[Closed] Scotland open or not?

If you're not a dick you won't bother anyone. I've just been dotting about the far north (Sutherland, Assynt etc). Round about towns and villages and good (informal) roadside camp spots is absolutely heaving but away from that is fine. Campsites are booked out and more. I've got 2 weeks hol left and I'm probably going to avoid proper campsites as any I've seen have been bonkers busy.

I expect further south will be even busier but I am notoriously crowd averse!

Could do a lot worse than Assynt though a long way from Cornwall!

I moved here 4 weeks ago and now living in a fairly remote part of Speyside. The first couple of weeks it was very quiet, barely any traffic but in the last few weeks it has increased considerably. Attitudes do vary from area to area - our local FB page was pleading for help to clean up and make the place look nice for tourists and encourage them to stop. On some of the islands they are just coming out of lockdown / ferries reopening to public and they're still a bit antsy / pitch forks and not everything is open - particularly some campsites are closed for the season. We went over to Ullapool and it was fairly busy, but not too bad. We were on Mull too for a day - ferries were OK, but not all campsites are open and people are still turning up without accommodation bookings expecting to just find something and coming unstuck. If you avoid the honeypots like Glencoe and Ft Bill and are flexible, head a bit further north you could probably find something - e.g. Clachtoll is open and taking bookings

You're welcome and encouraged.

We usually avoid the crowds by disappearing to the alps for 6 weeks but not this year.

Eldest_oab has just been offered a penthouse 3bed apartment with pool in Les Gets for a month for £1250...

Cheers all
Happy with a big drive, I’ll just do it through the night while the kids sleep...

I think far north for us anyway, we are happy being very remote and away from any conveniences.

I’m terrible at being organised though, we usually just float about in the van in the alps visiting friends, stopping at usual climbing spots and generally winging it. Sounds like I need to get organised and actually book stuff in Scotland then.

Good to know most are fairly welcoming, that’s certainly the case down here (although a few small villages have some wicker man esque approaches to tourism still but few and far between)

The roads round Wester Ross and Assynt etc are overrun with campervans, motorhomes and caravans at the moment. Don't come up expecting solitude or wilderness. And don't expect to be driving very far each day. You'll be spending a lot of time in traffic jams caused by stupid drivers.

There is a significant problem with wild shitting at the moment. If you can avoid doing that you’re most welcome.

And don’t expect to be driving very far each day. You’ll be spending a lot of time in traffic jams caused by stupid drivers.

I didn't notice that at all. Spoke to a guy who reckoned certain days we're busier though because of accommodation change overs and particularly campervan rental returns so maybe I struck that lucky.

I've just been in Ullapool and talking to friends from Lochinver. They've had to abandon some of their own journeys due to road blockages caused by excessively large motorhomes trying to pass on the singletrack roads. Passing places are being used for parking too, making it even worse.

Clearly I got lucky! Like the OP we usually bugger off to the Alps and miss all this so not really got a baseline to compare it to.

Avoid the gluepot areas and you'll be fine, it's not really that busy, I think we're just a bit over sensitive about it now.

Galloway, Angus Glens, Ardnamurchan, Black isle, loads of places that are braw and relatively quiet.

Avoid the gluepot areas and you’ll be fine, it’s not really that busy, I think we’re just a bit over sensitive about it now.

I reckon that's about right.

I guess we are in peak school holiday time and there are plenty of people who would be either abroad or in other parts of the uk, that are currently trying to have a holiday at home in Scotland. I’m in that category. So things are busy with locals out and about as much as anything. We’re currently on Islay. The ferry over on Saturday was full at capacity (reduced of course) but not all facilities are fully open. Doing our bit to spend money locally as much as possible.

You only have to look at the parking fiasco in snowdonia to see that this is playing out across the uk. There just aren’t places to go and things to do for folk due to social distancing so they are hitting outdoor facilities harder. It’s interesting to hear locals from holiday destinations who don’t typically travel abroad commenting about increased numbers.

