Scotland and the Outer Hebrides

[JanBn]

Thank you everyone for your thorough replies, we have weighed up all the opinions and I think due to my husband's immobility (wheelchair when out and about) maybe with the midges issue during the month we were looking to travel, we may be better postponing this year and plan for a trip in May of next year when we will not be a walking feast for the 'wee beasties' as someone aptly seemed to name them :lol: given the problem they could cause my OH
The road information given was great and I feel, after reading the many comments I will not worry about travelling on the smaller roads. .
Feel that postponing until next year will be the best way to go........so now looking at maybe Brittany instead :lol:
Maybe I need to post a question on the suitability of this destination for someone who has never driven abroad, let alone towing a caravan :S

 

[Raywood]

I c an see your point. We have been to Brittany several times and the roads are good as are the sites we have used. I find driving is not normally a problem as when you land you are well aware of driving on the other side of the road and take extra care. Possibly the biggest risk is once you have been there a few days and have got used to it, it is then you can make mistakes but you should not let that put you off.
For a first trip there is plenty to do around St Malo, and it might be worthwhile getting the ferry to there and tour that area, although the weather in Brittany is not as reliable as some places further South.

 

[JanBn]

Thank for replying. I remember docking in St Malo many years ago with my parents. I remember it being a very pretty port. Do you recall the names of any of the sites you stayed at ? :huh: I’ve posted a new post regarding any site info for Brittany. Looking for a quiet site, preferably no entertainment and near a beach :dry: :lol:

I c an see your point. We have been to Brittany several times and the roads are good as are the sites we have used. I find driving is not normally a problem as when you land you are well aware of driving on the other side of the road and take extra care. Possibly the biggest risk is once you have been there a few days and have got used to it, it is then you can make mistakes but you should not let that put you off.
For a first trip there is plenty to do around St Malo, and it might be worthwhile getting the ferry to there and tour that area, although the weather in Brittany is not as reliable as some places further South.

 

[Raywood]

I am not aware of a suitable site, but first two weeks in July tend to be fairly quiet on most sites. Possibly a request in the foreign touting section will help.

 

[Thingy]

Very good advice regarding your route and Google Maps. I will throw in another one, have a good look at the ferries.

Last Sept we did a Scotland run, with the caravan on site at Grantown on Spey for three weeks. As madam had always expressed a wish to see Orkney and especially the archeology I planned a surprise. The idea was to leave the caravan unattended at GoS for three nights, and leaving GoS very early would charge up the A9 and get the Orkney ferry from Gills Bay to St Margarets Hope.

The run up took far longer than expected though we made it in time. The ferry being the catamaran Pentalina and the potential problems were obvious to see. A very narrow jetty, quite uneven and the cars were driving on, doing a u-turn on the boat, HGV's were reversing on and a caravan would have to do the same. Given there are pillars all over the car deck, it wasnt a straightforward operation.

Once on Orkney, and I have no reason to suspect any other of the Scottish Islands would be any different, we noticed a real lack of caravan sites, and what we did see were poor in the extreme. The midges, notorious in Scotland were far worse than anything experienced on the mainland.

The scenery was stunning and some incredible sites to see, yet we were so glad we didnt take the caravan over having elected instead to stay in a real Orcadian Pub, roaring fire, local folk band, food to die for and the ale flowing freely.

But, yes, seriously check the whole thing out to avoid any surprises.

 

[JanBn]

hmy: hmy: hmy: that sounds like my worst nightmare, thank you for the warning
We have decided not to go to Scotland this year as the times we can go does not coincide with the ‘midgless’ time :lol:
So we have redirected our thoughts to Brittany. But thank you as this will be valuable information ready for planning next year’s trip

Very good advice regarding your route and Google Maps. I will throw in another one, have a good look at the ferries.

Last Sept we did a Scotland run, with the caravan on site at Grantown on Spey for three weeks. As madam had always expressed a wish to see Orkney and especially the archeology I planned a surprise. The idea was to leave the caravan unattended at GoS for three nights, and leaving GoS very early would charge up the A9 and get the Orkney ferry from Gills Bay to St Margarets Hope.

The run up took far longer than expected though we made it in time. The ferry being the catamaran Pentalina and the potential problems were obvious to see. A very narrow jetty, quite uneven and the cars were driving on, doing a u-turn on the boat, HGV's were reversing on and a caravan would have to do the same. Given there are pillars all over the car deck, it wasnt a straightforward operation.

Once on Orkney, and I have no reason to suspect any other of the Scottish Islands would be any different, we noticed a real lack of caravan sites, and what we did see were poor in the extreme. The midges, notorious in Scotland were far worse than anything experienced on the mainland.

The scenery was stunning and some incredible sites to see, yet we were so glad we didnt take the caravan over having elected instead to stay in a real Orcadian Pub, roaring fire, local folk band, food to die for and the ale flowing freely.

But, yes, seriously check the whole thing out to avoid any surprises.

 

[AlexandriaUK]

Hi have a look at Andrew Dittons blogs, he and Dougal the gorgeous dog have done many many hours of traveling round Scotland and the island's with a big rig etc, so lovely to watch even if your not going their.

 

[JanBn]

Thank you Alexandria, it is because of his vlogs I wanted to go haha :lol: I agree, they are inspiring and I just love Dougal. Mr Ditton makes it look so easy too lol .

Hi have a look at Andrew Dittons blogs, he and Dougal the gorgeous dog have done many many hours of traveling round Scotland and the island's with a big rig etc, so lovely to watch even if your not going their.

