Grand tour of Scotland
We are planning a tour of Scotland this April/May. First site is Ayr then onto Bunree. Does anyone know of a layby/car park, suitable for car & caravan, on the A82 (on the bonny banks of Loch Lomond) to stop and take a break? Also, any hints and tips for Scottish tour appreciated.
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The Falkirk wheel is brilliant to watch if you’re that way. We stayed at The Wheel caravan site which is a bit odd at first sight but actually isn’t bad. They have a ceilidh (?) on Saturday evenings.
Nora
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I’m with Steve. I’d not go that way. Some do, some don’t but it’s one to avoid in my book especially if towing a large van.
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Might Google Earth be a help in establishing laybys along the route?
David
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Given the scenic nature of the route, any lay-by may well already be occupied.
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Frankly I would not consider towing up the A82. The road near the North end is twisting narrow and has an unforgiving stone wall on your nearside in many places. Most drivers are sensible but there are a number of timber hauliers trucks and coaches which are not always driven safely and meeting one on a blind bend is not to be recommended.
The route up the motorway to Stirling and then through Calander is far more caravan friendly and generally faster, and the only route I would take.
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Wildwood & others are giving GOOD ADVICE there !! The Lochside road has been given a bit of TLC over recent years but they forgot to re-train those Timber Lorry Drivers !! The proximity of that rock face on the nearside ( when heading North ) could put some folk off towing for life !
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All depends on m/home size BWM ( couple of good initials there
)Some of the roads are a tad twisty & narrow for BIG Coachbuilts etc. I've never had any problems in a PVC but, of course, it's not a trip to do at speed - you'll need to stop, pause & take in the Beauty of the North, so you'll be looking for pull-ins etc. Not conducive to Haste !!
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To the OP, the route from Ayr over the Erskine Bridge is the usual one for us. There are a few larger laybys on the north bound first stretch of the A82, coming back down in the opposite direction there are better stops and views of Loch Lomond.
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Thanks ABM. Ours is a 7.5m coach built and we certainly intend to stop and smell the coffee! It's fairly simple to arrange routes, overnight stops, etc, either pre-trip or en route. I was wondering if there were any highly recommended stopovers or places to avoid that we should consider in the planning stage.
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Coming north from Ayr, the motorway leads to other motorways and off to pass by Stirling. To go to Loch Lomond requires either a weird loop of coming off the motorway at a far off junction and then rejoining to go back the way you have alread come from, or a trip through side streets of Glasgow.
Going via Callandar would not require lay-bys as there are plenty of places to stop with a caravan and visit the tea room etc. Best one is probably The Green Welly Stop at Tyndrum though.
I would be far more concerned about going through Glencoe than up the side of Loch Lomond. Recent works mean that all of the Loch Lomond road is now wide enough to accomodate two vehicles. It is twisty and wooded so speeds are low. The "timber lorries" and the coaches seem to be able to pass themselves frequently without trouble.
Not so in Glencoe where there is a multitude of bridges that are wide enough for two small vehicles, but not really for a caravan and something else. Because it is a straight road over open moorland the vehicle speeds are much higher than beside Loch Lomond.
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I would also avoid the road up the west side of the loch unless you have a fairly small outfit. We live not too far away from there but have a 42 foot outfit so avoid going that way.
There are only a few fairly small lay bays, if you do go that way then your best bet could be to follow the signs for Duck Bay, near the south end of the loch, where you will find good on the road parking if it is not at a busy weekend or a holiday period.
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Just watch your towing mirrors on the twisty bits!!!whit van man coming the other way would rather keep going at speed than slow down on the bends and his mirrors are usually about the same hight as yours!On one occasion it through my mirror through the o/s front window of my caravan.I now fold them in on the narrow bits (nobody will be overtaking unless they are motor cyclists intent on self distruction!) Coach drivers are very careful as their mirrors are extremely expensive,so tuck in behind a coach if you are able.(there are usually a lot about in the summer)
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A92 is not a great road. Loch & HGVs on one side. Rocks, rail viaduct and low walls on the other.
https://goo.gl/maps/heQkSRZoHss
https://goo.gl/maps/eTNXmNcKGYF2
Worst section Tarbert to Ardlui. Have a Google Street Map and judge for yourself. My first caravan towing trip ever was along this road and I made it OK. But then I had driven it regularly in the car for 15 years.
StIrling route M9/A94 detour is better but long way round from Ayr and M77. Best route from M74.
If you do chance it on the A82, there is a visitor centre with good lochside car park at Inveruglas (Sloy Hydrostation) part way along the rough bit mentioned, to let the blood back into the knuckles.
