Wild Camping in Scotland

There are often situations when you will not to stay at a campsite with your motorhome, common ones that I do are:

sleeping at Dover ferry terminal to get a good nights sleep before getting an ultra cheap ferry from Dover to Dunkirk early in the morning.
More and more pubs in the UK will allow you to spend the night in their car park if you have their permission and of course, you have a meal or a few drinks there.
Remote areas in Scotland and Wales.

In this video, Vanessa from Motorholme TV talks to Tony who is a very experienced wild camper and in particular loves wild camping in Scotland in his motorhome.

Vanessa: You’re tuned to Motorholme TV and today we’re going to be talking about “wild” camping and to help me out with this topic I’ve got a very experienced motorhomer joining me and that’s Tony Samuel. So welcome Tony.

Tony: Hi.

Vanessa: How long have you been motorhoming?

Tony: I suppose ten years – twelve years now.

Vanessa: And what do you love about it?

Tony: I love the wild aspect of motorhoming. Fishing – I’m into fishing and windsurfing and canoeing so I like to get out in the wild and find some unique places.

Vanessa: Now I have to confess that I like to be hooked up to electric because I like my creature comforts, but I think I should really get over that because there’s so many wonderful things to experience through wild camping isn’t there. What exactly does “wild” camping mean anyway?

Tony: Well it basically means camping in the wild without the facilities that you would find on a campsite. There are no shops or shower blocks. For example, say you were driving along in Scotland; towns are far between from one place to another let alone campsites. So if you’re driving in Scotland on an afternoon and you found a nice place to stay, you could pull up on the side of the road, on the beach, in a car park, on the layby, and just stay there the night. You don’t have to worry about water if you’ve got plenty of water and your gas supply is adequate. You can stay there for a day or two or a week.

Vanessa: Because your motorhome functions completely okay if it’s not hooked up to electric because you can use the leisure battery can’t you?

Tony: Absolutely. As long as you can keep your leisure battery charged, and there’s one or two ways of doing that, you can stay there indefinitely.

Vanessa: And what are the two ways to keep the battery charged?

Tony: Well you can run the engine if you’re driving from one place to another, your battery would stay topped up. You can have these new type chargers now that run on ethanol or you could have a wind turbine, which would trickle charge your leisure battery.

Vanessa: Oh fantastic. I think one of the great things about “wild” camping is what I would call million dollar views because you can go to places where there are no hotels, no holiday cottages –

Tony: Right. Fortnight’s holiday, fourteen different sites every time you wake up in the morning. Cook your breakfast to a different site that’s the way to do it.

Vanessa: Ah that’s a great way to describe it because last Christmas my husband and I we went to Mont Saint-Michel in France and we were privileged to be able to park our van at the foot of Mont Saint-Michel and watch an amazing sunset and then see all the Christmas lights come-on on the Mount and it was incredible and you just couldn’t buy that view. So you’re a big fan of Scotland as well aren’t you?

Tony: Scotland is the place to go with a motorhome because of the “wild” camping aspect. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but for me it’s great.

Vanessa: What would you say has been your best experience of “wild” camping? What have you enjoyed the most?

Tony: I think the wildlife is just – to watch eagles soar over and dolphins and seals on the beach, and get really close.

Vanessa: And commune with nature?

Tony: That’s right.

Vanessa: Fantastic. Well thank you very much for talking to us Tony.

Tony: A pleasure.

Vanessa: That’s all about “wild” camping so why not consider trying that for your holiday and I think you really would have an adventure. I hope we have done a little bit to change your view of what you can achieve by going out in a motorhome and really experiencing the wild. Thanks for watching.

If you would like to try wild camping in France, Spain, Scotland or anywhere else you like, with a motorhome, get in touch today.