Discussion
Red Devil said:
Try this route between Grantown-on-Spey and Invermoriston - https://goo.gl/maps/dHLMGEaMTJM2
It cuts out the A9 altogether and most of the A82 drag along Loch Ness. Neither have anything to recommend them imo.
If you are keen to try for a glimpse of Nessie take the B852 from Dores via Inverfarigaig and Foyers.
Indeed, any of the B roads branching from the B862 and ending up in Inverness are worth a try. Mixed width ,with ( usually ) only a little local traffic /drivers so little problems with folks driving little cars that think they are tanks. It cuts out the A9 altogether and most of the A82 drag along Loch Ness. Neither have anything to recommend them imo.
If you are keen to try for a glimpse of Nessie take the B852 from Dores via Inverfarigaig and Foyers.
I'm in the final throws of planning a trip this week and want to say thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, particularly Steve.
After years of talking about it three of us are actually biking round the west coast for five days starting on Thursday. As we all live in the south we have "cheated" by having the bikes shipped to Glasgow so it's a short flight from Gatwick which avoids two days there and back on various motorways - not much fun on two wheels at the best of times.
Clearly the timing is poor as last week the hottest place in the UK was somewhere in the Highlands and the forecast for this week is not great but we are prepared with good kit and heated grips. I originally hail from north of the border although I left many years ago but have told the others to expect rain, and if the sun shines it's a bonus.
The route has been shamelessly copied from various people with useful input from Steve. We are planning to make it a fairly relaxed few days and there's no fixed agenda but at the moment it looks like this.
Thursday
Glasgow to Oban - via Gourock to Dunoon ferry, A815 to A83 south to Lochgilphead, A816 to Oban.
Friday
Oban to Uig taking in Elgol via A85, A87, B8083 to Elgol, A87 to Portree, A855 to Uig
Saturday
Uig to Lochinver Via A87, A890, A896, Applecross, A832, A835, A837
Sunday
Lochinver to Durness/Tongue/Lairg/Dingwall/Inverness
Monday
Inverness to Loch Lomond via Glencoe.
Tuesday
Loch Lomond to Glasgow, BA back to the rat race and M25.
Any comments on the route and useful tips for accommodation are very welcome. If this is too ambitious or we find ourselves making better time we will adjust the plan accordingly to either cut it short or take in more scenery.
If anyone sees three blokes riding at a sedentary pace on newish Honda adventure-style bikes give us a wave.
After years of talking about it three of us are actually biking round the west coast for five days starting on Thursday. As we all live in the south we have "cheated" by having the bikes shipped to Glasgow so it's a short flight from Gatwick which avoids two days there and back on various motorways - not much fun on two wheels at the best of times.
Clearly the timing is poor as last week the hottest place in the UK was somewhere in the Highlands and the forecast for this week is not great but we are prepared with good kit and heated grips. I originally hail from north of the border although I left many years ago but have told the others to expect rain, and if the sun shines it's a bonus.
The route has been shamelessly copied from various people with useful input from Steve. We are planning to make it a fairly relaxed few days and there's no fixed agenda but at the moment it looks like this.
Thursday
Glasgow to Oban - via Gourock to Dunoon ferry, A815 to A83 south to Lochgilphead, A816 to Oban.
Friday
Oban to Uig taking in Elgol via A85, A87, B8083 to Elgol, A87 to Portree, A855 to Uig
Saturday
Uig to Lochinver Via A87, A890, A896, Applecross, A832, A835, A837
Sunday
Lochinver to Durness/Tongue/Lairg/Dingwall/Inverness
Monday
Inverness to Loch Lomond via Glencoe.
Tuesday
Loch Lomond to Glasgow, BA back to the rat race and M25.
Any comments on the route and useful tips for accommodation are very welcome. If this is too ambitious or we find ourselves making better time we will adjust the plan accordingly to either cut it short or take in more scenery.
If anyone sees three blokes riding at a sedentary pace on newish Honda adventure-style bikes give us a wave.
A review of our trip to the Highlands which coincided with the first McMustang meet - from Mustang6g forum (ok so we went up a day earlier than originally planned!).