 

[AlexandriaUK]

I'm sure it is, no different to Cornwall, infact Cornwall can have some decidedly dodgy roads that are impossible to pass on, I went a few years ago to an amazing site, wishing could remember name, had to reverse all the way down the lane as their were 3 rigs coming towards me and I was the only one going up, was a fantastic site so well worth it though, we are considering going and so many wild camping areas as well

 

[Dustydog]

Just winding back a bit Jan. The Beasties are not a total disaster. The truth is imo, and I got married in in the Highlands, and I’d go from April to say early June or early September onwards.
Easy.
The roads have never halted me since I first went in 1974.
Achilitibuie andAltnaharra are well worth the visit. Their caravan sites are wonderful.
Go got it my girl. You will not be disappointed,nor will hubby. :cheer:

 

[JanBn]

Thank you, I definitely want to tour Scotland, whether it is this year or next. I will check out the two sites you mentioned too. Thank you again

Just winding back a bit Jan. The Beasties are not a total disaster. The truth is imo, and I got married in in the Highlands, and I’d go from April to say early June or early September onwards.
Easy.
The roads have never halted me since I first went in 1974.
Achilitibuie andAltnaharra are well worth the visit. Their caravan sites are wonderful.
Go got it my girl. You will not be disappointed,nor will hubby. :cheer:

 

[Thingy]

Just back to what I posted, I wasn't in anyway suggesting the roads were bad or impassable. Merely that they can be quite up and down and winding making for a slower journey over an equivalent distance back home.

Absolutely you should do it, its beautiful up there and strangely we have experienced excellent weather early and late in the year.

I was only trying to say that when island hopping, check out the ferries, they arent all RoRo (roll on roll off). Some of the smaller ones can be an odd system as in the Pentalina.

If Grantown on Spey is on your list, last September there was a large building site just getting under way and it made for some horrendous noise during the day from big machinery, very unpleasant. I would advise anyone going that way to check whether the work is finished, if not, possibly consider Culloden.

 

[otherclive]

I’ve never had any problem with Scottish roads as others have said “do your homework on the route” just as you would do going to anywhere new. The driving on single track roads is more disciplined and unlike the Devon and Cornwall roads you can generally see well ahead. No high hedgers with stone walls hidden in them.
We use a nice site near to Newtonmore it used to be CMHC managed site but isn’t any longer. But we visited it last September and it was still very good. It’s just south of Newtonmore A9 services about 0.5 miles from A9 and zero road noise.

 

[JanBn]

Thank you...I am making a note in my caravanning info book, of all suggestions

I’ve never had any problem with Scottish roads as others have said “do your homework on the route” just as you would do going to anywhere new. The driving on single track roads is more disciplined and unlike the Devon and Cornwall roads you can generally see well ahead. No high hedgers with stone walls hidden in them.
We use a nice site near to Newtonmore it used to be CMHC managed site but isn’t any longer. But we visited it last September and it was still very good. It’s just south of Newtonmore A9 services about 0.5 miles from A9 and zero road noise.

 

[Andy-in-the-mountains]

We absolutely loved touring Scotland, only done one trip so far, but keen to do it again. The Avon Skin so soft was a life safer, but I have to admit we also wore the midgie nets over our hats too...which meant that we could stop and enjoy the views more.
We got this one, it wasn't expensive https://www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/mosquito-nets/pop-up-mosquito-headnet-hat
For Scotland itself, the views are phenominal. The mountain ranges are out of this world. My top recommendation is Rannoch Moor. Wonderful scenery. Take your time, and enjoy!

 

[Thingy]

Our best Scotland trip yet was 18 months ago. We stopped at Grantown on Spey, but with the wardens permission left the caravan unattended for a few days and did a craxy run up to Gills Bay for the early morning ferry to orkney. We stayed in a cracking pub and did the sights on Orkney, Maes Howe, Skara Brae, Tomb of the Eagles, Ness and standing stones of Brodgar. Also worth a look were the sunken ships of the original Churchill Barriers, and the Italian Chapel. Absolutely mind blowing stuff and I would go again in a heartbeat.

As it is, we are off to Strachclyde on the 31st, moving on to Onich for two weeks and hope to get to Islay and my favourite tipple Laphroaig.

Will of course be taking the skin so soft, although Im hoping its a bit early for too many of the little blighters.

 

[benshepherd]

Grantown-on-Spey is one of our favourite sites. We go for weekends there as we only live an hour north of it.
If you're traveling north/south then a really convenient overnight site is at Moffatt (near Lockerbie). Nice site but you definitely need to book as very popular

 

[Thingy]

We were a little unhappy with Grantown due to the excessive noise coming from whatever they were building adjacent to the site. The continual thump of a huge earth compactor made for a rather uncomfortable stay.

 

[CustardAvenger]

We were a little unhappy with Grantown due to the excessive noise coming from whatever they were building adjacent to the site. The coninual thump of an earth compactor made for a rather uncomfortable stay.

We stayed there in September 2018 and I think they were building some kind of assisted living complex down the road from the site, but it looks like they were at the fit-out stage when we were there.

Also, just my luck, we arrived just a classic car show was winding up. The main road was closed from the direction I approached so I had to tow down some pretty narrow streets (which people had parked on despite the Police cones) to get to the site's road. The final Coup-de-gras after the tow from Skye was a HGV delivering to the CO-OP and partially blocking the road.