10 – Scotland 2026
Turns out I missed doing a blog at the end of April without even realising but it was probably because I was so busy getting everything in place ready for our big roadtrip of 2026. Oh well I’ll make up for it and this one will be a long one. Having had a year of not visiting Scotland in 2025 we decided this year we’d go back and visit some old favourites and also some new areas. Our first road trip was a 2023 trip up to Glencoe and the Isle of Skye and although we’d been back to Glencoe since we hadn’t been back on the Isle of Skye so the west coast was our first port of call. We spent a couple of nights at the beautiful Red Squirrel Campsite in the heart of Glencoe (our third visit) and even though we only had one full day we still managed to visit a new spot we’d not been before in Ralston Cairn and a few we’d been to before but wanted to revisit.
Our next destination was the Isle of Skye. As part of our 2023 roadtrip we’d stopped at a campsite called Reraig near Balmacara which was only a short drive over the Skye bridge onto Skye and was a favourite of Laura’s so we based ourselves there for a couple of nights to cover the south of the island. Visiting places such as Elgol, Sligachan, Eilean Donan Castle and some Highland Cows while there before heading to the north of the island to pitch up at Staffin for a couple of nights on the island to cover the further north of the island which included visits to castles, old phone boxes, churches, a lighthouse and the fairy glen.
The first 6 nights had all been in familiar areas but that soon changed after a long day of driving saw us head further north to Clachtoll with a couple of stop offs on the way to take in a bothy, a loch and Fred (no, you read that right, it’s a tree. Called Fred) before setting up camp. At this point the Scottish weather kept up the wet and windy brief that had plagued our stay on Skye and if anything got worse but thankfully the campsite was beautiful and even had an indoor cooking area for those camping and a fire that was lit for the evenings which was a god-send. In between getting soaked and hit with hailstones there were thankfully some breaks which gave some nice light making the soaking worthwhile so I’m looking forward to sorting through my photos and sharing them with you all. Again, castles, lochs, beaches, waterfalls and other photography stops galore while here as we explored the area but I’m sure we’ll be back there someday to explore further as the area was beautiful and ran Glencoe and Skye very close for views in my opinion.
And for the last time when changing sites we headed North, over the picturesque curved bridge at Kylesku heading North to our accommodation for our stay near John o’ Groats. A glamping pod outside Thurso giving us a rest from fighting a wet tent and instead swapping a bed filled with air for a solid one and even a hot tub. Lady luck did smile down on us here as one things for sure! I’m glad we weren’t in the tent these two nights, heavy rain showers and gale force winds wouldn’t have been much fun and the hot tub helped our aching bodies recover after 9 nights sleeping on an airbed and battling the heavy wind while we were there. I’m pleased to say we’ve now visited John o’Groats going early one morning before the coach trips etc arrived and who knows next year Landsend may be calling us as our long trip. Again several castles were visited, it is Scotland after all but I think my favourite places were Duncansby Stacks which were beautiful and Noss Head lighthouse. Now in all honesty this lighthouse is nothing out the ordinary but the conditions we got were with the sea showing off all its power at high tide with huge swell and sea foam as it crashed against the cliffs and although I’m yet to look what I saw on the back of the camera looked pretty stunning.
Finally heading south and onto the last leg of the trip we had an overnight stopover near Inverness to break the drive up with a chilled night, meal out and just for good measure a castle and lighthouse on the way as well as a quick stop at the mermaid of the north statue en route. Up early and a wet tent packed away we were back on the road heading for the last campsite of the trip on the outskirts of Edinburgh for the last few nights. The early start however was very necessary as we packed in several locations on the way between the two sites with stops at Dunnotar Castle, Kinclaven Bluebell woods (which were stunningly beautiful), St Monans and the Heart of Kirkcaldy before we even got to our last site. Before we got there we’d already planned for the 2 full days at the site to be very different. 1 last busy day exploring which included North Berwick, The Kelpies, a bridge to nowhere and a house shaped like a pineapple (random, I know) followed by the last full day which was to be more of a chilled, touristy day in Edinburgh including the zoo before the final drive home on the Wednesday and straight back into work on the Thursday.
What a whirlwind, non-stop trip it was and yet again Scotland delivered with yet more beautiful spots discovered. With 2,180.5 miles driven and around 3,000 photos taken its back to work for a rest. You’ll see some of the photos appearing on our feeds over the coming weeks and months intertwined with the usual photos of Yorkshire as we work through them so keep your eye out.
Andrew