Scotland here we come in October

ShiftZZ

ShiftZZ

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Not been up to Scotland in the van, so we are planning a trip.

Items on our list, not that many so far.

On the way...

Bamborough Castle
Seahouses
Lindisfarne
Hawick to pay homage to the one and only Bill McLaren

After that, no idea, would rather be close to the sea, quiet, good food, no people, dog friendly


Suggestions?

Van, 7.5 metre, LHD, so no small campsites.

​

 
ShiftZZ said:
Suggestions?
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Warm clothing... ;)

On a more serious note, I agreed with BusyBuilder that sticking to the east coast is a good option, often overlooked by NC500 obsessives.

There are some suggestions/ideas here:
www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Scotland

Heading to Scotland for about three weeks and thinking of doing the Dundee to Fraserburgh area, a part of Scotland we’ve not really done. Any recommendations of places not to miss and any nice wild camps. Thanks
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk
 
The good news is that the wee beastie midges will have migrated for the winter. The not so good news is that some campsites will have closed for the season. Living in Aberdeenshire I can second BusyBuilders post , the Aberdeenshire and Moray coasts are beautiful (please keep it a secret) and we have plenty Aires and small stopping places that are open all year.
 
If you enjoy cold, rain and wind head to Scotland in October. If not, leave it until late May/early June next year and head to somewhere warmer (e.g. Med/south Spain) for your October trip. Of course, you can never guarantee the weather, but I would choose to maximise my chances of it being favourable. :unsure:

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Millcourt said:
If you enjoy cold, rain and wind head to Scotland in October.
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I concur with this .. weather is a bit of a gamble in October

Just to add to the above suggestions, Turn left at Gretna and head west

One of my favourite areas.. where I was born and brought up..

The South West Coastal 300 (SWC300) is a circular driving route in southwestern Scotland, encompassing Dumfries & Galloway and South Ayrshire. It's a 300-mile loop known for its stunning coastline, charming towns, and diverse landscapes. The route can be started from any point, but Dumfries is a common starting location.

You could also venture over to Arran for a few days catching the ferry at Ardrossan .. there are a few nice sites on the island .. it's often called miniature Scotland for it's wide variety of beautiful scenery ..


Great Scottish routes: South West Coastal 300 - Open Road Scotland

openroadscotland.com openroadscotland.com
 
scotjimland said:
I concur with this .. weather is a bit of a gamble in October

Just to add to the above suggestions, Turn left at Gretna and head west

One of my favourite areas.. where I was born and brought up..

The South West Coastal 300 (SWC300) is a circular driving route in southwestern Scotland, encompassing Dumfries & Galloway and South Ayrshire. It's a 300-mile loop known for its stunning coastline, charming towns, and diverse landscapes. The route can be started from any point, but Dumfries is a common starting location.

You could also venture over to Arran for a few days catching the ferry at Ardrossan .. there are a few nice sites on the island .. it's often called miniature Scotland for it's wide variety of beautiful scenery ..


Great Scottish routes: South West Coastal 300 - Open Road Scotland

openroadscotland.com openroadscotland.com
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map I made when I last visited Arran

www.google.co.uk

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.co.uk www.google.co.uk
 
We did early October into November over 5 weeks absolutely stunning in the autumn and we got lucky with the weather, it was no worse or better than back home. Helmsdale Harbour is worth a stop (donation to RNLI) town 5 minute walk with shops/pub (you can also park there overnight) and a chip shop that dishes out huge servings.
 
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When we did Scotland we went clockwise, coming back down the East coast.

A good stopover was the harbour at Dysart, which looks across the Forth to Edinburgh, loads of room to park and very pretty and quiet. Nothing much in the village though.
Free of charge.

Our other memorable harbour stop was further north at Helmsdale, again, really pretty with an interesting village with a pub or two and maybe a restaurant. Requests a donation for the lifeboats (£5 suggested) in a box directly outside the lifeboat man’s residence.

Both had access to a water tap.
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If you don’t want to drive hundreds of miles then as scotjimland says turn left at Gretna, or since you’re going to Hawick first then head over to the west coast around Girvan then head round D&G. Really quiet compared to up north and has everything you need.
If you do decide to do D&G send us a message and I’ll help out with suggestions, we’re hoping to be away then so plenty of space on our drive if needed.
 
