UKC

Hi All,
Family trip in a camper van touring the west coast of scotland coming up in August. In the belief that climbers generally get off the beaten track and get to see some great sights which are not in the normal tourist guides, what do you recommend seeing and doing?

Please include any tips for good places to scramble or boulder - will have climbing shoes but no mats; any good fishing marks; great places to eat; plus any other outdoor stuff you care to recommend.
Thanks!

Tim

In reply to emitto:

Some of the places I like:
Glen Etive - beautiful but busy in summer. Plenty of walks, good camping.
Sandwood bay - supposed to be the best beach in the UK. Far away though.
Screaming Geo, Lewis - Awesome looking sea cliff, the whole coast there is ripe for an atmospheric walk. again, far away.
Applecross - Cycling round the peninsula is lovely. Busier in summer but not too many other tourists.
Torridon - Liathach ridge is a gorgeous walk/scramble (though I have only done it in winter).
Skye - Cuillin (predictably), any number of scrambles along parts of the ridge. I love visiting the quiraing, unusual geology is always fun.
Knoydart - rugged hills, bothys and walking. Never seen many people there. Probably one of the wettest places though.

dunno about bouldering, not something I do that much of but there is supposed to be plenty in torridon and the entire NW is full of small gneiss crags which must be about as good for bouldering as they are for the trad they have.

I am suprised by the tourist numbers this summer. Skye in particular is busy enough that I was actually thinking "ho, hum, wonder if there is a quieter area to climb"

In reply to emitto:

The Curved Ridge is a great scramble.

In reply to emitto:

There is A LOT to see and do - after many years of visiting it's hard to list all there is. As said above, Glen Etice is great but be aware that the 'crap campers' have been infesting the place of late http://www.ukhillwalking.com/news/item.php?id=69035
Good sources of ideas are Walkhighlands http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/ and the Forestry Commission Scotland leaflets for walks (usually free in info centres). If you like quiet walks to waterfalls in the woods try the west side of Loch Awe (Falls of Avich).
Knapdale (the north of Kintyre) is very scenic with lots of prehistoric remains, the Crinan Canal and wild beavers.
Falls of Lora (outlet to Loch Etive at Connel), the island of Lismore - a short ferry ride (no car needed) and you can do a nice coastal walk to a ruined castle.
Castle Tioram out towards Ardnamurchan (worth a week alone). Heading north, around Shiel Bridge you can get over the Ratagan pass to Glenelg with its brochs, old Barracks and definitely worth a look at Sandaig (if you ever read 'Ring of Bright Water' but worth going anyway. Torridon - more boulders than you can shake a clipstick at. Much further up, Handa island is a great day out if you like beaches, impressive sea stacks and cliffs and lots of seabirds - go to Scourie. There is much, much more.

In reply to emitto:

Go past Ullapool. Everything you want is there, arguably more than elsewhere plus it's quieter and the weather is generally better. Midges are just as bad though

In reply to emitto:

Swimming in the River in Glen Nevis (Lower reaches, not the Gorge), is a must.

Park near the waterfall that flows under the road bridge.

Then go scrambling on the rocks in the Gorge. Some have tubes cut right through them by water, that are big enough to crawl through.

Then walk up to the Steall Waterfall and lark around on the bridge made of three strands of wire rope.

In reply to Removed User:

Can't believe no one's told him to leave the road-clogging, beauty spot-despoiling camper van at home. Those things are the bane of summer up here!!

In reply to BnB:

They're a damn site faster than yer average Nissan Micra driver. Those things are the bane of my life. I develop a Chief inspector Dreyfus type twitch whenever I see the rear of one, especially on a twisting road!

In reply to Removed User:


It is pretty amazing in good weather.

Ullapool itself is nice, too.

In reply to emitto:

The An Teallach Ridge.

In reply to Joak:
Aye but at least you can see round a Micra to perform the overtake. Squeezing past one of those Dutch/German motorhomes on a narrow road is a leap of faith.

In reply to emitto:

I'm going to put in a bid for a walk up Stac Pollaidh. It may only be just over 2000ft high, but it's the cutest mountain in Britain and is in the middle of spectacular scenery, so the views are wonderful. And because it's only little, you can be up and down it in a couple of hours if you don't linger.

