Vanlife in Scotland: Overnight Park-up Information
An informative post detailing the location and pros and cons of each place we parked our campervan in Scotland.
You may have read about our trip in Scotland, but I’m here to give some more detailed information on the logistics of vanlife in Scotland, particularly while maintining a full-time remote job that requires laptop power and a solid WiFi connection from 8:30 - 17:30.
Having travelled France, Spain, Portugal and the majority of England in our van, we didn’t think Scotland would be too much different, and for the mostpart, it wasn’t. However, we did face some annoying dilemmas when it came to beauty vs work! Scotland has so much to offer when it comes to nature, but honestly, those places don’t prioritise 5G, and why should they?! Well, if the world revolved around us, they absolutely would… but it doesn’t. Therefore, we had to find towns that had phone signal and the odd bar or two to plug our laptops into when our leisure battery was too low.
Here’s most of our parkups during our time in Scotland, with a summary of the area, the signal and our overall feelings in each.
Parkups: the good, the bad and the ugly
To find the best parkups, we use the Park4Night app. This app has saved us so much time when searching in places we’re unfamiliar with and the fact you can filter the parking spots by the services they offer has been so helpful! We even managed to find a free carpark with a standalone self-service laundrette right next to it, so we could do some washing without having to pay for a campsite.
Lomond Hills Regional Park: Craigmead Car Park
The good:
Beautiful park-up in the hills
Plenty of walks nearby - car park is on the trail to Glen Vale Falls
Public toilets in the car park
Quiet overnight
Lots of picnic benches right next to the car park
The bad:
No amenities nearby - I wouldn’t consider this a bad point, as we were there for a hike and a one-night stopover, but if you’re looking for shops, pubs or restaurants, this isn’t the place for you.
Not much phone signal
St Andrews: Bruce Embankment Car Park
The good:
Sea view
Public toilets (30p)
Close to the town center - 10-15 minute walk
£3.80 for the whole day and free overnight
Decent 4G - able to work remotely from this location
The ugly:
Busy with tourists
Perth: South Inch Car Park
The good:
Close to town
Quite cheap - £5.30 per day
Weekly tickets available - £26
Nice park around the car park - grass and trees
Public toilets
The bad:
Phone signal is weak - couldn’t work online very well from this location
The ugly:
Lots of vandalism around - the first two pay and display stations I went to had been smashed.
Perth itself is quite rundown. Nothing against the car park, but I wouldn’t return based on the town itself.
Blairgowrie and Rattery: Riverside Park
The good:
Beautiful spot with a river running right by the car park
Just down the hill from the town centre
Peaceful
Lovely river walks on your doorstep
Free
The bad:
No public toilets
Weak phone signal - couldn’t work well from this location, but there is a Wetherspoon nearby with good WiFi and plug sockets.
The ugly:
Teenagers hanging around drinking and smoking weed - this didn’t bother us, but it might put some people off. They ignored us and kept themselves to themselves; they weren’t doing any harm.
Cruden Bay: Harbour Street
The good:
Gorgeous views over the bay at one side, and the harbour at the other
Public toilets
Donation-based but not mandatory
Very quiet and peaceful
Lovely walks on the beach and through the village
Really nice walk to Bullers of Buchan, passing by Slanes Castle (written about more in this blog)
Decent 4G - able to work remotely from this location
The bad:
Not much around in terms of amenities other than one village shop
Newburgh: Forvie National Park
The good:
Lots of nature around
Decent 4G for light remote working - wouldn’t trust it for video calls, etc.
Very nice beach (seal beach)
Golf club has a tap room with pool tables and other games. Also, the views from the taproom are beautiful - quite a walk from the car park, but worth it
Free
The bad:
No public toilets
Approx 25-30 minutes walk into the town centre
Super narrow entrance! Wouldn’t like to put anything bigger than a Sprinter through those bollards
Ellon: Woodlands Place
The good:
Free car park
Close to the town centre
Decent 4G signal for remote working
~40 minute walk to BrewDog HQ!!!!
