ClanTimmins
VIP Member
Hello everyone
I had said I would post on our first trip to Scotland so here goes....
First of all we are Scottish although have lived in the Midlands for many years. We have recently bought our first California and I have already posted about our set-up in the van (which we love). One of the things that you need when you are going to do a trip round Scotland is a good map. Satnavs are fine but you need a sense of where you are in terms of the country you are visiting and the scale of it and I recommend Philip's Navigator Scotland. It is compact, not expensive and will be your constant reference point throughout your trip. If you need inspiration then Martin Dorey's Take the Slow Road Scotland is very good although we didn't specifically use it for our little trip. If you want to avoid the midges then travel in May or September as there are not so many of the little blighters around. We bought Avon Skin so Soft but didn't need to use it. We travelled from the 6th to the 10th May.
So this trip is quite a short one taking around five nights but you could easily double it by spending two nights in each location. We just didn't have the time but would have loved it if we had. It's a trip from Loch Lomond round the Argyll coast taking in Ardnamurchan and then up to Mallaig a hop and skip through Skye to Glenelg and back to Fort William and Glencoe before heading home. I have tried to attach some photos!
Day 1: The first night was in Helensburgh just north of Glasgow (that's where my sister lives and we didn't spend it in the van but in her lovely home!). If we weren't staying there we would have camped at the beautifully situated Caravan and Camping Club site at Luss where we have stayed before in our tent. https://www.campingandcaravanningcl...asgow/luss-camping-and-caravanning-club-site/. It is right on the shores of Loch Lomond and is perfect for a Cali as you can walk into Luss where there are lovely places to eat and drink and there are trips on the Loch and there is simply outstanding natural beauty everywhere to enjoy. Just a note that 'wild camping' is not allowed in Loch Lomond National park as unfortunately this has been abused by many people and so permits are needed if you wish to camp outside a campsite.
So Day 2 is setting off from Luss on the A82 and following the side of Loch Lomond to Tarbert taking the A83 and skirting the top of Loch Long and then on to Inverary the very pretty town on Loch Fyne which is a nice place to stop for coffee (or oysters of which there are plenty!). At Inverary we took the A819 which takes you up to the top of Loch Awe where we joined the A85 to Connell on the shores of Loch Etive. If you had more time then you could carry on to Oban which is such a lovely place and is a good jumping off point for many of the Caledonian McBrayne ferries to the islands. We didn't have a lot of time so we headed North from Connell on the A828 on this beautiful Argyll coastal route and stopped for lunch at the Creagan Inn on the shores of Loch Creran. I can't recommend this place highly enough and it has one of the best Cullen skinks I've tasted (smoked haddock chowder for those who aren't familiar). https://www.creaganinn.co.uk/
Onward and upwards on the A828 to Ballachulish taking the road along the shores of Loch Linnhe. When you cross the Ballachulish bridge and you look right you are looking up Loch Leven while Loch Linnhe stretches to your left. If you had a lot of time then you could take a diversion around Loch Leven spend a lovely night at Kinlochleven where there are stunning views from this campsite http://www.kinlochlevencaravans.com. We've camped in our tent here a number of years ago.
So over the bridge and on up the A82 to Corran where we crossed on the Corran ferry to Ardgour. It's a short crossing and no need to book as it leaves every 20 minutes. We love ferries and this is a cutie! From Ardgour we headed west on the A861 to Strontian on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. The tip of the Ardnamurchan peninsula is the most westerly point in the UK mainland. We spent the night in Strontian at Sunart Camping. http://www.sunartcamping.co.uk/ We really loved this little campsite with it's little bothy with a log burning stove, piles of maps and a kettle and microwave for campers to use. The couple are very friendly and you can also hire bikes at the campsite. It is a short walk to the shores of Loch Sunart and Strontian village. Here's our little beauty all set up!
There is a small hotel in the village where you can go for a drink or something to eat and also a short walk away is the very posh Kilcamb Lodge which has two restaurants. We have camped here before and from Strontian you can take the road to Lochaline and go as day foot passengers with or without bikes on the short ferry crossing to Tobermory on Mull. All the roads we travelled on were not busy. I would go soon if I were you before this mini tour gets a write up as the Argyll 150 or something like that(!) and everyone descends on it. You could easily spend a few days around here. It's lovely. Here is sunset over Loch Sunart.
Day 3 We left Strontian and drove west to Salen where we stopped for coffee https://www.salenjettyshop.com/. This little shop has unbelievably delicious cakes and coffee and a thousand other things you just wouldn't expect in a tiny village shop. As we left, the fish van arrived outside selling a wide range of fresh fish to the locals. It was better stocked than most fishmongers with huge whole lemon sole and lobsters and gigantic prawns. (The same van came to one of the campsites later in the trip). We then carried on north to Loch Ailort on the A861 and then we took the A830 to Morar where we camped at Camusdarach beach campsite http://www.camusdarach.co.uk/. This was one of the beaches used in the filming of Local Hero and it is just stunning. We enjoyed the campsite very much but it isn't cheap. I think we paid about £30 for the night but it was worth it. We went for a walk along the beach at 8.30am and had it all to ourselves! Amazing!
In the evening we went to Mallaig for fish and chips in the Steam Inn and the food was delicious. The truth is you can't get bad fish and chips in Mallaig and a takeaway from Jaffy's, wandering around the harbour would be equally lovely. We met a lovely Cali owner from Germany who had the most organised set up in her Beach. Every box labelled with precise detail!
