Scotland has been on my bucket list of places to visit for a while now, as someone who loves being outdoors, it seemed like the perfect place to explore. When Camptoo reached out to us to review a campervan, we jumped at the opportunity to take it to visit the Scottish Highlands and Skye, with the freedom to drive and park up to sleep, it was the perfect way to get the most out of a Scotland road trip.
Our 5 day Scotland Road Trip Itinerary
Before setting off on our trip, I researched all the places that I wanted to visit and pinned them all on Google maps so that we could plan a rough itinerary to get the most out of our time there, so I thought I’d share our trip for anyone wanting to plan a road trip themselves.
In hindsight, I was a little ambitious with the itinerary. I had loads of other places pinned (which you can view here), however, below is a list of the places we actually ended up seeing and information that you might find useful for your trip.
- Glencoe
- Fort William and Corpah shipwreck
- Glenfinnan Viaduct (Harry Potter bridge)
- Ferry to Skye
- Sligachan Old Bridge
- Highland Cows
- Fairy Glen
- Fairy pools
- Cuil Cafe
- Quiraing
- Old Man of Storr
- Loch Garry
- The Little White House
Glencoe, Kingshouse Hotel
Day one we set off for our 5 hour drive from Liverpool to Glencoe, the Kingshouse hotel seemed like a good place to start our Scotland road trip. There are shower and toilet facilities, a restaurant / pub for food, a beautiful lake and there are often deer that gather around this area. As soon as we pulled up there were two deer by the lake in the car park, so we jumped out and went over to see them.
If you are planning to eat at the restaurant you will need to pre-book as we got turned away, probably because we turned up in hiking gear and it is quite posh inside, they pointed us in the direction of the adjoined pub were you can get pies and pints. Surprisingly, most of the options were veggie! I had the most amazing macaroni cheese pie.
After freshening up here, we headed out to find a spot for our first night in Glencoe. As we were quite tired from the drive, and it was getting close to sunset, we decided to find a layby close to the hotel so we could use the showers and toilets the next day. Luckily, there are lots of easy to find park up and sleep places nearby.
Fort William & Corpah shipwreck
For our first full day on the Scotland road trip, we headed to Fort William to see the Corpach Shipwreck. We had planned to hike Ben Nevis on this day, however the weather wasn’t in our favour, 50 mph winds and rain just didn’t seem appealing to be up 1,345 metres high in (but we will go back soon to tick this off my list).
The shipwreck is a popular spot for photographers, with the stunning backdrop of Ben Nevis; you will find at least one photographer here trying to get ‘the shot’ at any time or year / day. We visited in early April, and there were five people with cameras dotted around the shipwreck trying to find the best angle.
The Corpach Shipwreck is the remains of MV Daysping, a fishing vessel that was used for catching mackerel and herring, dating back to 1975. It is said that the ship broke free from it’s mooring in Kinlochleven during a heavy storm back in 2011, and washed up at Corpach Beach, where it is yet to be claimed. After seeing so many pictures of this shipwreck on Instagram, I was hoping for a more mysterious back story (like it used to be a pirate ship) but nonetheless, it is a stunning place to visit and walk along the beach.
Glenfinnan Viaduct (Harry Potter)
As a massive Harry Potter fan, Glenfinnan Viaduct (for those that don’t know) is the actual railway that four of the films were shot at! Apparently it’s a popular filming location, with other movies and shows such as The Crown, Ring of Bright Water and Charlotte Gray.
There are a few train spotting viewpoints in the area where you can see the steam train go over the bridge, but don’t make the mistake we made and get the train times wrong! The view points are all about a 15-20 minute walk from the car park, so allow for enough time to hike up the hill and get settled if you do want to see the the Jacobite steam train (Hogwarts Express) go over bridge.
The train crosses the bridge 10.45am, from April to October. There is an additional afternoon service from May to September that crosses at 3pm each day. We got there for the 3pm crossing in April, then checked the times and realised that one didn’t start until May!
