[Closed] Camper Holiday in Scotland in an old Sprinter

Also keen on sea eagles, goldies, ospreys, single malt

Then Arran is a must visit then.

Saying that, I seen the biggest mofo red kite I've ever seen at Kirro on saturday, was mahoosive!.

Mull for sea eagles. goldens in the north west. Most of the goldens have been killed by grouse moor owners around the cairngorms but a few are left. MUll much cheaper to get to if you use the Corran ferry and the lochaline ferry rather than the oban ferry. I have also seen sea eagles on ardnamurchan

IN a big van the roads are slow in the north so remember this when considering how long it will take to drive to places

random ideas

stay at Rockcliffe - cycle to Dalbeattie, walk to Kippford pub (beach/forest tracks - you could cycle)

Arran - stay at Seal Shore (forest loop Kilmory, whiting bay back to Kikldonan) - stay at Lochranza (distillery - café v good, Stags is worth booking) small bike ride round coast, walk Goat fell
stay at Lamlash - loop Clauchlands, Brodick etc (*cheeky stop)

Over to Crinan(Lochgilphead site) - cycle Crinan canal - poss best bimble uk, other tracks - see[url= http://scotland.forestry.gov.uk/images/pdf/rec_pdfs/MidArgyllCyclingLeaflet.pdf ]http://scotland.forestry.gov.uk/images/pdf/rec_pdfs/MidArgyllCyclingLeaflet.pdf[/url]

day ferry to Gigha - up and down bimble (mail me for a cheeky overnight) - café canoe etc hire

*see above tj comment about driving coz it can be chore like, also beware midges (I cycle fully covered and carry a head midge net), also think about heavy rain and lack of wet weather options in rural areas

edited * loop back over Glasgow (*Trossachs/Loch Katrine, steamer/cycle loop)

FW - Caledonian canal has some nice bits

train to corrour (nice site Roybridge) and bike back *PLS CHECK/get local knowledge - I did C to RB via east tracks - king hilly/unrideable bits - w options look better but dam appears to be blocked

thanks all! Really super helpful.

smidge for the midges. It the best by far.

Yeah midges having done the e2e and got battered by clouds of them on YHA in Torridon whilst fixing a bike, it's been keeping me up at night.
So any recomendations on anti-midge gear such as nets or mossi coils?
We've got bucket loads of lifesystems anti-midge DEET, also the better smelling non-DEET stuff, skin so soft (which sort of works)

Mull/Ardnamurchan/Ardgour/Morvern.

Smidge.

Not a huge amount of MTB in the area but I could give you some pointers.

Relatively quiet for hiking on account of the low Munro count.

If you do decide on Aviemore direction I can suggest any number of trails according to ability/fitness - and a host of other activities.

Smidge is a complete gamechanger for the midges. Works as well as high strength deet ie better than the low strength deet in the life systems stuff and is not toxic and unpleasant like Deet. seriously - get some.

skin so soft does not really work unless you are absolutely slathered in it and then its still not as good as smidge

Mossie coils are OK for getting rid of them if they get into the van

top tip. remember its only a sprinter and that means its not actually all that big(wide) just longer - assuming your used to driving it. i dont find the 7.2m iveco any harder on the north of scotland singletrack roads than i do my berlingo. how ever the coach built i had i found a nightmare because of the extra foot or so on either side.

- something i came a cropper with though was steep inclines driving over the glen fruin road from faslane to balloch was that the rear over hang hit the floor.....

Another thing to note is that with the revised pricing structure at CalMac, places like Mull are a lot busier because they are cheaper to get to now as they are only a short hop from Oban. This means that the campsites and roads are busier than they were a few years ago too. If you want a proper campsite you'll probably need to book ahead to avoid disappointment, particularly at the weekend.
I'm not sure if that means the islands like Coll & Tiree are quieter now as they are more expensive to reach.

Have a great time !!

Van goes anywhere, it's a MWB double wheel with heaps of ground clearance, so no problems. Will grab some smidge and coils to add to the stockpile.

Did a 3 week tour of Scotland and the Isles in May in our camper - fortunately before the midges arrived. Route was Ardrossan-Brodick-Lochranza-Cloanaig-Oban-Mull-Kilchoan-Arisaig and so forth and would recommend that route. There's some really nice places around Seil, south of Oban too. Agree that many campsites were busier than expected / many full so booking near essential in peak season. Been to Mull a few times, but only ever seen Sea Eagles on Skye and Lewis.

@easyrider - beware little 3 tonne bridges in some places.
If you've got a twin wheeler it's a heavy duty Sprinter so probably has a higher MAM/MTPLM rating.

If you go as far as Aviemore it would be a shame to miss out on coignafearn. I've had close up encounters with golden and white tailed eagles there. Less than eight feet from the Goldie! And if you are confident in your driving the minor roadat garbole has a few spots that would be great in a camper

If you've got a twin wheeler it's a heavy duty Sprinter so probably has a higher MAM/MTPLM rating.

It's more likely to be 3.5t and smaller pay load than it is to be higher mam but worth checking.

I have also seen sea eagles on ardnamurchan

in the autumn they fly up into Glen Etive past my folks house, 5miles north of Oban.

I read somewhere there is a 3 ton limit bridge, funny you lot have come up with the goods hehe. I'll have to look into the weight limit stuff 'cos I'm not sure of the whys and wherefors, but I wouldn't want to come a cropper and face bad fine that's for sure.But if no ones looking and the vehicle is under 3 tons on the weighbridge, can I cross a 3 ton limit bridge? (ton == tonne == 1000kg)
Post edit : Probably it applies to MGW which means I cannot cross it as the vehicle is plated at > 3.5t though will have to check exactly what it is when I get back.

Oh and thanks a ton anybody who has helped me on this project, STW rocks! (most of the time)