5 Days Exploring the Highlands of Scotland in a Campervan

When you are blessed with glorious weather there’s no better place to be than in Scotland. This isn’t usually the case in February … but it was in our case! We hired a mid-sized camper from Rockin Vans in Kilmarnock, and planned a circular route taking five days. Nothing was set in stone – we had no real agenda, no overnight bookings. We wanted to experience the freedom of the open (and empty) roads. So, here’s where we went, and what we did …

Day 1: Kilmarnock – Loch Lomond – Loch Etive

We set off from Kilmarnock at around 10:45am with a full fuel tank and water tank. Having googled the nearest supermarket, we headed there to stock up on essentials as we didn’t know when we’d next stumble across a convenience store. We bought enough food to last 2-3 days; we had a 3-ring hob and small oven so could prepare simple meals easily. There was also a small fridge with a freezer compartment inside.

It was around 1:30pm when we arrived on the banks of Loch Lomond.

Loch Lomond

We followed signs to the Sea Life Centre, as I’d promised to take Millie-Mae and Toby; while we were visiting, Huw looked after the dogs while organising our luggage a little better by discovering new storage areas under seats. He also took the dogs for a little leg-stretch along the banks of Loch Lomond. It was such a beautiful day.

Loch Lomond Shores – map of what to see and do

After a lovely visit to the aquarium, which had panoramic views of the loch with snow-capped mountains in the distance, we headed back to the campervan. It was now mid-afternoon and we wanted to overnight somewhere in the mountains. So, we rejoined the main road towards Fort William.

View of Loch Lomond from the panoramic terrace within the Sea Life centre

Researching somewhere to stop overnight, we read of the ‘perfect’ wild camp – AND we got to drive through the scenery used for the Bond film Skyfall on the way to it. We therefore looked for the turn towards Loch Etive.

Loch Etive

Loch Etive is reached after a 25-minutes slow drive down a single-lane track. The sights were incredible with rivers, waterfalls, rapids, and mountains. As night started to pull in, we even had to stop to let a stag cross the road in front of us.

One of several stag spotted along the track leading to Loch Etive

We reached the parking area at the end of the road, and settled down for the night. By this time, it was totally dark (no light pollution!) We woke in the morning to this …

We had no idea it was so beautiful! While Huw, the children and dogs were exploring, I cooked up a proper camping breakfast!

Campervan breakfast!

After breakfast we packed everything away, and drove back up the single-lane track to re-join the main road towards Glencoe and Fort William.

A PLEA: Please, take your litter away with you if you overnight here. It’s a beautiful spot, but local residents are getting fed up with the state some campers are leaving it in. They will stop people wild camping here if it continues …

Day 2: Loch Etive – Fort William – Drumnadrochit

Once back on the main road, we quickly arrived in Glencoe where we stopped for a quick photo opportunity and a read of the information board.

Glencoe

We reached Fort William, and although initially our plans were to stop, we didn’t need to buy anything, so we drove on. We followed the signs towards Inverness (as we wanted to visit Loch Ness).

Commando Memorial

Close to Spean Bridge, we visited the Commando Memorial. This is one of Scotland’s most famous memorials. It overlooks the Commando training grounds and commemorates the Officers and Men of the Commandos who died during World War II. Around the top of the plinth are the words “United we conquer”.

Commando Memorial with mountains in background

Commando Memorial

When we reached Fort Augustus we were at a crossroads. This is the end (the bottom) of Loch Ness: We could have taken the slow road around the southern shore of Loch Ness, where we’d be sure to find somewhere to stop overnight. However, the following morning we were visiting the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition in Drumnadrochit, which is ¾ of the way along the main north road … so we decided to stay on the main road.

Overnight stop

Over the next 10-15 miles, driving along the banks of Loch Ness, we passed so many nice places where we’d have loved to stop – but signs clearly stated ‘no overnight parking’. We looked up some local campsites, but they were all closed over winter. In desperation we pulled into the carpark of Urquhart Castle as there was a VW Transporter there, and we could ask for their advice. The retired couple were lovely, and told us that we wouldn’t have been moved on had we parked in one of the carparks we’d already spotted (at this time of the year), and as long as took all rubbish away with us, we shouldn’t worry.

We didn’t want to drive back, so we carried on into Drumnadrochit, and a little bit out the other side. Eventually we came across a small off-road layby alongside a minor road, and we made this our home for the night.

Our campervan home for the 5 days

Day 3: Drumnadrochit – Fortrose – Cromarty

We had a bright and early start today. After a quick continental breakfast, we drove back into Drumnadrochit and to the carpark of the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition. I took the children through this fascinating experience that covered the history, science and myths of the famous Loch Ness. I shall talk about this in a separate post. Huw found a lovely walk to take the dogs on, so we met up again later in the morning.

