# Touring Scotland



## Tezza (May 1, 2005)

Good day all

Thinking of going to Scotland for the first time, either over the Easter period or the 2 weeks after.

It will be our first time this far north and was thinking of Loch Lomond area as i like wildlife, scenery etc, wife not keen on walking so this bit is not a priority.

Am I in the right place for a first time visit or should I try somewhere else to ease us in so to speak?

Any recomendations, areas and touring sites and what do you recon on the weather, is April too early, no pint going if there's snow etc and can't get around.

Any advice is welcomed, it's a long way up from South wales so we would like it to be a nice first experience.

Tezza


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## Jamsieboy (Jan 14, 2011)

Hi Tezza
You may still get snow in April but mostly over high ground!
Loch Lomond is nice - CCC have sites on both the West and East shores.
The West of Scotland is a bit warmer than the East but much wetter.
Coming North you could spend a couple of nights in Moffat (Borders), then head towards Loch Lomond for a few days. You could head further North towards Oban and up to Skye. Very scenic and worth seeing. After that you could head East stopping at Stonehaven then down towards Edinburgh and then onwards to Melrose before heading South again. 
Depends on how long you have. The above would need three weeks I guess.
Enjoy


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## Camdoon (Sep 21, 2012)

Personally would advise going further than Loch Lomond as it is very accessible from Glasgow and therefore usually noticeably busier than anything further north.
You should also Google the Scottish school holidays which will differ from the South and things will be very quiet outside these dates.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

I would certainly go up at least as far as Inverness, then you could travel west.via Loch Ness, Fort Agaustus and then to Skye.
Some breath taking scenery  
Don't delay, as you could catch the start of the mosquito season!

https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/...--?_adv_prop=image&fr=mcafee&va=fort+augustus


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## Nick5912 (Aug 30, 2014)

Tezza,

We are heading up to Scotland 2nd week of May. We are new to Motor Homing and hiring a MH from Kelty. (A 'try-before-you-buy' trip!).
Having spoken to a lot of people on other forums I have a few ideas. We intend to drive clockwise from Kelty. The rough route being Kelty-Glen Coe/Fort William-Uig-Ullapool-Fort Augustus-Pitlochry-Kelty. We have no stringent plan and will be stopping when we want and where we want rather than book anywhere. We intend to 'wild camp' as well as utilise more established sites. 
Hope you have a great time.
Nick


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

In my experience May and June are the better months for weather in Scotland but you could still be lucky in April.

Its quite a long haul from south Wales especially once you get up beyond Lomond journey times slow down somewhat. If your thinking of wilding I think there has been a lot of trouble with wild campers (tenters) around Loch Lomond and some restrictions have been put in place.

For me I love the islands. Arran is my favourite and the easiest to get to but Skye (not technically an island anymore as there is a bridge), Mull, Islay and the outer hebrides etc are just very different and superb. The west coast from Kintyre up beyond Westeros is superb. They have slashed some of the ferry costs now as well.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

As mentioned, giving us an idea of the time you have for the trip.

Personally I think April is a bit early.

West has excellent scenery, and is warmer but wetter at times.

I cannot advise on sites as we do not use them, but if you are doing any wildcampng, and in some very nice areas there is little choice - especially chek site opening periods. Wildcamping is a doddle and some great sea, loch and mountain places and with few exceptions it is all permitted - Scotland took down their 'No overnight' signs a few years ago.

To get a flavour of some of the spots go to 'barryD' s profile and link to his blog for Scotland. I am sure there are others - go into the blog directory

In the more remote areas. e.g North of Oban be careful to keep diesel, gas and water topped up or you could end up wasting time and diesel.

Starting from S. Wales I personally would plan to shoot straight up the 
M5-M6 as far as you feel like on first day, and maybe stop in Forest of Bowland(just off M6) or Lakes, unless you feel like getting further up.

As I said timescale will help us to suggest. In the remoter areas, both coast and mountain, there are a lot of single-track roads with passing places and some quite twisty, so 18-20mph average is not unusually thus more time is needed than other touring areas.

Some great fish and seafood and meat, especially fresh lamb.

Geoff


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## kimbo4x4 (Jun 29, 2008)

Having been displaced from South Wales to Fort William at an early age for my fathers work, I have been up and down this route many times.
April is early. Most Scottish schools now take the first two weeks for hols. Barry is correct May and early June can be great weather and even pre - midgey :? 
Motor up the M6 and stay just North of the Lakes somewhere leaving yourselves an easy leg to Loch Lomond on Day 2. You will want to spend a couple of days exploring aound here/boat trip etc. 
Head up to Fort William. Try to get the Bunree site. Take the chairlift up Aonach Mor. Drive down the Mallaig Road past Lochailort( Local Hero country) Where they trained the OSS agents too.Stay overnight at a site on the Silver Sands.Marvel at the sunsets near Arisaig. Come back to FortWilliam, visit Neptunes Staircase then head north for Fort Augustus and Loch Ness.
Do a bit of monster hunting as you drive towards Inverness but turn left and head to Fortrose. Stop over and do a bit of Dolphin spotting from the shore. Thats the first ten days done !
Four days to get home? Take the A9. Stop off at Stirling - better Castle than Edinburgh. Back towards the Lakes maybe stopover at Penrith then home.
Now if you have three weeks to spend you could go to Oban then.............theres all of these islands
8)


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## dovtrams (Aug 18, 2009)

Jamsieboy has just saved me typing my suggestions in, that would be a good tour and Moffat would be a nice stop after your journey from Wales. A nice wee town with good eating and drinking places.