Part two to follow as unable to post whole trip....
I had said I would post on our first trip to Scotland so here goes....
First of all we are Scottish although have lived in the Midlands for many years. We have recently bought our first California and I have already posted about our set-up in the van (which we love). One of the things that you need when you are going to do a trip round Scotland is a good map. Satnavs are fine but you need a sense of where you are in terms of the country you are visiting and the scale of it and I recommend Philip's Navigator Scotland. It is compact, not expensive and will be your constant reference point throughout your trip. If you need inspiration then Martin Dorey's Take the Slow Road Scotland is very good although we didn't specifically use it for our little trip. If you want to avoid the midges then travel in May or September as there are not so many of the little blighters around. We bought Avon Skin so Soft but didn't need to use it. We travelled from the 6th to the 10th May.
So this trip is quite a short one taking around five nights but you could easily double it by spending two nights in each location. We just didn't have the time but would have loved it if we had. It's a trip from Loch Lomond round the Argyll coast taking in Ardnamurchan and then up to Mallaig a hop and skip through Skye to Glenelg and back to Fort William and Glencoe before heading home. I have tried to attach some photos!
Day 1: The first night was in Helensburgh just north of Glasgow (that's where my sister lives and we didn't spend it in the van but in her lovely home!). If we weren't staying there we would have camped at the beautifully situated Caravan and Camping Club site at Luss where we have stayed before in our tent. https://www.campingandcaravanningcl...asgow/luss-camping-and-caravanning-club-site/. It is right on the shores of Loch Lomond and is perfect for a Cali as you can walk into Luss where there are lovely places to eat and drink and there are trips on the Loch and there is simply outstanding natural beauty everywhere to enjoy. Just a note that 'wild camping' is not allowed in Loch Lomond National park as unfortunately this has been abused by many people and so permits are needed if you wish to camp outside a campsite.
So Day 2 is setting off from Luss on the A82 and following the side of Loch Lomond to Tarbert taking the A83 and skirting the top of Loch Long and then on to Inverary the very pretty town on Loch Fyne which is a nice place to stop for coffee (or oysters of which there are plenty!). At Inverary we took the A819 which takes you up to the top of Loch Awe where we joined the A85 to Connell on the shores of Loch Etive. If you had more time then you could carry on to Oban which is such a lovely place and is a good jumping off point for many of the Caledonian McBrayne ferries to the islands. We didn't have a lot of time so we headed North from Connell on the A828 on this beautiful Argyll coastal route and stopped for lunch at the Creagan Inn on the shores of Loch Creran. I can't recommend this place highly enough and it has one of the best Cullen skinks I've tasted (smoked haddock chowder for those who aren't familiar). https://www.creaganinn.co.uk/
Onward and upwards on the A828 to Ballachulish taking the road along the shores of Loch Linnhe. When you cross the Ballachulish bridge and you look right you are looking up Loch Leven while Loch Linnhe stretches to your left. If you had a lot of time then you could take a diversion around Loch Leven spend a lovely night at Kinlochleven where there are stunning views from this campsite http://www.kinlochlevencaravans.com. We've camped in our tent here a number of years ago.
So over the bridge and on up the A82 to Corran where we crossed on the Corran ferry to Ardgour. It's a short crossing and no need to book as it leaves every 20 minutes. We love ferries and this is a cutie! From Ardgour we headed west on the A861 to Strontian on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. The tip of the Ardnamurchan peninsula is the most westerly point in the UK mainland. We spent the night in Strontian at Sunart Camping. http://www.sunartcamping.co.uk/ We really loved this little campsite with it's little bothy with a log burning stove, piles of maps and a kettle and microwave for campers to use. The couple are very friendly and you can also hire bikes at the campsite. It is a short walk to the shores of Loch Sunart and Strontian village. Here's our little beauty all set up!
There is a small hotel in the village where you can go for a drink or something to eat and also a short walk away is the very posh Kilcamb Lodge which has two restaurants. We have camped here before and from Strontian you can take the road to Lochaline and go as day foot passengers with or without bikes on the short ferry crossing to Tobermory on Mull. All the roads we travelled on were not busy. I would go soon if I were you before this mini tour gets a write up as the Argyll 150 or something like that(!) and everyone descends on it. You could easily spend a few days around here. It's lovely. Here is sunset over Loch Sunart.
Day 3 We left Strontian and drove west to Salen where we stopped for coffee https://www.salenjettyshop.com/. This little shop has unbelievably delicious cakes and coffee and a thousand other things you just wouldn't expect in a tiny village shop. As we left, the fish van arrived outside selling a wide range of fresh fish to the locals. It was better stocked than most fishmongers with huge whole lemon sole and lobsters and gigantic prawns. (The same van came to one of the campsites later in the trip). We then carried on north to Loch Ailort on the A861 and then we took the A830 to Morar where we camped at Camusdarach beach campsite http://www.camusdarach.co.uk/. This was one of the beaches used in the filming of Local Hero and it is just stunning. We enjoyed the campsite very much but it isn't cheap. I think we paid about £30 for the night but it was worth it. We went for a walk along the beach at 8.30am and had it all to ourselves! Amazing!
In the evening we went to Mallaig for fish and chips in the Steam Inn and the food was delicious. The truth is you can't get bad fish and chips in Mallaig and a takeaway from Jaffy's, wandering around the harbour would be equally lovely. We met a lovely Cali owner from Germany who had the most organised set up in her Beach. Every box labelled with precise detail!
Part two to follow as unable to post whole trip....
