Scotland is one of the best destinations in the world for motorhome and campervan travel. The scenery is breath-taking, roads are quiet and relaxed, and Scotland has numerous motorhome-friendly campsites. Plus, if you’re short on time, Scotland is compact making it possible to hit the best spots within just one week. Here I’ll outline for you: when to visit Scotland, motorhome rental in Scotland, a one-week Scotland road trip itinerary, the best campsites, and all of the essential stops and best hiking along the way.
When to Visit Scotland
Mid-April through early June is the ideal time to visit Scotland. These are the driest months with the longest daylight hours (up to 18 hours in June) and mild, pleasant weather. July and August are the warmest months but tend to be busy with larger crowds of tourists. Plus, the midges (biting insects) are the worst at this time. September is also a good time to visit due to less tourists and mild weather, but the days will be shorter and there may be more rain as compared to late spring and early summer.
We visited in mid-April and enjoyed a relaxing road trip with fewer tourists, mild weather, only 2/7 days of rain, and long daylight hours (sunset was at 8:45pm each night).
Motorhome Rental in Scotland
We booked the 2 berth “Rainbow” motorhome through Just Go and had a fantastic experience. The pick-up and drop off process was seamless. The facility is located at: 2 Drovers Road Broxburn, Scotland, just a 15-minute drive from Edinburgh Airport. 24 hours before your pick-up, you’ll get an email from Just Go with a specific pick-up time in the afternoon. We asked for the earliest possible pickup, and they were able to accommodate that. Pick-up time is generally 2pm-4pm and drop off is 8am-10am.
Upon pick-up, staff will walk you to your vehicle and you’ll walk around it together documenting any existing damage and then a staff member will show you all the ins and outs of the vehicle including the control panel (where you can turn on/off your electricity, gas, and water), the bathroom, the kitchen, the gas tank, the electrical hookups and how to use them, the toilet (and how to empty it), and the water tank and how to empty and fill it. Staff is very patient and helpful. They will also provide you with a phone number at which you can reach them with any issues on the trip (we had none).
The 2 berth “Rainbow” motorhome had absolutely everything we needed for our Scotland road trip. The rental includes free unlimited mileage, a reversing camera, and 24-hour roadside assist. It comes equipped with queen bed, bathroom with toilet and shower, kitchen with refrigerator, 2 burner stove, small oven, and cooking and kitchen necessities: 2 water glasses, 2 coffee mugs, 2 bowls, 4 plates (2 small, 2 large), forks, knives, spoons, can opener, colander, pots, pans, tea kettle, spatula, sponge, hand towel, and dish soap for washing dishes. We had everything we needed to prepare meals.
Cooking in the vehicle and heating the vehicle both require gas. Your motorhome will come with one large gas tank that is already hooked up. Just Go will show you how to turn on and off the gas. Simply turn the knob on the gas tank to turn it on and then you can light your stove and heat the van (via the control panel). Turn the gas off when you’re done.
You’ll need to add on a “double linen set” for an additional charge. This will include a duvet, 2 pillows, sheet & 2 towels. Otherwise, you can bring your own. I also recommend adding camping furniture (table and up to 6 chairs) as well as toilet chemicals. The camping furniture will allow you to set up a space to eat outside the vehicle if it’s a nice day, but you don’t need this if you prefer to hangout and eat in the vehicle. There is plenty of space to sit and enjoy a meal in the motorhome. There is a 2-person bench at the table plus the 2 front seats swivel around to allow up to 4 people to sit at the table in the vehicle at a time.
I recommend adding the highest insurance/liability reduction cover called “The High Road” to your rental. This limits your security deposit and liability to £350. Driving a motorhome is challenging and accidents happen. Better to pay a little more up front than end up owing thousands. You may want to add the “Value Pack” which includes: The High Road liability cover, windscreen, mirror and tire cover, camping furniture for the whole family, bedding and towels for the whole family, toilet chemicals, and 1 additional driver for an additional £60 per night.
Things to Know About Motorhome Rental in Scotland
Wild Camping is Allowed
While overnight parking is not allowed everywhere, wild camping in campers is tolerated in many rural areas, especially if you’re discreet and respectful.
