To ask about driving to north of Scotland?

[Happy500]

Probably not the right place to post this but I really need advice on driving to North of Scotland in winter
What is SAFEST route to Elgin area .... A9 via Cairngorms or A90 north of Aberdeen....and are either of these roads often closed due to snow etc ?
Thanks :-)

A90 then A96 from Aberdeen would probably be best as A9 tends to be shut before A90 in snowy conditions.
Where are you driving from?

You're very organised to be thinking about this so far in advance op.

I regularly drive both routes - both are fine. Elgin isn't that far north the A96 north of Aberdeen will take you straight there, plus you can stop at Baxter's and have a pancake www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g551766-d1890873-Reviews-Baxters_Highland_Village-Fochabers_Moray_Scotland.html 👍🏼

Where are you driving from? Would it be easier to fly then hire a car?

Will be driving from north of England
Heard that A9 vdangerous and wanted to check if A90 is any better and if A90 is fairly safe ?...

..and thanks Viking for the tip about Baxters:)

The A9 is fine, it's just not great for finding places to pass, so people do stupid things. It gets kinda snowy, but that tends to be further north (Golspie, Brora - good ice cream btw, ) do feel like I'm taking you round Scotland one foodstuff at a time!
Once you get to Aberdeen you can take the A90 straight through the city. When you get to the Haudagain roundabout, switch to the A96. (Turn left onto Auchmill Road)
Give yourself time so you're not stressing about tractors passing slow vehicles and you'll be fine

The A9 is only dangerous if you don't respect it, i.e. Trying to overtake tractors on a bend etc and taking corners in the middle of the road.

I know both roads v v well and as you're coming from the N of England I would suggest the A9. Up to just north of Inverness it's now a (mostly) good wide road with overtaking lanes in places.

It's not the racetrack it once was.

Ps: I'm jealous 😀

Hmm, yeah on reflection beans might be right - I'm more Aberdeen centric so was focused on going that way. You could take the M6, M74, M80? (Been a while since I drove that route!) then onto the A9 - no Baxters though

I'm from Elgin and even in nicer weather I prefer the a96 and then a90. I feel it's a faster route. It's not as scenic though but at least you don't lose radio reception.

Happy500 I think statistically
the A90 is no more or less safe than the A9 tbh. I drive from the SE to Forres (near Elgin) twice a year and always travel up the A9 to Aviemore then up through Grantown on Spey to Forres. I have always found taking the East Coast route a much longer and more frustrating drive as you'll have to get through Dundee and Aberdeen which, depending on time of day, can be really jammed.

Plus before you leave, have a look at AA road watch live eye feed. It shows you footage of certain roads so you can see if they're covered in snow. I use this quite a lot as my husband travels to Aberdeen for work.

I can vouch for Aberdeen being pretty jammed. Even on the A90 (all dual carriageway) it comes to a bottleneck (the roundabout I mentioned where you'd turn left) and lol to the radio reception! Turn up NECR lass!! (No, don't, you won't understand a word!!)

Sharknado, I drove it on Thursday and must've timed it well as traffic was fine in Aberdeen and Dundee. No hold ups at all.

NECR gives me the rage! It used to drive me nuts when MFR changed to NECR at 7pm as they used the same frequency. I think they've changed it now.

Oh, I should say - traffic hold ups only at rush hour times - the rest of the time it's pretty fast flowing.
Haha! I stick to Radio 1 ok radio 2 I'm old! and avoid the local stations

A9 is a nicer route, for sure. But is essentially a mountain pass in places. Has snow gates that get shut as snow ploughs can't always keep up.
It's perfectly safe though, just keep a eye out for the changes between dual and single carriageway!
I live with someone who lived in Bankfoot (on A9). She definitely advises the A90 route. We now live in Dundee and would take that route in the winter.

I'm jealous Scottishchick - can't wait to get back to the North. Two weeks and counting!

I want to get south, just a few weeks to go (living in the isles) funny how that area is calling us all home

Love the Isles too - even more jealous now viking!

Just watch the average speed cameras on the A9! Longest stretch in GB I think?

Thanks for all the advice on the routes :-)

The A9 is fine and has been made a dual carriageway in a lot of places but some of the notorious danger spots are still there and warrant respect. The one where the road to Loch Tummel goes off springs to mind. I wouldn't have thought the other route was worse. Know however that it is nowadays festooned with speed cameras.

You'll have to check the weather before you set off. The Glens near Huntly on the A96 get snowed in and closed fairly often, but so do bits of the A9, so you need to look at a forecast and pick your route on the day according to which is clearer. Also listen to the travel news as you're coming up from England, it'll tell you if anything is closed or down to single lane. They're building an Aberdeen bypass but I don't think it's due to open until next year, and Aberdeen can be horribly busy at rush hour but the A9 is 50mph for lorries and has long single carriageway stretches where you're always stuck behind a lorry so it's very frustrating.

Another thing, take a shovel, blanket and torch in the car in case of dire emergencies and drive as slowly as necessary. Though I go home to Aberdeenshire every Christmas and have never had to dig myself out of a snowdrift yet - had to drive very slowly in horrible snowstorm yes, but only once in the last 5 years.

A9 snow gates haven't been closed in winter for about 5 years now (I'm up near John O Groats). If driving overnight, take it canny and be mindful of temp/black ice. Last few years the really bad weather hasn't arrived til Feb and even then the gritters have been out overnight and any snow has been cleared by morning