Our Aero model campervan with Bunk Campers. note: this is a confirmed fact.]. Your email address will not be published. Not having a pre-paid reservation at a campsite allowed us to stop for the night earlier than we had planned, so the next day we could continue along our route with better visibility. Will the heater (or air conditioner) work? A vicious rainstorm with high winds was predicted to roll through the area the next day and night. Required fields are marked *. Some messages were from friendly locals politely educating us on the fact that according to the Scottish Outdoor Public Access Code, wild camping does not pertain to motorized recreational vehicles. Keep it up! Hopefully you were good and bundled! ... From Neist Point you could stay high from the car park and walk over the moorland to some incredible spots above the ocean. Now, it’s time for you to go start planning your very own road trip of a lifetime! Spectacular sunsets here. We had some great luck with spots for wild camping and would do the trip all over again in a heartbeat! The one thing that won’t work while you’re wild camping is the plug outlets; these only work when you are plugged into electricity at a campsite (not even while you’re driving). ), and set out for the peak. On Tuesday morning, we awoke to a steady beat of heavy rain and more howling wind. It is certainly not our intention to provide inaccurate information. Others had clearly camped there before, because there were a few fire pits and some logs for benches. If we had to pick a favorite view from our wild camping adventures, it would definitely be Neist Point on Isle of Skye. Much of the structure was damaged, trash was strewn about, and creepiest of all: there was a human sized stuffed doll hanging in a noose, with some satanic red graffiti, “In God We Fail”. Ok, so obviously this won’t be an exhaustive list, as we haven’t been everywhere in Scotland, but we can tell you where we wild camped and places we recommend. You can camp high above the lighthouse—walk up from where you park, over the moorland, and look for anywhere flat and dry. 50 39 18. Wild Camping Scotland . The great thing for us is, we always arrive late and leave early, so usually we cause no harm and it’s important to make sure we don’t give motorhomers a bad name ! Ahhh, I would’ve been freezing in -4C!! No one seemed to mind and we left before 8 am. View from Neist point. We crawled into the tent and into our sleeping bags, and read our books for the next few hours while the rain beat down above. The answer always seems to be highly-obvious-after-the-fact. We decided to drive a little ways down the road to another car park, and hike a few miles to Camasunary Bay. We appreciate this being brought our attention. While we wish that everyone was a respectful and responsible traveler, the truth is… well, some people are jerks. Scotland is a gorgeous country with so much beauty and history to discover! Looks like a fun trip. We had originally planned to drive after dinner to Neist Point, an iconic peninsula with a lighthouse in the northwest of Skye. Again, we’re going to focus on wild camping in a campervan, as that was our experience! The weather didn’t stop us from getting out of the car, though it did prevent us from doing the full hike recommended by Walk Highlands. Back at the car, tired and sore (but not as sore as we would be the next morning) but invigorated by the surroundings, we surveyed the OS map and I pointed out all of the wild camping sites that I had marked. It’s such a ‘wild and free’ concept and I hope that people continue to respect the area around them when they wild camp, so it can stay legal forever! The trail descends gently across open, grassy terrain but evolves into quite a steep, stair-assisted plummet in the middle. This is the best place to catch the sunset, although be prepared to share it with a lot of other people, (which is why I actually prefer Talisker Bay Beach). The document is 135 pages long, so I’ll summarize it for you: If you believe that you may be camping on someone’s property; don’t assume it’s ok – ask. ), so we donned our waterproofs and set out for a short hike to Talisker Bay to get some miles and possibly a cold water swim in before #allofthefood. 