Scotland

Last checked November 2026.

Without doubt, Scotland is one of the best places in the UK to explore in a campervan: endless beautiful beaches, jaw-dropping mountains and gorgeous lochs. Scotland’s famous right to wild camp doesn’t cover vans, though. It’s for walkers and cyclists with small tents. In a campervan or motorhome you stay on campsites, in paid overnight car parks and forest stopovers, or park up for the night where the signs allow it.

The North Coast 500 (NC500) has become a popular route for campervans, and the Highland Council has responded with paid overnight car parks on the route and overnight bans at some of the busiest spots elsewhere.

Guidebooks

Image	Title	Price	Link
	Lonely Planet Scotland’s Highlands & Islands Your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you.	Check price	Buy
	The Rough Guide to Scotland (Travel Guide with Free eBook) This 2020 edition covers the most popular tourist attractions, but it also suggests places off the beaten tourist path, such as remote glens, small museums, and fascinating villages.	Check price	Buy
	The Rough Guide to the North Coast 500 Discover the North Coast 500 with this compact, entertaining, 'tell it like it is' Rough Guide, packed with invaluable practical guidance and honest expert recommendations across 86 information-packed pages.	Check price	Buy
	Wild Guide Scotland: Hidden Places, Great Adventures & the Good Life Explores the hidden parts of its better known tourist areas, as well many more remote regions, rarely visited by tourists.	Check price	Buy

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Where you can and can’t stay overnight

Under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, access rights let you walk, cycle and wild camp in a small tent on most land, but they don’t cover being on land “in or with a motorised vehicle”. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code says the same, and a roof tent counts as part of the vehicle. So sleeping in a van isn’t wild camping as far as the law is concerned. It’s either parking, which is often allowed, or camping, which isn’t.

Lay-bys. The Highland Council and the Cairngorms National Park Authority both say you can rest overnight in a van in a formal roadside lay-by, as long as everything stays inside it: no awnings, tables, chairs or cooking outside. Follow any signs and move on if asked. Don’t use a lay-by someone else is already using, don’t park on the verge, and never stop overnight in a passing place.

Private land. Forest car parks, tracks, old roads and pull-offs beside the road are private land, and you need the landowner’s permission to stay overnight. If it isn’t clear, or there’s a “No overnight parking” sign, park somewhere else. Sleeping in a vehicle on private land without permission is likely to count as encampment, an offence under the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865. The Road Traffic Act’s 15-yard rule only means you can drive that far off a road to park; it gives no right to park on the land.

Council car parks. Each council sets its own rules for its car parks:

• Highland: overnight stays are allowed in 12 designated car parks, mostly on the NC500 (see Paid stopovers). Since July 2026 overnight parking has been banned in the car parks at the Glen Nevis road end, at Achintee (the start of the Ben Nevis path), at the Glen Etive road end and at Camusdarach beach near Arisaig, and motorhomes are banned from the Nevis Centre car park in Fort William.
• Argyll and Bute: you can’t sleep or stay overnight in a vehicle in the council’s car parks. The council encourages farms, businesses and communities to set up small paid stopovers instead.
• Scottish Borders: sleeping, camping and cooking are banned in all the council’s main car parks except The Haugh in Hawick. It has free motorhome spaces for up to 48 hours, with toilets and fresh water, but is closed for the first two weeks of June for the fair.

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. From 1 March to 30 September, byelaws cover four Camping Management Zones along parts of the shores of Loch Lomond, Loch Earn, Loch Lubnaig, Loch Venachar and Loch Achray. In them it’s an offence to sleep in a parked vehicle between 7pm and 7am unless it’s on a road or you have a permit, with a fine of up to £500. Roadside stops aren’t affected, but the national park asks you to use lay-bys only for a short overnight rest. Motorhome permits cost £4.50 a night at Firkin Point and Inveruglas, on the A82 along the west shore of Loch Lomond, and on the Three Lochs Forest Drive north of Aberfoyle (plus a £3 vehicle charge there). Book up to four weeks ahead, for up to three nights. The byelaws don’t apply from October to February, and any changes from the current review are expected from 1 March 2028.

Paid stopovers and campsites

Forestry and Land Scotland’s Stay the Night. Self-contained motorhomes and campervans (with their own toilet) can stay one night, from 6pm to 10am, in around 45 forest car parks. It costs £10, or £13 at Achnabreac, Strone Hill, Bridge of Orchy and Glen Lochy, which have chemical toilet disposal. Pay on arrival with RingGo; you can’t book, or come back to the same car park within 48 hours. It now runs all year, with fewer car parks in winter. Most have one to six spaces and only nine take vehicles over 7 m. Overnight parking isn’t allowed in any other Forestry and Land Scotland car park. The sites are listed by area below.

