Scotland help

julie8314dave

:hello:Hi can anyone give me some ideas on a trip planned to scotland for 8 days in scotland. travelling with a hired motorhome two aduldts one dear son age 9 and a half. travelling from sussex and would like to head up the west coast towards isle of skye.

Would it be best to pre book campsites? any good or bad ones to watch out for? can we just pull over at the side of the road and camp (safely) or any good places to visit, or any bad places we should not.

Thank you in advance xx

cazziebo

Don't know if it's allowed but I see a lot of camper vans at the sides of roads in the Highlands. As long as you're not blocking a passing place I don't think there's an issue.

You could travel up the West coast, up Loch Lomondside, over Rannoch Moor, up through Glencoe, through Fort William, take the road to the Isles, ferry from Mallaig to Skye, through Skye, over the bridge to the mainland, then Gairloch, Ullapool. and back through Inverness, Aviemore etc.

I would not recommend taking the camper van on the cattle pass to Applecross. No way!

Have a great time. You haven't missed summer, we haven't had any yet.... It was like a Winter's morning when I got up today!

discplayer

Cazziebo makes good points and suggests an amazing route.

Whilst you do see people parked up avoiding passing places you also see signs saying not to park up at all.

You don't say when you're going or how huge your vehicle is which will effect the need to book.

Have you used motorhomes or been to the Highlands before? Those things drink diesel and filling stations can be few and far between so top up when you can.

Visit the ukcampsite website. There are campsites in amazing spots - the worst I've found so far are where the prices are a little higher and facilities not as shiny as others*. There are great sites along the coast near Arisaig, one in Ullapool and just north of Lochinver. Am struggling to remember the name of a great place I stayed on Skye but...

* There is a notoriously midge ridden place at Sligachan, enjoying it was very hard!

daveyjp

Are you flying to Scotland and picking up the camper there or driving from Sussex?

pinkteapot

What time of year are you going? If June to August, make sure you take insect repellant (Expedition 50+ is good, but some people find it irritates their skin as it has a high deet content). Midges can be a problem. I love Scotland and they never put me off, but I've been eaten alive when sitting alongside lochs. They like warm, still conditions in particular so you'll find them in sheltered areas. Also take Piriton and bite spray/cream.

The main road to Skye is one of my favourite roads in the country - not too twiddly so you can enjoy the views even when driving. Wide road but quiet enough that there are ample opportunities to overtake (probably more an issue for the cars following you than you ).

Actually, that's one thing I would say - you'll see lots of roadsigns up there saying "Allow overtaking" and "Frustration causes accidents". Please do bear this in mind when driving a motorhome. If a big queue builds up behind you, please pull in and let it pass. Obviously if it's a busy road you can't do this every 10 minutes or you won't get anywhere, but in quieter areas please check your mirrors. I say that as someone who has driven in Scotland a lot.

fivetide

pinkteapot wrote: »

What time of year are you going? If June to August, make sure you take insect repellant (Expedition 50+ is good, but some people find it irritates their skin as it has a high deet content). Midges can be a problem. I love Scotland and they never put me off, but I've been eaten alive when sitting alongside lochs. They like warm, still conditions in particular so you'll find them in sheltered areas. Also take Piriton and bite spray/cream.

This! The route suggested so far is grand. Good campsites at Fort William and you can have a gander at Ben Nevis.

Blair Atholl has a good site and is less attractive to the midge. The wet summer has been a delight for them so do be prepared. I'm not sure if it can be described if you've never expereinced it but there have been people asking for refunds etc this year as it really has been that bad.

You might even want to consider the hats with nets on. Honest!

East coast tends not to be as bad but isn't as nice to drive as it's a bit more motorway. Still if you head up to Inverness you can go whale watching in the Moray Firth.

5t.

pinkteapot

I was a bit dismissive of midges until I got bitten all over my arms this year. Grim! You don't really notice them on you/biting you so much. It's the itching afterwards.

As I said though, I'd hate for it to put anyone off Scotland. Just maybe choose your routes/activities/accommodation/campsites with it in mind. You want windy, exposed places to get away from the little bar stewards.

Can tell it's been a bad year for them as I also got bitten a lot in the Lake District, and there's not usually too many that far south.

Haven't been to Skye since our honeymoon - your thread is making me want to go back.

If you get the Scotland bug (so to speak), do a tour of the Orkney Islands next - absolutely magical. Especially in June when it's light till midnight!

The_One_Who

With respect to the midges, buy a bottle of Avon's 'Skin So Soft', it works wonders. So much so that outdoors-y shops here sell it in-store, to save you from having to go direct to Avon. If/when you do get bitten I would recommend putting some Sudocrem on.

headcone

The_One_Who wrote: »

With respect to the midges, buy a bottle of Avon's 'Skin So Soft', it works wonders. So much so that outdoors-y shops here sell it in-store, to save you from having to go direct to Avon. If/when you do get bitten I would recommend putting some Sudocrem on.

I`ve even used Avon skin so soft in India as well as all over the far east and found it the best mosquito repellent ever.

mikey72

I took ours up the east coast, up to John o' Groates, across the top, down the west coast, spending a few days on Skye, then back home. It took about two and a half weeks. All of it was good.
The midges came out at night though, and did cause a couple of hasty retreats into the van. Only on inland sites with heavy woods, so avoid them if you can.
We stopped at a mixture of C&CC sites, holiday sites, a couple of club meets, and the odd private site. I didn't pre book any.

booter

The_One_Who wrote: »

With respect to the midges, buy a bottle of Avon's 'Skin So Soft', it works wonders. So much so that outdoors-y shops here sell it in-store, to save you from having to go direct to Avon. If/when you do get bitten I would recommend putting some Sudocrem on.

Not the pink skin so soft, this one http://www.alternativeinsectrepellent.co.uk/
although I think that Avon may have "new and improved" it - I believe it now contains Jojoba (to be said in the best Billy Connolly voice ) - it used to have citronella and other anti midgey bits and bobs, but I don't know if, by "new and improving" it, they've trashed it :cool: Reduced from £5.00 to £1.99 online at Avon http://avonshop.co.uk/product/bath-and-body/skin-so-soft/skin-so-soft-original-dry-oil-spray.html