Category Archives: Scotland

Parked Up at Glorious Glenmore in the Snowy Cairngorms

Posted on by
Reply

We’re parked up at glorious Glenmore campsite in the Cairngorms for a few days. This is our first visit to this site, situated around Loch Morlich. It’s a straightforward drive north on the A9 and then about 10-15 minutes on the B5912 from Aviemore, passed Coylum Bridge. The campsite staff were friendly and helpful at check in.

We arrived in the sun with a light covering of snow. A storm was forecast and the weather did get blustery and cold with more snowfall. The setting of the campsite is really nice with many forest walks, bike tracks and walks around Loch Morlich itself. The Cairngorms are a short drive from the campsite and at this time of year it is very popular with skiers and serious hikers.

The Pine Marten Bar is adjacent to the campsite for drinks and food. The staff are friendly and seating is limited so turn up and wait for a table. The visitor centre and cafe are opposite the campsite across the road, with the reindeer centre a little further along the road.

There is also watersports on Loch Morlich (closed when we were here) and a sandy beach around the loch. It is easy to spend time walking/cycling through the forest and around the loch. There are many tracks and paths.

I also came across activity of beavers whilst walking along the river bank!

There is no public Wi-Fi on the site and we both had a very limited cell service, if any at all. So for us, Starlink was essential and this worked well.

Our pitch was right on the edge of the forest with the loch only a few minutes walk from our van.

I am looking forward to returning to Glenmore. I think it will be equally nice in the summer.

Visiting Garlieston in Dumfries and Galloway

Posted on by
Reply

Garlieston CAMC in Dumfries and Galloway campsite is a lovely site right next to the sea on Garlieston bay, with the harbour a few minutes walk from the site. There is one pub/restaurant (The Harbour Inn) and one cafe (The Hive) on the main street. There is one small shop in the local petrol station, ten minutes away from the main street, so if you plan to cook your dinners then stock up before your arrive. It’s a nice place for a relaxing break.

Enjoying Sunrises and the Milky Way at Garlieston

Posted on by
Reply

We parked up on the edge of the sea at Garlieston Bay. It’s really nice here and we’ve enjoyed walking along the beach, around the harbour and watching a Heron and Cormorant. We’ve enjoyed spectacular sunrises and saw some of the Milky Way in this dark sky area. There is one pub/restaurant at the Harbour Inn and one cafe at the Hive cafe. Both are good and the people are friendly. Storm Babet created high winds overnight and since Wendy never slept a wink we decided to head home a couple of days early. We plan on returning.

Tour: Milton of Fonab, Pitlochry

Posted on by
Reply

We had a short trip to the Milton of Fonab Campsite at Pitlochry, on the river Tummel. This is a lovely site with about a 25 minute walk from the site into Pitlochry over the suspension bridge. There’s stuff to do in Pitlochry, with plenty of cafes, restaurants and pubs.

The river Tummel is damned with hydroelectric power and there is a salmon ladder too.

It’s worth a visit here and we plan on returning in the future.

Tour: Europe 2023 Episode 5 Chamonix, Bonneville, Epernay and Calais

Posted on by
Reply

Sadly we start to head north in this episode as we start the return trip home.

We stop off at Chamonix where we experience some parking problems, then head North to the lovely aire at Bonneville. We were surprised to see journalist for the Tour de France parking up here.

Then we are off to Epernay for Wendy to buy some Mercier champagne and we park up overnight at an excellent aire. One of the best I’ve stayed at so far.

We then head further north to the aire at Calais and have a nice trip to the beach, and finally we travel on the Eurotunnel, park up overnight at Carlisle and then head to Glasgow. As we cross the Scottish border our normal weather returns!

Stonehaven by the Sea

Posted on by
Reply

We spent a few days at the MCC site at Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. This is a nice clean site a few minutes walk from the sea front, and the wardens are very helpful. We met up with some friends and were able to get adjacent pitches.

There is a short sandy beach, with shingle and rocky areas, and a harbour at the opposite end of the beach.

We also took a trip to the Tomnaverie standing stones, to see the salmon jump at the Falls of Feugh, and to see the old nuclear bunker.

There was one day when the wind was not too strong and I flew my drone from the rocks.

You can view a video of the trip here.

Fabulous Findhorn aire in Moray, Scotland

Posted on by
Reply

We were attending a family wedding so we decided to take our campervan and stay at the Findhorn aire. We were also joined by our son and daughter in our son’s recently converted Caddy Maxi. You’ll have ready previous posts about the conversion if you’ve been following our journey.

The aire at Findhorn is brilliant. It’s clean and modern, with an electronic booking and access system. Everything worked perfectly from arrival to departure.

We arrived late the previous evening and loved the lack of light pollution. This is the view from our van at 10:30 pm. With the correct conditions you can see the Northern Lights. Unfortunately we did not on this occasion.

It’s a few minutes walk from the aire to the beach.

There is a maximum two day stay so the aire was emptying the day we left and provided a good opportunity to capture the Caddy Maxi in the foreground and our Ducato in the background.