West Scotland Map - Our trip...

MattBW

MattBW

Here to help
Super Poster
Lifetime VIP Member
Messages
6,017
Location
Bedworth, United Kingdom
Vehicle
T5 Beach
Thanks Matt. Look forward to your feedback.
Plan a Scotland next year.
Thread bookmarked.
 
Looking good, and you are never short of groceries living in a Tesco ;)
 
It's been good so far. We drove upto Kendal for our first stop over.

We then spent some time around Loch Lomond and at the end of the day stayed at Cobleland, a camping in the forest site (everywhere else seemed full). Lovely facilities, cheap but like many forest sites a bit dark when the weather wasn't the best.

We then moved towards Oban and stayed in Appin. It rained two days solid so we stayed out for a while. We've now headed to Arisaig and are sat in a wonderful site called Sunnycroft. The road in here from Fort William was absolutely amazing, the drive a highlight of the trip. Today is expected to be rain free so we may stay an extra day.

Tomorrow we head to Skye.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
2d34ade33c651c0078c8e45ab512a72c.jpg

f32d225ec9b1408118b5bbb0eb2fef6b.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Are you free camping anywhere or using sites all the time?
 
We just got back from our trip to West Scotland, one of our best trips in the Beach so far... Ill update with some pictures as I go and maybe add more thoughts as I digest the experience.

12 days, 1443 miles in total.
Longest drive in one day - 6h 14m - 222mi

Equipment list
3 seat Beach
Webasto Diesel Heater 2000STC used a lot
VW Roof Bars used a lot
Autobox - large roof box used a lot
Outdoor Rev Tailgate awning. Used a little
Fiamma F45s wind out awning. Used a lot
Fiamma Light Bar (fits into awning) - simply didnt use this.
Slidepod, fully loaded - used a lot
Cadac Safari Chef 2 used a lot
Omnia Stove used once
50w fold away solar panel used a little
2 (usually soggy) spaniels - had a ball

Highlights and must see places for us.
*** the forum gave us a massive wealth of knowledge and research, a map as a starting point was invaluable, we used it to aim for places without firm plans. Scotland the Great gave us extra info on those locations.
***Applecross and applecross pass, amazing views and driving experience, a few numpties but overall amazing! Got overtook by a Cali here although I had flashed for another vehicle to come through it was not very well timed. A large white motorhome also got stuck on the hair pins which was hairy. The site was nice, the pub was lovely but heaving and fully booked. We ate outside under a canopy with fish and chips chatting to an American couple as the darkness came in.
***We spent a night in the Glenelg Inn to catch the ferry to Sky the next day, amazing food, whiskey and open fire. Sadly the ferry was closed and we drove to the bridge instead but a memorable night and a nice change to have a proper room (dog surcharge).
***Arisaig - great site (Sunnyside), wonderful but quite remote. We baked bread on our omnia stove looking out over the sea, a memorable and peaceful time.
***Glencoe and surrounding drives were stunning, I never felt so strongly about being in another place (and maybe a time) as I did here on our way home. It really felt alien and awe inspiring in places. We want to see more of this area.
***Glen Etive (Skyfall road and used in Outlander apparently) stunning views and drive. Nothing to do there other than drive and enjoy the views though.
***Sligichan (on Skye) great walk, nice food at the dog friendly restaurant (in fact most were dog friendly if you asked). We went back for lunch the next day on the way out of Skye.
***Red Squirrel Campsite, mainly it's location for walks and the Boot Bar at the Clachaig inn, great food and atmosphere. We had a great spot on the site next to the river with no neighbours. Overslept that night.

Lowlights:
*The weather, it rained a lot but we soon adapted (decent waterproof clothing) and realised it would regularly change back. Once we embraced it we started to enjoy our time more.

*We tried to camp on Loch Lomond but most of the places we found were tents only and the website wouldn't work with my iphone so we never managed to get a permit.

*Loch Ness, we had a brief visit here and sadly it was a little tacky (as we expected).

*"Oban" camping and caravan club site, great staff nice facilities but like most C&CC sites they aren't anywhere near the places they claim to be. This one was easily 12 miles from Oban. The Creagan Inn nearby was fabulous and recommended if you end up here. The forest walk (we did the red route) was pretty great though if soggy. We stayed two nights because we were so tired from the miles but maybe we should have moved on sooner.

Skye was one of our major goals and sadly a bit underwhelming for us. The limited campsites were sparse affairs, exposed to the weather and more like aires than campsites. The Sligachan for food and a walk into the hills was absolutely superb (we went twice) and the walk from there was a highlight above. If we went again we would stop at the Sligachan and not bother with the rest of Skye. Important to be properly equipped here the weather can change in moments and did several times on our walk.

Equipment and Challenges of 2 weeks in a Beach.

*The internet was only really available on the main A roads and worked great but as soon as you ventured off, you were offline. This was part of the joy of being away from the modern world but it made researching and finding new sites a bit difficult. If you rely on data for your satnav you will get stuck sometimes, get an app that has downloaded maps to be sure.

*We had Scotland the Great, a brilliant book that filled the gaps and gave us places to see and things to do. The writer is a bit anti campervan and constantly whinged about them throughout which was irritating but hey the books good non the less.

*The rain, it rained, a lot. The hardest part with two dogs was drying things out, towels and such for drying the dogs. There was always something wet. Drying boots and shoes was a real challenge, as was our soggy spaniels.


*The roof box was a good way of keeping things outside the van when travelling but it restricted popping the roof and meant we had to carry a step ladder. It had our awning, our safari chef, and gas bottle in there but that was pretty much the weight limit of 50kg right there. It had to be emptied entirely to get the roof up fully. Even then it wasn't fully tight. This often meant our awning if not pitched was outside it had to go under the van or near it. We liked the roof box but are pondering a smaller one for future. Lesson learned it needs to be central to prevent the roof from sagging. Step ladder lived under the van and doubled as a handy towel dryer.

