Jenny`s 70th & Scotland
Route Part 1: Baldham-Hexham
Baldham to Hexham, visiting Ruth&Paul, Pete&Julie, then picking up our daughters from Manchester Airport on the way.
Route Part 2: Hexham-Scotland
This map shows a potential week-long tour of Scotland, from Hexham:
- Alnwick Castle (1 hour, 80km)
- Edinburgh (1:45, 135km) Monday&Tuesday
- Balmoral Castle (2:30) Wednesday
- Inverness (2:00, 140km) Wednesday
- Fort William (2:26, 104km) Thursday&Friday
- Glasgow (2:29, 175km)Saturday
- Manchester Airport (3:38, 350km) Sunday
Other Options
- Hadrians Wall: Sycamore Gap is about 20 minutes drive from Hexham.
- Isle of Skye could be an additional stop, but this would add 4-5 hours driving, so we'd then probably only be able spend one night at each place.
- Sterling is an alternative to Balmoral.
- Oban could be visited between Fort William and Glasgow.
From Fort William we could again book the Jacobite steam train and/or go up Ben Nevis (highest mountain in the UK) and visit one of the most beautiful highland locations, Glen Coe.
For pictures of Inverness, Fort William and Isle-of-Skye from our last visit, see the 2024_Scotland page.
Edinburgh
Scotland's capital city, and 2nd biggest tourist attraction in the UK, with majestic castle, many stately buildings (eg Holyrood Palace), parks, museums and shopping streets. A must-see is the Royal Mile, a route from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace.
No fun to drive the camper van in the city, so propose staying at the Club Campsite, as last year.
Balmoral Castle
Nestled in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, Balmoral has been the cherished home of the British Royal Family since 1852, offering visitors a unique glimpse into royal life surrounded by breath-taking Highland landscapes.
Overnighting in the Balmoral parking lot costs £10.
Inverness
Considered to be the capital of the highlands, close to Loch Ness, and is the start of the NC500.
Here we can overnight on the council parking lot close to the centre.
Fort William
On the eastern shore of Loch Linnhe, Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Ben Nevis and Aonach Mòr to the east, and Glenfinnan to the west.
Bunree Campsite is 10 miles south of Fort William, close to Glen Coe and with lovely views across Loch Linnhe.
Alternative is Glen Nevis Campsite, where Harry Potter played Quidditch, starting point of Ben Nevis walk.
Glasgow
Glasgow[a] is the most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in west central Scotland.
UNESCO City of Music: it has many pubs with live music.
Park4Night £15, 30 mins by bus/train to centre
Stirling (option)
University town with impressive castle: last year we didn't stop here, as we couldn't find a parking place close to the castle.
Oban (option)
The most prominent attraction in Oban is McCaig's Tower which is visible from a great portion of the town.
The area around Oban has a dramatic scenery of the coast and mountains, as well as historically valuable local castles and ancient religious sites. North of the town the natural rock formation of Fingal's Dogstone is connected in legend to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.[37]
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