No Overnight Parking - Scotland

[Kontiki]

Having just returned from our 3 week trip travelling around Scotland I was disappointed in seeing so many of the yellow 'No Overnight Parking' signs on almost every lay by & car park in some areas. I did however find that it seemed to be possible to stay on most of the forestry sites without any problems or the dreaded signs. Personally I wouldn't use a lay by to overnight unless I was desperate or unless it was one of the larger off road ones but it somehow just made us feel unwelcome. In some of these lay bys it would be difficult to park anything more than a small camper anyway.
I don't know that if they think they will push me towards using campsites by restricting where we can stop overnight they will be disappointed & I will just go abroad where there is more freedom for our style of motorhoming.

What we did find was that quite a few of the tourist information offices were helpful in telling us places where they thought it would be ok to stay. There was one lady however who seemed to hate motorhome owners blaming us for leaving rubbish everywhere (we found out she was a caravan owner)

 

[Barbt]

We take our motorhome to Scotland for three weeks every year and have never had any problem finding somewhere to stop for the night. Particularly on the western side you are spoilt for choice there are so many spots to stop.

 

[Deleted member 4850]

We take our motorhome to Scotland for three weeks every year and have never had any problem finding somewhere to stop for the night. Particularly on the western side you are spoilt for choice there are so many spots to stop.

I have to agree, Barbt...all the west side seems to have pleanty of unlabelled spots where you can stay with no hassle...almost too many to mention, in fact. The east side, near towns and parts of Parthshire can be trickier, but even here, by getting onto the minor roads, I've always been able to find good spots.

The Forestry Commission has a policy of not encouraging wild camping but the access laws in Scotland make it hard for any organisation to ban folk from stopping for anight. I guess the main thing is for us all to behave nicely (like we always do, of course!) and leave the laybys spotless so we are welcome back.

 

[Kontiki]

It did tend to be more on the East side & on the A832 that nearly every lay by had signs which looked quite new. We did enjoy our time there & if we do go back sometime we would probably head up to somewhere like Skye, we just didn't have enough time to see too much there.

 

[sodoff]

Scotland

Skye has some fantastic wild camping spots,try the coast between the ruined castle and the folk museum.If the weather is good the view is ........................ lovely !

 

[sodoff]

Scotland

Siily me,that would be on the Trotternish peninsula.

 

[kimbowbill]

i spent 2 weeks up in scotland in May, had no trouble at all, in fact in some spots i felt encouraged to stay, bins and picnic tables provided, didn't see one sign for N O

 

[bob690]

Kontiki is right about the signs, theyre all the way along the A82 now were there were non before, I put a post about it, when I was up there earlier in the year. Cant understand why the councils do this as I have never seen a problem. Having said that it seemed to happen at the end of the financial year (2008). May be a spend it or lose it scam....Bob

 

[PaulC]

"Cant understand why the councils do this"

Perhaps it is the local campsites putting pressure on the councils. with their voting power!

 

[Guest]

Kontiki is right about the signs, theyre all the way along the A82 now were there were non before, I put a post about it, when I was up there earlier in the year. Cant understand why the councils do this as I have never seen a problem. Having said that it seemed to happen at the end of the financial year (2008). May be a spend it or lose it scam....Bob

I did mention in post 8 of Isle Of Skye post about no overnight signs
Nobody seemed to notice

http://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forums/photo-gallery/6316-isle-sky-near-places.html

 

[christine]

Just returned from a week in Scotland, based in Glenuig and Ardtoe and we noticed plenty of those nasty yellow signs. Camped on a grassy patch in Glenuig, close to the pub. Although we ate at the pub, I'm sure we would have been ok if we hadn't. No signs there but a little further along, the village hall had a sign forbidding camping and overnighting. We found plenty of places to wild on Loch Ailort. Oh, and although we stayed on the small campsite at Ardtoe, the 50p honesty box carpark had no signs up.

 

[noody]

I'm not surprised we're not welcome, it's like dog-owners. Few spoiling things for many.