There just aren’t places to go and things to do for folk due to social distancing so they are hitting outdoor facilities harder.

There are. Just people don't have the imagination, the map reading skills or the ability not to read 'top places for a countryside walk' written by a London journalist who has never explored for themselves.

I had a 52km bike ride today. For 30km of that we saw one tandem and two cars. We passed ancient monuments. Roman forts Woodland tracks. Hills with paths on, Rivers for damming. No-one there.

I bet however that locally to the ride the Devils Cauldron walk, Comrie Croft and Loch Earn (shores) were all utterly heaving.

There are. Just people don’t have the imagination, the map reading skills or the ability not to read ‘top places for a countryside walk’ written by a London journalist who has never explored for themselves.

That’s very harsh. Folk are pivoting from a trip to the gyle or ikea and trying something new. There are govt agencies whose responsibility it is to promote access to the outdoors who are asleep at the wheel - or actively discouraging folk from visiting some areas.

How about national parks promoting access to quieter areas? They were noisy enough when the message was stay at home.

There are. Just people don’t have the imagination, the map reading skills or the ability not to read ‘top places for a countryside walk’ written by a London journalist who has never explored for themselves.

No different to the Lake District in summer, can be absolutely heaving in the towns, but once you walk 100m uphill you leave 99.99% behind and can have the fells pretty much to yourself (bar possibly Helvelyn which does get a bit busy)

Comrie was mobbed with campers (they were even in the top top field, thats some walk carrying a tent) but only a handful of bikes this morning. However Beecraigs with the kids this afternoon I have never seen busier.

We are up in aviemore next sunday and expecting the a9 trip to be horrific.

That’s very harsh.

Agreed, looking down our noses at folk getting out off their comfort zone is a bit shit.

Met a young couple near the summit of bynack more on Friday, they'd never hillwalked before, first hill a fairly decent munro with a fair walk in from Glenmore lodge, their enthusiasm was brilliant, more power to them. 😁

You don't need to travel far into Scotland to meet all your requirements. We've just came back from camping in D&G out past Kirkcudbright, plenty of access to good outdoor activities including some cracking off road biking. Actually quite quiet in the towns and the roads seemed fine but definitely book accommodation ahead.

We are up in aviemore next sunday and expecting the a9 trip to be horrific.

Just back from a week, road fine. Only slow bit is contraflow for the dialling just after Perth, no long though.

Heading upto Aberdeen this weekend for a fleeting visit with my brother. He seems to think its OK. He's planning an outing for us all on Saturday, but is being choosy and not going to take us to the usual places popular with tourists. Also not planning on going out in the evening. We're only there for a couple of days anyway but our dad is heading up there tomorrow for a week.

We're staying in a local hotel, the one closest to him was fully booked, a guest house nearby was also fully booked so we're in a Premier Inn a bit closer into the city, so signs people are heading up north.

It's ok where I am in the northeast, but have a look at the FB group 'NC500 the land weeps'.
Doesn't look great in some places...

I was in Ullapool 2 weeks ago and Skye this week past. Even Skye was quieter last week, we got there early afternoon and were able to get into the Slig bridge carpark for a wee stroll up to B-n-F. Normally it would be full of vans with the wheel chocks etc. I have seen Staffin community on FB begging the vans to go elsewhere though,so obviously usual behaviour from the "minority." While it was the first week after accomodation opened, the NC500 was quiet as well the week before I think this is going to decimate the tourist industry up here, the Summer season only has a month to go, even for the neighbours. We were in Skye to go to St Kilda,best day trip I have ever had,if you can; go!

If you have your own facilities in your van then caravan club cl’s will guarantee space and peace. We have only used our own toilet and shower the whole time we have been away.

I have been at the top of mainland Scotland for a week in a caravan and it is fine. Many sites are not open, you need to book ahead more than usual but it is less busy than the last two or three years. Only Dutch plated foreign visitors this year.

Locals are easy going and welcoming.

