Touring Scotland

They are to be seen, although sadly not by us☹️, around Kinlochewe on the flanks of Ben Eighe. The CAMC have a site there, although it is popular as it’s on the NC500. We have always found May and early June to be fairly midge free and often fairly good weather.

Check out Skye-I saw the white tailed Eagle(sea Eagle) & the Golden Eagle on Skye plus a bonus sea Otter👍🏻. West coast is where they’re quite abundant, a local told me over 30 pairs are to be seen. Your trip is a ways off but-good luck😊

The Cairngorms National Park is a good bet and not too midgey either. Leave the main tourist routes and explore further. Visit the CNP web site for ideas and info.

Thanks for the replies! The suggestions sound very promising - I have plenty of time to plan but it's always good to have recommendations. Hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a Healthy New Year.

I'm not sure how far up you are travelling to get to Scotland, but we tipped our tow not far over the border at a lovely CL near Stirling this Sept and had a wonderful time. Location was excellent for Glasgow, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Stirling, Culross etc.

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/certificated-locations/scotland/stirlingshire/Stirling/Carrs-Hill/

www.carrshill.co.uk

Colin

We stayed at Bunree & Kinlochewe in the 1st week of June this year & were 'mullered' by the midges....

Totally unexpected as from previous reviews it was the 'safer' time of year  + they'd had snow late May & on 5th June it was still -5*C at top of Ben Nevis with 2 feet of snow!

So be prepared....

We did the NC 500 in May this year. 

We live in Scotland so no issues using days to get here. We drove from home to first stop between Oban and Fort William. Then up the west coast. Across the top then down the east. 

We took just over 3 weeks, some stops 3 or 4 days others just 1 night. 

Highlight for us was a place called Clachtoll, not easy to get to but we'll worth it. 

Really mix of weather, from heavy torrential sideways rain, almost getting blown over at Dunnet head, to beautiful warm sunshine at Clachtoll, Brora and Dornoch. No frost or snow even coming over the Cairngorm, though there was still snow in the gullies. No midges anywhere on the trip but we did start on the West 10th May. We planned it that way as if we'd have gone East to West we more than likely would have encounter midges towards the end of the trip.

While we didn't see a Golden Eagle we did see a white tailed one and ospreys as well. 

I'm giving a LINK to the wildlife in the Cairngorms as there is so much to see if you're prepared to linger and explore.

There are some excellent bird spotting opportunities in many places in Scotland but I think the Cairngorms offer a good general wild life experience.

Other places to see birds fairly easily are numerous, eg the Mull of Galloway in the SW or Duncansby Head in the NE (choose your time in these places, to see them at their best.)

The photo here is Loch Morlich, beneath the main Cairngorm Range. The adjoining Rothiemurchus Estate has a lot of wild life to enjoy.

We have toured Scotland a dozen times or more and loved each trip which was usually 3 weeks or more. Only once did we brave the dreaded flying Alligators and did so knowing what to expect, but we wanted to have the Jacobite Steam Train experience.......what a fabulous trip, Fort William to Malaig it will live with me forever. We were piped aboard the train by a Black Watch Piper and then the magic began, surely one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. We have used many sites and must say all have been lovely places, however on two occasions we have been lucky enough to have a Lochside pitch at Bunree, we just love that site and the surrounding views and nature. 

Here’s the Midge Forecast LINK. Obviously it’s not working at this time of year but it says it’ll be back in the Spring.