# John O'Groats



## j20ands10 (Sep 16, 2010)

Well we have started planning our 2012 hols, we are thinking of going to Scotland.

Can anyone offer any advice regarding going all the way north to John O'Groats, we are based in chester so the journey is some 500miles - 1000miles return 

Is the journey worth while or are we best just going as far up as inverness and exploring Skye, gairloch, fortwilliam etc.?

Oh we only have 2 weeks and will be going June and have a dog, which is why we avoided Cornwall this year.

Thanks in advance


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Personally IMO the only good thing about john o'grotes is the ferry nearby to Orkney. 

You can loose yourself up there and it's not hard to find your own peace and quiet but for me it's a bit desolate and there are much nicer parts of Scotland.

Why not do a week up the west coast and a week on one or two of the islands?


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## Wilmannie (Feb 7, 2010)

I know all the area you mention well and, because of your time constraints, think you'd be well advised to stop at Inverness (or, even better, at Dingwell, just N. Inverness). 
Skye, Ft. William & Gairloch have much to enjoy, if you want to go further north so does Ullapool. Close to Inverness on the Moray Firth, Findhorn is beautiful and the long sandy beaches at Nairn & Lossiemouth a joy on a sunny day. Hope this helps! Have fun!


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## tonka (Apr 24, 2006)

It's a few years ago when we went.. Our first trip in our first camper.. On the way up me and my brother in law made a joke about when you get there it's just a dead end with a stop sign..  or a roundabout so you just turn around and come back.

IT WAS THE ROUNDABOUT... :lol: 

Nowt there and very dissapointing, all I can say is "yes we have been there"... Lands end was much better...


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## kc10 (Jan 28, 2010)

... but the roundabout has a pole and is very interesting. 

I would agree with what's been said it's a hell of a drive and while the views are nice on the way up you need good weather to really appreciate them. Spend your fuel money and your time visiting some of the places mentioned. 

Hope you enjoy it and get good weather. What time of year are you going?

Keith.


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## j20ands10 (Sep 16, 2010)

thanks people you have confirmed our thinking we did Gairloch last year (in a cottage) and vowed we would go back, while up there our friends went to ullapool the gps said it was only 2 hrs away took em all day there and back (addmitadly it was february with a little snow on the roads :lol: )

The speeds the gps thinks can be done on an A road do not match them of an A road up north IMO you can nearly half it as you want to slow down and look plus we are in a motorhome and want to make use of the lets pull over here and have a drink lets spend the night here etc think its called freedom - which we are just starting to find is one of the many joys of owning a motorhome.

Keith - we are going in june - not expecting to be baked in hot sun but should do OK :? :?:


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## Andysam (May 10, 2005)

Just done that trip (from the south coast!)- see my "usage" the the left.

John O'Groats is very very boring but you can get you photo next to the signpost. It appears very run down with literally 1/2 of the tourist shops closed and more closing. If you are in the north eastern part of the Highland s I'd say go, otherwise don't bother.

On the bright side the Orkneys were brilliant, the historical sites in the north east itself were very interesting.

Moving over to Ft William on the Nevis Range was interesting but clouds of midges appeared at 6pm on the dot.

Loch Ness was good away from the tourists, Inverness is actually very nice. Glen Coe as beautiful as ever, but Loch Lomond seemed to be full of chavs and turds on the shores (wildcamping in tents as well as MHs is allowed).


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## mags52 (May 9, 2010)

Wild camping by Loch Lomond is no longer allowed from this year - because of the mess left by wild campers I believe.
There are loads of other lochs though with great loch side parking. Try Loch Venechar - gorgeous.


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## Jagman (Feb 16, 2008)

Hi

We are near St.Helens so similar to yourselves in terms of Scottish mileages. We have done one version or another of the 'round Scotland' trip pretty well every year for quite a long time and it is definitely worth doing it in two weeks. We did part of the west coast including Mull in just over a week earlier this year and have just returned from a two week tour of the far north including Orkney - brilliant!!

I would recommend going up the west - M6/A74 - then choosing first night depending on how far you want to drive - we usually do Aviemore area first night then Ullapool via A9/Inverness for night 2. Durness is then an easy trip for night 3 and JoG for night 4. Obviously that's a bit of a rush and its better to spend two nights at Ullapool and/or maybe 2 at Aviemore if you want to have a look at the N.Cairngorms. Whatever you do its worth spending a long time enjoying the Ullapool/Durness run- fantastic scenery.

Adventurous alternative would be to turn left at Glasgow rather than right and then go via Loch Lomond to Crianlarich where you have another left/right option. Left and you could take in Glencoe and once through to Fort William (Ben Nevis) you have the option of east for the Great Glen (Loch Ness) or north for Applecross/Torridon.

The alternative routes take longer and there is much fabulous mountain and coastal scenery to savour but you could still reach the far north within the fortnight giving yourself a couple of days to get home from either JoG or Durness.

This link will lead you to other links within the post and some of them have lots of details about routes and sites. On one of them I've posted a detailed route.

www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-98682-days0-orderask-0.html

my links are on page 3 of this post

If you are new to N/NW Scotland touring please feel free to pm me.

Have a great time planning it and doing it!