There Are Lots of Motorhome Friendly Campsites in Scotland
In order to keep your motorhome charged and full of potable water, you’ll likely need at least a few nights at a campsite that offers “full hookups” which means it is a campsite with electricity, water, and sewer facilities. These are everywhere in Scotland. If you search “caravan park” in the area you’re looking to stay, you’ll likely find at least 1 or 2. You can also look at UK Camping and Caravanning Club to find campsites.
If you wild camp or “boondock” you need to be really stingy with your water and electric use so that you don’t run out, and you’ll need to utilize public restrooms to avoid filling your toilet.
Motorhome Daily Maintenance
In order to have the best motorhome experience, I recommend booking at least half of your nights at campsites with “full hookups”. We booked a campsite with full hookups for every single night, and it was great to not have to worry about using too much water or electricity because we had access to re-charging and refilling every night. Plus, campsites have amenities like WiFi, restrooms and showers, and even stores for last minute supplies.
Your site with “full hookups” will have an electricity plug in at the site. There is a long electrical cord that Just Go will show you how to use. You simply plug this in and charge overnight.
At the campground, make sure to locate 3 things:
- potable water to fill up your tank
- grey water emptying place
- toilet emptying place
In the morning, empty your gray water (used water from sinks) at the designated space (typically a grate drain in the ground). Simply park with your water tank over this drain, turn the lever to open your grey water tank, and let the water drain out. Next, find the potable water spigot. Just Go will show you your water hose. Simply attach your hose to the potable water and you can fill the vehicle with water for drinking and cooking. Lastly, locate the toilet disposal area. Here you can empty your toilet cassette (urine and toilet paper). Make sure to rinse it out and add some toilet chemicals to the cassette afterward to avoid bad odors in the vehicle.
One Week Scotland Road Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Edinburgh
After a long day of travel, I recommend catching a taxi or uber from the airport into Edinburgh and enjoying the city for the rest of the evening. Half a day is plenty of time to explore this small but charming city. I recommend walking to these must-see locations:
- Edinburgh Castle– This is Scotland’s most iconic castle. It is perched on top of large hill, looming over the city. You can pay a fee to go inside or simply enjoy the castle’s exterior and the view from atop the hill.
- The Royal Mile– Stroll along this historic cobblestone street and enjoy the shops and street performers. Stop and admire St. Giles Cathedral.
- Victoria Street– This is one of the most photographed streets in Scotland. This street is thought to have been the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. In fact, The Elephant House Cafe on Victoria Street is where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel.
- Grab lunch or early dinner at The Devil’s Advocate Pub or do dinner and a whiskey tasting at Johnnie Walker Princes Street. Downstairs there is a gift shop and whiskey tasting area but ask if there is availability for dinner or drinks on the rooftop. The views are amazing! The rooftop is called 1820 Rooftop Bar and has views of the Edinburgh Castle.
- Lastly, watch sunset from Calton Hill. The walk to the top takes 10 minutes and is quite steep but do-able for anyone with moderate physical fitness. The path is paved. The views at the top at incredible!
I recommend staying at Courtyard by Marriot in Edinburgh. The hotel is very nice with a lovely bar and restaurant with buffet breakfast in the morning. It’s affordable and within walking distance to all of the sights in Edinburgh. It’s located right next to Calton Hill, which is perfect since after the long day of travel and exploring, you’ll probably be ready to get some sleep after watching the sunset.
Day 2: Loch Ness
On day 2 of your Scotland road trip, call a taxi or uber to 2 Drovers Road Broxburn, Scotland to pick up your motorhome! The earlier you can pick-up your vehicle, the better! Standard pick-up time is 2pm-4pm. After we got our motorhome, we drove a total of 3 hours to Loch Ness Bay Camping in Drumnadrochit, Scotland.
Aviemore
We stopped in Aviemore to stock up on groceries from Aldi. Aviemore is a cute, touristy town at Cairngorms National Park. With a little more time, it would have been fun to ride the funicular to the top of Cairngorm Mountain. Tickets for the funicular can be purchased here: Cairngorm Mountain. Trains run approximately every 20 minutes starting at 10AM and the last departing at 3:30PM.
