Vanlife in Scotland (in August!)

Vanlife in the UK doesn’t get any better than Scotland! I was apprehensive at first with it being the summer holidays and prime midge season but thankfully neither of those affected spending the whole of August in beautiful Scotland. From wild swims, insanely beautiful hikes, the best sunsets I have seen in my life, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I will treasure this time forever.

Things to do

Any adventure lover will not be short of things to do. We hiked up Ben Vrackie, Ben Macdui, Ben Nevis, and the Pap of Glencoe. All challenging and absolutely stunning (the weather was definitely on our side!).

Each hike was followed by a wild swim which resulted in not aching in the slightest – the magic of the cold water I guess!

And the Edinburgh Fringe, and Edinburgh in general, is awesome. There is such a lovely atmosphere and plenty of green spaces to chill out to escape the crowds if needed (I only went into the center for two days and I definitely needed a time out!). It feels like everyone there is there for one purpose – fun. I went to see a show called Out of the Blue at the Fringe and it fulfilled my dream of pretending I was watching Glee right in front of me!

Oh and also I can’t not mention Cramond Island – accessible by a raised causeway only at low tide. It is just outside of Edinburgh and was BEAUTIFUL. We walked out just as the tide allowed us to which meant it felt like we were walking on water! So cool! And so many birds to spot as the tide comes out too.

Driving a motorhome or campervan around Scotland

We had no issues – the only struggle we encountered was getting water for our water tank around Edinburgh. Which is totally understandable because it is a popular city. But otherwise it is a dream. We felt really free and it was so heartwarming to see so many people embracing the outdoors and just having fun! We thought it would be a bit busy on the roads because of the school holidays but the further north we went the quieter it was. I would happily go back again in August.

Would we go back?

Hell yes. Although I am well aware we had VERY good weather when we went and that is definitely not a guarantee! The warm weather helped keep the midges away too. We only had a few evenings where we had to hide in our vans from about 6pm to avoid being eaten alive but otherwise we escaped midge free.

Highlights