Familiar with backpacking but want to get on your bike? Then that would be “bikepacking” – and how better to explore some of Scotland’s islands this summer than on two wheels.

Bikepacking Scotland is the brainchild of Markus Stitz, who cycled around the world on a single-speed bike. On and off road, through 26 different countries and over massive mountains, Markus came back to Scotland with the urge to develop bikepacking and make it more accessible for everyone.

Wild About Bikepacking is a short film that features Bikepacking Argyll’s Islands route. It maps a 496km journey (308 miles) connecting the Isles of Mull, Jura, Islay and Bute on a mixture of gravel tracks, single-trail, cycle paths and roads.

The route also makes use of ScotRail’s Highland Explorer, which provides space for up to 20 bikes, including tandems. The newly-introduced train carriage offers a bike-friendly train connection between Glasgow, host city of the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023, and Oban, where the new route begins. Bikes travel free on trains and all ferries along the route.

Markus said: “For me, boarding a ferry to an island is the perfect start to a bikepacking adventure, and this route includes some of the most scenic ferry journeys in Scotland. Different from other routes I’ve mapped, this one features quite a few road sections. Most of them are really quiet and enjoyable, like the Long Road on Jura and a gravel bike is the perfect bike to cycle the Bikepacking Argyll’s Islands route.

“What I really like about it is the combination of great cycling, culinary offers and accommodation. And there are plenty of opportunities to unearth Scotland’s history in places like Kilmartin Glen, which has the most important concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in mainland Scotland.”

www.bikepackingscotland.com/argyllislands, www.wildaboutargyll.co.uk, www.calmac.co.uk, www.markusstitz.com