The main driver for the trip was my husband (Mark), I did some of the motorway driving.
Saturday/Sunday 7/8 May - Pond Hotel, Glasgow
Home to Glasgow (via M6)
Left home at 9:30am, later than planned as we had to drop the dogs off with their holiday family en route due to going a day earlier than originally planned. Should have been a straightforward run up with a change of drivers partway... but nothing goes to plan!
When we arrived at the services where I changed to drive, did my stint through both sets of M6 roadworks and pulled into the next services to change over again. When we went to get petrol some friendly bikers stopped for a chat and then pointed out that we had no rear number plate... of course I got the blame for "allowing" it to fall off when I was driving. A quick phonecall to Halfords in Kendal and it appeared they could replace it for £28 but we'd need a copy of the V5C to prove ownership and the drivers licence, most people would have been in panic mode by then as we were a lot of hours away from home, but worry not as Mark must be one of a few people who scans documents like that and has them sitting on the cloud in case they're needed . So it was up to Junction 39 and down the A6 to Kendal, he went in to deal with it all and 30 mins later we were back on the A6 having parted with £28 and the guy in Halfords even fitted it for us. Mark put his "driving at Silverstone" skills to use and we whizzed back through the Shap Valley, he was cutting corners and weaving around and all I'll say is that my recently consumed Licorice Allsorts nearly made a surprise reappearance. I was so pleased to get back onto the motorway!
No problems for the rest of the run and we finally got to the hotel around 7pm. No issues with the hotel as it had originally been booked as a first night hotel and we weren't bothered about it being anything special, so it served its purpose well.
Sunday 8 May
After a leisurely start we made our way up to Loch Lomond for the first McMustang meet - enjoyed meeting everyone, the day had been planned really well with plenty of stops and photo opportunities, a good lunch at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar and lots of laughs with the stories people told - a brilliant day out, made a great addition to our holiday and well worth coming up a day earlier.
We ate at Citation in Glasgow that night for one one of the best meals we've ever had.
Monday 9 May - Glenspean Lodge Hotel, Roy Bridge
Once clear of Glasgow and past Clydebank we got onto the A82 (Rest & Be Thankful viewpoint) which we did the day before with the McMustang Meet, A814 to Arochar, A83 to Inverary, A819 to A85, then took a scenic route from the A85 to the A82 up through Glen Orchy (B8074) - lovely little road that follows the river, then followed the A82 to Glencoe, Kinlochleven, Kinlochmore, Ballaculish (around Loch Leven). From there to Fort William where we stopped and tried to find somewhere that did a cream tea but ended up with tea and cake, and then on to the hotel - the hosts here were the best of the whole trip, chatty and knowledgeable about the area, plus others to chat to about Mustangs, Scotland, Mustangs, the Highlands, Mustangs, holidays, Mustangs... you see a trend here?
Tuesday 10 May - Torridon Inn
An early start today, we were at breakfast at 7.33 am - that was our 2nd earliest breakfast of the week. We were aiming to be over the Applecross Pass by 11am so we did our best. Up to Fort Augustus, then onto the A87 and following the coast road pretty much up to the Applecross road, as we headed up towards the pass we came round a corner to find roadwork signs and the mobile bank van (RBS) ahead of us, we stopped in a passing place as we could see a few vehicles waiting to come down and we were both stopped while the "mobile road work crew" were working on the road. A few more vehicles added to both sets waiting to get through and about 30 minutes later one of the workmen came down to move everyone into passing places because the top queue would go through first, they seemed to pass slowly but they were done and then our queue went up, it became apparent why it was slow as there was a "gap" in the road surface from one side of the road to the other and there were metal road signs laid across it with one man lining each vehicle up to come across... very interesting!
Continued on and up to the top where we parked to look at the view, about 10 vehicles had come down at the roadworks and maybe another 5 after we'd passed the area. Just before we were ready to go down the other side a large lorry came up and over, so we were able to keep an eye on him in the distance but never actually caught up with him. I'd read a lot about the pass and had thought that it would be really tight corners, although there were a couple of hairpins they weren't that bad, there were enough passing places for cars meeting and all in all it was a good road, however I'm sure that in the summer holidays it would all be a different story.