The Highland Campervan and Motorhome Scheme. The Highland Council’s 12 overnight car parks are Torvean in Inverness, Nairn Harbour, Dunnet Head and Dunnet Seadrift, Noss Head, Reiss Beach and Riverside in Wick, Durness village (the tourist information car park), Shore Street in Golspie, Latheron in Ullapool, Gairloch Harbour and Little Gruinard beach. They’re for self-contained vehicles from 10pm to 8am, first come first served, with no return to the same car park within 72 hours. It costs £10 a night, or £40 for a week’s membership covering all of them, which includes free showers at High Life Highland leisure centres. Since 5 October 2026 motorhomes have to pay, except at Golspie and Gairloch, where paying is still voluntary. In August 2026 Sutherland’s councillors put forward a motion to stop overnight stays at Durness and Golspie, so check the signs there.

Other stopovers. Brit Stops members can stay a night at farm shops, pubs and other hosts, and some farms and communities run small motorhome stopovers.

Campsites. The most popular spots get busy in summer, especially during the school holidays, so book ahead. Many Highland and island campsites close from October to March, and some don’t take bookings at all, so arrive early. Argyll and Bute Council asks you to book a pitch before taking a van to Mull or Tiree, and the Western Isles council asks motorhomes and campervans to stay only on official campsites or designated overnight spots.

Book campsites in Scotland

Waste and fires. Empty chemical toilets only at a proper disposal point, never in a public toilet, a drain or the countryside. Many campsites let passing vans use their service points for a fee. In the Cairngorms National Park you can’t light a campfire or use a barbecue between 1 April and 30 September, except at some campsites; gas stoves are fine.

Visitor levies. Since 24 July 2026 Edinburgh has charged a 5% visitor levy on the first five nights of paid overnight accommodation, campsites included. Glasgow (from 25 January 2027), Aberdeen (1 April 2027), Stirling (14 June 2027) and West Dunbartonshire (1 July 2027) have approved levies of 3% to 7%.

Ferries

CalMac runs the ferries to most of the west coast islands. Motorhomes are charged by length, and one under 6 m pays the same as a car; everyone on board, the driver included, also pays a passenger fare. For the motorhome fare a UK vehicle’s V5C must say “Motor Caravan”. A converted van that isn’t registered as one pays the higher van fare, so carry a copy of your V5C. Single vehicle fares for winter 2026/27:

Book ahead. On the main routes, including all those in the table, Mallaig–Armadale and the Oban routes, motorhomes and campervans can’t join the standby queue, even if the van is the size of a car. You need a confirmed space. The short “Turn Up and Go” crossings, such as Lochaline–Fishnish to Mull and Claonaig–Lochranza to Arran, aren’t on that list. Bookings for summer 2027 (from 26 March) hadn’t opened in November 2026. Vehicles need a permit for Iona, Kerrera and the Small Isles.

Gas. Declare LPG to your port of departure at least 24 hours ahead; you can carry up to three cylinders, 47 kg in total. Turn the gas off at the cylinder before boarding.

What’s changing. This winter the Mallaig–Armadale ship can’t take motorhomes, so use the Skye Bridge. Until the new Glen Rosa arrives (due in 2027), the Troon–Brodick ship can’t take motorhomes over 6 m, and there are no Troon sailings from 19 January to 25 March 2027. Port Ellen on Islay is closed until 2029, so Islay sailings use Port Askaig. The Scottish Government plans higher fares for visitors bringing vehicles at busy times, and a review of fares for vehicles over 5 m, motorhomes included; no date has been set.

NorthLink sails from Aberdeen to Kirkwall and Lerwick, and from Scrabster to Stromness. A motorhome up to 6 m pays the car fare (in 2026, £72–79 single from Scrabster to Stromness), with a supplement for each metre over 6 m. You can’t stay in the van, so book a cabin, pod or seat on the overnight sailings. Pentland Ferries crosses from Gills Bay, near John o’ Groats, to South Ronaldsay: £55 single for a motorhome up to 5 m, rising to £150 over 8 m, plus £23 for each adult.

Small Highland ferries:

• Corran Ferry, from the A82 south of Fort William to Ardgour: £18 for a campervan up to 6 m, £23.50 for a motorhome of 6 to 8 m and £32 over 8 m, everyone on board included. No bookings. This winter the relief ferry has a 4.8 m height limit.
• Glenelg–Kylerhea to Skye, a community-run turntable ferry, runs from April to mid-October: £25 for a small campervan, £40 for a motorhome, up to 13 m long.
• Cromarty–Nigg runs from April to September. It takes campervans up to 6 m and 4 tonnes, but not motorhomes.

