Stopovers with a caravan

We live just North of Perth and there is a number of lay-bys that will take a car/caravan for a short break.

There is also at Bankfoot (just off the A9 about 9 miles) a visitor centre with cafe, shop etc. their car park isn't suitable for car/caravan unless not busy but next to it is a piece of ground that will quite easily take them, many motorhomes use it for a short break and some even for over night. The cafe is good by the way we often cycle that way in the summer months and have a bite to eat 

A few years ago we stopped off for coffee at The Ralia cafe on the A9 

http://www.ralia.co.uk/ Its between Perth & Inverness with plenty of parking. It’ll be a stopping place for us in May 😋

At the north end of Dalwhinnie just past the distillery is an area where you could park up for the night. On Google Maps  you can even see a motorhome parked there. I haven't stopped there with the caravan but have stopped there for the night. It's easily big enough for a couple of cars and caravans.

We like to have a break about 2hrs after leaving home. What I normally do if I am not familiar with the road is start looking for a nice spot about 15 minutes before the 2 hour time. We generally find somewhere suitable within 10- 20 minutes. We also usually see somewhere much better than where we stopped, a couple of miles after stopping 🤔.

That's an immutable rule of all stopping places, isn't it?

The other thing I've learned, as still fairly new boy, is to look carefully at the layby, checking for 'orrible potholes on the way in, and hopefully noting if it's a very tight exit too, before committing myself. This  isn't always possible, but we bounced into a few nasty surfaces while becoming alerted to it.

And I got myself into a place where there wasn't an exit, and had to unhitch to turn round, but that's a different story!

Agree with SteveL and Menu Vanbirds68. When travelling north on A9, we nearly always stop at Ralia just short of Newtonmore. Refreshments, toilets and plenty of space for caravans or motorhomes.

If travelling to Scotland the best site to use for a one night stopover is the one at Strathclyde park.  From there you can easily reach the more scenic parts of Scotland. 

NB.. If staying at Strathclyde park remember to bring ear plugs.  The constant road noise from the adjacent M74  and the A725 can be quite obtrusive. 

K 

Depends where you want to go K. We like the far NW. That's 270 miles from SP. Too far for us in a day now, particularly on the roads involved.

Unless you are lucky and find a modern deep layby, you will find it very uncomfortable on a busy trunk road.    The trucks are very noisy and will rock the van as they pass.       Make use of the motorway services, but as KjellNN says, avoid lunchtime when the long lanes you need will most likely be full.    Once you are North of Glasgow and in the country it will be easier to find somewhere to pull over.

BillC

This is one of the better laybys on the A9 Drumochter area, the best one always fills up with people taking photos. Quite a few are right on the road with lorries thundering past and lorries parked up for the night later in the day. Check out the speed cameras on the A9 too.

see here

Having lived up there the A9 isn't somewhere I'd want to stay the night. Slightly better and quieter north of Aviemore. A good pull off nowadays is at the House of Bruar near Blair Atholl for a coffee or lunch/food hall (easier with a motorhome but caravans can get in too.)

Why not have a night or two at Pitlochry, Blair Atholl or the Cairngorms? See a bit more of this beautiful area rather than rush through.