Rate Your Camp Site UK

All who know me were stunned to hear I was hiring a campervan for our summer holidays and doing a bunch of campsite reviews on the RateYourCampsite website. True, I am a wooss who always said ‘if it doesn’t have hot and cold running water and a flushing toilet, I’m not going’ but this really seemed to be a great way to explore the mighty Scottish highlands and I felt sure my two children and I could overcome the little shortcomings. At least I hoped so.

Simon Yearsley of Big Tree Campervans at Bankfoot near Perth greeted us and showed us all around the automatic Toyota Granvia with a smile and a kindly disposition. Once the bags were transferred over, he asked me earnestly to look after his van, and waved us off with something approaching confidence.   Too soon, we found ourselves following a large motorhome down a twisty lane at about  20mph and inhaled deeply when we saw his wing mirror smashed off by an oncoming vehicle. It didn’t help my nerves and I didn’t breathe out completely for some time. Still, we stoically carried on and arrived at Loch Tummel where we parked up, brewed up and rearranged the bags.

We ventured out to the Queens View, the first of many majestically beautiful sights that week.  After using the facilities (I mention it as we made a point of doing so when the opportunity arose), we meandered towards Fort William. I had browsed sites at various locations on the web before leaving and took a sheet with addresses and phone numbers so that we could really make it up as we went along, also very unlike me.  We phoned ahead to check Linnhe Lochside site would have room for us, feeling  the reassurance was well worth it for the first night. We needn’t have worried – once we had parked and plugged in the electric, raised the roof and shaken out the sleeping bags, the rest was easy. Resting against a tree with a glass of wine in hand I watched the children skim stones into the loch and just breathed in the fresh air before snuggling down listening to the strangely appealing sounds of rain falling on the metal roof and my children sleeping close by.

Mornings and night-times were the worst, as we risked falling over each other to find our pants or pjs and dignity. However, we brought a small bag each for our toiletries and next change of clothes so that showering or dressing would be less chaotic. Boy was that worthwhile. On the subject of bags, packing and travelling light was a joy – small squashy bags worked best as you could shuffle stuff around. In the kitchen it was even easier - sandwich bags were used for all sorts and tea bags aplenty were essential . We took lots of easy dinners but didn’t need them – we tended to eat out at lunchtime and have a sandwich for tea – eating off paper plates!  Having a light supper and little to drink also solved the major worry of needing the loo in the middle of the night... The beds were comfy but pillows were a must and we took fleece blankets just in case. The bag of games was surplus weight as was the in-car dvd player as there was always something to do ‘til dark!

We travelled 1200 miles that week, going wherever the mood took us, stopping whenever and almost wherever we fancied and phoning sites no sooner than late-afternoon. The roads were never so busy to be treacherous, but were often narrow enough to be hair-raising, I was pleased to have not chosen anything wider. The main road to Wick was white-knuckle scary, with hairpin bends up a very steep mountainside. I avoided it on the way back so drove around most of the north-east coasts of Scotland which was lovely and making it to John O Groats felt fab. The kids could switch off and read or play ds when they felt like it, I cruised around taking in marvellous views around every corner, and could have a hot fresh cuppa whenever I wanted to stop and make one while they scrambled off to explore the latest corner of beautiful Scotland!

Waterfalls, mountains, speedboat trips (Sea-Fari were brilliant), salmon leaping at Loch Shin, fresh air, space and even wild camping made a fabulous week of adventure which we couldn’t have achieved with a car somehow – friends will be amazed to hear we can’t wait to go back!

Scamper