Scottish 13 site road trip
Hi,
We are off to Scotland from The Midlands this April for just over 7 weeks. We've only briefly visited Scotland a few times over the years so are thoroughly looking forward to it. We have done plenty of research and just about finalised our plans. We plan to stay between 3 and 5 nights at each site, depending on what we want to see at each different area. I'll list the sites below and wondered what your thoughts were, not so much for the route as we're fairly happy with that but any 'must sees' or hidden gems and any other info you may like to share. It's just us, no kids and an elderly dog. We like views, easy walking, cultural sites, wandering around little villages and anything connected to food, i.e. good restaurants, markets etc and all things local. Many thanks in advance. (We also thought this thread may be useful for anyone else planning a Scottish trip as the discussion search facility on here isn't great) Thanks.
Garlieston
New England Bay
Ayr Craigie Gardens
Maragowan
Bunree
Morvich
Brora
Culloden Moor
Silverbank
Forfar Lochside
Balbirnie Park
Edinburgh
Yellowcraig
We are doing stopovers en route up there and back but haven't bothered to include them and we decided to stick to all Club Sites and as you can see we are starting on the west coast and back down the east.
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As a caravanner you will have the freedom to explore more widely from your sites...so....Garlieston...nice walk around the coastal path into the grounds of the local big house.Good food at the local pub.Visit Wigtown (the book town),The crook of baldoon for walks and bird watching.Newton Stewart for stores and fuel plus a trip into the galloway forest to see the wild goats and the deer park plus plenty more!New England Bay for a bit of a rest but do visit the mull of galloway for lunch and views.Ayr craigie gardens....Culzean castle,and the coast some good views,shopping in Ayr if you have to!!Edinburgh...taxi or park and ride..lots to see and eat but too hectic for me!!!Enjoy your trip but try not to cram too much in!
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I’d definitely include Dunnet Bay and/or Altnaharra in that list plus some privately owned sites in the NW to let you explore that area which is stunning. People do take caravans there and the roads aren’t bad.
You’ve included some sites with stunning beaches for which your dog will be grateful - eg Brora, NEB, Yellowcraig. The beaches of the NW such as Durness are also fabulous.
There are several similar threads here but finding them, as you’ve discovered, isn’t easy.
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You'll see so much! If you're staying in Culloden try to drop down to the Cairngorms National Park and drive up to the visitor centre, pick good weather for that one as April snow will no doubt be around. LINK
At Bunree take the ferry over to the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, if you can travel out to the far western coast, it's very beautiful and unspoilt. LINK
Down at Balbirnie see the Fife coastal villages, Pittenweem is one of several attractive old fishing villages, another LINK.
Enjoy the journey, hope you spot some good wildlife en route.
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From your last stop, make sure you visit North Berwick. Lovely little town, nice shops and the Seabird Centre. Tantallon Castle is a couple of miles further on, while lovely Dirleton Castle is in the village half a mile from Yellowcraig Site. There are some nice eateries in North Berwick.
Dont underestimate the drive times between your sites. Some of them will involve a good few hours on the road. Have a lovely time.😁
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You've been given some great advice there, Crookie, so I'll add just a little bit of a warning -- you will be near water and trees/bushes a lot so take your preferred MIDGIE REPELLANT especially in or near Glen Trool, where the Midgie SAS train !!
You have chosen a gorgeous part of the U.K. to tour in so don't try to cover too much at one time -- It is a holiday
Enjoy your selves
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Great replies so far, thank you so much, this is exactly what we were looking for. Thanks for taking the time to reply. We did put Scotland into the search box but what came back was a little random with a lot to sift through. Forgot to mention our love of wildlife and wanting to do as many off beat things as possible, can't wait. Thanks again.
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The Seabirds Centre in North Berwick has cameras set up on Bass Rock, so you can check out the gannets etc...... excellent seabird spotting all around there.
Another little gem we have visited in the past is Oban Rare Breeds Park. You can get up very close to most of the animals including tame deer. We preferred the North Ledaig Site to Bunree, did a wonderful long day out to Mull and Iona via Caledonian Macbrayne ferries from Oban. We took car on ferry, drove across Mull, then the passenger ferry to Iona. It’s a very special place, lots of wildlife. It was an early ferry to get the full trip in, but well worth it. Dogs can go up on outside deck, don’t have to stay in car. Long time ago though, so check that out if interested.
