Scotland - campsite & wild camping -advice please

I am planning a "grand tour" of Scotland March to end June this year. I am torn between booking sites in advance and therefore "fixing" my itinary against doing things on a more ad-hoc basis as the mood & weather allows (which is much more in the spirit of a camper van tour). I also expect a general lack of mobile and internet access so need to have some advance info to hand.

\I have 2 questions;

1. does anyone have any experience of late booking / just turning up at Scotland sites during April,May & June? I am unsure how confident I might be without advance booking.

2. I know that wild camping is an option in Scotland, so again what experience does anyone have? I am travelling alone so need to feel reasonably safe out in the wild! How easy is it to find suitable overnight spots?


I am a member of the Caravan & Camping club but also worry about their sites getting booked up early (especially the 5 pitch sites).


Grateful for any comments of suggestions.

cheers
Simon & Skooby

Take a look at www.wildcamping.co.uk lots of useful info and even a downloadable POI file with wild camping locations all over the UK.

Skooby wrote:

1. does anyone have any experience of late booking / just turning up at Scotland sites during April,May & June? I am unsure how confident I might be without advance booking.

2. I know that wild camping is an option in Scotland, so again what experience does anyone have? I am travelling alone so need to feel reasonably safe out in the wild! How easy is it to find suitable overnight spots?


I am a member of the Caravan & Camping club but also worry about their sites getting booked up early (especially the 5 pitch sites).

Answer 1 - Most school holidays are the first two weeks in April, so you may find that period slightly busier than expected. Summer holidays usually start at end of June. Generally in remoter places, e.g. West Coast, you may find two or three smaller sites not too far from each other. During our first year camping, we booked the first week then followed the weather the second and were fortunate to get into all the sites we wanted, although we did get the last space in one of the sites! However one particular site we go to is full of faithful returners which means we need to book now for July and August

Answer 2 - Never wild camped as the wife says she can't cope without her hair straighteners But have seen people at side of the road, some laybys are specifically marked no overnight parking, again it depends on which area you were planning to visit.

Where are you planning on going and we may be able to recommend a few sites.

By 5 pitch sites I presume you mean the certificated sites. There are some in the Peak district and South Coast that are booked weeks in advance, but to be honest you are going to be travelling out of season and I would have thought you would have no problem turning up and finding it empty. You could pick a few from the book and call them to see how busy they are during the period you intend to be travelling. Have a fab time whatever you do. Very jealous.

We have wild camped in Scotland with no probs and never booked any thing stayed in some lovey places the forest parks are good we have been to the outer hebrides in my old splity loved it go for it if the weather is ok it's the best place in the world we love it

Not been before but beware of the wild haggis
(Hopefully many would have been caught and cooked for the festivities today/tonight)
All the best with your trip - would like to see some pics in due course
Rooby Roo

Thanks for all the comments and ideas. I reckon I will chance it and make it up as I go along (but having researched sites first)

The general idea is to start at Dumfries in march and work my way along the coast as best I can. Luckily some good friends are renting a cottage over Easter near Oban and have invited me to join them for the week.

Quite literally can not wait for February to come and go

Simon

We've ventured down from Oban to my old hunting ground at the Mull of Kintyre over the last couple of years. Plenty of scope for wild camping there. Great site at Carradale Bay which I can highly recommend. Very jealous of your trip......enjoy and please let us have a list of all your stops. Best wishes.

Being a Scotsman and camped all over the world, Scotland is still my favorite place. However, I have become increasingly disappointed where my favorite places where you could wild camp have become restricted or prohibited due to inconsiderate campers. This causes places to fill up in the high peak holiday seasons and more difficult to find.

If you are in Scotland and are struggling to find somewhere, always seek a farmer and ask. You will be surprised.

We hired a Brazbay and took this to Scotland via the Lake District at the beginning of May last year and had a fantastic week although the weather was a bit hit and miss. After stopping for a night at Windermere we moved on to Loch Lomond, the site we stayed on here is next to the Loch Lomond Hotel and is very nice right beside the Loch and has the added benefit of the Hotel next door with a decent bar and restaurant.
We only travelled up and around Loch Ness and then stayed on a great site near Ben Nevis - Loch Linnhe Self Catering Holidays site. This was another great site with Lochside veiws and although we never saw the top of it Ben Nevis is at the head of the Loch. It was a great time to travel and we only pre-booked one night which was our return to the Loch Ness site as it had been so nice. We did this on the way back and then stayed a night on Ullswater before travelling back to Kent.

Do you have any pics Bileos? Sounds a FAB trip
Last year we nearly did a similar trip but it did not happen
Rooby Roo

Hi Scooby, I have lots of pics around the Lakes and Scotland but not as many as I thought with the camper in situ but here are some...the last pic is the most we saw of Ben Nevis from the Loch side at Loch Linnhe

Thanks for the cool pics
Are you planning something similar this year but in your own camper this time?

Yes, we are taking a big step and driving down to Florence in our own...at least thats the theory. I have yet to sit down and plan the route and have already asked for tips in another thread on this forum - Tips on taking Brazbay to Europe.

Scooby would have tried a long trip or two in the UK first
. . . that's just because he gets frightened really easily - Yikes what was that
Still all the best with your trip
Rooby Roo

Try www.camperstar.com