When we got to Applecross we went to look at the Inn but the car park was heaving and we didn't want to even try to shoehorn the Mustang in, so we went further on down the coast and had lunch at the Potting Shed in the Walled Garden - I'd thoroughly recommend this as an eating place, tables inside and out, and a group of mums and toddlers/babies on the grass having lunch, free wifi and home cooked food - what more could anyone want? After a leisurely lunch we drove on down to the Torridon Inn and because of our early start we arrived at 3:30pm and had a drink outside in the sunshine as the room wasn't ready - this was the best room of the trip. They weren't that impressed by the Mustang as the barman told me that they'd had the luxury cars through the previous week, the Lamborghinis and Mazeratis!
Wednesday 11 May - Kylesku Hotel
In driving terms, this was the shortest distance we did but in sheer road driving skills on single track roads with passing places this was definitely the most challenging. We followed the coast road as much as possible, through Ullapool and up to Kylesku.
The A837 goes to the north of Loch Assynt, passing the ruins of Ardvreck Castle and the logical route for Kylesku would be to take the A894 as that's the direct route, we carried on the A837 along what would be the most wonderful, scenic and terrifying road we did in the week - it was narrow, very narrow, in the distance it looked like a piece of ribbon, in some places it was only just wide enough for the Mustang, there's a reason why caravans and larger vehicles aren't allowed on that road as the passing places were often more like a slight curve extra to the side of the road, the drops didn't always have barriers next to them and then there were those drops over the other side... we'd go uphill to the crest of the slope and both have to sit up as high as we could and try to see where the road went because the bonnet is so long we couldn't see over the top! Most of the time the road went round a corner on the other side so we could easily have ended up down the side of a valley or in the sea . Mark concentrated on the next bit of the road and I tried to keep an eye on what was coming so I could give him plenty of warning to squeeze into a passing place. We were both pleased to be off that bit of road when we got to the hotel, glad we'd done it but relieved that it was over, the views were wonderful but the road itself was slightly less so!
This hotel was entirely responsible for our week of wonderful weather and the opportunity to join the McMustang Inaugural Meet as they were fully booked the week we originally wanted. They were somewhat more impressed by the Mustang here and said there hadn't been any others up there yet. I'd highly recommend them for their food, the hotel is very hard to book and I'd made our bookings back in December but if you're in the area then try the food.
Thursday 12 May - Craigmonie Hotel, Inverness
We headed north, along the north coast to Tongue with a quick visit to Smoo Cave, lots of steps down and into a dark wet cave, along a walkway to look at a waterfall and back out and up the steps again, then retraced our route a short way to Chocolate Mountain for the Best Hot Chocolate Ever - that was the name of the drink and it certainly was a very nice chocolate hit!
We went south on the A836 through Altnaharra, Lairg and Bonar Bridge and then turned onto the B9176 for Struie Hill and the viewpoint, then heading south on the B9176 through areas with lambs on the road as it was the middle of the lambing season and then onto empty straight roads where Mark was able to push the speed. We joined the A9 and headed into Inverness for our hotel, the Craigmonie was a bit old fashioned but surprisingly had the best and biggest bathroom of the week with a bath and separate large shower. We went into Inverness for dinner as we felt we ought to stretch our legs after spending so many hours just driving and when we got back to the hotel Mark lay down for a rest... that was at 7:30pm, his rest turned into a full night's sleep as we were up just before 7.00 am, so his little snooze lasted nearly 12 hours!
Friday 13 May - heading back home
This was our earliest start of the week as it was a long way back home - 8.5 hrs if there was no traffic and we didn't stop anywhere, but we're veterans of the long haul having driven back home from both Venice and Salzburg in less than 24 hours!
