Scotland this (2019/20) winter

[bvddobb]

Sunrise at a wild camping spot in Scotland:

 

[bvddobb]

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

 

[bvddobb]

The van has returned to base:



A more detailed trip report and more foto's will follow soon!

 

[Pro moochers]

Scotland full service

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We found this one at Loch Muick


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[Pro moochers]

Enjoy the trip..

We’re currently passing Tongue having started the NC500 three days ago going anti-clockwise..

Spent last night packed up at the lighthouse at John O’Groats

Can’t believe how warm it is!! 8.5 degrees today!!

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I passed you on the M6 south around Wigan and had a little perv at your van


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[bvddobb]

We have updated our Scotland Inspiration Map with the actual route we travelled just now:



We went anti-clockwise, basically we made up our mind upon arrival in Newcastle: the weather for the eastern part looked best for the first few days, North and West looked to be very wet.

We had difficulty finding good wild camping spots. Most tracks off the road were closed, so no way to venture into the 'wild'. But we did find two nice free standing spots:

• in the Cairngorms (56.990676, -3.452061)
• in Glen Orchy (56.433845, -4.868638)

 

[MartG]

You'll have to come back and do the rest!

 

[bvddobb]

Our foto's of this trip are in this album.

Here is a selection:

Glenshee:

River Dee:

A walk around Linn-of-Dee:

Morning sunrise from a free standing camping spot:

Along the Snow Roads:

 

[bvddobb]

And some more:

The West, Apple Cross peninsula:

Isle of Skye:

Eilean Donan Castle:

Glencoe:

 

[Hotel California]

Seems you had great weather for this time of the year.
Sorry to ask but looked at that map , can't figure out the way you drove ....is it all the colored lines? In such short time?
We are planning a 3-4weeks trip in june so love to see your route in detail .

 

[bvddobb]

Sorry to ask but looked at that map , can't figure out the way you drove ....is it all the colored lines?

Hi Wim,

Just look at the legend to the left of the map. You can find the meaning of the various coloured tracks and symbols there. E.g. the purple tracks are route suggestions from the book Slow Road Scotland. There are several layers on that map, for suggested routes, campsites, etc. You can even hide or show the various layers.

The thick blue line is what we did this winter trip. Here is the map with just that layer visible, the others hidden:

 

[MartG]

The picture of the bridge at Sligachan could have been taken on any July day...

Isle of Skye:

You were lucky with the weather, great for photography... great pics!

 

[bvddobb]

A few observations

We would like to finish with a few observations from our trip:

The scenery is beautiful in most places, and Scotland seems ideal territory for a small campervan, but in practice we were a little disappointed in this respect:

The X-Mas Holiday seems not the best period to visit the regions we visited:

• It was so very busy, like high season, with loads of campers and campervans on the way;
• We had thought we could do our bit of wild camping, but effectively this was nearly impossible:
  • all tracks leading off the main roads into 'the wild' are closed with barriers, gates, or big signs forbidding entry;
  • all that seemed available were free parking areas where one can spend the night, but they were all near the main roads and around 15:00 already full with campers and campervans;
  • the more remote such spots all had signs forbidding overnight parking or sleeping, and if they had facilities such as public toilets or water, these were closed for the winter;
• that leaves the 'winter' campsites. There are many of those, but most were completely booked full. We tried 5 in the Cairngorms, and they were all booked full. One warden told us he was already booked full two months before, and showed us a waiting list of 2 pages A4 with people who were waiting for cancellations...
• Parking lots for walking areas, e.g. at Linn-of-Dee or Glenmuick Spittal, were already overflowing with cars at 10:00 am, and then there was a long line of walkers on the footpath like it was Green Park;
• We were warned a lot closes on 1st and 2nd of January, but that virtually everything closes and even the ferries from Skye stop operating was more than we had expected in such a busy period.

A next visit will have to be off season. Having seen this, having seen the abundance of B&B signs, of 'no overnight parking', 'no campers/caravans', 'no parking for vehicles adapted for sleeping between 20:00 and 08:00' signs, having seen all the barriers and gates on side roads, we shudder at the thought what it will be like in high season. We fear it is as bad as the Lofoten and other such areas: swamped with campers everywhere. These regions' marketing seems to have been too successful for our liking.

On a positive note: we saw no midges!

 

[Quentin SF]

I’m just back from a similar trip, but had less trouble finding places to pitch. I did, however, treat myself to an AirBnB for a few days over New Year (on the Isle of Lewis), so probably avoided the busiest period!

Scotland without midges was wonderful.

For me, the biggest setback was having just over six hours between sunrise and sunset. I very seldom went to a pub or restaurant for lunch because if you drove somewhere, had a meal, and drove away again, that was pretty much the whole of the day (or at least, the illuminated day) used up!

So there was quite a lot of packing the beds up in the dark, then walking the dog and having breakfast around dawn, to make the most of the sunlight before sunset at 3.15. Just a little bit later or earlier in the year, I would have had a lot more time to see things.

I had two weeks of warm temperatures and very little rain; much warmer than the ones I left behind. Very glad I didn’t spend money on those AutoSocks! The wind was sometimes quite strong, though, and I slept a couple of nights with the roof down. It would have been much more tiring on Lewis if I hadn’t been in the AirBnb, where the winds were continuous, and sometimes gusting over 50mph.

Overall, it was a great trip and I’m glad I went, and I saw lots of new places and got some great photos, but there were also challenges.

One thing that was a real revelation was my trip home. I drove back to Cambridge from north of Aviemore, in one day, something I never would have thought any sane person would attempt -- I was on my own, remember and it was nearly 10 hours of driving.

But I found I could drive for two hours or so, accompanied by a good audiobook, then find a quiet spot in the corner of a service station car park, put the heater on and go to sleep, having set my alarm to wake me after half an hour. Use the facilities, and then set off again. Repeat that cycle a few times and you can get home from almost anywhere!

 

[bvddobb]

I’m just back from a similar trip, but had less trouble finding places to pitch.

Did you manage to camp wild? Or also just parking places and campsites?

I did, however, treat myself to an AirBnB for a few days

Ah, so you cheated!

The wind was sometimes quite strong, though, and I slept a couple of nights with the roof down.

We also had one night, on Skye, where we decided to keep the roof down because of the wind.

 

[sbmcd]

Seems you had great weather for this time of the year.
Sorry to ask but looked at that map , can't figure out the way you drove ....is it all the colored lines? In such short time?
We are planning a 3-4weeks trip in june so love to see your route in detail .

If you are coming in June do not miss the North West coast, the jewel of Scotland, wonderful mountains and coastline, white sand beaches and clear blue water (cold).