Last year a group that I detached myself from were turning opportune sites into party places and even though they left things tidy they looked like noisy trouble.

One night I stayed on the grass bank alongside the beach at Kyle-Of-Tongue, one part of grass had a sign saying "No overnight stops". I parked 50 metres away, it was a peaceful night but I did get stared-at in the morning.

This is the beach at Kyle-Of-Tongue.

 

[Airecraft]

We shared Kontiki's experience once we passed Fort Augustus heading east. Perth,Tayside, Fife were all very anti- wilding. In the end we ignored the signs and had a couple of 'chats' with people trying to enforce them. What suprised me is that they were not officials but just local residents, the most hostile to MHs I've ever come across, though we were parked well away from anyone's house. I have to say, for us, the beauty of Scotland is outweighed by the midges and this sort of attitude and we won't be going back. Off to France and Spain for 4 weeks tomorrow where we have never once been bothered with this sort of thing in a total of over 50 weeks there.

 

[derekfaeberwick]

Just returned from a week in Scotland, based in Glenuig and Ardtoe and we noticed plenty of those nasty yellow signs. Camped on a grassy patch in Glenuig, close to the pub. Although we ate at the pub, I'm sure we would have been ok if we hadn't. No signs there but a little further along, the village hall had a sign forbidding camping and overnighting. We found plenty of places to wild on Loch Ailort. Oh, and although we stayed on the small campsite at Ardtoe, the 50p honesty box carpark had no signs up.

Shame about the village hall. Not so long ago they left it open and you could get a shower for free.

 

[noody]

for us, the beauty of Scotland is outweighed by the midges and this sort of attitude and we won't be going back.

I didn't venture over to the west-coast last year though the midges hammered me in central area's and surprisingly right up in the north on the coast. Because I was dodging the rain and following the wind I ended-up at a place called Dornoch way-up in the North-East, No midges and an absolutely fabulous four days camped right at the edge of the campsite and on the dunes away from semi-detached-suburbia-on-wheels.

Follow-the-wind-tour-2008.



___________________________________________
Richard Roggan. Distinguished kitesurfing Gentleman.
I don't do tricks.

 

[Boxerman]

We've been to Dornoch a couple of times, the campsite is better than it looks at first sight. Great beaches and a golf course should you want one.
The town seemed very quite on the occasions that we were there - no-one to be seen on the streets after nine, no music or noise from the pubs and all the houses in darkness - very strange!

 

[noody]

We've been to Dornoch a couple of times,
The town seemed very quite on the occasions that we were there -

A great favorite of my partner for the reasons you mention and a few shops though she and our dog were attacked by a cat and Mo was bitten by it, just for for walking past the cats home.

They breed-em tough in Scotland.

No-really, this cat came-out from it's home in the same way a dog might do to attack. Don't cat's usually do the, "parthian-shot". They retreat a few paces with warning then hammer you when you don't retreat.

Dornoch was lovely and peaceful other than the cat.

 

[Kontiki]

Here are the GPS co-ords for the places where we did manage to stop at none of which had the dreaded no overnight signs but I think there might be caouple with no camping or caravanning but as I was in a MH then I assumed they didn't apply ;-) I extracted them from my TomTom so excuse the lack of information as to where they are but you can just copy & paste the lat & long into google maps to see where the places are. for anybody who wants them I have attatched the TomTom file as well. There are a couple of other places in the TT file for England & Wales as well

