Scotland......too popular?

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Having just had 3 weeks touring Scotland and enjoying the wonderful scenery and hospitality I have been surprised at the amount of tourists in the country.Even though it is not peak season the roads were busy,most guest houses and hotels had no vacancies and the amount of motorhomes up in the highlands was staggering.Most of the vans were rentals doing the North Coast 500 who had no experience of driving a large vehicle,this relatively new route has been well publicised on the internet and every gift shop has NC500 t-shirts,mugs,coasters etc.....

We didn't stick to this new popular route but did use it some of the way.The isle of Skye was full,mainly chinese tourists in hire cars that parked in the passing places on single track roads to take photos :(.

We last went up to the highlands 4 years ago,again off peak and I base my findings on that trip.Even in that short space of time the difference in traffic is quite noticeable.It's a wonderful country with world class scenery and the people have been very helpful and friendly but I think we'll go to France in future,it's a lot quieter and more motorhome friendly.
 
I would agree the number of motorhomes has increased dramatically but there are a lot of places the tourist don’t visit and if you avoid the tourist traps tranquility and solitude can still be found. Skye is over rated and the only reason to go there would be to get the ferry to Harris or the Uists which I’m sure you would enjoy more than France.
 
Know what you you mean think it’s got more to do with the exchange rate being more genourse everybody can afford to visit now and the nc500 has been on a few German and Italian holiday shows I’ve seen quite a lot of Italian mhs this year
 
caledonia said:
I would agree the number of motorhomes has increased dramatically but there are a lot of places the tourist don’t visit and if you avoid the tourist traps tranquility and solitude can still be found. Skye is over rated and the only reason to go there would be to get the ferry to Harris or the Uists which I’m sure you would enjoy more than France.
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Whilst I'd agree with the first part of your statement ....search out the roads less trod and it's not difficult to find solitude ...

I really enjoyed Skye in late Sept/Early Oct ...stunning geology and some loverly deserted spots,Certainly enjoyed it more than the mainland of Orkney.
Orkney was mostly flat and lacking features (apart from lots of scrap outside most places) and to be honest was only saved by the fantastic WWII remains .
 
Just back from Jura, Islay and Arran and didn't notice any higher numbers than normal.

TBH, we avoided Skye (been many times without the van) and the HT550, My sister lived in Thurso 20 years ago and have holidayed in Sutherland so know the area well, so avoided these honey pots and enjoyed our trip to the southern and less popular islands this time.

One tip, head over to Jura (on the rip off expensive tiny 4 minute ferry) at mid tide.
High and low tides can and do damage the underside of vans :rolleyes2:
 
I found exactly the same last year Steve, it put me right off going back to Skye and surrounding area. One of the drawbacks of having a big van is the limitation it imposes on some roads. If we head back that way, it will be much later or very early in the year.
 
Hi,
We did a trip on the East coast about four or five years ago before it was badged NC500 and it was not too busy and we had fabulous weather. My favourite spot was wilding on the beach at Achiltibuie, across from the summer isles.
This year we travelled for a month from Aberdour around the East coast in May. We had fabulous weather and used a mixture of campsites and wild sites. We ended the trip with a few days on the beautiful Black Isle.
It wasn't too busy and we had a great time , highlights were Dunnottar Castle, cycling near Fraserburgh, the dolphins at Chanonry point and a trip to Falkirk to see the Kelpies and the Falkirk wheel.
 
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