On Orkney now much quieter than recent years, the main sites at Kirkwall and Birsay are shut but we stay on a cl. still wild camping vans all huddled together at Birsay but hardly any motor homes generally. Only our caravan and two t5 size campers on the ferry which was odd, the ferry’s have limited capacity.

Because of the limited space on ferry’s we will not visit secondary islands this year and save the space for local needs.

Just avoid the tweed valley / well advertised trail areas, there were sassenachs galore brake dragging down everything at the golfie/inners at the weekend

There is a significant problem with wild shitting at the moment. If you can avoid doing that you’re most welcome.

This sadly seems very true - never come across as much used bog roll as I have this summer. Is it the package holiday lot doing something different and not having the education as to how to do it properly; is it the festival lot being as abusive to the landscape they are living in as usual but unleashed on the world without a festival site to **** up or is it no one currently employed/directed to pick up so it looks worse than normal? Regardless, it's not cool.

Was up in Fort William on Friday.

I'd say the A82 was significantly quieter than normal for a sunny Friday at the end of July.

The Nevis range itself was fairly busy but it definitely didn't feel crowded.

Slightly different, but connected - we were walking up and around Stirling Castle on Saturday afternoon with friends and kids, and a lovely elderly Scottish lady bustled past/into us muttering about bloody tourists etc.

This was right up at the castle (opening this week, come and visit! book ahead!), and the jail etc are already open.

We bloody live here, but didn't feel she made the comments to open a conversation 🙂

Current situation just gives miserable inward looking folks a chance to vent. if it wasn't tourists, they'd be miserable and inward looking about something else, and they are very rare.

As Matt says: "You’re welcome and encouraged"

We've not strayed that far from home (Edinburgh) yet and it seems patchy. The Pentland Hills are as busy as I've ever seen them but once away from the car-parks there are still plenty of very quiet areas.

Last weekend we did a drive down to the borders, over one of my favourite roads that runs past the Talla and Megget reservoirs. I knew there would be some wild campers there but a couple of the car-parks beside the Megget reservoir looked like campsites with a variety of motorhomes, campervans and tents. We then headed down the A708 towards Moffat and the Grey Mare's Tail car-park (and the surrounding roads) were insanely busy - must have been hundreds of cars. From what we could see of the path up to the waterfall it looked like the pics you sometimes see of people queuing to get up the Hillary Step on Everest.

The weekend before we'd been down to Melrose (which is a lovely town) to give our motorhome it's first post-lockdown run and the town and campsite were both pretty quiet. That was before the restrictions were lifted on using campsite facilities though.

Re: wild "toileting" - this is very sadly the norm in many places in Austria and Germany. It's incredible the amount of "toilet" spots right next to the footpath we've seen in the Bavarian Alps, Tirol, Carinthia etc. I used to think at least we don't do that over here....

Do you guys think it'll be quieter in early Sept?

Interesting article here

Exploring wild Scotland, or making Scots wild owing to inappropriate access? The right to roam in a summer of staycations

https://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/lawschool/blog/exploringwildscotlandormakingscotswildowingtoinappropriateaccess/

Was riding up near Arrochar early this morning and coming back down Loch Lomond side around midday, the road north was busier than I have ever seen it. A constant crawl of cars, camper vans and ninja bikes. A few hours earlier it was quiet, but I was unable to park at the old church at Arrochar Station as it was totally rammed with campervans.

I drove a little further up the station road and parked there, only to get tirades of abuse from a lady who came out her house to say I couldn’t park there, ‘it’s for the railway’ despite it being a designated free parking area. I was polite but ignored her and thankfully when I returned a few hours later my tyres still had air in them 😀

Just avoid the tweed valley / well advertised trail areas, there were sassenachs galore brake dragging down everything at the golfie/inners at the weekend

Nice to see people being all inclusive when it comes to our sport.

Just avoid the tweed valley / well advertised trail areas, there were sassenachs galore brake dragging down everything at the golfie/inners at the weekend

Hardly anyone around during the week (away from GT) to see me dragging my brakes.

