Wildcamping In Scotland (1 Viewer)

[david hodgson]

hi, starting the beginning of September we intend to tour Scotland. our route should be roughly Edinborough, Perth Dundee Aberdeen inverness fort William Oban then into loch Lomand on our way to the lake district. anyone know of any wildcamping spots we could stay at we would love to hear about

 

[lorger]

David there will be loads in all these places so would be a bit hard to list them all. In Scotland if your sensible you'll find somewhere to stay and the further north the easier it gets.

 

[Captain Biggles]

David my wife & I have just returned from another visit 'North of the Boarder', this time to the Outer Hebrides and we'd certainly advise heading NorthWest to anyone.

Edinborough is worth a visit, however Perth Dundee Aberdeen and Inverness are all a bit mundane and similar. I used to cover Scotland in a previous life and know them all quite well and simply would not rate the East Coast, if it's lochs, mountains, beautiful awe inspiring scenery, desolate wildernesses, an abundance of wildlife and sheer peace and quiet that you are after, then head North West.

Fort William is a place to stock up on provisions prior to heading further North, oh, and I suppose you could do a quick ascent & descent of Ben Nevis whilst you're there which will take you ~4.5 hrs if you're reasonably fit.

Oban and more especially the area to the North of Oban is certainly worth a visit.

Ullapool has a fantastic fish & chip shop (having won many awards) right near the ferry terminal and appart from the Fish & Chip shop in Stromness, Orkney, Ullapool comes out tops. Not that we have a Fish & Chip fixation, just that we thought that their fish & chips were to be reccommended to anyone venturing up that way.

Loch Lomond is quite beautiful if the sun's shining, we even witnessed a Catalina Seaplane of WWII vintage take off from Loch Lomond 3 weeks ago and you don't see that very often.

Applecross is worth a visit with a rather good well run pub (there's also a v.good campsite there) the scenic route coming in anti-clockwise from the North is quite manageable and the shorter route from Applecross heading East over the peaks offers great views and stunning scenery, but beware the road is very narrow, there are lots of almost sheer drops, tight turns and steep gradients but the good old Fiat Ducato clutch is a good match for it, just be on the lookout for any Tesco Home Delivery vehicle heading your way as there are some passing places that simply are not wide enough for 2 x 3.5 ton vehicles to pass, we had to reverse up a steep gradient for some distance to allow us to pass.

Other places you may want to visit are Rannoch Mor a barren almost lunar like landscape (with the odd tree) which constantly draws visitors back and the Kings House Hotel (at its Western end before you reach Glencoe) when travelling West, if you visit over lunchtime you can even hand feed the local tame deer around the Hotel. Glencoe is worth a wonder there's also a brilliant Campsite at Invercoe looking west over the Loch (highly reccommended) and on the Eastern outskirts of Glencoe you'll find the 'Clachaig Inn' a 300 yr old hostel with a 'Boot Bar' complete with original stone floor & all draught real ales (plenty of them) at £3.20/pint, they also serve all day such delicaies as Vennison & Wild Boar Burgers ummmmm, nice! the narrow road past the Clachaig in which passes away from the main road towards the Northern part of Glencoe is ~2 miles in length and a lovely walk, if you're quiet and lucky you'll see deer, red squirrels and pinemartins, now I'm getting carried away...

And one final suggestion if not for this trip may be useful to consider for a future trip and that is to follow the coast, preferably the single track very minor roads up the Western Coast, across the top of the Scottish coastline to John o'Groats and then across to the Orkney Isles for a day or three, well worth a visit. Be sure to take the roads that say 'Not suitable for caravans' and you'll be stunned by what you find, loads of pristine beaches with fine white sand and clear blue water, just like the carribbean (but ~ 20 degrees cooler!).

As far as Wild Camping locations are concerned, there are plenty to be found and as a previous corrrespondant added, the further North you go the more you will find, North of Fort William you can more or less park overnight anywhere (within reason) you'll be spoilt for choice.

Oh yes, the our way to the Lake District, well after seeing that lot, the Lake District will seen quite tame & ordinary.

Enjoy.

Captain Biggles

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[WillH]

West coast much more scenic than the east as above, we go up there twice a year normally and shall be off again in September. Skye worth a visit also.

 

[Rob and Val]

Thank you so much, @Captain Biggles. We'll be there, for the first time, in September so your information is gratefully received.

 

[Lenny HB]

I suppose you could do a quick ascent & descent of Ben Nevis whilst you're there which will take you ~4.5 hrs if you're reasonably fit
Captain Biggles

!!!!!! We are reasonably fit, took us 10 hours, we did spend an hour & half at the top and the last part of the climb was over a snow field. Also was one of only 69 days a year when you get a clear view at ghe top. It is a hard slog up an old mule path, one I would want to do again.
It was in April 2 weeks without rain and a couple of days at 25/26 deg.

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[david hodgson]

thankyou for all your replys I will let you know how we get on

 

[Captain Biggles]

!!!!!! We are reasonably fit, took us 10 hours, we did spend an hour & half at the top and the last part of the climb was over a snow field. Also was one of only 69 days a year when you get a clear view at ghe top. It is a hard slog up an old mule path, one I would want to do again.
It was in April 2 weeks without rain and a couple of days at 25/26 deg.

Nah! now I was ~58 yrs old and my wife was ~63 yrs, both of slim build the non-athletic variety, but it's probably something to do with our diet, we always eat 3 Shredded Wheat and found it a doddle ;-)

 

[Tincataylor]

We will also be touring the west coast of Scotland in late August early September and have found the information here most informative. We look forward to maybe meeting one of two of you on the road,

The Tinca's

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