Loch Lomond is not my favourite place, Luss seems to think all tourists have plenty of money but worth maybe spending one night there.

Have a good trip and don't worry about snow, you get it here in July!!

Dave


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## PF13 (Aug 2, 2013)

I am not a Lomond fan, too much on the outskirts of Glasgow. I would either go west coast highlands and Islands or motor to Inverness and then do great glen stuff. Wild camping is the way to go. If you like isolation and nature then maybe give the ardnamurchan peninsula a go, which you can cross over to on the Coran ferry before you reach fort william.


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## PF13 (Aug 2, 2013)

Oh and btw I am doing the outer isles at Easter and not worried about the weather... (maybe I should be though!)


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

I have been up the West Coast much earlier than April and only needed a T-shirt. Mind you it varied greatly from day to day.  

I would take the chance on April before it is wall to wall motorhomes and you struggle to find a wildcamping spot. Unless I get on a C&CC THS, I avoid the place in Summer. Autumn in the Highlands can be magnificent.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

747 said:


> I have been up the West Coast much earlier than April and only needed a T-shirt. Mind you it varied greatly from day to day.
> 
> I would take the chance on April before it is wall to wall motorhomes and you struggle to find a wildcamping spot. Unless I get on a C&CC THS, I avoid the place in Summer. Autumn in the Highlands can be magnificent.


Well we were up ther between June and August in 2013 and had no trouble finding wildcamping spots on the West Coast.


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## daffodil (Aug 7, 2014)

PF13 said:


> I am not a Lomond fan, too much on the outskirts of Glasgow. I would either go west coast highlands and Islands or motor to Inverness and then do great glen stuff. Wild camping is the way to go. If you like isolation and nature then maybe give the ardnamurchan peninsula a go, which you can cross over to on the Coran ferry before you reach fort william.


That is a brilliant idea, I used to rent a log cabin near to Strontian and the scenery was breathtaking and the roads were fairly quiet except at ferry times then its a race track


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## tubbytuba (Mar 21, 2007)

I would heartily agree with Barry, for a first trip you can't go far wrong with Arran - it is called Scotland in miniature after all.

We are planning 3 - 4 weeks touring Scotland May/june and love the islands, might only be Skye and Mull on this trip though.
Scotland is fab.

Steve.


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## JohnandChristine (Mar 19, 2012)

Stumbled across this thread with interest, as we aim to amble round the uk this summer so I am watching your tips about when to be in Scotland, and where to visit.
We live central south so its along way up there.
Thanks for some good suggestions,

John


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## Tezmcd (Aug 3, 2009)

Hope that links works - Scotland at its best


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## Tezza (May 1, 2005)

Thanks for all your replies, lots of ideas to digest, it seems I am going to have to get a plan together for this trip, 2 weeks is my limit this time, but hope to return again for more visits.

We always go South and are looking forward to exploring somewhere new, not 100% sure on wild camping, prefer to stay on sites to be honest, we like the security and use this as a base camp.



T


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## Tezza (May 1, 2005)

Good Afternoon

OK, it looks like we are happy to go to the Bunree site for the last two weeks in April. (so excited)

It says on the CC site page, Satellite reception not good, so will my normal status ariel (the long pole one) be OK for TV reception? any advice welcome.

Also, is there anything I should know or must see, I would like to think we would go again in the future but I have been looking forward to visiting this area for so long I don't want to waste it.

T


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## andrewball1000 (Oct 16, 2009)

I toured for the first time last year and spent all of it north of the Great Glen. inverness to Fort William. Loved it all. The single track roads were very easy as you can see a number of passing places ahead and the etiquette is excellent.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

andrewball1000 said:


> I toured for the first time last year and spent all of it north of the Great Glen. inverness to Fort William. Loved it all. The single track roads were very easy as you can see a number of passing places ahead and the etiquette is excellent.


Andrew

I agree on the etiquette, but it is a problem when two drivers 'flash' at the same time - then eventually decide to go - simutaneously; back to square one and start again?

In that situation I tend to press on and hope the other goes back into the passing place with no more ado, since he had flashed in the frst place.

Obviously the wave of thanks is more than appropriate. 

Mostly I have found that cars, on seeing a large MH, tend to be very willing to stop.

Geoff


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## slippers (Mar 12, 2009)

We have toured Europe for about 40 years and nowhere is as beautiful as the west coast of Scotland, Arisaig and all around there. The Outer Hebs are stunning and Calmac do very cheap deals for island hopping. Barra, Uists is a good one but they do over 20 different deals. Scotland is pretty bloody special. Enjoy.


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