If you like seafood, Plockton has a fine array of restaurants, and the Applecross Inn does wonderful langoustines, while the Melvaig Inn does terrific scallops and has a great collection of music memorabilia on the walls.

In reply to BnB:

A couple of years ago when I was returning home from Skye I came across a large convoy of approx 20 motor homes with foreign plates and "Club Italia" caravan stickers just south of the Kyle. My heart sank, but no need. These guys knew the score. They all indicated when safe to overtake and left a healthy gap to pull into. I managed to thread my way safely past them all long before I reached Kintail. There would be far less serious accidents on the A9 and elsewhere on our summer roads if other slow moving selfish drivers adopted this attitude.

In reply to emitto:
Park at Elgol on Skye and take the boat across to Loch Coruisk, which is the wildest and loneliest place left in Britain. Have a walk around the amazing gabbroe slabs over which the water of the loch flows straight into the sea, watch basking sharks and eagles and enjoy the solitude. If you're feeling bold, walk out around the headland passing the bad step (easy) and round to Camasunary. Stay a night in the bothy then continue out to Kilmarie or along the coast back to Elgol. An amazing place that you will never forget.

In reply to emitto:

Go to Clachtol, near Lochinver. Lovely beaches, good fishing, some easy kid friendly bouldering at Achiltibuie or Ardmair a few miles down the road.

In reply to emitto:


How about some historic stuff.

The brochs at Glenelg, Castles etc.

Also the walk to Scouraig is beautiful. The lighthouse is open with details of the history of the place.

In reply to emitto:

The Lochinver pie shop.

In reply to emitto:
Should have added The Old Mill in Blair Atholl and The Potting Shed in both Kingussie and Feshiebridge. Great food.


What about a boat trip to Staffa or Handa Island?

In reply to emitto:

Hi All,
Thanks for all the responses so far, there are some great tips here.
Apologies for cluttering the roads with another camper but we will be sure to behave on the roads. Shocked but not so surprised to read the link posted by Lankyman about the 'crap campers' but I assure you we dont fit into this category.
On this note, I would say that visiting many climbing destinations in Europe, it does seem to be the norm for the general public to use the approaches to climbing venues for fly tipping - I have lost count of the number of abandoned fridges I have seen at the last car park to a climbing area! Climbers on the whole seem to have a pretty good ethic when it comes to taking everything home with them and clearing up, even if its someone elses rubbish.

Anyone have a view on vehicle security? Are campers seen as easy targets if you park up and spend a good few hours on a walk/scramble?

No fishermen/women out there among the UKC community? There must be some good marks somewhere?

In reply to henwardian:

Thanks for the suggestions - Sandwood bay sounds good and will check out Screamin Geo if we make it over to Lewis.

In reply to Dispater:

This sounds perfect for us, thanks for the info.
Any idea if this is a regular tourist spot and therefore gets busy or relatively unkonwn/quiet?

In reply to tony:

My daughter will like the sound of a "cute" mountain so most likely give this a go.
Thanks for the food recommendations, will definitely be dining at at least one of these establishments, cheers.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

wow - just started to google this, looks amazing - I have put this on the list for sure!

In reply to Andy Long:

this one?
http://www.lochinverlarder.co.uk/

In reply to emitto:

And if you get to Skye (which you should), Cafe Arriba in Portree does really good Belgian waffles.

In reply to Fiend:

Thanks for the specific info on great view points, very good to know.
Re Reiff - which part, as the crag database comes up with 7 variations?

In reply to emitto:

The Pinnacle area is the best for pottering, it's the most accessible and fairly family friendly.

In reply to emitto:



Yes, it's great.

And I'd second the recommendation of Cocoa Mountain at Durness - amazing truffles, hot chocolate and mocha. The Smoo Cave is nice around there, too, and there's a charity bike hire place that'll hire you a mountain bike to potter along the old road to Cape Wrath on.

There's more good seafood than you can shake a stick at around Ullapool - the aforementioned Ceilidh Place, the Ferry Boat Inn does a seafood cafe thing, Am Fuaran Bar out near Reiff is also good.

You can park up in the campsite at Scourie and watch the sun set over the bay, which is fairly magic on a nice evening.

And the landscape of Inverpolly and Coigach is one of the natural wonders of the world.