Heading south from Inners this morning (7am) and the A708 had camper vans and cars in pretty much every lay-by and viewing spot with numerous tents pitched up around the loch.

We’re staying in a local hotel, the one closest to him was fully booked, a guest house nearby was also fully booked

That's not tourism.

That's the oil industry having to self isolate at a hotel room for a period before going offshore

Had to have a flying visit to Aviemore today. The place was bustling. Videos of the traffic on the ski road make it look like business as usual for a bank holiday weekend with half decent weather. I don't understand why one of the big public sector organisations haven't brought in a load of portaloos and a few skips for the rubbish that is accumulating. Can't help thinking that Highland Council, Forestry and Land Scotland and Cairngorms NPA couldn't be working together to provide some facilities to help the situation. It almost feels like they wish folk would just stay away.

Skye's rammed again , I think there's only 1 campsite @ Edinbane open so lot's of wild camping going on. Guessing there's a fair amount of u buggers here judging by the amount of Mtb's strapped to all sorts of motors. (Mainly german estate cars tho)

Can’t help thinking that Highland Council, Forestry and Land Scotland and Cairngorms NPA couldn’t be working together to provide some facilities to help the situation

Can't speak for the other organisations there but HC are stony broke and were already cutting services and facilities like public toilets before the pandemic.

Skye’s rammed again , I think there’s only 1 campsite @ Edinbane open so lot’s of wild camping going on. Guessing there’s a fair amount of u buggers here judging by the amount of Mtb’s strapped to all sorts of motors. (Mainly german estate cars tho)

I'm here but travelling incognito with no bikes on the German estate! Fairy pools busy as ever, reminiscing about a time when the car park only held about 10 cars and you could swim/jump without an audience!

I drove a little further up the station road and parked there, only to get tirades of abuse from a lady who came out her house to say I couldn’t park there, ‘it’s for the railway’

Ha! She blasted me as well back in May. Missed me parking but came out to moan when I was back at thr car.

Highland hospitality!

I was up the Ben today. Luckily we'd parked up at 8 am so managed to get a space in the car park.  An absolutely phenomenal amount of folk going up (and down, obviously). Looked like the Lake District. Also an absolutely phenomenal amount of litter everywhere, especially the summit. We had bags to take some down with us but hardly made a dent. I do wish folk would realise that banana skins and orange peel aren't magically subsumed into the environment too.

I am heading to the outer Hebrides as thought it might be quieter.... Stornoway on Thursday and then back from Barra on the 16th. Fingers crossed it won’t be too busy, seems ok from a few photos I’ve seen over the past few days.

I am heading to the outer Hebrides as thought it might be quieter…. Stornoway on Thursday and then back from Barra on the 16th

What's the ferry situation now?
Cal-mac were actively discouraging tourists a few weeks ago.
We're hoping to go in the last week of August, probably mostly on the mainland, but Mull has been on our list for a long time, so a night there would be nice.
Reading the reports, our plans may have to include a tent, we would rather stay in a B&B, which all appear to be full, but are campsites going to be full too? - we dont like booking in advance, as we generally go where we feel would be good that day, rather than to a set itinery.

Campsites are very busy, this year you’ll probably have to be a bit less flexible.

Ferry situation is that apart from the odd walk on ferries, ie small ones such as Cumbrae, Lochranza etc, they have to be booked in advance, even for foot passengers, so they are very busyy, especially at weekends due to most cottages being saturday to saturday. There was a lot of hyperbole about ferries a few weeks back, but tbh it was more from the island tourism side of the business than CalMac, we've been on Arran ferry a few times and there was no discouragement at any point.

Capacity is only around the 25% mark IIRC, but they've opened up the booking window til mid october. Still no word on when they'll be serving Calmac n cheese mind. 🙁

they’ve opened up the booking window til mid october.

I best book quickly then - we're 5 ferrying plus Islay at October half term....