Grocery List:
Here’s what we bought for our one-week Scotland Road Trip via Motorhome:
- instant coffee
- bread
- sandwich meat
- sliced cheese
- mayonnaise
- honey
- peanut butter
- granola bars
- grapes
- spaghetti ingredients
- fajita ingredients
- chicken curry ingredients
- chocolate
- oatmeal
- beer
- wine
- frozen Scottish pies
- plastic sandwich bags
- a gallon of water (just in case)
- extra toilet paper
- paper towels
- hand soap
- trash bags
Inverness
From Aviemore, continue north towards Inverness. Stop for a quick photo or coffee if you’ve got time. Inverness is known as “The Capital of the Highlands” and is rich with history and culture.
Urquhart Castle
Continue on the gorgeous drive around Loch Ness. I recommend finding a Loch Ness Monster podcast to listen to on the drive. The legend and history of Nessie is fascinating!
When you get to Drumnadrochit, pop over to Urquhart Castle before checking into the campground. Tickets for the castle are £14 per person and the last entry is at 7:15pm. Walk through the museum and out to the stunning castle while learning about its storied past.
The campsite is only about a 3-minute drive from the castle. You should have plenty of time to get settled in at camp before the sun sets.
Day 3: Isle of Skye
On day 3 of our Scotland road trip, we woke up early and drove about 2 hours out to the Isle of Skye stopping at Eilean Donan Castle on the way. You can purchase tickets to enter the castle, but we enjoyed simply viewing the castle from the parking lot. You will need to pay to park. Grab a hot chocolate from the gift shop.
From there we headed to see some of the most iconic spots in Isle of Skye:
Old Man of Storr Hike
The hike to the Old Man of Storr is 2.4 miles total with 900 feet of elevation gained via stone steps. In the rain, the steps are quite slippery so make sure to bring good footwear. If you have nice enough weather, continue past The Old Man of Storr and hike up to the summit of The Storr. This adds about 2 extra miles onto the hike but some amazing views. There is a large parking lot at the trailhead, but it fills quickly. You’ll need to pay the machine for parking.
Mealt Falls
After hiking at the Old Man of Storr, drive about 8 miles north on A855 until you see signs for Mealt Falls. Pull over and admire the falls briefly.
The Quiraing
From Mealt Falls, put “The Quiraing” into your GPS and drive the 7 miles to get there. You’ll come to the trailhead for one of the most amazing hikes in the world. The hike is 5 miles out and back with 1300 feet of elevation gain. Definitely hike it if you have time. If not, simply driving in this area is amazing. Continue on towards Fairy Glen admiring the views along the way.
The Fairy Glen
The walk to Fairy Glen and Castle Ewen is an easy 1-mile loop that is fairly flat. Pay to park and then enjoy the easy walk in this magical area.
After enjoying The Fairy Glen, get back in the vehicle, and complete the loop around the peninsula by heading back to Portree where the campground is.
While in Isle of Skye, we stayed at Portree Campsite. This place has amazing views, is only 10 minutes outside of town, and honestly has the nicest camp bathrooms and showers I’ve ever seen. It fills up nightly so definitely book ahead of time.
Day 4: Isle of Skye and Fort William
We spent the majority of day 4 in Isle of Skye before driving 2 hours to Fort William for the night.
Sligachan Bridge
We started the day off at the Sligachan Bridge. Take some photos here early in the morning before the crowds arrive. It’s a stunning, old bridge framed by the Cuillin Mountains in the back.
Hiking to The Peak of Strife
Next, we embarked on a very long, but very rewarding hike to The Peak of Strife (Sgùrr na Strì). The hike is 15 miles total with about 3000 feet of elevation gained. The first 5 miles are flat and through the Sligachan Glen which separates the Red Cuillin Mountain Range on the left from the Black Cuillin Mountain Range on the right. The landscape is volcanic in appearance and absolutely stunning.