Even though we didn’t get the see the Hogwarts Express train cross the bridge, it was still a lovely place to see; the bridge is stunning up close and it’s a nice place to have a stroll and get food at the café. We stopped here for a late lunch, which consisted of chips and iron brew (when in Scotland). I am still getting served ads for Iron Brew on Instagram 2 months on!
Ferry to Isle of Skye
From Fort William, we decided to head straight to Skye so we could spend a full 24 hours there. There are a few options to travel over to Skye, you can drive and take the bridge, there is a train that you can get, or you can take the ferry over. As we had the campervan, and relatively close to a ferry port already, we decided to take the ferry over. It cost around £30 one way. We caught the Mallaig to Armadale ferry, which took 40 minutes once onboard, the views were incredible.
We got off the ferry at Armadale terminal, and planned to do a circular route of Isle of Skye including Highland Cows, Sligachan Old Bridge, Fairy Glen, Fairy Pools, Quiraing and Old Man of Storr. The drive from the ferry to see the highland cows was absolutely insane! We stopped off at a lake along the way as we just had to get out and see it up close.
Highland Cows
No Scotland road trip would be complete without seeing some of the wildlife, and the highland cows were at the top of my list. There are several places to see the cows throughout Scotland and Skye, I’ve pinned the view point that we seen them at here.
We stayed here for about 15 minutes; once you’ve seen them, there isn’t really anything else to stick around for, they just constantly sleep or graze. If you’re lucky, you might find them near the fence and they are super friendly and used to humans wanting to give them attention.
Sligachan Old Bridge
After the highland cows, we headed over to the Sligachan Old Bridge, which is said to have enchanted waters beneath it. The bridge was built in the 18 hundreds, between 1810 and 1818. The bridge has a few different local legends to the waters that flow under, my favourite is the one of ‘the two great warriors’ many years ago.
The two warriors fought and their battle shook the earth so much that it created the mountains and valleys of Skye. One of the warriors daughters spoke with a fairy near the waters who told her to wash her tears away in the water, in doing so, she found the knowledge to stop the battle. The waters are now know as ‘Fairy River.’
I’m sure the story is better told by a local, but you get the main point.
Fairy Glen
Another stop on our mystical tour of the Isle of Skye, was the Fairy Glen. This ‘otherworldly’ place was one of my absolute favourite spots to explore on the road trip. Skye has a well know history involving the Fairys, but I struggled to find any real legends or stories about them, which was disappointing. The Fairy Glen is an incredible place to visit, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before and could not put into words how magical the place feels.
There is a large car park for the glen, and the popular stone circle is around a 15 minute easy walk. Once you park up, there are a few trails to follow, each take you through the most beautiful landscapes with green hills of all shapes and sizes. You will find the stone circle at the foot of Castle Ewan, which is the rock formation in the picture above – it is unmissable. The stone circle has been created by visitors over the years, moved into a spiral design as part of a good luck ritual that involves walking to the middle and leaving a coin as a sort of ‘offering’ to the fairies.
The stone circle is actually quite small compared to pictures I’d seen on Instagram! I’ve added two different angles here for context, so you can see it from different perspectives and angles. As you can see from the first picture taken from above, the circle isn’t much bigger than me stood next to it. The second picture is taken from a low angle to show the view of Castle Ewan in the background, which makes it look much bigger in comparison.
Fairy pools
Next stop was the Fairy Pools. The drive from the Glen to the Pools was around 1.5 hours, and the drive was just as scenic. The car park is easy to find and relatively big, but you do need to pay for parking. The walk in total to the fairy pools and back is around 40 minutes, if you don’t include stopping time.
Legend has it, a local clan chief married a fairy princess, giving name to many places in Skye. It is also said that a fierce battle took place in the area, where the Pools ran red with blood of the clan members killed in battle – know as the last and bloodiest Battle of Coire na Creiche.
