Bluebellthemotorhome
Guest
Hi all
We have just returned from a fantastic 2 week tour of Scotland and Outer Hebrides, where we wild camped every night bar one night in Glen Coe. We are complete novice wild campers, but thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and have said that we think we will struggle to stay on a site again! We thought we would do a short review with some pics to let you know where we found water and where we stayed.
We started at Loch Lomond and found a brill lay by where we shared the fabulous view and weather with 4 other vans. We also enjoyed the 10 min walk to the Inverbeg Inn where we had a great time sampling some of their malts!
56.131119,-4.655693
We then moved on to Glen Coe where we reluctantly stayed on Red Squirell site- but only because we were really tired after doing a massive walk and we didn't want to spend ages driving around looking for somewhere. We had also read rave reviews about Red Squirell site. We now know it was a mistake, we paid £18 for the night and we were basically wild camping as there is no electric there. We thought it was a bit pricey to be honest, but never mind! Great pub though down the road!
We then moved up to Inverness. We arrived late after some unsuccessful dolphin spotting! the weather had turned snowy so we decided to find a spot close to the A9 so we could get on it quickly and easily in case of heavy snow overnight. We found this spot... 57.502095,-4.23583. It was a bit residential for our liking, but we arrived after dark and left at 7am.
57.502095,-4.23583
Next day we headed to Ullapool in a lot of snow! We got water at the garage in Ullapool. Great water pressure, level filling area and a drain for waste too.
We stopped at the POI just above Ullapool, 57.894189,-5.14276 and had a lovely quiet night, and some beers in town. Lovely
Next morning we got the early ferry to Stornoway. We headed north to Butt of Lewis, and stayed under the lighthouse. Just one thing re the Butt of Lewis- we had a lot of cars arriving after dark and after seeing us turning around and heading away. Not sure if it's a lovers lane type place? Anyway, we didn't mind and were pretty tired after our journey across the sea- both of us 'didn't travel too well' lets say!
Stunning place staying under the lighthouse, what an experience.
Next morning we looked at Port of Ness, filled with water and headed south. Visited all the sites. Arnol Blackhouse definitely worth a look as were the standing stones.
We headed all the way down to Harris and across the mountain pass to Hushinish Bay. We flipping loved it here. I can confirm that the toilets are open and there is an external tap outside to fill your water tanks.
Next day we headed south round the bottom of Harris. We fell in love with Luskentyre beach. We nearly stayed there but decided to carry on to Leverburgh ferry terminal ready for our morning ferry to N Uist. And boy, are we glad we did. Fab motorhome facilities at the ferry port. Chemical disposal, fresh water, waste water, and the Anchorage Restaurant. We saw someone on here recommend it, and decided to give it a go. If you are ever there, go. Fantastic food, reasonably priced, cracking view, and the sunset from our window just made it perfect. We shared the carpark with a couple of other vans. To be honest it wasn't the quietest of places- at kicking out time of the bar in the restaurant a few blokes were shouting abuse at us at 2am but we'd had too much food/wine to bother getting up and fell back to sleep very easily!
Next day across to N Uist. We weren't such a fan of the Uist's and Benbecula to be honest. But the weather wasn't so good, maybe that didn't help. I don't know, it just wasn't as special for us. We stayed the first night at Baleshare Beach. I'm afraid I can't find the little car park we stayed at on Google maps, but the turn off is here 57.542826,-7.324963 and it is signposted beach car park. We shared the spot with one other van, and was treated to a fab sunset. The water was 3 metres from us. Fab. We nearly stayed at the car park at 57.572064,-7.296638 Langass Cairn, but my other half kept creeping me out with ghost stories and so we eventually moved to the beach car park!
Next day we headed to Eriskay ferry port and filled with water, emptied loo etc there. Another cracking spot, and we shared with another van. Early ferry to Barra next day and we stayed at 56.99307,-7.507782 the first night.
We tried Vatersay the next day, which, I am afraid to report is now a difficult island for MHs. I can confirm that MH's are now unwelcome at Community Hall and the island is littered with No Campervan signs. It was difficult for us to park just to do our walk let alone sleep overnight and during our 3 hours on the Island we got 'told off' by a local and told we were not welcome to even park at the community centre during our walk, even though we offered to pay a small fee. We were told this is because of insurance purposes, they have to have access to the hall from all angles. She mentioned that last year there were 6 vans and they couldn't get in to the hall.
So, we headed back with our tail between our legs and returned to our previous spot from the night before. We filled and emptied loo at Castlebay ferry terminal.
We got the late ferry back to Oban, and stayed in the car park behind Tesco- the one with the mh spaces. There was a sign with parking charges, but to be honest, it was gone midnight, we had no cash in our pockets, and we had planned to leave at 7am to get to Bannockburn early, so we decided to brave it (sorry!) and pay the fine if we got one- which we didn't. As it happens we left at 6am, filled with fuel at the Tescos opposite and set off on our merry way.
We stayed under Stirling Castle that night after visiting Bannockburn and the castle. Fab spot. 56.12374,-3.945959. 2 mins walk to the castle, 10 mins max to the town centre.
Next day we headed to Mortonhall site in Edinburgh, as I desperately need to wash my hair and straighten it, as 2 weeks wild camping was starting to take its toll!
Then we headed back to sunny Norfolk and we've just finished unpacking and washing!
All in all a fab trip, and something which wouldn't have been anywhere near as amazing or easy without the INVALUABLE POI downloads we had on our Garmin from the site. Thank you so much admin, and here's to our next trip away!
Here are a selection of snaps from our adventure if you are interested:
https://picasaweb.google.com/108829553922011482325/BluebellSTravelsScotlandAndTheHebrides2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOP4vPDj_vvlCA&feat=directlink
L, K and Bluebell the Motorhome.