The bad:
No public toilets
The ugly:
Not a very pretty car park - just waste land but it was fine for us
Fraserburgh: 57°41'48.6"N 2°00'04.7"W
The good:
Beautiful views out to sea and of the lighthouse
Decent 4G
The bad:
No facilities
The ugly:
Industrial part of town - waste land to park on
The town itself is very run down and apart from the Scottish Museum of Lighthouses, there’s not much else worth staying for
Elgin: Haugh Road (57°39'03.8"N 3°19'31.9"W)
The good:
Free
Very close to Tesco, Aldi and town centre
Lovely Indian restaurant in town: Qismat
Pretty surroundings
The bad:
Not much in the town centre
Quite uneven ground/unmarked parking bays unless you go a little further into the football/rugby ground
No facilities
Charlestown of Aberlour: Speyside Gardens Caravan Park
The good:
All facilites lovely and clean
Toilets
Shower
Laundrette
Dishwashing area
Manager was super friendly
Shop on-site stocked with all the necessities
£31 per night including electric hookup
Approx. 30 minute walk into the village
Beautiful woodland walk to Linn Falls which had nobody else there - it was so peaceful
Grantown-on-Spey: High Street Car Park (57°19'41.6"N 3°36'38.2"W)
(It’s the left turn after Highland Kiltmakers and just before The Red Sock Launderette)
The good:
Shower for £2
Toilet for 50p
Perfectly located in the village centre
Peaceful
Free car park
The ugly:
Felt a bit overlooked by the houses surrounding the car park, but wasn’t a big deal for one night
Inverness: Bught Road (57°27'57.2"N 4°13'49.6"W)
The good:
Beautiful location with the river running past the van
Free
Plenty other campers on the road
Perfectly located for the Highland Games! - We could see it from the van window, but we did go into the grounds and show our support.
Approx. 25 minute walk into the city centre
Near cathedral
Right next to the Ness Islands which are picturesque and a joy to walk around
Inverness: Torvean Caravan Park
The good:
Clean toilets and showers
The bad:
Too many rules
We got there at 12:45, and the person at reception made us wait until exactly 1pm before we could check-in, even though it was just a case of parking the van on the already empty bay!
No ball games
If a dog does a number two on the site, even if you pick it up, you’ll be asked to leave
No music
Many more, but can’t remember
Quite far out of the city centre to walk
£33 per night, which I wouldn’t have minded if we didn’t feel so uncomfortable due to the man’s attidute. He behaved like he was running a 5* hotel, rather than a small field with some electric hookups and some “glamping” cabins.
The ugly:
The attitude of the man running the place/working there - as above, not letting us park 15 minutes early, and when we got the football out (away from the vans, and just passing it to each other), he came out wagging his finger like we were children, and pointing at his rule board!
Fort William: Camandacht Crescent
The good:
£5 per day
Perfectly located for a short walk to town, and directly across the road from Lidl
Dedicated motorhome parking spaces
The bad:
No public toilets
Fort Augustus: Fort Augustus Caravan Park Loch Ness (57°08'13.1"N 4°41'18.4"W)
The good:
Excellent initiative - this is a caravan site in the making. The owner has provided levelled spaces with EHU (£10 without electric or £13 with) while it’s being built
Chemical toilet emptying facilities
Drinking water facilities
Close to town - approx. 15-20 minute walk
The ugly:
It’s a bit of a building site - we didn’t care, but some might think it’s ugly/annoying having machinery running all day
Kyle of Lochalsh: Station Road (57°16'48.0"N 5°42'56.4"W)
The good:
Free parking
Facilities very close to the car park
Launderette
Shower (£3)
Public toilets (50p)
Great views over the bay
Close to the Skye Bridge which you can walk over and take in the beautiful views
Portree: Isle of Skye Candle Co. (57°24'06.4"N 6°12'04.2"W)
The good:
Lovely visitor centre with cinema, bar, cafe and gift shop
Approx. 20 minute walk into town
Clean facilities within the visitor centre
Quiet car park compared to the ones in the town centre
The bad:
£10 per night
Next to the main road - some noise but didn’t bother us
Glencoe: An Torr Car Park
The good:
Peaceful location
River running past the van
Beautiful walks nearby
Excellent views of the Three Sisters of Glencoe
Free
Close to a great complex with a couple of pubs that serve food and have live music on regularly
The bad:
No facilities
Oban: Tesco Car Park (56°24'33.3"N 5°28'19.5"W)
The good:
Close to town (and obviously Tesco)
CCTV - felt safe
Huge recycling area
3 hours free then £6.60 for 24 hours
The bad:
We tried to pay for a second day, but it said all the bookable bays were taken
The ugly:
Well, it’s Tesco car park at the end of the day!
Between Loch Lomond and Glasgow: West Highland Way Campsite
The good:
Completely FREE for people living in their van!!
Friendly, and very eccentric owner who fully endorses vanlife and can’t do enough for you
FREE breakfast
FREE tea and coffee
FREE showers
The bad:
Not really bad… more just……. interesting: the owner came and greeted us and in return for letting us stay for free, he gave us two hours to leave reviews on every platform (TripAdvisor, Google and Park4Night), for both businesses - the hotel and the campsite - before we’d really experienced it. It was an interesting greeting, but hey, for a free space and a hot shower, we’ll do it!
Gretna: Bruce’s Cave Caravan and Camping Park
The good:
Clean facilities
£25 per night including electric hookup
Self check-in so we could arrive late
The ugly:
Not really the campsite’s fault, but it had been raining a lot so the grass pitches were extremely muddy - tyres leaving tracks, etc.