There was a sprinkling of rain and was the first time we'd seen any in the week, we didn't have the dreaded PZero's on the car so there would be no issues on that front. The journey home was relatively smooth, there were some hold ups as was to be expected and the slight issue of me taking the wrong turn from the services at changeover and heading north by mistake woops! Luckily the next exit was a short distance so I could come off, over and back down the south side. Let's just call it a lapse of concentration... we got home about 7.00pm with Mark doing most of the driving, but that could have been because he was very refreshed with nearly 12 hours sleep the night before!
All in all, this was a really good trip, I'd spent hours and hours planning the route at the end of last year, my thanks to the Pistonheads as I read every single post on the forum about the Highlands, posted the route here and got some comments and advice, the hotels were agonised over but really there were only 2 criteria when it came to booking - wifi and onsite parking. Some places had already been decided from the posts on the Pistonheads forum, namely the Torridon Inn and the Kylesku Hotel which is why we changed to the week before when the Kylesku was full on our original chosen week; and in the end that worked perfectly because we were able to go to the McMustang Meet which made a brilliant start to the holiday. Its also made a great springboard for the next trip we're doing - the Pyrenees at the end of June which was all organised (by me) as soon as the Highlands bookings had been done.
And now for the photos, its hard looking back to work out which photos belong to which narrative, plus some are mine and some are Mark's so I've just posted a selection:
The main driver for the trip was my husband (Mark), I did some of the motorway driving.
Saturday/Sunday 7/8 May - Pond Hotel, Glasgow
Home to Glasgow (via M6)
Left home at 9:30am, later than planned as we had to drop the dogs off with their holiday family en route due to going a day earlier than originally planned. Should have been a straightforward run up with a change of drivers partway... but nothing goes to plan!
When we arrived at the services where I changed to drive, did my stint through both sets of M6 roadworks and pulled into the next services to change over again. When we went to get petrol some friendly bikers stopped for a chat and then pointed out that we had no rear number plate... of course I got the blame for "allowing" it to fall off when I was driving. A quick phonecall to Halfords in Kendal and it appeared they could replace it for £28 but we'd need a copy of the V5C to prove ownership and the drivers licence, most people would have been in panic mode by then as we were a lot of hours away from home, but worry not as Mark must be one of a few people who scans documents like that and has them sitting on the cloud in case they're needed . So it was up to Junction 39 and down the A6 to Kendal, he went in to deal with it all and 30 mins later we were back on the A6 having parted with £28 and the guy in Halfords even fitted it for us. Mark put his "driving at Silverstone" skills to use and we whizzed back through the Shap Valley, he was cutting corners and weaving around and all I'll say is that my recently consumed Licorice Allsorts nearly made a surprise reappearance. I was so pleased to get back onto the motorway!
No problems for the rest of the run and we finally got to the hotel around 7pm. No issues with the hotel as it had originally been booked as a first night hotel and we weren't bothered about it being anything special, so it served its purpose well.
Sunday 8 May
After a leisurely start we made our way up to Loch Lomond for the first McMustang meet - enjoyed meeting everyone, the day had been planned really well with plenty of stops and photo opportunities, a good lunch at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar and lots of laughs with the stories people told - a brilliant day out, made a great addition to our holiday and well worth coming up a day earlier.
We ate at Citation in Glasgow that night for one one of the best meals we've ever had.
Monday 9 May - Glenspean Lodge Hotel, Roy Bridge
Once clear of Glasgow and past Clydebank we got onto the A82 (Rest & Be Thankful viewpoint) which we did the day before with the McMustang Meet, A814 to Arochar, A83 to Inverary, A819 to A85, then took a scenic route from the A85 to the A82 up through Glen Orchy (B8074) - lovely little road that follows the river, then followed the A82 to Glencoe, Kinlochleven, Kinlochmore, Ballaculish (around Loch Leven). From there to Fort William where we stopped and tried to find somewhere that did a cream tea but ended up with tea and cake, and then on to the hotel - the hosts here were the best of the whole trip, chatty and knowledgeable about the area, plus others to chat to about Mustangs, Scotland, Mustangs, the Highlands, Mustangs, holidays, Mustangs... you see a trend here?