Driving in Scotland

Single-track roads. Many Highland and island roads are single-track with passing places. If a vehicle comes towards you, or one behind wants to overtake, pull into a passing place on your left, or wait opposite one on your right. Give way to traffic coming uphill. Don’t park in passing places, and don’t drive in convoy.

Big vans and steep passes. The North Coast 500’s own advice is that if your van is bigger than a VW T5 conversion (about 16 to 18 feet long), or you can’t reverse it a long way on a narrow road, you shouldn’t drive the Bealach na Bà to Applecross or the B869 Drumbeg road in Assynt (take the A894). The Bealach na Bà climbs steeply from Tornapress, near Lochcarron, with hairpin bends near the top, and the signs at the bottom advise against it for learner drivers, very large vehicles and caravans. In a small campervan just take your time and let cars past. The longer coast road from Shieldaig is the alternative.

Low emission zones. Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen have low emission zones in their city centres, enforced around the clock by cameras. Vehicles, motor caravans included, must meet Euro 6 for diesel or Euro 4 for petrol; diesels registered before September 2015 and petrol vehicles registered before 2006 are the most likely to fail. There’s no daily charge to pay: a non-compliant vehicle gets a £60 fine, doubling for each repeat in the same zone up to £480. Non-UK vehicles must meet the standards too.

Speed limits are the same as in the rest of Britain. A motorhome up to 3.05 tonnes unladen has the car limits: 60 mph on single carriageways and 70 on dual carriageways and motorways. Over 3.05 tonnes it’s 50, 60 and 70.

Fuel. There are fewer petrol stations in the countryside and remote areas, so keep your tank topped up, and plan ahead if you use LPG.

The North Coast 500

The NC500 loops round the north of Scotland from Inverness, through Wester Ross and Sutherland, along the north coast to John o’ Groats and back down the east coast. Campsites on the route fill up in summer and several don’t take bookings, so arrive early or have a back-up. Most of the council’s overnight car parks (see Paid stopovers) are on the route.

Inverness and Loch Ness

Bught Caravan Park, Bught Lane, Inverness. Tel: 01463 236920. The council’s campsite, 20 minutes’ walk from the centre. Open from a week before Easter to the end of September.

Loch Ness Shores, Foyers, on the south side of Loch Ness. Tel: 01456 486333. Now a Camping and Caravanning Club site, open from late March to early January.

The Black Isle and Easter Ross

The forest car park at Learnie Red Rocks, on the road from Rosemarkie to Cromarty, is a Stay the Night site with five spaces, not for large vans.

Rosemarkie Camping and Caravanning Club Site, Ness Road East. Tel: 01381 621117. Grass pitches on the beachfront, a short walk from Chanonry Point, a well-known spot for watching dolphins. Open 22 March to 18 October 2027.

Cromarty Camping, Bayview Crescent, Cromarty. Community-run and open all year, with eight motorhome bays (up to 8 m) and waste disposal. Book online.

Portmahomack Caravan Site, near Tain, is a quiet site on ground belonging to the church next door, and any profits go to the church. There are a few rules, such as no arriving or leaving on Sundays, but any rules fade into insignificance beside the gently sloping sandy beach, sheltered in the Dornoch Firth, where the waves only just lap the shore. Up to 35 vans, limited hook-ups, bookings by email only.

Wester Ross and Applecross

Broomfield Holiday Park, West Lane, Ullapool. Tel: 01854 612020. Open mid-April to 1 October in 2026. Ardmair Point, north of Ullapool. Tel: 01854 612054. Open April to mid-October in 2026.

Gairloch: by the beach there are toilets, a shower and a drive-over waste point with fresh water. Sands Caravan and Camping (formerly Sands Holiday Centre). Tel: 01445 712152. Reopening in spring 2027.

Strome Viewpoint, by Loch Carron, is a Stay the Night site. Over the Bealach na Bà, Applecross Campsite. Tel: 01520 744268. Takes motorhomes, campervans and caravans, roughly March to October.

Sutherland and Caithness

Sango Sands Oasis, Durness. Email only. Open April to October, and for self-contained vans in winter. Book only if you want a hook-up.

Scourie Caravan and Camping. Tel: 07496 366933. Open all year; self-contained vans only in winter, when you don’t need to book.

Thurso Bay Caravan and Camping Park, Thurso. Tel: 01847 892244. First come, first served in 2026, from 3 April.

