Towing - John 0'Groats to Durness/Scourie
Has anyone experience of towing from John O Groats across to Durness and down to Scourie.
I looking at this trip but not sure what the road is like
Comments
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Have travelled this route several times with quite a large outfit. Not a problem as long as you take your time and keep looking ahead. Have found most drivers will pull in for you if they see you coming - white van man excepted. There is some spectacular
scenery along the way. Will be doing the route this year in May/June.0 -
I have only towed the bid between Tongue and Laxford Bridge. The bit from Tongue to the top of Loch Eriboll is now dual, then mainly single track round the Loch to Durness and down to Richonich, then dual again to Laxford Bridge. We turned off there towards
Lairg which is single track but I think the dual track continues to Scourie. All easy towing. In fact I prefer the single to the narrow dual, as at least big things comming towards you have to pass you at a passing place, rather than on the move.0 -
We did exactly that route with our MH - which was obviously easier than towing. Although the roads are single track further west, there are plenty of passing places and you can generally see the road a fair way ahead. Caravans were on site at Altnaharra,
Durness (Sango Sands) and Scourie so they had obviously towed to get there. It's manageable but not ideal if you're not an experienced tower. I speak as one who changed from a cvan to MH in recent years.0 -
Yes we have done the route. It's OK there are a couple of interesting bits near Bettyhill but the sites and views are definitely worth the trip.
Remember, although much of the route is single track with passing places, the passing places are frequent and as there are virtually no trees the visability of the road ahead is excellent.
Enjoy your holiday.
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I did this in 1978. The road was single track with passing places. Visibility ahead was good, so reversing was not required. One thing to note , although it may have changed, was the fact that petrol stations closed on Sundays. The trip was well worth it
and I would do it again.0 -
At the time I did it was with a caravan towed by a Volvo. I remember the campsite at Scurrie overlooked the beach and that at Durness was right on the cliff tops. Then there was a Loch where all the U-boats had gathered to surrender at the end on WW2, Loch Eribill, I think. The only problem we had was negotiating a herd of sheep being driven along the road at some point between Durness and Thruso. I think as long as you are competent at revising into passing places you should have no worries. I wouldn't do the trip in a motorhome towing a car, solo fine but not towing a car whic makes reversing difficult.
peedee
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Thanks for all the posts I am a experienced tower with a Land Cruiser and Coachman Pastiche. (18 mpg is the prolem).
We are trying to go around the UK visiting every little seaside town and port. So far we have gone from Tilbury to Mussleburgh.
The debate now is stick with the car combination but upgrade to a motorhome.
Anyone any veiws?
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Thanks for all the posts I am a experienced tower with a Land Cruiser and Coachman Pastiche. (18 mpg is the prolem).
We are trying to go around the UK visiting every little seaside town and port. So far we have gone from Tilbury to Mussleburgh.
The debate now is stick with the car combination but upgrade to a motorhome.
Anyone any veiws?
That's a whole different ball game, David, and there are several threads devoted to that issue. Essentially, it boils down to how you use your rig. Cvans lend themselves to staying several days in one place whereas MHs are best suited to shorter stops and frequent moves. Layout is down to personal preference but I always urge people to buy as small a can as they think they can be comfortable in. Bigger is, in my view, not best.
PS. 16 mpg from our Shogun and close to 30 from the MH.
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Did this last year with a long wheelbase shogun towing a coachman 530/4. No problems. People tended to pull into passing places well in advance when they saw me coming! It is one of tye most beautiful roads in the country. Many fantastic views. Now changed
to a motorhome.0 -
Having towed and motorcaravaned I'd agree with Tinny, we tend to go on 'tours' frequently moving around from place to place, staying longer only when the whim takes us. It is a different experience in my opinion. We absolutely love it and yes we do plan ahead booking some sites prior to trips and ringing ahead for others while on the road or just calling in on spec. Never been caught out without a pitch for the night and on many occasions we have stayed on some absolutely stunning previously unknown sites doing exactly this. Occasionally we may take a more conventional caravanning holiday and if this becomes more attractive to us in the future we would consider going back to towing. But for now we absolutely love the freedom, the 'not always knowing what's around the next corner' so to speak and the accessibility to certain roads, sites and places only the motorcaravan can provide.
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