Tuesday 10 May - Torridon Inn
An early start today, we were at breakfast at 7.33 am - that was our 2nd earliest breakfast of the week. We were aiming to be over the Applecross Pass by 11am so we did our best. Up to Fort Augustus, then onto the A87 and following the coast road pretty much up to the Applecross road, as we headed up towards the pass we came round a corner to find roadwork signs and the mobile bank van (RBS) ahead of us, we stopped in a passing place as we could see a few vehicles waiting to come down and we were both stopped while the "mobile road work crew" were working on the road. A few more vehicles added to both sets waiting to get through and about 30 minutes later one of the workmen came down to move everyone into passing places because the top queue would go through first, they seemed to pass slowly but they were done and then our queue went up, it became apparent why it was slow as there was a "gap" in the road surface from one side of the road to the other and there were metal road signs laid across it with one man lining each vehicle up to come across... very interesting!
Continued on and up to the top where we parked to look at the view, about 10 vehicles had come down at the roadworks and maybe another 5 after we'd passed the area. Just before we were ready to go down the other side a large lorry came up and over, so we were able to keep an eye on him in the distance but never actually caught up with him. I'd read a lot about the pass and had thought that it would be really tight corners, although there were a couple of hairpins they weren't that bad, there were enough passing places for cars meeting and all in all it was a good road, however I'm sure that in the summer holidays it would all be a different story.
When we got to Applecross we went to look at the Inn but the car park was heaving and we didn't want to even try to shoehorn the Mustang in, so we went further on down the coast and had lunch at the Potting Shed in the Walled Garden - I'd thoroughly recommend this as an eating place, tables inside and out, and a group of mums and toddlers/babies on the grass having lunch, free wifi and home cooked food - what more could anyone want? After a leisurely lunch we drove on down to the Torridon Inn and because of our early start we arrived at 3:30pm and had a drink outside in the sunshine as the room wasn't ready - this was the best room of the trip. They weren't that impressed by the Mustang as the barman told me that they'd had the luxury cars through the previous week, the Lamborghinis and Mazeratis!
Wednesday 11 May - Kylesku Hotel
In driving terms, this was the shortest distance we did but in sheer road driving skills on single track roads with passing places this was definitely the most challenging. We followed the coast road as much as possible, through Ullapool and up to Kylesku.
The A837 goes to the north of Loch Assynt, passing the ruins of Ardvreck Castle and the logical route for Kylesku would be to take the A894 as that's the direct route, we carried on the A837 along what would be the most wonderful, scenic and terrifying road we did in the week - it was narrow, very narrow, in the distance it looked like a piece of ribbon, in some places it was only just wide enough for the Mustang, there's a reason why caravans and larger vehicles aren't allowed on that road as the passing places were often more like a slight curve extra to the side of the road, the drops didn't always have barriers next to them and then there were those drops over the other side... we'd go uphill to the crest of the slope and both have to sit up as high as we could and try to see where the road went because the bonnet is so long we couldn't see over the top! Most of the time the road went round a corner on the other side so we could easily have ended up down the side of a valley or in the sea . Mark concentrated on the next bit of the road and I tried to keep an eye on what was coming so I could give him plenty of warning to squeeze into a passing place. We were both pleased to be off that bit of road when we got to the hotel, glad we'd done it but relieved that it was over, the views were wonderful but the road itself was slightly less so!
This hotel was entirely responsible for our week of wonderful weather and the opportunity to join the McMustang Inaugural Meet as they were fully booked the week we originally wanted. They were somewhat more impressed by the Mustang here and said there hadn't been any others up there yet. I'd highly recommend them for their food, the hotel is very hard to book and I'd made our bookings back in December but if you're in the area then try the food.
Thursday 12 May - Craigmonie Hotel, Inverness
We headed north, along the north coast to Tongue with a quick visit to Smoo Cave, lots of steps down and into a dark wet cave, along a walkway to look at a waterfall and back out and up the steps again, then retraced our route a short way to Chocolate Mountain for the Best Hot Chocolate Ever - that was the name of the drink and it certainly was a very nice chocolate hit!