See Google again https://goo.gl/maps/ZXP5PVNQMom
Personal site recommendation, Kinlochewe CAMC (but not road north from there which is in short part single track plus cliff edge passing. Best leave the van and drive to Gairloch, Inverewe Gardens and Isle of Ewe Smokehouse at Altbea. Good all abilities paths from Kinlochewe and on to lower slopes of Ben Eighe.
Enjoy your trip. April May best time. Lots of rhododendrons. No midges. Roads quiet (Fewer NC500 rude racers in the north).
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Sadly the A82 Pulpit Rock widening is less than a mile, replacing traffic lights. Most of the improvements were decades ago, leaving the untouched section between Tarbert and Ardlui as a Scottish national embarrassment. We should not have to warn the likes of OP Magsem about the risks of outfit damage driving on a major UK trunk road.
Most of the road improvements further North are courtesy of the EU. But black spots remain, not least along the NC500. Sadly the Scottish Government wants tourist revenues but will not invest in fixing the decaying single track and other trunk roads, that regularly trash costly vehicles and impede daily life. Nor will it fix the notorious land slips that send kids to school on boats and commercial vehicles on long detours.
If you find travelling around Scotland to your liking, tell your friends, and enjoy it.
If you find otherwise, write to:
Michael Matheson
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity
The Scottish Government
St. Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG0 -
You are right, Brue, it is worth the effort, as is most of Scotland. I bore visitors to death about its virtues.
But when you think an unsuspecting visitor could easily trash their costly pride and joy, forewarned is forearmed. VIsitors have a right to be safe and the Scottish Government has to be held accountable for a decade or more of infrastructure neglect.
Tourism is vital to Scotland's economy and needs to be supported by suitable infrastructure, not least thinking about motorhomers and caravanners who proportionately spend a great deal on their travels. In places you cannot even draw of the road safely for a picture or a cuppa. Finding water and waste points is a challenge and last summer Skye was virtually gridlocked for want of overnights. Europe puts us to shame.
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Pulpit Rock widening is less than a mile, replacing traffic lights. Most of the improvements were decades ago, leaving the untouched section between Tarbert and Ardlui as a Scottish national embarrassment. We should not have to warn the likes of OP Magsem about the risks of outfit damage driving on a major UK trunk road.
Yes, there has been time enough to install a three-lane each side motorway up the side of Loch Lomond to be the M82, but I personally believe only highway engineers would come to look at that.
There are "A" classification roads in Scotland that are single track with passing places, some with grass growing up the middle. This is because the road classification system is about the strategic importance of the road and not about its construction.
Children go to school in boats as a matter of course. Something to do with living amongst lochs and islands.
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There are "A" classification roads in Scotland that are single track with passing places, some with grass growing up the middle. This is because the road classification system is about the strategic importance of the road and not about its construction.
Children go to school in boats as a matter of course. Something to do with living amongst lochs and islands.
Navigateur, EU money has lead to some tremendous improvements, especially in Highland roads, but may I disagree a little with some of your points?
Drawing tourists to the likes of the NC500 and then failing to properly maintain the remaining single-track roads is not really a matter of road classification, but of investment
The landslips on the A890 by Ardnarff, cutting off Lochcarron and sending the kids by boat to school at Plockton, is not really a "matter of course ... to do with living amongst lochs and islands," but of investment
The regular closure due to land slip at the Rest and be Thankful on the A83 and the 60 mile detour, or the convoying along the old military road, is a matter of investment in effective remedial measures.
These and many other examples are a result of a failure to invest properly over many years and several Governments in infrastructure fit for Scotland's needs. We should call it out, so in future, our fellow travellers can enjoy the benefit of investment, and mile after mile of Scotland's glorious natural heritage. Here endeth, before I get too political.
Infrastructure issues are common across the whole of the UK. All members can help by pressing the case to all Governments, for proper investment in a valuable and growing part of the economy so we may better enjoy our common pastime.
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EU. To comment would be political and against the rules, unfortunately. So I shall expand slightly on the other points instead.
It is not whether children go from Lochcarron to Plockton school by bus, boat or riding on a unicorn that is the fundamental problem - it is that the school in Lochcarron is closed. As are many others in what once were thriving communities.
I recall being taken on a trip by my father to travel on the newly opened road that bypasses the "Rest and be Thankfull" - technically the last part of the older road as it climbs out of Glen Croe. The reason the original road is in the bottom of the valley is now apparent. The landslides that block the new road seldom get anywhere near the old road, and I suspect there was a degree of bravado in the selection of the route. There appear not to be landslides on the opposite side of the valley which would have been a more sensible choice.
However, credit where credit is due, despite landslides repeatedly dumping thousands of tons of material on the road over the last decade, the road itself has not collapsed. The long term solution is something like the avalance tunnels used in the Alps. Very costly and even more unsightly for the tourists to look at. But then, they might stop coming if the "quaintness" was destroyed.
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