Dunnet Bay Caravan and Motorhome Club Site. Tel: 01847 821319. Non-members welcome; vans up to 9.2 m. Open 16 April to 1 November 2027.

John O’Groats Caravan and Camping Site. Tel: 01955 611329. Open 1 March to 31 October.

Isle of Skye and Glenelg

On Skye, the car parks at the Storr, the Quiraing, the Fairy Glen and Kilt Rock are council pay and display car parks with time limits, and in November 2026 the council proposed red route clearways, banning stopping on the road and verges, on the A855 at the Storr and the A863 at Sligachan. Plan to stay on campsites. If you’re eating or drinking at a hotel or pub, it’s worth asking whether you can stay in its car park, since it’s the landowner’s permission you need (watch out for the midges). The road to Elgol is steep, with few places to even pull in.

Besides the Skye Bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh and the Mallaig ferry, the Glenelg–Kylerhea ferry runs in summer. From Shiel Bridge on the A87, the old military road over the Ratagan pass to Glenelg is single-track and extremely steep, with a picnic area about two-thirds of the way up.

Sligachan Campsite. Tel: 07551 820022. Open 22 March to 24 October 2027. Bookable hardstandings, and grass pitches you can’t book.

Glenbrittle Campsite, by Loch Brittle beach below the Cuillin. Tel: 01478 640404. Open 26 March to 15 October. Pitches without hook-ups can’t be booked; the hardstanding hook-up pitches take campervans up to 6 m.

Kinloch Campsite, Dunvegan. Tel: 01470 508009. Opens 19 March 2027.

Portree Campsite (formerly Torvaig), Staffin Road, Portree. Tel: 07359 328368. Open March to 31 October, with a service point.

Staffin Campsite. Tel: 01470 562213. Open April to September.

Skye Camping and Caravanning Club Site, Loch Greshornish, Edinbane. Tel: 01470 582230. Open 22 March to 8 October 2027, with a motorhome service point.

Fort William, Glencoe and Lochaber

Glen Nevis used to have overnight stops all the way down the glen; now the car parks at the road end and Achintee ban overnight parking (see above). Neptune’s Staircase, the flight of locks on the Caledonian Canal at Banavie, is a very picturesque stop by day.

Glen Nevis Caravan and Camping Park, Fort William. Tel: 01397 702191. Now open all year.

Glencoe Camping and Caravanning Club Site. Tel: 01855 811397. Open 22 March to 18 October 2027. Vans must book a hardstanding. Motorhome service point.

Invercoe Caravan and Camping Park, Glencoe. Tel: 01855 811210. Open all year; in winter you generally don’t need to book. No American-size motorhomes without asking first.

Red Squirrel Campsite, Glencoe. Tel: 07538 763695. No hook-ups or chemical disposal, and no vans over 7 m.

Ardgour, Strontian and Loch Sunart: take the Corran Ferry. The Atlantic oakwood at Ariundle, by Strontian, and Garbh Eilean and Àrd-Àirigh on Loch Sunart are Stay the Night sites with one or two spaces each.

The Cairngorms, Deeside and Moray

The Sugar Bowl car park on the Cairngorm road above Glenmore was a favourite overnight stop. It’s a Forestry and Land Scotland car park for mountain access, and sleeping in vehicles there isn’t allowed. Remember the national park’s summer ban on fires and barbecues.

Glenmore Campsite, Loch Morlich, near Aviemore. Tel: 01479 861271. Part of the site closes in winter.

Rothiemurchus Camp and Caravan Park, Coylumbridge. Tel: 01479 812800. Closed in November. Only 17 pitches for motorhomes and caravans, among the pine trees, so book by phone or email.

Braemar Caravan Park, Braemar. Tel: 01339 741373. Open all year except November, with a drive-over service point. The small hardstandings take campervans only.

Ballater Caravan Park, Anderson Road, Ballater. Tel: 013397 55727. Open late February to late November. Passing vans can use the waste disposal for £10.

Stay the Night sites: Feshiebridge and Laggan Wolftrax (its café has showers in opening hours) near the A9, Cambus o’ May near Ballater, Back o’ Bennachie and Donview at Bennachie, The Bin near Huntly, Quarry Wood and Torrieston near Elgin, Winding Walks near Fochabers, and Culbin near Forres.

Tomintoul: the bowling club on Lecht Drive has run a small motorhome stopover for years; check it’s still running before you rely on it.