We went south on the A836 through Altnaharra, Lairg and Bonar Bridge and then turned onto the B9176 for Struie Hill and the viewpoint, then heading south on the B9176 through areas with lambs on the road as it was the middle of the lambing season and then onto empty straight roads where Mark was able to push the speed. We joined the A9 and headed into Inverness for our hotel, the Craigmonie was a bit old fashioned but surprisingly had the best and biggest bathroom of the week with a bath and separate large shower. We went into Inverness for dinner as we felt we ought to stretch our legs after spending so many hours just driving and when we got back to the hotel Mark lay down for a rest... that was at 7:30pm, his rest turned into a full night's sleep as we were up just before 7.00 am, so his little snooze lasted nearly 12 hours!
Friday 13 May - heading back home
This was our earliest start of the week as it was a long way back home - 8.5 hrs if there was no traffic and we didn't stop anywhere, but we're veterans of the long haul having driven back home from both Venice and Salzburg in less than 24 hours!
There was a sprinkling of rain and was the first time we'd seen any in the week, we didn't have the dreaded PZero's on the car so there would be no issues on that front. The journey home was relatively smooth, there were some hold ups as was to be expected and the slight issue of me taking the wrong turn from the services at changeover and heading north by mistake woops! Luckily the next exit was a short distance so I could come off, over and back down the south side. Let's just call it a lapse of concentration... we got home about 7.00pm with Mark doing most of the driving, but that could have been because he was very refreshed with nearly 12 hours sleep the night before!
All in all, this was a really good trip, I'd spent hours and hours planning the route at the end of last year, my thanks to the Pistonheads as I read every single post on the forum about the Highlands, posted the route here and got some comments and advice, the hotels were agonised over but really there were only 2 criteria when it came to booking - wifi and onsite parking. Some places had already been decided from the posts on the Pistonheads forum, namely the Torridon Inn and the Kylesku Hotel which is why we changed to the week before when the Kylesku was full on our original chosen week; and in the end that worked perfectly because we were able to go to the McMustang Meet which made a brilliant start to the holiday. Its also made a great springboard for the next trip we're doing - the Pyrenees at the end of June which was all organised (by me) as soon as the Highlands bookings had been done.
And now for the photos, its hard looking back to work out which photos belong to which narrative, plus some are mine and some are Mark's so I've just posted a selection:
Thinking of spending a week in the West Highlands this summer - driving, walking, and scenery photos.
Taking GetCarter's Fort Augustus to Ullapool (or Durness) through the Western Highlands of Scotland as a starting point with bits added on once I get through the rest of this thread.
Anyone done a Highlands trip camping somewhere different each night? How was it?
Never done a driving holiday before, I see booking weeks ahead doesn't leave much flexibility. I expect all hotels would be full for same day booking. Should always be able to find a campsite space, looking around 5pm or phoning ahead earlier in the day.
Taking GetCarter's Fort Augustus to Ullapool (or Durness) through the Western Highlands of Scotland as a starting point with bits added on once I get through the rest of this thread.
Anyone done a Highlands trip camping somewhere different each night? How was it?
Never done a driving holiday before, I see booking weeks ahead doesn't leave much flexibility. I expect all hotels would be full for same day booking. Should always be able to find a campsite space, looking around 5pm or phoning ahead earlier in the day.
mattwhite709 said:
Evening ph'rs,
Driving up to Scotland at the end of the month for a week for the first time. Any roads I should take on the way up there from London? Also wanted to know what roads in Scotland are worth a visit?
Thanks in advance for any help
Matt - if you send me your email address, I can send you an NC500 pack that I have prepared for our trip, which starts on Saturday. Driving up to Scotland at the end of the month for a week for the first time. Any roads I should take on the way up there from London? Also wanted to know what roads in Scotland are worth a visit?
Thanks in advance for any help
I am going up via the Cotswolds, through the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and Pennines, and then via Aviemore.
I have a route all written down, with waypoints etc. Happy to share.
I fly tonight (my time - HK) for London, so you need to get back to me by 10:00 your time today.
L555BAT said:
Thinking of spending a week in the West Highlands this summer - driving, walking, and scenery photos.