After passing through the glen, you start the rocky scramble up to the summit. On the ridge to the summit there are incredible views of Loch Coruisk to the right and Loch na Creitheach to the left until you finally reach the summit where you have 360 degree views of the ocean, the lochs, and the Cuillin Mountains. It was a long day, but well worth it and one of the best hikes I’ve ever done. We only encountered a handful of other people on the trail. The path is difficult to follow at times. I recommend downloading the map on the All-Trails app to help navigate.
Dunvegan Castle and Talisker Distillery
If you’re not quite up for the 15-mile hike, I’d drive up to Dunvegan Castle and Gardens, check out Talisker Distillery, or head back to one of the areas in Isle of Skye mentioned above.
Glen Nevis Caravan and Camping Park at Fort William
After finishing our hike in Isle of Skye, we drove 2 hours to Fort William and checked into our campground at Glen Nevis Caravan and Camping Park where we stayed the next 2 nights. The facilities at Glen Nevis are nice and there’s even a small store and restaurant on site.
The campground is located just 10 minutes outside of Fort William and is a popular spot for hikers and backpackers. Glen Nevis is just a mile from the trailhead for Ben Nevis, which is the tallest mountain in the UK and a popular day hike. Fort William is last stop on The West Highland Way, which is a 96-mile backpacking route from Milngavie to Fort William. It’s one of the most popular long walks in the world. As such, you’ll see many backpackers arriving in town and many “West Highland Way” souvenirs in the shops.
Day 5: Fort William
Harry Potter Bridge
We started day 5 of our Scotland road trip with a 30-minute drive out to the Glenfinnan Viaduct Trail where we paid to park in the lot and then walked about half a mile to the viewing spot for the Jacobite Steam Train. This train and train track location was used in the filming of the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies. There are tons of people who come out each day to watch the train pass. It’s busy, yes, but the train and tracks are stunning, and the location is incredible. It’s an awesome experience and I highly recommend it. Arrive early to secure a parking space and a good spot to sit and watch the train.
The train departs Fort William at 10:15am and crosses the viewing spot at Glenfinnan Viaduct between 10:45am and 11am. It runs from Monday April 7th, 2025, to Friday October 24th, 2025 (seven days per week).
How to Get There:
Location: Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scotland
Parking: Paid parking available at the Glenfinnan Visitor Centre car park (£3.50 per car).
Viewing Spot: A 10-minute walk from the car park to the left side of the viaduct offers the best view of the train approaching in the morning.
Highland Cows
After watching the train go by, we drove back towards camp and drove the road toward the youth hostel in search of the iconic Highland Cows to photograph. We found a male and a female just off the road to the left and were able to pull over and watch them for a bit while we enjoyed a quick lunch in the camper.
High Street
Next, we drove into town to explore. Thankfully there was a large paid parking lot across from the Lime Tree Hotel where we were able to easily park the motorhome. Parking can be challenging in the motorhome but is not a problem as long as there’s enough space. We walked up and down High Street, the charming cobblestone street that runs through the center of Fort William and popped into a few shops before having a beer at Volunteer Arms bar and then some delicious wood fired pizza at Black Isle Bar.
We then stayed at Glen Nevis Caravan and Camping Park again.
Day 6: Fort William and Loch Lomond
Hiking Ben Nevis: The Tallest Mountain in the UK
On day 6 of our Scotland road trip we finally had good enough weather to set out on a hike to the highest point in the UK: Ben Nevis. The trailhead for Ben Nevis is about a mile from the campground at Glen Nevis. We arrived to the parking lot around 7am and were one of only a few vehicles there. We paid the machine to park and started the hike.
Ben Nevis is a steep and challenging hike. It’s a 10 mile out and back hike with 4400 feet of elevation gain. The first 2-3 miles is just an incredibly steep hike on some stones/steps. When you reach the third mile you start to encounter some snow you need to be careful in but can walk through without snowshoes or spikes. The final mile to the summit is all snow and rocks and we couldn’t see much other than the faint outline of the cairns ahead that we needed to follow to stay on the path. Visibility was a challenge, and this was on a nice day in the spring.
