Scotland Roadtrip

At the end of May myself and a group of my mates went on a road trip to Scotland. Before this trip I had only ever been to Edinburgh and was really looking forward to seeing first hand all the beautiful Scottish scenery I had been told so much about.

Day 1 - Once the car was packed we left bright and early (6.20am) and started our epic journey to Oban. We were travelling for 12.5 hours in total and got stuck in some traffic, but we kept ourselves entertained with caraoke (the car version of Karaoke). Once we had finally arrived in Oban we set up our tents and tried to deal with the midges which were everywhere.

Journey to Oban via Loch Lomond

Day 2 - We got a little ferry over to the island of Kerrera, which was stunning. We discovered a lovely little tea shop where we had a delicious lunch and then went to explore the remains of a castle. We then got the little ferry back to the mainland and went into Oban town centre where we got some fish and chips, which we ate sat by the sea in the sunshine. The evening was spent around a little camp fire playing some silly games.

 

skimming stones

 Day 3 - We decided to have a change of scenery and so got the ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull. The ferry only took 46 mins, but we then had over a hours drive to the camp site which was right in the south-west tip of the island. The scenery on the drive was stunning though and there was lots to interest 2 geography students (myself and my friend Naomi).

We stayed at the Fidden Farm campsite, which was fantastic (I would highly recommend it). The campsite was right by the beach and so we had a camp fire on the beach during the evening and enjoyed a stunning sunset (probably one of the best I have ever seen) and toasted some marshmallows. What more could you ask for really!

The camp site was right by the beach

Stunning sunset

Day 4 - Explored the Isle of Mull. We drove from the camp site to Tobermory, where they filmed the kids TV show Balamory. Unfortuantely the heavens opened and so to escape the rain three of us decided to go on a tour of the whisky distillery. I am not really a fan of whisky, but I did find the tour really interesting and would recommend it if you are ever in Tobermory. We then had some afternoon tea where we discovered free WiFi for the first time in days so quickly uploaded some pictures to Facebook and Instagram.

Colourful building of Tobermory

We then took the scenic drive back to the camp site, which was longer but so worth while. The scenery was beautiful and so rural, which I loved. We had to wait a few times for some sheep to cross the road and I also got to see my first Highland Cows :) Once we had got back to the camp site we had a yummy bbq on the beach, played some bowls, which I discovered I was surprising good at, and then sat and watched another stunning sunset.

Another stunning sunset

Got to love a camp fire

Day 5 - We continued our island hopping adventure and got a little ferry over to the Isle of Iona, which is a small island just to the south-west of the Isle of Mull. Here we explored the Iona Abbey, the stunning white sandy beaches and the crystal clear seas - it was like we were on a Caribbean beach. After lunch we thought it would be a good idea to explore the other side of the island. However, we got a little lost and so took a detour in the rain over the hills and through some bogs, only to end up back on the original path we had detoured off of - typical! So with wet feet and in some cases now brown converses (they were originally white) we got the ferry back to Mull.

Iona Abbey

White sand beaches and crystal clear water

Back at the camp site we had a very random dinner, which reminded me of my student days, and was treated to a Scottish pipe band. We then spent the evening in the pub watching the football, as everyone was in some much need of warmth and a proper chair after 4 nights of camping.

Scottish pipe band

Day 6 - We packed up our stuff, said goodbye to the campsite and then got the ferry back to the mainland (Oban) where we then drove around Loch Lomond. We tried to find a camp site, but were having no luck and so ended up in McDonalds using their WiFi to research campsites and B&Bs nearby. Thankfully we found a campsite, which had a lovely view of Loch Lomond, but this was accompanied by a lot of midges (not pleasant).

Ferry back to mainland Scotland

Loch Lomond

We had a lovely evening walk around Loch Lomond before having a yummy final meal and laughing lots. I am not sure the topic of conversation was really that funny, but everything always seems a lot more funny than it is when you are really tired.

Day 7 - Our final day of the road trip simply consisted of driving the epic 12 hour journey back home. There was some excitement though in the form of some car trouble, but thankfully Hamish (the name we gave the car) did us all proud and made it back to East London.

This road trip was lots of fun :)

I def want to explore more of Scotland in the future and go on more road trips.