I would suggest that you expect all kinds of weather as well. We found June very cold on West Coast, and wet. Lots of snow up on mountains. East Coast usually drier and warmer.😁
Not sure on your dates, but Royal Highland Show takes place just outside Edinburgh in June, and is a fabulous day out. You can taste all sorts of delicious produce, watch all sorts of crafts, animals, countryside activities etc..... It was dog friendly, but again, if interested, check things out.
https://www.royalhighlandshow.org/
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We did the Mull and Iona trip a few years back, although we booked a coach trip, which included a boat ride out to Staffa(Fingal's cave), to save taking the car on the ferry. Got some good puffin shots on Staffa. Recommended.
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Don't forget if you are a member of the NT there are reciprocal arrangements with the NTS, there are some excellent places to visit along your travel routes, I think Culzean Castle has been mentioned. Another one not to far from Ayr is the Robert Burns Visitor Centre and Birthplace, including the famous Brig o'Doon. This centre has lovely gardens and buildings and a very good café. Here's another LINK to see this.
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Looks fabulous, many of us are now touring in this way and a very good reason why our club should never introduce minimum nights. We often spend many consecutive nights on club sites just not on the same one.
We do shopping on route either at shop/supermarket just at opening times. Never had a problem parking using this method, you just need to plan ahead and use travelling as part of the holiday. Some cracking places to pull over with your very own mobile cafe, do a spot of fishing or go for a lovely walk. Make the journey part of the holiday, that's what it's all about for us. Enjoy!
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Harbourside pitches at Garlieston are non awning. Isle of Whithorn worth a visit (excellent beer at the Steam Packet). Our favourite site.
Ayr - visit Alloway for Burns Cottage.Bunree - agree that you should take the Corran Ferry across to Ardnamurchan. Visitor Centre and Ardnamurchan Distillery at Glenmore both worth a visit. Try to get as far as Sanna if you can - you won’t regret it. Caravan parking at Morrisons in Fort William.
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when we visited Garlieston a few years back we had a day out to Port Patrick where we had a superb sea food lunch over a couple of hours and a couple of bottles of wine in the Crown hotel on the harbour front. The Hotel is a past winner of the AA Seafood Pub of Scotland.
The landlord / barstaff were very friendly and sent a good hour or so chatting and recommending sights and other places to visit.
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We liked North Ledaig because we got a pitch right on the Loch side, in fact around 50 feet from beach! So fantastic with dogs. It’s a big site, (affiliated) but it’s not as “stuffy” and we found more things of interest round Oban, such as fabulous Kilchurn Castle, Dunstaffnage Castle, Ben Cruachan, the Rare Breeds Park, Craobh Haven for the watersports (we were into canoeing and sailboarding at the time) Oban is the gateway to most of the ferries, and an interesting place in itself. We drove up to Bunree to see what all the fuss was about (it was voted top Site a few times) and it’s very nice, great scenery, but we wanted more than just the scenery at the time, so were happy with NL. We actually joined the Club at NL, so it’s a bit special to us. All depends on what you want to do really. It’s quite a drive actually between the two. Bunree is closer to Glencoe, but that gets too crowded at times for us. Both are great Sites.
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North Ledaig is a much more open site to my mind and has less midge trouble than Bunree. As TDA said, it is a large site but it doesn’t feel like it when you’re there. Some people see the 10amp electricity supply as a draw back but it’s always been plenty for us. Good phone signal there on O2.
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Just spent New Year near Garlieston and saw the site without a single soul on it! The Harbour Inn is dog friendly and serves good food, as is the Steam Packet at the Isle of Whithorn. The Bladnoch Inn isn't bad either (you'll pass it on the way to site) We ventured into Newton Stewart and further on into the Galloway Forest - a Dark Skies site with fabulous walks.
For me, Arran would be a must visit but then you've plenty of beautiful and interesting places to visit. Enjoy your trip
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Yes, the midge thing is worth mentioning! Looking at your photos, I can see we were much closer to beach than I remember!😁
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I too recommend a visit to Port Patrick it’s a lovely little town and a nice place for a walk. When we are down that way we always go to The Harbour House Hotel for a meal always nice. Ayr Craigie is our (local) site so we go there often throughout the season. There are plenty of things to do in the area and Glasgow is only 35 min drive away or you could catch the train. Maragowan is also lovely the scenery up that way is nice and there are lots of walking and cycle routes direct from the village.
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