77 54 6. The castle itself wasn’t much to write home about (this sounds absurd, but once you’ve lived in the UK for a while, a castle is a castle), but we enjoyed strolling around the gardens and taking advantage of the rare hour-long period of clear skies. There is no other thing screaming FREEDOM more than wild camping – i at least enjoyed it a lot! For our second evening in Cairngorms, we secured an awesome parking spot overlooking the River Dee on the east side of the park. For our first night in the park, we found a spot right along Loch Morlich. For more information, please read our Privacy Policy.). We set our bags down for a break in the hopes that the cloud cover might lift so that we could continue our climb. We sat in silence, smiling, and observed the happy pair play in the water while we sipped our hot coffee. We did loads of Wild Camping in Australia thanks to the god-send of an app called WikiCamps. The distance and the difference between those two extremes are what makes us happy and what makes us think and what makes us grow.” – Francis Mallman. Ok, I’m convinced!! Northern Lights as seen over Loch Carron in Stromeferry. The cave hotel in Matera was likely one of the most luxurious hotel stays I will ever have, and I’m grateful that we were able to include this in our itinerary. The steep path led us down to the bay, where we found a perfect campsite right on the water. Man, there is some gorgeous scenery there! For the most part wild camping is completely legal in Scotland. This doesn’t change the fact that wild camping does NOT include motorized vehicles. Yea, it’s a nice freedom for sure. With our Aero model campervan from Bunk Campers, we drove the award-winning North Coast 500 route, visited the Isle of Skye, and explored Cairngorms National Park. [MC Ed. Although, yours looks way more luxurious than ours- it was basically just a mattress in the back of a van! Wishing you a wonderful trip! We wouldn’t have wanted to Wild Camp there, as it was March when we visited and a huge snow storm blew through on our last day. However, I also view our wild camping in the Brecon Beacons as a luxurious experience as well. We certainly apologize for our misunderstanding and for any misinformation we have provided. The air was astonishingly crisp and smelled like moss and the sea. Also, out to Neist Point was a … I read and heard Isle of Skye is also considered as a good spot for wild camping. Great article! I love that a pub offers free parking in exchange for a meal and beer purchased. As I signed us in for the next two nights, the cheery campsite owner asked if we were sure we would actually want to stay for two nights. For that reason alone, I would almost recommend wild camping every other night. Turns out it wasn’t the main house that was giving me the heebie jeebies. Just a final thought, can you not get independent USB charges for your camera batteries? Mountain and Wild Camping photographer. SOLITUDE – I think more than saving money, the majority of wild campers choose to do so for the freedom and solitude that comes with parking (or pitching their tent) away from others in the great outdoors! We encountered a group of people armed with hammers, shovels, and buckets, repairing and restoring a large portion of the path. Instead, we dashed out of the car and trudged through boggy wetland (and I mean BOGGY) to get a view of the peninsula, wondered aloud whether the wandering sheep ever get blown over the edge (later confirmed by a local as yes, often), and hopped back in the car to head back to our campsite and call it a night. My husband and I have already rented our campervan for our three week Scotland adventure September 2017. We had a full day of luxurious food planned (lunch at The Oyster Shed in Carbost, a tour of Talisker whiskey distillery, and dinner at the famed Three Chimneys – all stories to come in the next post! It lies between the Black Cuillins and Loch Brittle beach and offers the feel of wild camping but with full facilities. I am wondering how hard was it to drive the camper van on the roads of Scotland as well as find parking places when you weren’t wild camping. (Kind of near where this photo was taken.) No heat, no toilets, etc!! I suggested that we visit Dunvegan Castle after setting up camp, mostly because I wanted to take a photo of a Scottish castle for my friend’s eight year old daughter (mission accomplished). Since we were still getting to know the ins and outs of the campervan, we stayed at campsites for the first 5 nights. Neist Point - the most westerly headland on Skye - is an iconic destination, with stunning cliff scenery, a fine lighthouse, an outlook to the Outer Hebrides, and the … As we drove to the Fairy Pools Car Park on the southeastern edge of the forest, the rain pelted our windshield and the sky turned a foreboding dark slate color. Staying warm was our biggest concern, as our road trip took place during the first two weeks of April, when it was still plenty cold outside! We appreciate the visitors who respectfully inform us of any falsities and provide us with