We have just returned from a fantastic 2 week tour of Scotland and Outer Hebrides, where we wild camped every night bar one night in Glen Coe. We are complete novice wild campers, but thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and have said that we think we will struggle to stay on a site again! We thought we would do a short review with some pics to let you know where we found water and where we stayed.
We started at Loch Lomond and found a brill lay by where we shared the fabulous view and weather with 4 other vans. We also enjoyed the 10 min walk to the Inverbeg Inn where we had a great time sampling some of their malts!
56.131119,-4.655693
We then moved on to Glen Coe where we reluctantly stayed on Red Squirell site- but only because we were really tired after doing a massive walk and we didn't want to spend ages driving around looking for somewhere. We had also read rave reviews about Red Squirell site. We now know it was a mistake, we paid £18 for the night and we were basically wild camping as there is no electric there. We thought it was a bit pricey to be honest, but never mind! Great pub though down the road!
We then moved up to Inverness. We arrived late after some unsuccessful dolphin spotting! the weather had turned snowy so we decided to find a spot close to the A9 so we could get on it quickly and easily in case of heavy snow overnight. We found this spot... 57.502095,-4.23583. It was a bit residential for our liking, but we arrived after dark and left at 7am.
57.502095,-4.23583
Next day we headed to Ullapool in a lot of snow! We got water at the garage in Ullapool. Great water pressure, level filling area and a drain for waste too.
We stopped at the POI just above Ullapool, 57.894189,-5.14276 and had a lovely quiet night, and some beers in town. Lovely
Next morning we got the early ferry to Stornoway. We headed north to Butt of Lewis, and stayed under the lighthouse. Just one thing re the Butt of Lewis- we had a lot of cars arriving after dark and after seeing us turning around and heading away. Not sure if it's a lovers lane type place? Anyway, we didn't mind and were pretty tired after our journey across the sea- both of us 'didn't travel too well' lets say!
Stunning place staying under the lighthouse, what an experience. Next morning we looked at Port of Ness, filled with water and headed south. Visited all the sites. Arnol Blackhouse definitely worth a look as were the standing stones.
We headed all the way down to Harris and across the mountain pass to Hushinish Bay. We flipping loved it here. I can confirm that the toilets are open and there is an external tap outside to fill your water tanks.
Next day we headed south round the bottom of Harris. We fell in love with Luskentyre beach. We nearly stayed there but decided to carry on to Leverburgh ferry terminal ready for our morning ferry to N Uist. And boy, are we glad we did. Fab motorhome facilities at the ferry port. Chemical disposal, fresh water, waste water, and the Anchorage Restaurant. We saw someone on here recommend it, and decided to give it a go. If you are ever there, go. Fantastic food, reasonably priced, cracking view, and the sunset from our window just made it perfect. We shared the carpark with a couple of other vans. To be honest it wasn't the quietest of places- at kicking out time of the bar in the restaurant a few blokes were shouting abuse at us at 2am but we'd had too much food/wine to bother getting up and fell back to sleep very easily!
Next day across to N Uist. We weren't such a fan of the Uist's and Benbecula to be honest. But the weather wasn't so good, maybe that didn't help. I don't know, it just wasn't as special for us. We stayed the first night at Baleshare Beach. I'm afraid I can't find the little car park we stayed at on Google maps, but the turn off is here 57.542826,-7.324963 and it is signposted beach car park. We shared the spot with one other van, and was treated to a fab sunset. The water was 3 metres from us. Fab. We nearly stayed at the car park at 57.572064,-7.296638 Langass Cairn, but my other half kept creeping me out with ghost stories and so we eventually moved to the beach car park!
Next day we headed to Eriskay ferry port and filled with water, emptied loo etc there. Another cracking spot, and we shared with another van. Early ferry to Barra next day and we stayed at 56.99307,-7.507782 the first night.
We tried Vatersay the next day, which, I am afraid to report is now a difficult island for MHs. I can confirm that MH's are now unwelcome at Community Hall and the island is littered with No Campervan signs. It was difficult for us to park just to do our walk let alone sleep overnight and during our 3 hours on the Island we got 'told off' by a local and told we were not welcome to even park at the community centre during our walk, even though we offered to pay a small fee. We were told this is because of insurance purposes, they have to have access to the hall from all angles. She mentioned that last year there were 6 vans and they couldn't get in to the hall.
So, we headed back with our tail between our legs and returned to our previous spot from the night before. We filled and emptied loo at Castlebay ferry terminal.
We got the late ferry back to Oban, and stayed in the car park behind Tesco- the one with the mh spaces. There was a sign with parking charges, but to be honest, it was gone midnight, we had no cash in our pockets, and we had planned to leave at 7am to get to Bannockburn early, so we decided to brave it (sorry!) and pay the fine if we got one- which we didn't. As it happens we left at 6am, filled with fuel at the Tescos opposite and set off on our merry way.
We stayed under Stirling Castle that night after visiting Bannockburn and the castle. Fab spot. 56.12374,-3.945959. 2 mins walk to the castle, 10 mins max to the town centre.
Next day we headed to Mortonhall site in Edinburgh, as I desperately need to wash my hair and straighten it, as 2 weeks wild camping was starting to take its toll!
Then we headed back to sunny Norfolk and we've just finished unpacking and washing!
All in all a fab trip, and something which wouldn't have been anywhere near as amazing or easy without the INVALUABLE POI downloads we had on our Garmin from the site. Thank you so much admin, and here's to our next trip away!
Here are a selection of snaps from our adventure if you are interested:
https://picasaweb.google.com/108829553922011482325/BluebellSTravelsScotlandAndTheHebrides2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOP4vPDj_vvlCA&feat=directlink
L, K and Bluebell the Motorhome.
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