Funny how all the people who say October weather is crap are from the farrrrr south. Well I can tell you now as someone who lives up in the farrrrr north that October is one of the best months to come to the Highlands.
The sun is low giving better light, instead of bright sunshine blinding everything, we get a flat light that means you can see way more of the scenery. The views are stunning, and best of all no midges (on west coast).
And if you come up to Wester Ross you may see dragons hahaaaa
 
BusyBuilder said:
Funny how all the people who say October weather is crap are from the farrrrr south. Well I can tell you now as someone who lives up in the farrrrr north that October is one of the best months to come to the Highlands.
The sun is low giving better light, instead of bright sunshine blinding everything, we get a flat light that means you can see way more of the scenery. The views are stunning, and best of all no midges (on west coast).
And if you come up to Wester Ross you may see dragons hahaaaa
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Yip, we've but up north around 10 times in Sep / Oct and yet to have bad weather except when we were going over to Orkney and we had to wait for a couple of days for the ferry to get back on.

One of the poorer days!
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Perthshire , follow A9 North from Perth towards Inverness , anywhere between Dunkeld and Blair Atholl , a bit barren but dramatic scenery from Blair Atholl to Dalwhinnie , a must would be around Aviemore ( Loch Morlich and up at Ski slopes for a vista of the Cairngorms on a clear day, the ski bus goes up there so no problem with your van )

Attached file for some more info on my favourite area to visit ,

 
BusyBuilder said:
Up the Aberdeenshire coast around Moray Coast to Snecky...Inverness to you southerners. Back to Nairn then down through Grantown on Spey, then through Glen Shee to Pitlochry and A9 home. Sorry doing this from memory but you get the gist
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If you're going to this part of God's Country ;) be sure to stay at Ballater caravan park, it's a 2 minute walk into the town which is well worth visiting. Also Stonehaven CAMC club site if you're a member, right on the shore 1 minute walk to the town(y)
 
Having been up there a lot, I would say plan nothing!

Head up and check the weather, it’s often totally different within a few hours drive east or west. We always follow where seems better, often that means heading east but not always.

Loads of free or cheap places to stay, forestry Scotland stay the night is excellent and there are a fair few of them. It’s never busy in October north of the central belt.

It’s not easy to get around further North, the roads aren’t straight or fast so don’t try and fit everything in.

One of my favourite places in the world, have 3 trips planned there in the next 6 months.
:)
 
Fort George just through Ardersier halfway between Nairn and Inverness is well worth a visit, parking no problem for your van. It sits high above the Moray Firth and if you're lucky enough to be there at low tide or an hour after, there's a very good chance of seeing bottlenose dolphins as there is, across the water at Chanonry Point where you can stay at the campsites at Fortrose or Rosemarkie (y)

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Wee Bold Davy said:
If you're going to this part of God's Country ;) be sure to stay at Ballater caravan park, it's a 2 minute walk into the town which is well worth visiting. Also Stonehaven CAMC club site if you're a member, right on the shore 1 minute walk to the town(y)
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Stayed at Stonehaven CAMC for New Year and noted that you can park for free along the seafront directly outside 👍
 
For your timescale don't bother going further north than Inverness. We checked out Stonehaven campsitenear the beach, £57 from memory, we stayed next to the park/ sports ground for free.
 
Stick to the east of Scotland. If a CAMC member, try Melrose Gibson site, right in the middle of town, quiet site with lots in the area. Head to Edinburgh, the East Lothian coast can be stunning, with easy rail or bus access into Edinburgh for a day trip. Cross over to Fife and visit the East Neuk with its pretty fishing villages (Fife Coast & Countryside Trust have free/cheap overnight stopovers), St Andrews, the over to Dundee and north to Stonehaven.
If you havre time, either head further up the coast or cut the corner towards the Moray Firth (Speyside distilleries) and towards Inverness. All decent or quiet roads.
 
Dundee is definitely 'on the up'. Plenty of history but also modernising with new V&A, etc. Easy bus in from Larick community campsite in Tayport on the other side of the river.

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scotjimland said:
I concur with this .. weather is a bit of a gamble in October

Just to add to the above suggestions, Turn left at Gretna and head west

One of my favourite areas.. where I was born and brought up..

The South West Coastal 300 (SWC300) is a circular driving route in southwestern Scotland, encompassing Dumfries & Galloway and South Ayrshire. It's a 300-mile loop known for its stunning coastline, charming towns, and diverse landscapes. The route can be started from any point, but Dumfries is a common starting location.

You could also venture over to Arran for a few days catching the ferry at Ardrossan .. there are a few nice sites on the island .. it's often called miniature Scotland for it's wide variety of beautiful scenery ..


Great Scottish routes: South West Coastal 300 - Open Road Scotland

openroadscotland.com openroadscotland.com
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Just awee note, ferry to Arran goes from troon now. Highly recommend booking as well.
 
Coldimgham beach is said to be one of the best in Scotland.

Also as you are coming up via the Norrhumbria coast Duridge Bay has a long long beach. Go in via Widdrington Village (not Widdrington Station) to the north end. It's 40 years since we lived there and at that time it was National Trust with a broken honesty box for parking but probably tightened up by now.
 

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