The Fairy Pools truly are magical. I had it on my bucket list to swim in the waters, but I forget to bring my wetsuit and the water was absolutely freezing! We also arrived too late, the sun set as we headed back to the car park. We ended up finding another car park nearby to stay overnight, were we got chatting to other ‘van life’ people. We set up camp and chilled with a bottle of wine in the woods, under the stars – it was a vibe.
Breakfast at Café Cùil
The next day, on a mission to find a proper campsite for a shower, we found the cutest little food spot called Café Cùil, with hebridean brunch, lunch and speciality coffee. I had a bowl of rhubarb porridge which was insanely good. The café has the most idyllic setting and the menu drawing inspiration from the wild.
After feeling refreshed, fed and ready for a day of exploring, we headed to a local shop for supplies and then made our way to our first location of the day, Quiraing.
Quiraing
This area was recommended to Phil by someone from Instagram. It wasn’t on our original itinerary, but it turned out to be my number one favourite place during our whole Scotland road trip. Quiraing is around 40 minute drive from Café Cùil.
Quiraing is a landslip with high cliffs, lots of rock pinnacles and hidden plateaus, a photographers dream. It’s such an amazing place to explore, another spot that feels somewhat magical, it just doesn’t feel real in parts. It’s a super easy and straight forward trail to follow, it took us around 2 hours and we stopped a lot to take in all the wonderful views.
If you’re road tripping with a tent, this is one spot I would highly recommend; there are so many perfect hidden ledges to pitch up and camp for the night. I will definitely be going back here for a wild camp soon, once midge season is over!
The first viewpoint you will come to is the one pictured above, this is near to the car park. From here you follow the path to the left, through the little gully’s and up a scree trail to the well know Pinnacle. Just before that, there are some insane rock formations, it feels like you are on another planet.
You could explore this area for hours if you wanted to, there is so much to see and so many hidden rock formations to explore. But we had a full agenda for the day so we headed back to the car and on to our next location, Old Man of Storr.
Old Man of Storr
The drive from Quiraing to Old Man of Storr, took around 25 minutes. We headed to the Storr View Cafe to grab a coffee and refuel before exploring this area. Whilst we were sat drinking coffee in the car, the weather took a turn for the worse and began raining so heavy we didn’t want to get out the car! But we did, we got out and walked up the hill to the Storr.
The Storr is a small hill with lots of rock formations, on the Trotternish peninsula of Skye. Click here to see the location tag on Instagram with lots of pictures of the area.
The walk up there took around 1 hour. It’s another super easy walk to do. Mostly up hill, but steady and gradual, so not difficult at all. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures here as it was a complete white out and we could even see the rocks! Another one to revisit in the future. After a long day of exploring, we found a campsite to stay at over night and freshen up before a 8 hour drive home.
Loch Garry
After a relaxing night at the camp site, we decided to break up the long drive home by stopping off at a few locations, including Loch Garry and the little White House.
Loch Garry is not far from Fort Willian, it’s an 11km long freshwater loch with the most incredible mountain views – the perfect pit stop location. We stopped off here for about 30 minutes to have a break from driving, and as the clouds rolled in, we got to see the snow topped mountains looking all majestic in the background.
The ‘Wee’ White House
Before the last leg of our journey home, we stopped off at the ‘little white house’ to see if it was as stunning in real life – it did not disappoint.
Another photography hotspot, the little white house (or Lagangarbh Hut as it’s actually called), dates back to 1946 when it was occupied and maintained by the Scottish Mountaineering Club. It now functions as a bunk house for hikers, what a stunning place to stay before adventuring in the hills. We had a quick pit stop here before heading home. There is a layby to park at and I noticed lots of trails in the area for exploring.
The white house might look small, but it can actually accommodate up to 20 people. Each of the 2 rooms has alpine style platforms fit with mattresses to sleep on, you will need to bring your own sleeping bag and other essentials. For £15 per night, what a bargain you’re getting.
Our Scotland road trip was one of my favourite UK staycations, I can’t believe it took me until the age of 32 to actually see Scotland! We’ll be heading back again in early Autumn with the tent for some wild camps and mountain adventures, and hopefully another blog on the best spots for camping.