Jagman

PS In answer to your question  - The top road from Durness to Thurso is great but JoG is a bit of a let down - however campsite is good and the easy walk from the nearby lighthouse at Duncansby Head to the 'stacks' is well worth it - mh parking near lighthouse is OK if you're relatively early or late! On balance it is worth doing the north coast but don't just aim for JoG!


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## Coulstock (Sep 2, 2008)

I sense an intention in the OP to do JOG because 'it is there'. So go ahead and get that personal milestone out of the way -if you don't do it - it will always be lurking.

We did the final leg from Fortrose caravan park to JOG in 1 day, stopped overnight at JOG and came back down to Dingwall C&CC ( good if crowded laundry) the following day. So it cost us 2 days in an albeit 6 week trip around Scotland.

We arrived , fortunately , on a brilliantly sunny Saturday with the Pentland Firth like a millpond -well apart from the tidal races !!

Great sunset (this was late July)


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## ched999uk (Jan 31, 2011)

We did JOG earlier this year and while it is run down and very little there the day trip over to Orkney is brilliant. We stayed at the site right on the coast next at JOG. Great views, not many facilities but loos and showers were fine. Little shop for papers and milk, small cafe and a souvenir shop. The trip isn't that cheap at about £50 but it is a full day and the coach driver (whose name I have forgotten) is great and full of knowledge that you wouldn't get if you drove round your self. You can even take dogs free!!!! We took our little dog and had no problems at all. We were told of how the Itallian POW's built all the barriers between the islands, the church they built. We visited the stone age village which is amazing. The ferry back was quite stormy and I was glad I had a travel sick pill 

We stayed a couple of days at JOG and unfortunately the rain and wind put paid to our planned walk to the needles (I think that is what they are called). So for us a day on the Orkneys and a few nice walks along the coast would be a great way to spend a couple of days.


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## thegamwellsmythes (Jul 29, 2008)

Hi,

We live in Chester too and used the Royal Wedding week to have an 10 day trip upto to the far north of mainland Scotland.

We did the following:-

1. A night with friends near Glasgow
2. Rosemarkie on the Moray Firth near Inverness for two nights.
3. A night at Wick just below JO'G which I wouldn't bother with again. Stop north or south of Wick. Campsite is OK though.
4. A night at Durness in the far north west. Fab spot, could have stayed for longer.
5. 3nights at Ullapool including a daytrip to Stornaway and a good walk around the local hills. Great campsite and a lovely town.
6. A night on the way back in Peebles which was really nice and a good stop over point.

We went up the east and down the west. It was a great trip in our MH and would recommend it. We saws seals, an otter, deer, dolphins and had really good weather. The scenery along the north coast is breathtaking.

We've also explored the west coast a bit too and would say that if you choose that area you won't be making a mistake as it is fab. 

Just don't try to do too much is my only advice.

Have a great trip.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

For a boys trip we did the following. Drove to Aberdeen. Got ferry to the Shetland isles. Formed a band with an rem tribute band and kept everyone and the bar up all night (12 hour crossing)

did Shetland mainland, yell, Unst and muckle flugger (northern most bit of British isles 61 degrees north) 

Inter island ferries are cheap.

We the. Did the 6 hour crossing back to Orkney. Been twice now. It's then only an hour on the ferry back to JOG and we worked our way back through Scotland.

Amazing places but none of them I would call pretty like Switzerland is or the west coast of Scotland.

Of cours the only other thing is the weather. I think the record high on Shetland us 24 degrees! 

June should be great up there though. It will be light most of the night.


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## Zozzer (Aug 13, 2006)

JOG is the kind of place that many people think of visiting, and when you get there your jaw drops and you think "Is this it" ?

JOG is most definitely an aquired taste you either love or hate it.
Sitting in the van with a mug of coffee, the wind rocking us wildly as we looked out across the sea to the Orkney's we loved it. There was something magically about it's lure, it's raw rugged beauty, and yes even it's nothingness.

Let's not forget that whilst JOG maybe the start or end of any treck to or from Land's End, it is not the farthest point north you can go. For that you need to travel to east down the coast to Dunnet Head.


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## keith_c (Feb 8, 2010)

On Monday we got back to Amersham from a 19 day trip where we went up the west side (superb) and down the east (nothing special). 

Amongst other places we stayed at Largs (day trip to Cumbrae was brilliant), Oban (Tobermory was very wet whilst we were there), Dingwall (far better than we expected. Excellent museum and a lovely CL at Brahan Estate), Grummore (brilliant, ever so quiet - had to pay for electric so the children could play on computers) and Dunnet Bay (overrated but served a purpose). We went to Orkney (excellent) and as has already been said the only good thing about JOG is the ferry away from it. 

Also between Largs and Oban (it's not between at all but before we started we knew that) we did the Falkirk Wheel which is well worth doing.

On the way down we did a couple of CC sites and CL's but the east side of Scotland just felt like England. Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge and Whitby we're very good though.

We knew we'd not have enough time to see it all properly (and we didn't) and we were sussing out where we want to return to in the future. However it was a really good outing.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

If you have a look at our website there is a section on the isle of Arran which is an easy drive from Cheshire. Some of the pics of IMO some of the Best wild spots in the uk might tempt you.


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