Canary Islander is clueless with Scottish Isles – Help!

[Canary Bird]

I totally understand what you are saying about ...
... too much travel ... we tend to put in lots of kms (audio books & conversations in a comfy van) ... and having been born in the States .... the road trip is as much a part of the experience as the stop ... I was in Australia in the autumn and that is another universe when it comes to "what is a reasonable amount of kilometers in a day?"

... too many ferries (we love the nautical aspect of travel - boats, ports, etc.) ... also some of the boat travel is overnight ... we have to sleep sometime, so they move the Cali while I sleep and arrive ready to go

... all the Islands start to look the same (definitely agree with geography, but we tend to study, research & learn history of a particular place before we go ... so it is putting feet to what we are learning)

... at least with the Orkney/Shetland boats, you can cancel right before journey, so we have a bit of flex if we want to add or subtract time on that segment

With all that said, after putting timetables on paper, we will likely add days and we may knock out an Island group.

THANK YOU all for your GREAT advice!!

 

[Canary Bird]

Marchugo, thanks for another good link for midge screen. I am going to see who can ship it to me the best to have time to install before leaving for the UK.

 

[MartinMere]

If you're on Islay you might consider also visiting Jura, which is a very short ferry away (10 mins or so, no bookings needed). There are some great examples of raised beaches just to the north of Feolin where the ferry docks, and if you drive as far as you can up the only road on the island you can then walk to the tip to see Corryvreckan, Europe's second largest whirlpool, bypassing Barnhill where George Orwell wrote 1984. That's if you can tear yourself away from Islay's many distilleries (useful for a rainy day that Scotland occasionally has...)

The book by Hamish Haswell-Smith is a great guide to the islands.

Martin

 

[DM]

Although I've lived in England for nearly 50 years (surely that cant be right!) ive holidayed in Scotland early every year since my parents moved south, both as a child with my parents and later with my kids. I entirely get your desire to do a serious road trip with lots of ferries and lots of miles. I've done the same many times although not the west coast and Shetlands in one trip! I do agree that it would be best to do either the west coast or Orkney / Shetland.

If you go west then definitely take advantage of the CalMac Hopscotch ticket rather than returns. A few years ago we did Oban, Barra, Uist, Harris, Lewis, Skye in two weeks. That was ok but more in 2 weeks would be challenging. If you want to do a bit more then maybe Arran plus Islay / Jura beforehand.

As others have said - wild camping is easy in the outer isles. All the ferry terminals offer free fresh water and toilet disposal.

Yes midges can be unbelievable if you haven't experienced them. But they don't need to ruin a holiday. They only appear for an hours so either side of dusk (and sometimes in the mornings). So think about where you will be then. Setting up camp probably. Midges get blown away very easily so I tend to stay close to the coast where the sea breezes keep them at bay. Avoid idyllic glens in the woods by pretty streams. If they come out then cover up, slap on the repellent and take shelter. They will soon dissapear. Bonfires on the beach are a perfect remedy.

Lastly there is the small matter of the Edinburgh Fringe. If you have never been and your itinerary allows you to be in Edinburgh in August then consider giving it a couple of days. It's the worlds largest arts festival. The atmosphere is amazing. Every sort of entertainment you could want - lots of it free or pay what you want. There's a pop-up campsite at the show ground at Ingleston near the airport.

Whatever you do you'll love it. Very jealous. We're heading to the continent this year - but we'll still get to Edinburgh for a few days .

 

[Jay586]

I had the joy of living in Scotland for 11 years. Didn't travel enough as only came across midges the once, a completely miserable 2 days in Loch Lomond. Resolved to move thereafter. They ate the dogs & normally insect repellent OH alive...decamped at the 1st possible moment. Campsite was like something out of a film, with people in massive face masks. Don't underestimate this as an issue, depending on how you cope. We would never go back in midge season.

However, spent several happy weeks on Tiree. Amazing island but camping is regulated. Really, just pick an area & chill as the scenery is fab.