You’ll know when you reach the top. There’s a stone pillar and an old emergency shelter at the summit. We were keen to head down to better visibility in case the weather suddenly worsened. We hiked about a mile down to where we could see blue skies again and enjoyed lunch before descending the remaining 4 miles.
If you’re planning to hike Ben Nevis, be sure to check the weather beforehand and talk with park rangers about the summit conditions before starting the hike. The weather in Fort William is not indicative of the conditions on the summit where it can get very cold and windy with the potential for major visibility issues. Bring layers, food, and plenty of water.
We finished our hike around 1pm and hit the road towards our next campsite: Milarrochy Bay Campsite on Loch Lomond.
The drive to Milarrochy Bay is about 2 and a half hours long and takes you through some of the most beautiful parts of the Highlands. Make sure to pull over and enjoy The Three Sisters Viewpoint in Glencoe.
From there, you’ll head south and drive the entire west side of Loch Lomond before curving around the bottom of the lake and finding your campground on its east shore. We checked into the campground and then headed into the tiny town of Balmaha, just 5 minutes away, to enjoy dinner at The Oak Tree Inn, an old Scottish Pub with incredible decor and traditional Scottish dishes. I tried the Haggis which is the national dish of Scotland and Kyle got the meat pie.
Day 7: Loch Lomond and West Clifton/Edinburgh
On our final full day in Scotland, we decided to bag another Munro (Munro= a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3000 feet) and Munro bagging is the term used by people who hike up or “bag” a Munro by reaching its summit.
Both The Peak of Strife and Ben Nevis are classified as Munros so this would be our third. Our numbers seem pretty good until you realize there are a total of 282 Munros in Scotland… I guess we”ll have to come back to do the rest!
Hiking Ben Lomond
The third and final Munro we hiked is called Ben Lomond and it was easier than the other two but still no walk in the park. The hike is 7.5 miles total and can be done as an out and back or you can loop it by doing Ptarmigan Ridge on the way up and the traditional path on the way down. There’s 3188 feet of elevation gained so it’s obviously very steep. The views at the top are amazing. On a clear day, we were able to see all of Loch Lomond below and all the way out to Ben Nevis over 100 miles away.
After the hike we enjoyed lunch on Loch Lomond before heading to our last campsite: Linwater Caravan Park. The drive to Linwater is only about 1 hour and 15 minutes. If you have time, stop in Stirling on the way and check out the magnificent Stirling Castle. While passing through Falkirk, be on the lookout for 2 giant, silver horse head statues (you likely can’t miss them). These are called The Kelpies and they were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and completed in 2013. There is a viewing area off of the highway if you wish to see them up closer.
Linwater Caravan Park is a very nice camping area located just 10 minutes from the Just Go Pick-Up/Drop-Off Location. It was a perfect place to stay on our last night so that we didn’t have to rush in the morning to ready the motorhome before 10am drop-off.
There isn’t much to eat around Linwater other than a McDonald’s at a nearby gas station. I’d plan to cook in the vehicle this night. There is a small store on site where you can buy some quick meal supplies if needed.
Returning Your Just Go Motorhome
All you need to do before returning the motorhome is pack up, tidy up a reasonable amount (empty trash, wash dishes), empty the grey water and the toilet, and make sure the gas tank is full.
From there you can hop in a taxi or uber and head to the airport which is only 10 minutes away.
Scotland is truly the perfect country to explore via motorhome. Whether you’re chasing sunrises over misty lochs, winding through rugged mountain passes, or simply sipping coffee with a view that feels like a postcard, hiring a motorhome in Scotland is an unforgettable way to explore this wild, beautiful corner of the world. One week on the road gives you the freedom to slow down, take in the scenery, and discover hidden gems far beyond the tourist trail. So pack light, drive slow, and let the Highlands surprise you—because there’s no better way to experience Scotland than with your home on wheels.
I hope this Scotland road trip itinerary helps you plan an amazing adventure of your own!
Check out: Ireland by Campervan: The Perfect Ireland Road Trip for a similar adventure itinerary in Ireland!