Ark Motorhome Adventures

May 16^th 2026 – May 24^th 2026

A combination of circumstances had meant that the Motorhome had been left unloved and motionless since January. But now was the time for it’s next adventure. This time to the west coast of Scotland in the company of my sister and her partner in their VDub.

Blair Castle Caravan Park

We had planned to start the trip in Oban on the Sunday, but since neither of us had anything arranged for Saturday we decided to break the trip up to Oban by heading up to Blair Atholl on the Saturday. As you will know this is our favourite site, so no need to explain. A few leisurely walks around the Castle grounds and a meal at the Atholl Arms – perfect.

Here are a few photos :

Seaview Park, Oban

This was a new site for us. Chosen because of :

a) the great reviews on Searchforsites,
b) it was very close to North Lediag where we have stayed in the past and enjoyed,
c) and because it is enroute to the Isle of Skye.

The site owner is a man called Duncan. A very affable and welcoming chap albeit a little eccentric with a very short fuse when it comes to customers who mess him around. Luckily we didn’t mess him around and enjoyed a couple of nights with open views across to the Isle of Mull, a lovely sandy beach, and some superb facilities on site.

Here are a few photos :

Portree Campsite, Isle of Skye

Our next stop was the Isle of Skye. We chose a campsite close to Portree at the north of the island as we hoped to do a boat trip from their subject to the Scottish weather of course. The site itself was well appointed with excellent facilities and well used since there aren’t that many to choose from. Its location is about a mile or two out of Portree up the hill. Probably a half hour walk. Although there is a good car park in town with plenty of parking, even for large motorhomes.

The highlight of this stopover was the boat trip. We used SeaSkye Tours and did the shorter 2 hour excursion. We were hoping to see a Sea Eagle and we weren’t disappointed. The caption knew where a pair were nesting and skilfully coaxed one to leave the nest and retrieve a mackerel from the water in front of the boat. A superb spectacle to watch. A raptor with an eight foot wingspan hunting.

Here are a few photos :

Sands Caravan & Camping, Gairloch

Another site that was new to us, this is a coastal site in amongst the sand dunes with a lovely sandy beach overlooking the Isle of Skye where we had just come from. The drive from Portree down the Skye coast and then up the A896 and A832 to Gairloch is one of the most spectacular drives in the Scottish highlands in my opinion. However, the weather wasn’t kind to us and the windy single track segments were difficult in a large motorhome with poor visibility. The weather wasn’t set to improve either, so we decided to break the long trip (7hours) down to Kielder with a stop over in Aberfeldy.

Aberfeldy Caravan Park

There wasn’t too much thought in the choice of this site. This was Bank Holiday weekend and it was the only site with availability. It was OK but I wouldn’t rate it any higher than that and it was very expensive. £40 for a simple hardstanding pitch without electricity (paid for for separately by meter) is extortionate for such a site. It’s only saving grace was it’s proximity to Aberfeldy. We did spend a very pleasant evening in the Fountain Bar (the Belhaven Black was excellent) followed by a Chinese takeaway from the Golden Wok.

Kielder Waterside and Lodges

This was our final stop on the way back home. A pitch by Kielder Water with activities available on and off the water, a Bird of Prey centre and a bar with catering. It should have ticked all the boxes as our final stop and in fact did, eventually, but not for those reasons. The short version is that an inconsiderate guest decided not to move from the pitch we had booked. After much fuss and some rather unsavoury exchanges with a local general manager we were provided with a luxury lodge for the night with a hot tub. I would have preferred the original pitches and not having to experience the hassle, but Kielder Waterside did their best to rectify the problem and found us a super place to stay.

Here are a few photos :