I was over in Lewis last week. Ferry was pretty busy (both mezzanine decks loaded). Every second seat taped off. We only got on due to extenuating circumstances - they are holding a few tickets back for family emergencies, bereavement etc. Quite a few tourists around but not at normal levels.

Went to Mull a week ago - Corran and then Lochaline-Fishnish, there and back in a day - simply turn up, wasn't full, no problems. Folks turning up on Mull without accommodation booked and being disappointed - not everywhere is open. Come back next year and you can camp in my garden 😉

Just back from Islay. 150 on the ferry apparently, compared to 500+ normally? Lots of taped off seats, no food or services open on the ferry. It was quite nice really.
It was my first time on Islay, so its hard to judge what wasn't open that usually is. Only 2 distillery tours open though and the pizza restaurant in Bowmore only open for takeaway.

WE are heading to Arran,kintyre and cowal in a couple of weeks - hoping that is not too busy. Campsites seem to vary from closed to " just turn up" I guess we need to book the ferry to Arran but after that hoping to just turn up. BIke not car.

Anyone in the area got any idea how things are?

I am heading to the outer Hebrides as thought it might be quieter…. Stornoway on Thursday and then back from Barra on the 16th. Fingers crossed it won’t be too busy, seems ok from a few photos I’ve seen over the past few days.

What sort of accom are you staying in? We've been there a couple of times in the van. Campsites not that plentiful and looking at the list of what is open most of those we did stay at (when not wild camping) are closed. I suspect it might be tight even if tourist numbers pretty low. Horgabost being closed is going to really squeeze facilities on Harris as that soaked up the vast majority of campers there.

I'd also be super super careful around locals as they are very on edge, especially as you go south. The Barra covid response is/was a couple of camp beds in a community hall and despite needing tourist income there is definitely a fear of what it will bring. Very responsible tourists seen doing over and above proper social distancing (which will be challenging in the tiny Coops which are the only source of food), spending money on local business rather than carrying their own supplies and leaving nothing but rubbish (in bins obvs) and being v respectful will go some way to reassure a pretty aged community that it's ok and actually worth it.

WE are heading to Arran,kintyre and cowal in a couple of weeks – hoping that is not too busy. Campsites seem to vary from closed to ” just turn up” I guess we need to book the ferry to Arran but after that hoping to just turn up. BIke not car.

Anyone in the area got any idea how things are?

Arran is fairly quiet due to the low capacity of the ferry. I wouldn't hang about, you might struggle to get booked on, even without a car.

Ta

Booked - some ferries already full that day so a good call to book now

Just back from my two weeks up at the top of Scotland and Orkney.
By usual standards it was quiet at Dunnet Bay area in the first week of the break but it was building up as the days went by as our planned break was early in the opening.

Orkney is noticeably quieter. Significantly there are no cruise ships so that makes a huge differences. The shop keepers I spoke to didn't seem to miss them although the jewellery shops will be massively down. There are hardly any camper vans or motor homes, two of the three main sites are shut but they have had the foresight to leave the chemical disposal and water points open. Ferry capacity is low.

Inverness was busy Saturday night and it had a real feeling of 'what pandemic'

Dirty shitters are a problem though despite the chemical disposal availability on Orkney. It has always been a Scottish issue but it is noticeably worse and it appears to be mainly T5 size campers causing the problem up there. Be careful where you walk in the dunes 🙁

Locals in both areas were lovely and welcoming and visitors seemed to be very respectful.

It was however stunning to watch so many people passing their phones to strangers to take family photo's at JOG and then putting heads together to check it was ok.

Coming back down the A9 yesterday and it looks like it will be different, it was rammed heading North, House of Bruar car park was overflowing.

Back to the Lakes yesterday and it is on a completely different level, I would keep well away from Keswick.