 

[Canary Bird]

Martin, DM & Jay586

THANKS for great advice on reading material, midges, musical festivals & travel routes. I really appreciate your help! Looking forward to wearing my midge net hat & creams of all kinds!

 

[Ewan]

To echo what others have said, I would definitely leave Orkney, Shetland and Fair Isle for another trip - that's another 2 weeks alone to see them properly (and given the small size of Fair Isle I wouldn't take a van there anyway).

If you could spend 3 weeks then you could travel up the west coast islands, hop over to the Western Isles, back to Ullapool then spend a few nights at the great beachside campsites at Achiltibuie, Clachtoll or Achmelvich. But given the slow roads you would feel rushed. And - don't forget - you want to get out of the van, go to the beach, see the sights, go for walks, take spontaneous detours ... so leave time for that !

A few other suggestions/comments:

• you'll need to plan your trip around ferry times - some routes aren't daily or may just have 1 or 2 ferries a day
• you'll need to book campsites in Arran, Skye and those I mentioned above north of Ullapool for sure - others will be quieter and even in July I think you'll be able to just turn up
• I'd stay at Seal Shore campsite on Arran rather than Lochranza. Seal Shore is on the beach with great views; Lochranza will be a large, busy site in July
• adding a day trip to Jura makes sense (or camp there wild/informally)
• take the ferry from Tobermory to Kilchoan (Ardnamurchan) rather than going back to Oban. This saves time/miles and Ardnamurchan is a quiet, lovely spot with a good beach (Sanna Bay) and good sights (eg Ardnamurchan lighthouse, Castle Tioram)
• from there, stay at Arisaig to experience some gorgeous white sand beaches before hopping over to Skye from Mallaig
• take the ferry from Mallaig to Lochboisdale then (to get to Barra) head south over the causeway to Eriskay to get the ferry to Barra.

Yes, July is midge season but the west coast of Scotland is windy and midges don't like wind. You're already committed on an island so if the midges do come to visit, just head to the coast for a breeze. Annoying perhaps, but midges won't ruin your holiday. Here's some advice on how to avoid them.

You'll also find my recommendations on good campsites, islands and so on here.

 

[Canary Bird]

Ewan, Great ideas and great website about a beautiful place in the world! THANK YOU!! We will have a family powwow in the coming days and see what we all decide together with the time & interest of 5 people! Fotos from today's picnic in the cool (8C & foggy) pine forest about 15 minute up the mountain from our flat.

 

[Canary Bird]

Despite the UK's many great period dramas on tv that will have my wife dragging me to Poldark's Cornwall and Downton Abbey's High Clere Castle ... and my kids' going for Legoland and a UFO hike in
Rendelsham Forest ... we will spend our time in Scotland.

We are planning to cut down the number of Islands visited and add days. We are planning towards several days at Mull (even participating in their Highland Games) & Iona ... then several days in Mainland Orkney and several days in Mainland Shetland. We might take a short ferry to a close Island and just enjoy these two. It is nice that the long boat journeys will be overnight, so we get travel time done while snoozing. ... we actually will have a total of 5 overnights on boats with the Tenerife to mainland Spain legs.

THANK YOU again for your help! I will be using your ideas for this trip and anticipated second and third trips! ... and who knows, life is full of Plan Bs, so maybe we will adjust this anticipated trip here or there.

 

[Canary Bird]

Hello all! I just got back this morning around three in the morning with the ferry from Huelva to Tenerife ending our trip. My computer broke down during the trip and usually only used wi-fi when able from Tescos along the way. The trip was great and we drove some 10,000kms and probably could add at least another 4-6k with ferries, but I have not tried to calculate it. We did Mull, Iona, mainland Orkney & mainland Shetland ... along with sight in the south of England, Cornwall, Snowdonia, Lakes District, Hadrian's Wall & York area ... getting back & forth from France by chunnel. We had a great experience and now have lots of clean up and good memories. We had 44.5C in mainland Spain a day ago, and had rain & wind, but weather did not slow us down nor cause us to adjust our schedule ... even the lack of midges disappointed us. However, a flat tire and tight hedges in Cornwall did the job!

THANK YOU so much for your help!!