In reply to emitto:

I'll second the recommendation for Neist. You don't say how old your family are, but it was pretty much the perfect length for a walk with the kids.

You said the west cost, which is a pretty large area. If you find yourself in Oban, it's worth considering a boat trip to Staffa, and Fingals Cave. Also, from Fort William upwards, the chances are you will be taking the road up the lower part of the Caledonian Canal and heading over west from the base of Loch Ness. Be ready to stop at the top of Glen Garry, it has to be one of the most spectacular laybys in Scotland.

But the biggest hint I would give, if you've not been before, is to allow plenty time for the driving. not just because you should plan for unexpected breaks just to take in a view, but also because the roads are single track and twisting. Even in a car I allow for an average of <50mph between towns, so you would need less.

In reply to emitto:

Get yourself over to Skye and head to Loch Brittle beach. It's an amazing place right at the foot of the Cuillins. Then drive to Elgol and get the boat over to Rum and head out on foot to one of the bothies.

Two days on Rum will blow your mind.

In reply to mav:

We are couple of 40 somethings and an 8 year old.
Thanks for the tip about the driving, yes its the first time I will have driven in Scotland. We have 10 days, picking up the van from Perth.
The layby sounds cool.

In reply to Father Noel Furlong:

A quick google says the Potting shed is now closed - can anyone confirm? (or do i have the wrong place?)
thanks

In reply to emitto:

God i hope not! They're listed as one of the top ten tea rooms in the UK. The cakes are to absolutely die for.

In reply to emitto:

Looks still open to me. No lunch but the cakes are def worth it.....assuming you like cake!

http://www.inshriachnursery.co.uk

In reply to emitto:

Go to Glenelg and visit the Brochs. Opposite the second Broch is a nice little wagon to get a coffee / cake and relax. You can also get some nice big bags of homegrown salad from the same place. A believe you can get trout fishing permits for marks on the river too. Then go to Arnisdale and take in the amazing view of Knoydart and the Cuillin of Skye. There's a good place to stop just at the top of the brae before coming down into the village where there is often a campervan. Arnisdale is a good spot to kayak if you have boats. A few good spots to grab some mackerel from the rocky outcrops. Then go back to Glenelg and take yourself across from Glenelg to Kylerhea on Skye on the wee ferry where there is frequently a sea eagle to be seen called Victor. Continue on your journey..
..I hope you have a good one!

In reply to Father Noel Furlong:

Right you are, its the one in Kingussie which looks to have closed.
me = cake monster.... cheers!

In reply to emitto:

And after a wee walk round Loch an Eileen is quite nice........but that's not the west coast but might break up the journey north.

In reply to Andy Long:

Agreed. I was up that way in May and went in there a couple of times. They do a Chorizo, Pork and Manchego Pie which is well worth trying

That whole area north of Ullapool is beautiful and the suggestions for Stac Pollaidh are great too, especially if you have an 8 year old who wants to try a walk. It's a lovely mountain with incredible views from the top.

In reply to Finn Curry:


Holy fcuk!! Forget the climbing I'm going on a pie visit next time!

In reply to emitto:


You need the mountain coffee company cafe in Gairloch then. Scones the size of your head!

In reply to emitto:

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has contributed. We have a great list of places to see and places to eat.
Now just need to figure out the route!

Cheers all

In reply to emitto:

Some great suggestions there. I recently went to the coral beach near Dunvegan for the first time, on the suggestion of a little guidebook to Skye. It was a nice place to visit but swamped with people, whereas other less well known beaches were deserted. I don't know whether its popularity is down to the short walk required, its appearance in a book, or its popularity on Trip Advisor. If you're after solitude it might be worth checking Trip Advisor to see if your destination has reached honeypot status.

In reply to Turdus torquatus:

I've never bothered to go to the Lorgill beach owing to its honey pot reputation. The small white sandy beach at Ullinish on Loch Harport is more conveniently located and very pretty and quiet, with some grand cliffs to admire or clamber on.

There's an even better one we frequent but I'm no tellin' anyone

In reply to emitto:

Hey Tim, enjoy the Big Tree Campervan adventure, and we'll see you all when you're back next week. With all these suggestions you'll doubtless be booking with us again next year... and we didn't even start to talk about Scottish winter!!! Cheers, Simon