellow Jersey

Kit List - The weather can be very varied in Scotland so we need to be prepared. We’ll have a briefing every evening to give you an up to date weather forecast and plan the next day. We can share some of the kit to keep packs as light as possible, although on very remote days we need to cover all eventualities.

• Hydration pack big enough to carry everything in the list below – suggested size 15L to 20L • 
• Water and snacks – gels, energy bars, flapjacks, jelly babies 
• Lunch (we supply it but you need to carry it!) 
• Dry bag to keep everything dry inside your pack 
• Mini pump for your valve type 
• 2 inner tubes plus spare ones in the minibus (even if you use tubeless) – Scotland is very rocky! 
• Tube patches (preferably self-adhesive) 
• Tubeless repair kit (if you use tubeless) 
• Tyre boot or patch 
• Tyre levers 
• 2 spare spokes that fit your wheels 
• Multi-tool 
• 1 set of spare brake pads 
• Rear gear hanger for your bike - essential 
• Cable ties
• Duct tape (we suggest wrapping 1m around your pump) 
• Power link for your chain type and speed 
• Mobile phone - in a waterproof case or plastic bag 
• Small personal first aid kit
• Insect repellent (we recommend Smidge) 
• Sun screen 
• Any medication you need Recommended clothing 

Recommended Clothing

• Helmet – not full face 
• Knee and elbow pads 
• Cycling shorts and/or waterproof shorts (or trousers)
• Wicking base layers or cycling jerseys 
• Mid layer (fleece or soft shell) 
• Windproof jacket 
• Waterproof jacket 
• Insulated jacket or warm emergency layer 
• Woolly hat or buff 
• Riding glasses 
• Gloves (worth having a spare pair if it’s wet) 
• Waterproof socks 
• Cycling shoes (you must be able to walk in them!) For the minibus 
• Small ‘hand luggage’ bag for post-ride clothes 
• Plastic bags for wet and dirty kit 
• Chamois cream if you use it

Your guides will carry

• Pliers
• Chain splitter
• Emergency spokes
• Spoke key
• Adjustable spanner
• Cassette tool and chain wrench
• Shock pump
• Puncture and tubeless repair kits
• Small bottle of chain lube
• Spare chain links/joining pins
• Assorted nuts and bolts
• Emergency shelter
• Emergency blanket
• Warm insulated jacket
• First aid kit
• Maps
• Compass
• GPS
• Mobile phones
• VHF radio