Hailing from sunny Durness it has been illuminating this summer to see the herd mentality kick in. All the bog roll you couldnt buy in Tesco in March is now freely available across the hills next to any and all parking spots in/around the village. We used to happily welcome folk down onto the croft (only access to the beach you see!) with vehicles (cars, campers etc) and always had the odd camper pitching up as well. Well that has well and truly been stuffed by a minority of absolute tossers, leaving rubbish, abusing the (very elderly) parents and generally just taking the proverbial.
So we closed the gate to vehicles (but not walkers) and it seems its just as well given what happening with the "wild camping" brigade.
However, on a more positive note, in a camper van (despite the anti tourist crap being spouted on the NC500 weeps FB page) you should be fine. Make sure you book ahead and dont just park with all the other lemmings in laybys. Come on up as they say and enjoy what we have been enjoying long before the NC 500 became a thing.
Interestingly, I came down on the motorbike on sat via Ullapool from Durness and the road was pretty quiet, so not as "mental" as some are making out. From Ullapool to Dingwall though was a different story and it was bonkers.
As earlier posters have said, pick routes that arent in car mags etc and there is still plenty to see. I was down in Kinlochourn last thursday and saw three tourist vehilcles in its entire 27(ish) miles. Plenty spots to park, loads of Munroes to walk and even some nifty biking to be had out some of the Glens (if you dont mind pushing)

Having stayed in Rispond a couple of times you have my sympathy, it's a beautiful beach.

What amused us were the car tourists running down to the sea into the water and straight back out again shivering at the adjacent beaches.

Never worked out how to get down to Sangobeg, too polite to try our luck. Hopefully the fisherman who operates out of Rispond is still going

Sangobegger, we stayed in the campsite last October and got a stunning day up Fionavon.It was the plan this year as well so sorry to hear about the dirty shitters.

Been on the north coast part on the bikr over last couple of days, seems fine. Not the camper apocalypse you'd imagine.
Now on Orkney and it's pretty quiet.

If anyone takes a notion for Millport I'd advise against it during weekends. 3 hour queues last week, utter madness for a 5 mile drive round the island.

Just back from Glentress, we were riding later in the day (had a car related mechanical for our full day) but all three days were relatively quiet. The campsite in Innerleithen was booked out at the weekend for statics and motor campers but was pretty quiet once everyone sodded off on Sunday. I only phoned up to book a tent on Friday there and had two nights.

One thing that struck me at GT was the complete absence of bins in any of the car parks and the toilets were closed at half five (portaloos up at Buzzards were completely shut), folk were still turning up for a ride at that time!

the toilets were closed at half five

almost like the staff are going home at the end of their working day! how very dare they!

One thing that struck me at GT was the complete absence of bins in any of the car parks and the toilets were closed at half five

And quite right too; the former is commonplace and to encourage you to take your rubbish home with you - and the latter also commonplace under lockdown easing.

I know that's the reason bins have been taken away, but tbh it's a double edged sword, ****wits will just throw it away.

I know that’s the reason bins have been taken away, but tbh it’s a double edged sword, **** will just throw it away.

Exactly. Like the disposable barbecue and associated crap at the skills area, the pile of lucozade bottles at the top of the Freeride Park and other bits and bobs. It's a lot better looking than I'd expect but still surprised there is no basic rubbish collection.

almost like the staff are going home at the end of their working day! how very dare they!

I know it's STW but it doesn't mean being a bellend is obligatory. I'd say the cost of getting someone to shut the toilets at the end of the day rather than 4 hours or so before sunset when folk are still arriving would be worth it so folk don't feel obliged to crap or pee in the bushes. I'd imagine there is a patrol around that time anyway to check nobody is camping.

I’d imagine there is a patrol around that time anyway to check nobody is camping.

Why's that then? Genuine question. Are there lockdown restrictions on camping or restrictions there generally?

How about a constructive approach to manage all the folk desperate to see some wilderness after being stuck in cities for months? A lot of the folk camping wild would otherwise be on package holidays abroad where everything is laid on. Some kind of temporary toilet waste disposal points would surely be a better solution than just getting shirty at folks shitting everywhere.

