Scotland provides a great opportunity for cyclists to ride along its beautiful scenic long-distance paths. The Moray way is one such circular path that connects the Moray Coast Trail, Speyside Way and Dava way, making it a 95-mile route that takes about two days to go around.

Some Genereic Details about Morway

Distance from Moray Coast Trail: Kingston to Forres- 30 miles

Distance from Dava Way: Forres to Grantown- 24 miles

Distance from Speyside Way: Grantown to Kingston- 41 miles

Terrain: The way has a mixed terrain filled with forest tracks, old railway track-beds, grassy paths as well as sandy path and small B-roads

Ascent: Approximately 2788ft or 850m 

Maximum elevation: Approximately 1083ft or 330m

Experiences of Day 1

For our journey, we decided to start with the Grantown-on-Spey to Kingston and headed straight to the Speyside Way. As we started, we paddled straight down the narrow and enchanting forest path of Anagach pine woods while dodging a number of trees and rocks on our way. According to the Speyside Way website, it is advised that cyclists take the B9102 from Cromdale to Ballindalloch to protect the forest trails.
After passing through, we reached the railway line at the Blacksboat station as it was a flat way filled with distilleries and fishing huts along the river. This path is filled with the aroma of whiskey all around. The last section of the railway line headed to Craigellachie, which is a hill that heads straight into the Ben Aigan forest.

One would say that this is the highest point of the whole route, from where you could see the target you set for the day along with the scenic beauty around and the steep tracks and country lanes that would follow soon with the descent.
We made a stop in Fochaber for some refreshments and paddled along the path of Spey until we reached the bridge near the Spey Bay. From thereon, it was a gentle ride down to the camp spot at Kingston where we enjoyed the sunset and had dinner after a quick swim to rejuvenate ourselves. 

Day 2 Experience

Day 2 shone up with the sun blazing bright and we left after breakfast at the beach and set off along the forest tracks near the shooting range that led us to join the B-road to Lossiemouth at Arthur Bridge. This road led us straight off to the old railway track line near the beach front with great toilet facilities, so we could take some rest. We had coffee and cakes before resuming our journey.

The next 5 miles to Hopeman on the B9040 were covered quite easily as we didn’t find any traffic on our way. The next section from Hopeman to Burghead follows another abandoned railway line with great coastal views.  We followed the “Burma Road” forest track ahead of Burghead, but we had to push our bikes out of a small section filled with sand.

Following the path signs, we headed towards Forres next that led us back to Dava lane bringing us back to Grantown-on-Spey. Now all that was left for us to do after reaching the campsite was to enjoy the sunset and relax.

All in all, it was a great experience for us and very eventful.