Loch Ness Visitor Centre and Exhibition

And then, as planned, we drove onto the Black Isles – somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit. I will cover the Black Isle in a separate post, but the main reason I wanted to come here was to head to Chanonry Point, just beyond Fortrose. This is a famous dolphin-spotting location, if you time it right (on a rising tide) there’s a good chance you’ll see them close to the shore in the Moray Firth.

Chanonry Point, Black Isle – a great place to see dolphins

We were not the only people there on a dolphin-spotting quest. But the wind had got up and the sea was a bit rough … we didn’t see any bottlenose dolphins ☹

Cromarty

Having had a quick look around the grounds of the ruined Fortrose Cathedral, we headed towards Cromarty – on a mission from my dad! Back in the 1970s he helped with the engineering of some huge floating oil platforms – he had been told that some of them had been retired and brought into the waters around Cromarty. He wasn’t kidding … it was like a graveyard of oil rigs!

Retired platforms in Cromarty Firth

It was getting late when we arrived in Cromarty, and we’d past a forest carpark that we’d planned to stop in that night – so we bought some fish and chips, parked up, and bedded down for the night.

Day 4: Cromarty – Culloden – Aviemore

Today the plan was to spend the morning exploring the rest of the Black Isle, and then making our way down the A9 into the Cairngorms.

We headed back to Cromarty, to see the lighthouse and take a walk along the beach. Following the north coast along Cromarty Firth we headed towards the Black Isle Brewery, where Huw and Toby took a tour (more in a separate post!)

Black Isle Brewery

Today was Valentine’s Day and the children decided they wanted to cook that evening, so we planned to stop later in the day in Aviemore to pick up supplies. On the way here, we took a diversion to Culloden.

Culloden

The Battle of Culloden in 1746 was the culmination of the Jacobite rebellion, which saw Bonnie Prince Charlie’s claim to the Scottish throne dashed to the floor. Here, where the battle took place, now stands a visitor centre, which Huw and the children went around. I took the opportunity to switch on my MiFi and get a little bit of blog work done.

Toby said the story was very sad, and they will write about it in a separate post.

From the Battlefield, looking back to the Visitor Centre, Culloden

Having stocked up on ingredients for the evening meal, when we stopped in Aviemore, we drove a little further down the A9. Just up from Dalwhinnie, off the A9, we found a quiet off-road area to stop for the night. The children took over and cooked home-made burgers – and they were very nice! Huw and I shared some of the beer purchased after the tour of the brewery earlier in the day. They then took themselves off to bed to read …

Settling down for the night in the campervan

Day 5: Aviemore – Dalwhinnie – Kilmarnock

By 4pm today we needed to be back in Kilmarnock – but not before we’d visited a distillery! You can’t visit Scotland and not take a whisky tour! We overnighted near Dalwhinnie for a good reason. The distillery was close by, and was running tours ?. In fact, we arrived just after opening and were the only visitors. Huw and Millie-Mae took this tour, while Toby helped me start cleaning and packing things away.

Dalwhinnie Distillery, just off the A9 in the Cairngorms

The plan was to stop somewhere for a late breakfast/early lunch. However, we somehow managed to drive straight past two recommendations we’d found online! In no time at all the mountains were behind us and we were back on busy, main roads. We stopped at a services near Gleneagles for a leg-stretch, but we never did find breakfast, or lunch! As we approached Kilmarnock we found a filling station. We re-fuelled the campervan before we returned it (with about half an hour to spare!)

Home

Having returned the campervan and loaded ourselves back into our car, we headed to the MaccyD’s we’d spotted just up the road. This was our dinner stop, as we had a long 6-hour drive home ahead of us. We were home and in bed by midnight.

Final Thoughts

Looking back on our adventure, we packed a lot into a few short days. We really did feel that we had the ‘freedom to roam’ as the roads were practically empty. The attractions were not busy at all – it was a great time to visit. The scenery is outstanding. It’s beautiful. The campervan took us everywhere we wanted to go, in comfort. And we were warm; it may have been sunny, but it was still February and the mountains had snow on them.

What we didn’t know, until we were underway, was that the campsites would be closed. In our minds we had intended to ‘wild camp’ one night, followed by a campsite stop, etc. At any other time of the year this wouldn’t have been an issue (we just didn’t think, that’s all!) My advice, if you are thinking of doing something similar, is to research a little more than us, and take a chill pill! Don’t waste your precious holiday worrying about where you will park up that night. Once we spoke to the retired couple, we really relaxed, and ‘the joy of campervanning’ took over.

How did the kids get on?

Going ‘off grid’ with no wifi, mobile reception, or TV, meant that as a family we talked more. The travel games I snuck into a bag actually got played … and we read books. We honestly enjoyed our digital detox and embraced the simple things in life … walking, admiring scenery, looking for wildlife, reading a book, enjoying relative silence.

Hiring the campervan for 5 days was a brilliant taster of what it would be like to own one. This is still our dream. One day ?