*Tailgate Awning - we used it twice (at Arisaig and Oban). It rained a lot and getting it dry was therefore difficult, ironically when raining we needed it the but we were more reluctant to pitch it because it would potentially be damp for days and start to smell. The couple times we stayed a few days in a place (arisaig) it was great and the Outdoor Rev dried surprisingly quickly when we had a dry spell.
*Laundry for 2 weeks plus wet weather = smelly van. Near the end the laundry moved into the roof box and the awning and cadac into the van.

*Solar panel
Worked a treat and by turning it through the day we maximised our battery charging on the long stays, we got between 1 and 2.5amps during the partially cloudy days. Most of the time with travelling each day we simply didnt need it, and the weather wasn't very supportive of solar most of the time. Even so the battery was pretty much full all the time. I am tempted to get a 100w panel semi flexible that can go under the mattress topper on the multiflex for when required whilst taking up less space in the cab. I'm convinced that being able to move the panel is pretty crucial for me, even a partial shadow on a panel can reduce its output by 40%, so having it on a long cable and being able ot place it in the sun at the correct angle ensures good output.


We are planning another trip, one where we will stay in places for longer and visit those we really loved on this trip.
 
Last edited:
Made my own camping spot on Isle of Skye.IMG_4404.JPG

Stayed at the red squirrel too!
Think I may of had better weather back in June.

IMG_4247.JPG
 
Hi Mat
Looks like an amazing trip. We are also planning to do west Scotland this June.
Start a Edinburgh then Glasgow the Mull then Fort William then Glencod/Mallaig on to Skye and then Inverness via Lochness.
Hopefully ( I should put a can order in Saturday) it will be our first big two week trip.

From your post Applecross sounds like a must and possibly cut down on the time we were planning to spend on Skye to 2 days?

Any comments or feedback on the proposed route gratefully received.

Thanks
Greg

Ps we have a large golden and it will be just the two of us :thanks
 
From your post Applecross sounds like a must and possibly cut down on the time we were planning to spend on Skye to 2 days?

You might want to stay as flexible as possible, as so much depends on the weather. Eg if it's misty and dreich, that would take a lot out of an Applecross trip, which is largely about the spectacular views from the Pass of the Cattle road.

Bear in mind that if you do the trip south to north, you're going to end up with a very long drive back home at the end. Have you thought about doing it the other way round?
 
I think flexibility is a good idea and our first trip was really about exploring and travelling. We didn't spend a lot of time in any one place (except Arisaig which we spent a few nights at). We have always said if we went back we would spend more time in some of the places we visited and explore more deeply. We did the west coast simply because its hte most beautiful in my opinion, the east can be a bit bleak in comparison.


My experience of Skye may be one that many disagree with and may have been something to do with the weather and our mood on those days. We stopped at the Glenelg inn to catch the ferry the next day, stayed in a real room, had wonderful food and whiskey and then the next day the ferry was cancelled due to bad weather. The inn was a welcome break and a lovely place to spend an evening. The scenery around there was lovely and there was of a lot of places you could wild camp with amazing views. We didnt (sorry @Teejay for missing your earlier question) but we saw plenty of people camping and even living in their vans in these spots.

The drive into Sligachan and Cuillin hills themselves were the most beautiful parts of Skye for me, and everything else seemed a bit of an anti climax after that initial experience.

Applecross is beautiful and amazing but I agree with V's Dad that in the wrong weather there would be nothing to see. I'd also say its not for the faint hearted or those who aren't confident drivers but is worth the trip. It is a single lane road, with passing places with drop offs in places. Me I drove up there with some Muse playing and felt like I was in some kind of music video, with clouds drifting above and below us, waterfalls and lochs in the distance. On the other side the campsite is nice albeit the busiest we came across (in september) and the small pub was bursting at the seams (book tables ahead for eating).

Glencoe, Glen Etive, and even the scenery on our way home was breath taking, the sun coming out really helped! Just thinking about it now has given me a shiver, I really want to go back there!
 
Last edited:
The drive into Sligachan and Cuillin hills themselves were the most beautiful parts of Skye for me, and everything else seemed a bit of an anti climax after that initial experience.

I tend to share Matt's sentiment - Skye has some wonderful bits but other parts of the island are fairly so-so compared with a lot of the epic mainland landscapes on offer further north into Wester Ross and Assynt.

But as must-sees while on Skye I would add the Quiraing, the eerie and unique escarpment in the far northern peninsula of the island.

By the way anyone thinking of visiting the Applecross peninsula would probably enjoy reading His Bloody Project, a brilliant and very evocative crime novel written by Graeme Macrae Burnet and set in the area in the 1860s.
 
I don't think @gvick is planning to get across to the Western Isles. But I completely agree Cnip (and Harris generally) is lovely.
 
Hi Velma’s Dad
Hadn’t thought about doing it the other way round- so pause for thought.
Never undertaken a road trip of this length before - although we did take Phoebe our 1970 t2 to Holland for a week via Harwich when the kids were younger.
My main worry is the campsites being fully booked as this is billed as the year of staycation - so I’ll need to make some prebookings I think.
Got an appointment on Saturday to hopefully place a Cali order I’ll let you know how it goes
 

Similar threads

P
Replies
14
Views
3K
djp911
D
bvddobb
Replies
21
Views
3K
bvddobb
bvddobb
Jason wallace
Replies
34
Views
6K
iamchucky
iamchucky
stuarta
Replies
3
Views
2K
Bellcrew
Bellcrew
Back
Top