corrected facts. and several places in between. We woke up to blue skies and sun in Inverness in the morning, and saw that the weather was predicted to be similar on Skye. Fingers crossed that the sun comes out for you so you get to use your solar panel. (Bothies are huts that are open to the public to provide shelter for hikers and back packers.) This basically didn’t stop for the next 48 hours. It ended up being an ideal place to settle in – we watched wave and wave of stormy clouds roll past Loch Eynort. Of course, no set itinerary could be planned, because the weather could in fact change by the minute. Talisker Bay was stunning, but the storm had kicked up so much that we could barely stand still against the wind. Although wild camping is legal throughout most of Scotland, there are a few things to ‘know before you go’! To make matters more interesting, compasses tend not to work in the Cuillins due to the magnetic properties of gabbro, the primary rock making up the mountain range. Given our consideration of these two extremes, we decided to split our trip to the Isle of Skye into two parts. We didn’t have any issues driving the campervan on the roads. This could be in a tent or campervan/motorhome, but for the sake of this post we’ll be writing about free camping in a campervan, because that was our experience. Also a bit out of the way, this turned out to be more than worth the effort to get there! At a campsite, you may have a few yards between you and the next set of campers, whereas with wild camping, your closest neighbor could be miles away! So, to answer the questions I know you all have about wild camping with a campervan/motorhome, here goes…. Prior to this adventure, we hadn’t heard much about wild camping, as it isn’t common practice in the States. Check out our other Scotland articles for inspiration on places to visit: https://forgetsomeday.com/travel/scotland. At any rate, there are many incredible road trips in Scotland, so I think it’s about time you had another campervan adventure!! Things to be careful of: - take enough water Another popular wild camping spot on the Isle of Skye is Neist Point. I’m pretty sure it’s not widely accepted in the US where we’re from, so it was fun to be able to experience wild camping in beautiful Scotland! I had seen the iconic bay in some articles on the Walk Highlands site, and it looked remote and magical. We came to the base of what suddenly turned into a very steep and very rocky portion of the mountain, which we assumed was the final stretch to the peak. I remember doing a big tour of Scotland in most of those places you were visiting and man, it was freezing!! Vanping! Love your photos and really enjoyed watching your very inspiring video . Glenbrittle Campsite. 49 52 15. 130 138 11. Wild Camping Scotland . I’d love to do another similar roadtrip and this looks amazing!!! Your email address will not be published. Probably the most beautiful lighthouse in Scotland, regally guarding the most western tip of Skye close to the town of Glendale. I’d love to learn more about the independent USB charges you use for your camera batteries. Our travel style is very much about escaping the crowds and connecting with nature, so the idea of having the freedom to park (almost) anywhere we wanted for the night was definitely appealing to us! But before we get started with our experiences, let’s talk about the definition and legalities of this popular Scottish leisure activity. The scenery was comprised of intensely vibrant blues and greens. There were 20-30 common dolphins off Neist Point from Barra up to Benbecula and some came across to the Neist side briefly. Neist Point; It's possible to add Skye onto the NC500 and visit for the day, but it's well worth spending 3 days in a road trip here to really see some of the incredible sights. Our first time wild camping near Loch Carron in Stromeferry. So you know just how much we LOVE photographing the night sky, I will tell you that we planned our entire campervan trip around the phases of the moon in order to see the stars in the dark sky more clearly during a new moon. After an incredibly beautiful drive to the isle, we arrived at the car park at the bottom of Bla Bheinn. #winning #notasdumbashelooks]. This would also allow you to recharge your batteries, dump your waste water, refill your water tank, empty your chemical toilet, and take a warm shower if your campervan doesn’t come with a shower (or you simply choose not to use the shower in your vehicle, like us). A vicious rainstorm with high winds was predicted to roll through the area the next day and night. 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