Edinburgh to Orkney up the East Coast

[yourguitarhero]

Heading off on my longest bikepacking trip so far tomorrow.
A friend and I are cycling from Edinburgh to Orkney up the east coast of Scotland.

All packed up:


Was wondering if anyone had tips on routes or nice camping spots.
We're aiming to ride on paths or backroads where possible.

Itinerary so far is to head to the East Neuk on the first day for fish n chips.
Day 2 is up to Tentsmuir - nice spots to camp and I grew up there so visiting pals/family.
After that we head up the Angus coast. Thinking of camping at Lunan Bay the next night as someone told me it's nice.
Staying with my pal's brother south of Stonehaven the next night as he has a hot tub
After that we're aiming for Newburgh/Collieston as pal's parent's are there and it's his mum's birthday.

After that... we're not sure.

Can we cross the Black Isle and get the ferry at Cromarty? Would like to a) avoid A9 as much as possible, and b) go to Black Isle brewery if it's open.

After that, what's the best way across Sutherland avoiding the A9 of doom? Should we head up past Rogart and up to Tongue? I've stayed at Sleeperzzzzz before - could be fun to stay there for a night.
Or go to Helmsdale then up the back road from there? My pal isn't really into mountain biking, so probably not an off road path. He's on a Genesis CDA.

[ScotRoutes]

Cromarty Ferry isn't running this year.
Use NCN1 to Evanton, then over the hill to Ardgay and Bonar Bridge. There's then the Loch Buidhe road to The Mound.

There are some great spots on the East Coast north of there but the A9 can be unpleasant in parts. It's actually not too bad once past Golspie/Brora though.

Ardgay and (what was) NCN1 to Lairg and Tongue is, however, awe.some. If you go this way, don't be tempted along StrathNaver. It's lovely but, well, Tongue.

[fatbikephil]

The chippy at Anstruther has been chaos recently, the one at Crail is always my preferred option!
I'd be tempted to take a short cut through Angus / Moray to miss out Aberdeen - plenty of options and lots of quiet wee roads plus various forest track options too.
Have you seen the route of the Great North Trail - its a bit more west but has some nice off road sections so may be worth a look - you could pick it up at Croik after linking through on the double track out the back of Alness up Strath Rusdale. Or lots of wee roads missing out the A9 north of Bonar Bridge. Beach campsite at Brora really nice and the wee road linking from the A9 to Strath of Kildonan is great - more grass than tarmac!

[yourguitarhero]

Excellent info guys!

I've put together a wee GPS route from Alness to Dunscaby Point following you guys' advice:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33477382