On the 7th August we drove to Edinburgh, pitching up for five nights at a Caravan & Camping Club Temporary Holiday Site (THS) on the Drum Estate just south of the city. This type of site has few facilities but is very good value (£10/night). This particular location was very well situated with a Co-op over the road and a bus stop by the entrance with frequent buses to the city centre.

We were there for our first visit to the Fringe Festival and during our stay we saw eight very different shows (not including the street performances) – comedy, music, discussions and even an impressive circus acrobatic team from Australia! We even managed to fit in a bus trip to the seaside at Portobello Beach. I think we’ll be back again in the very near future!

On the 12th August we headed for home stopping off for 2 nights relaxation at one of our favourite sites, Sleningford Watermill.

The following day (August 2nd) we drove north through spectacular Glencoe scenery to our favourite scottish site, Bunree CMC, just south of Fort William.

For a different outing we walked from the site to the Corran Ferry and travelled across Loch Linnhe to Ardgour. Good exercise, justifying a stop at the Inn sampling some slightly unusual crisps!

The main reason for our visit to this area was to take a trip on the Jacobite Express – the steam train hauled from Fort William to Mallaig on a route crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct which was featured in the Harry Potter films. The scenery was quite spectacular with views over mountains, valleys and coastline almost impossible to get other than on the train.

Here’s a video of the train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct:

To finish off our stay at Bunree we took the gondola at the Nevis Range Mountain Experience and then followed the trail (in some pretty strong wind!) to the Meall Beag viewpoint. There were some impressive views back down to Fort William and Loch Linnhe – not quite the same as hiking to the top of Ben Nevis but probably the closest we were going to get!

On 1st August 2022 we set off for Scotland

Our first stop was a single night’s stay at the Kendal CMC site on the edge of the Lake District, just off the M6

A footpath from the site runs alongside the River Kent which has some very attractive rapids.