A dear friend of mine from college is going on an eight-day vacation in a campervan to Scotland with her husband. I couldn’t be more excited for them! This post is specifically for them. It includes all the highlights we recommend, along with a few tips we’ve learned along the way. Since I’m asked this question often, I figured I’d make it public for everyone.
I’ve placed a number of our recommended spots on this Scottish Google Map
Campervanning
The roads are small in Scotland, just a little wider than a car or a camper van, but traffic flows both ways. This somehow works. Whoever is closest to a wider spot in the road pulls over or backs up to that spot. This means that one should always plan extra time for almost any travel route. We often underestimated travel times—distances took longer than expected. Of course, it means more time to soak up the stunning scenery along the way.
There are a few apps to help find a camping spot for the night. We have not used these, but we did find that crowdsouced apps like this were extremely useful in Australia. One crowdsourced app is park4night.com. This website maps places where camper vans can park overnight. It includes wild spots, lay-bys, scenic rest areas, campsites, and more along with reviews, photos, and GPS directions
Edinburgh
Flying into Edinburgh is a great place to start. My suggestion is to walk the Royal Mile from the castle to Holyroodhouse. Then a walk around the castle is pretty cool. You can descend from the Royal mile via Victoria Terrace (a very cool street to walk) down to the Grass market, then proceed around the castle and onto Princes Street to the Scott Monument. The monument is right next to the train station that you will most likely use if you park outside historic downtown for better parking rates. If you get a chancev a walk up to King Arthur’s Seat is also great, but Carlton Hill can be skipped IMO. This suggested walk is traced in red below.
Scottish Highlands
Just the name “Scottish Highlands” elicits a calling in me – even before I visited and they did not disappoint. Below are the top three areas that we love in the Highlands.
#1 Quiraing on The Isle of Skye
IMO the Quiraing trail is the #1 thing to see in Scotland. Trin and I rank this hike as one of the top most beautiful hikes in the world.
I highly recommend downloading the Organic Maps App. Then download Northern Scottlan so that you have trail maps offline. This is really helpful on the Quiraing Trails.
Below is a screenshot from Google Maps with a very rough outline of the trail. Parking is available at both ends. Walking around the hill is spectacular. Taking the red line trail up into the rocks felt like walking into a natural castle—towering stone walls, winding paths, and panoramic views that leave you breathless. If you have time for only part of the trail my recommendation is to start from the south end as far as your legs will take you.
The Google map I have listed above has pins for some other beautiful spots on the Isle of Skye
#2 Glencoe and Glenfinnan
Driving through the Glencoe valley was one of our highlights. The Glacier formed valley cannot be described. It must be experienced. 🙂
Not far north of Glencoe is Glenfinnan. It’s a beautiful area to check out. You can ride the steam train, but we preferred to just see it going over this bridge. Check for train times, this viewpoint below is only a short walk from the parking area.
#3 Scenic Drive Around the North End
The NC 500 is a very popular scenic route with much to see along the way. I suggest starting in Inverness where you can stock up on groceries at Aldi’s or Tesco before heading out. I’ve placed a number of pins in the Google map above however there is much more to see. We just kept our map open as we drove around the top end and stopped whenever it said there was a viewpoint.
Orkney Islands
At the top end a quick jaunt to the Orkney Islands would be a highlight. A couple of friends we trust said it was a highlight of their trip. We haven’t made it there yet ourselves, but it’s high on our list—it looks incredible. Highlights include Skara Brae a Neolithic village older than the Egyptian pyramids and Ring of Brodgar, a massive Neolithic stone circle. Ring of Brodgar is often compared to Stonehenge but with fewer crowds and more atmospheric solitude.
Food to try
Whenever we revisit Scotland I look forward to a good Scottish breakfast. It’s a full meal with eggs, sausage, toast, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, mushrooms, tattie scones, and my favorite haggis and black pudding.
More Information
More descriptions of the suggestions above can be found in these two posts:
