likewise round here, I think it's a cost thing. I walk my dogs past a tent in a field with horses in, 3 weeks it's been there and I pass a car in a layby twice a week with someone ' living ' in it. They may be homeless granted.....Every layby between where I live and Barmouth in the summer has a camper on it and there is always the usual bag of shite that obviously was left for someone with morals and principles to pick up...having said that I was following a local yesterday and the passenger chucked out a starbucks cup, I flashed and hooted but failing to write a strongly worded letter to Twats With A Motorhome Monthly or shooting the bastards with a 12 bore, what can you do.In my experience (I live in a relatively remote coastal location) its not a small minority, a large proportion of motorhomers and vanlifers choose to "wildcamp" in spots where there are no facilities.
A woodland carpark near me can often have half a dozen motorhomes parked up in it overnight even though there are spacies available at nearby camp sites.
The first time i visited Orkney Islands i felt excited but having been 4 times(working there) i soon got sick of the place. The scenery is pretty rugged and i don't recall seeing any trees. Anyone who hasn't been, it's like driving from Dovestones to Holmfirth, that's about it.If you want quiet times away from people Orkney and Shetland are good. Small towns, very small everything else. The ferry to different islands is quite easy and not usually packed but still better to book in advance. Then explore the beautiful scenery, the history and peace.
We stayed in Dornoch in a lovely hotel/B&B just as you drive in. One pub as I recall. It was August. We did a dolphin viewing boat trip and it was freezing!Dornoch is lovely and spent a very nice night there on our NC500 trip. Added to that a tour of the Glenmorangie distillery that’s there as well made it well worth the visit.
Yeah dornoch had a few lively pubs and we had Sunday dinner in one which was superb.We stayed in Dornoch in a lovely hotel/B&B just as you drive in. One pub as I recall. It was August. We did a dolphin viewing boat trip and it was freezing!
I thought the busyness of the NC500 route was overstated as was the midge issue. Maybe we were lucky.
One thing to look out for is that locals tend not to like people parking their vans off grid as it’s against some law/code in Scotland. Have a look on the NC500 Facebook page. I’m not on it now but it was always kicking off on there.
Enjoy your trip. I’m not jealous at all.
Edit. Sorry was thinking of Cromarty for the one pub and boat trip. Worth a visit. There are quite a pubs few in Dornoch. We stayed in the Castle Hotel.
You won't like Shetland then! Even ruggeder...The first time i visited Orkney Islands i felt excited but having been 4 times(working there) i soon got sick of the place. The scenery is pretty rugged and i don't recall seeing any trees. Anyone who hasn't been, it's like driving from Dovestones to Holmfirth, that's about it.
But(like you Bimbo) i got a pic stood next to the sign of Twatt; )