NO restrictions on camping at Glentress so long as you obey the golden rule

Why’s that then? Genuine question. Are there lockdown restrictions on camping or restrictions there generally?

I don't know, I was always under the impression GT car parks were fair game for overnighting (charges apply 24h) but there are new notices advising people that overnight stays are not permitted. I assume its Covid related as you say since there will be no track and trace or method of controlling it otherwise.

@chickenman +1

NO restrictions on camping at Glentress so long as you obey the golden rule

As I say there are new notices up saying there is no overnighting allowed with a Visit Scotland link at the bottom for local accommodation.

Some kind of temporary toilet waste disposal points would surely be a better solution than just getting shirty at folks shitting everywhere.

The problem is one of infrastructure. Who is going to provide it, who is going to maintain it and who is going to fund all of it?

Remember NC500 is a private enterprise and in it for the money. The whole thing is all arse about tit, the promotion was made and the required infrastructure to support it has never appeared.

Have they passed a new law? repealed the land reform act? Local bylaw?

TJ, this is one of those moments. I've explained what I've seen, let it go.

What sort of accom are you staying in? We’ve been there a couple of times in the van. Campsites not that plentiful and looking at the list of what is open most of those we did stay at (when not wild camping) are closed. I suspect it might be tight even if tourist numbers pretty low. Horgabost being closed is going to really squeeze facilities on Harris as that soaked up the vast majority of campers there.

Well DPD kindly misplaced my new tent, they have told me they found it this afternoon and should be delivered tomorrow, I’m then straight to the garage for a pair of car tyres then overnighting in Fife at my parents before heading North and parking up for the night somewhere not too far from Ullapool (just depends how busy the lay-bys are I guess from reading above). Will be making a plan in the next day or two and am flexible about where to go, which will basically go by the availability of ferries heading South.

Thanks for all the info above, I’m hoping it won’t be too busy out there but will see how it goes...

TJ - you are not allowed to take a motor vehicle onto private land without the landowners consent. If FLS say no overnight parking, then you'd be breaking the law to leave a vehicle there.

That's quite different from walking or cycling into Glentress forest and pitching a tent.

They might also be able to apply the "access legislation does not apply in an area laid out for a specific activity" exception - Section 6(1)(e)(ii)

What's stopping you from going to the Alps?

It's a much bigger place, far more space between people. I've just come back from two weeks in France. They're extremely welcoming to visitors who comply with their simple to follow rules. Found nothing to be closed, just slightly different.

If you're worried about being told to self isolate for two weeks can you not just use the last two of your six weeks as a reserve?

Having just come back from France, given the finances there is nothing I'd recommend more than heading straight back there!

I headed south to D&G and it's busier here than normal. Campsite I'm on is quieter than normal but owners have reduced the number of pitches in use.
All forestry carparks have no overnighting sign ignored by a few, presumably, special cases. Lots of bagged rubbish but no free floating rubbish.

Drove up the A9 yesterday evening, stopped in a lay-by on the A835 about 25 mins from Ullapool. Very quiet traffic wise and the odd car/motor home parked up in lay-bys but I had a huge parking area to myself, then early drive up to Ullapool this morning again the odd car/motorhome but still very quiet.

On the ferry to Stornoway just now and the boat is very quiet. Cracking weather though so hopefully this continues!!

Aye, fantastic day here in Lochinver. Village is pretty quiet today, though it was all queues last week. Seems to be a lot of variance in just how busy things are. Of course, a lot of folk start the NC500 at the weekend and follow much the same itinerary so there is a certain "Mexican wave" effect in operation (if you've walked the West Highland Way you'll experience the same thing).

We are going to Kintyre and Cowal nin two weeks. Trying to use campsites and hotels. Most are closed! No campsites on Kintyre at all, one on arran, one on Cowal open. Crinnan Hotel shut - we were looking forward to that 🙁

So it looks like our plan to go to the less busy bits has backfired a bit

fantastic day here in Lochinver.

We should have waved at you as we went past...