North East 250

Having seen the success of the North Coast 500, local landowners and businesses launched the North East 250 in 2017, creating a tourist driving route through Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Cairngorms National Park

- Alex Carnegie

The road trip promises castles, whisky distilleries, rugged coastlines, seaside villages, mountain roads and beautiful countryside is this just a clever marketing ploy or is it a worthwhile driving route? I had to go and have a look! T Although the NE250 can be seen as a circular route starting and ending in Aberdeen, the best way to join it is up through Glenshee, convenient for me as I travelled north from home near Glasgow, and a positive start as the A93 north from Blairgowrie is such a fantastic biking road. I was staying a few nights near Inverurie for this trip, and because I had ridden the roads towards Aberdeen before, I dropped the section through Banchory and Aberdeen and instead diverted along the less-travelled B9119, known locally as the Dava Moor Road, to Tarland then through Alford to my hotel in Kemnay.

The next day was my day ride on the NE250, although if this route was being used as the basis for a holiday, it would be better to spend at least three or four days, rather than just one, to be able to take in all the sights and attractions the area has to offer. I had chosen to ride the route anti-clockwise to get straight over to the coastal roads, so I set off through Inverurie, Whiterashes, Oldmeldrum and Ellon with the plan of crossing the A90 and getting started up the A975 coast road. Unfortunately, the unclassified road I was hoping to ride beyond the A90 was closed and I ended up taking the main road up to Peterhead, so I missed the first section of the coast road.