Taking GetCarter's Fort Augustus to Ullapool (or Durness) through the Western Highlands of Scotland as a starting point with bits added on once I get through the rest of this thread.
Anyone done a Highlands trip camping somewhere different each night? How was it?
Never done a driving holiday before, I see booking weeks ahead doesn't leave much flexibility. I expect all hotels would be full for same day booking. Should always be able to find a campsite space, looking around 5pm or phoning ahead earlier in the day.
Bear in mind that wild camping is legal here (no law of trespass), so many just find a quiet spot and pitch there. You are right that hotels will be booked in summer.Taking GetCarter's Fort Augustus to Ullapool (or Durness) through the Western Highlands of Scotland as a starting point with bits added on once I get through the rest of this thread.
Anyone done a Highlands trip camping somewhere different each night? How was it?
Never done a driving holiday before, I see booking weeks ahead doesn't leave much flexibility. I expect all hotels would be full for same day booking. Should always be able to find a campsite space, looking around 5pm or phoning ahead earlier in the day.
I made that 'best UK' site 16 years ago... it needs updating to add detail north of Ullapool. This thread provides much of that detail.
GetCarter said:
L555BAT said:
Thinking of spending a week in the West Highlands this summer - driving, walking, and scenery photos.
Taking GetCarter's Fort Augustus to Ullapool (or Durness) through the Western Highlands of Scotland as a starting point with bits added on once I get through the rest of this thread.
Anyone done a Highlands trip camping somewhere different each night? How was it?
Never done a driving holiday before, I see booking weeks ahead doesn't leave much flexibility. I expect all hotels would be full for same day booking. Should always be able to find a campsite space, looking around 5pm or phoning ahead earlier in the day.
Bear in mind that wild camping is legal here (no law of trespass), so many just find a quiet spot and pitch there. You are right that hotels will be booked in summer.Taking GetCarter's Fort Augustus to Ullapool (or Durness) through the Western Highlands of Scotland as a starting point with bits added on once I get through the rest of this thread.
Anyone done a Highlands trip camping somewhere different each night? How was it?
Never done a driving holiday before, I see booking weeks ahead doesn't leave much flexibility. I expect all hotels would be full for same day booking. Should always be able to find a campsite space, looking around 5pm or phoning ahead earlier in the day.
I made that 'best UK' site 16 years ago... it needs updating to add detail north of Ullapool. This thread provides much of that detail.
Camping somewhere different every night can be great however the weather can have a big impact. Packing away a soaking wet tent only to unpack it later that day isn't pleasant.
cat220 said:
GetCarter said:
L555BAT said:
Thinking of spending a week in the West Highlands this summer - driving, walking, and scenery photos.
Taking GetCarter's Fort Augustus to Ullapool (or Durness) through the Western Highlands of Scotland as a starting point with bits added on once I get through the rest of this thread.
Anyone done a Highlands trip camping somewhere different each night? How was it?
Never done a driving holiday before, I see booking weeks ahead doesn't leave much flexibility. I expect all hotels would be full for same day booking. Should always be able to find a campsite space, looking around 5pm or phoning ahead earlier in the day.
Bear in mind that wild camping is legal here (no law of trespass), so many just find a quiet spot and pitch there. You are right that hotels will be booked in summer.Taking GetCarter's Fort Augustus to Ullapool (or Durness) through the Western Highlands of Scotland as a starting point with bits added on once I get through the rest of this thread.
Anyone done a Highlands trip camping somewhere different each night? How was it?
Never done a driving holiday before, I see booking weeks ahead doesn't leave much flexibility. I expect all hotels would be full for same day booking. Should always be able to find a campsite space, looking around 5pm or phoning ahead earlier in the day.
I made that 'best UK' site 16 years ago... it needs updating to add detail north of Ullapool. This thread provides much of that detail.
Camping somewhere different every night can be great however the weather can have a big impact. Packing away a soaking wet tent only to unpack it later that day isn't pleasant.
A couple of links, https://www.visitscotland.com/accommodation/carava...
There are also several campsites dotted around the highlands, if the appeal of a flushing toilet and a shower is too strong.
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