LATITUDE LONGITUDE
55.06426 -3.60815 26/06/2009
55.27781 -4.73921 29/06/2009
56.19882 -4.80891 30/06/2009
56.40308 -4.90328 01/07/2009
56.61457 -3.86646 02/07/2009
57.423 -1.83163 05/07/2009
57.665 -3.01309 07/07/2009
57.70099 -3.49362 09/07/2009
57.58251 -4.05678 10/07/2009
57.57696 -4.59128 12/07/2009
57.06424 -4.83644 15/07/2009
56.66181 -5.05682 16/07/2009
56.27747 -4.28315 17/07/2009
56.26692 -4.28511 17/07/2009
56.23231 -4.4063 A821
54.97189 -3.53431 B725 Shore Road
55.06645 -3.60565 Brooms road
55.33204 -3.83799 CP-withWC
57.70391 -3.49704 Forteath Street
57.14187 -2.05734 Greyhope Road
56.23262 -5.07616 Inverary
55.2438 -4.86233 Louisa Drive - Knockcushan Street
56.61977 -3.86229 Moness Terrace-car park 72hrs
57.14666 -5.94167 Ord
56.226 -4.85621 Rest&be thankful
57.56134 -1.81635 scotstown beach
57.66726 -3.0029 Seals-area
54.84719 -4.7932 Stairhaven
57.14344 -5.06942 Unnamed road

 

[lazncaz]

no you don't.

Having just returned from our 3 week trip travelling around Scotland I was disappointed in seeing so many of the yellow 'No Overnight Parking' signs on almost every lay by & car park in some areas. I did however find that it seemed to be possible to stay on most of the forestry sites without any problems or the dreaded signs. Personally I wouldn't use a lay by to overnight unless I was desperate or unless it was one of the larger off road ones but it somehow just made us feel unwelcome. In some of these lay bys it would be difficult to park anything more than a small camper anyway.
I don't know that if they think they will push me towards using campsites by restricting where we can stop overnight they will be disappointed & I will just go abroad where there is more freedom for our style of motorhoming.

What we did find was that quite a few of the tourist information offices were helpful in telling us places where they thought it would be ok to stay. There was one lady however who seemed to hate motorhome owners blaming us for leaving rubbish everywhere (we found out she was a caravan owner)

It isn't just wee Scotland that hates motor homes,it's everywhere in the UK.I understand that the Government are introducing new sentencing tariffs:murder and paedophillia will get you 15 years,GBH 10,mugging,5 years.However,parking a van with "cooking facilities"or asking somebody not to walk on the cycle path is expected to instigate the reopening of Alcatraz and the re-use of "old sparky".Apparently if somebody stabs you when you ask "May I park here overnight",or ring your bicycle bell when they are straddleing the bicycle path whilst phoning the DSS office to find out why their cheque is late,they will get a court commendation!

Where was I? Oh yes,sadly,everyones favourite site on the Seine,now charges 5 euro,but the male collector has a great sense of humour if you turn your pockets inside out,and tell him he is heartless.The aire at the next village(right,not left!)is still free.

Back to Scotland...NO...just a minute...has anybody parked at the aire at Pamboul(St Nazairish)? Great sculpture with the Peugot,isn't it? Henry Moore eat your coeur out.

O.K wild camping in GB(isn't wild camping supposed to be free? Why do people keep saying "only"50 squid for 4 nights on Hayling Island).Think about that great scene in "High Fidelity",where a chap rushes into the record shop,and says "My daughter wants The Best Of The Carpenters".Jake Black replies,"No she doesn't".The customer says,"Yes she does",and Jake says,"Hang on,is she in a coma.Go to the mall"......apply this to wildcamping,"We want to go wildcamping in the UK","No you don't"."Yes we do"."Hang on,are you in a coma?".

Go to France,or Belgium,lGermany,or INLAND Spain (where they will wonder why you ask to stay overnight in the village square...why not? Don't try it on the coast though).


If anybody spots a huge green yank tank from Croydonish(with a big hole in the ozone layer above it!) tell the people that Mizog 1 sends regards,is not mellowing,and they DO NOT want to go to Cornwall

 

[Kontiki]

Maybe the name should be changed from WildCamping UK to WildHiding, it does take away the pleasure of being able to park up in a nice location without worrying if you are going to be moved on or you have offended some local who hates motorhomes. We try to be considerate but how do you answer a woman (we found out later she was a caravan owner) in a tourist office who blamed motorhomes for every bit of rubbish from Hadrians wall to John O'Groats.