Argyll, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

Loch Lomond: the A82 between Luss and Arrochar has numerous large lay-bys alongside the loch, but they’re inside a Camping Management Zone, so from March to September use them only for a short rest, or book a permit at Firkin Point or Inveruglas. The forest car park at Tarbet Isle is a Stay the Night site with one space, and there’s a motorhome waste point at Tarbet. Luss Campsite, Luss. Tel: 01436 860658. Touring pitches 1 March to 23 December and 27 December to 31 January; standard pitches take vans up to 8 m.

Arrochar: the Ardgartan campsite has gone; the site is now holiday cabins. The forest car parks at Ardgartan and Honeymoon Bridge, at the foot of Glen Croe, are Stay the Night sites.

The Trossachs: Stay the Night sites on the Duke’s Pass (Leannach car park), at Braeval and at Garadhban above Drymen.

Bridge of Orchy and Loch Tulla: the forest car park at Bridge of Orchy is a Stay the Night site with chemical disposal. On the A82 just north, after the hairpin bend that climbs towards Rannoch Moor, there’s a lay-by with a great view over Loch Tulla. Along the A85 towards Oban, Glen Lochy and Strone Hill are Stay the Night sites too.

Inveraray: as everywhere in Argyll and Bute, you can’t sleep in the council’s car parks. Argyll Caravan Park, Inveraray. Tel: 01499 302285. Its eco toilet-waste point doesn’t take blue chemicals.

Oban and Loch Creran: Oban Camping and Caravanning Club Site, Barcaldine, by Loch Creran. Tel: 01631 720348. Open 22 March to 25 October 2027, with a motorhome service point. Oban Holiday Park (formerly Oban Caravan and Camping Park), Gallanach Road. Tel: 0333 188 1930. The forest car park at Fearnoch is a Stay the Night site.

Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Cowal: Stay the Night sites at Achnabreac, with its ancient rock art, near Lochgilphead, Carradale in Kintyre and Jubilee Point on Loch Eck.

Mull: book a pitch before you take a van over. Vehicles need a permit for Iona, so leave the van at Fionnphort.

Perthshire

Loch Earn: vans used to stop virtually the whole length of Loch Earn, a popular spot with fishermen. The lochshores are now in a Camping Management Zone, so from March to September you can’t sleep in a van off the road there, and the nearest motorhome permit areas are in the Trossachs and on Loch Lomond. Loch Earn Leisure Park, St Fillans. Tel: 01764 685270.

Aberfeldy Caravan Park, Aberfeldy. Tel: 01887 822103. Open March to October, with a drive-over service point.

Milton of Fonab, Pitlochry. Tel: 01796 472882. Open 19 March to 8 November 2027.

Stay the Night sites: Drummond Hill by Kenmore, Douglas Fir Wood near Dunkeld, Lower Bohespic above Tummel Bridge, Allt Druidhe and Talladh-a-Bheithe on Loch Rannoch, and Tonguey Faulds in Dunning Glen.

Edinburgh and Glasgow

Edinburgh Caravan and Motorhome Club Site, 35–37 Marine Drive, Silverknowes. Tel: 0131 312 6874. Open all year, non-members welcome. Don’t follow your sat-nav for the last stretch, as Silverknowes Road is now a bus lane; use the club’s directions.

Mortonhall Caravan and Camping Park, Frogston Road East. Tel: 0131 664 1533. Open all year, with buses into the city from outside the park.

Dumfries and Galloway

In and around the Galloway Forest Park there are six Stay the Night sites. Glentrool has ten spaces, fine for large motorhomes, and Kirroughtree has 30 and takes caravans. There are smaller ones on the Raiders’ Road forest drive, at the Red Deer Range and Wild Goat Park, and at Black Loch. Further east, Dalbeattie (the 7stanes car park only) and the Forest of Ae are Stay the Night sites too.

Galloway Forest Holiday Park (formerly Glentrool Holiday Park), Bargrennan, near Newton Stewart. Tel: 01671 840280. Open all year.

Silvercraigs Caravan Park, Kirkcudbright. Tel: 07349 790148. Open all year.

Moffat Camping and Caravanning Club Site, Hammerlands, Moffat. Tel: 01683 220436. Open all year.

The Scottish Borders

The council bans sleeping, camping and cooking in all its main car parks except The Haugh in Hawick (see above), so the town car parks in Jedburgh and Coldstream that vans used to use are out. At Carter Bar, where the A68 crosses the border south of Jedburgh, there’s a lay-by on each side of the road with big views north.

Coldstream Holiday Park, Coldstream. Tel: 01890 234955. Open 11½ months of the year.

In Jedburgh, the Camping and Caravanning Club left the council’s Elliot Park campsite at the end of October 2026, and the council is looking for a new operator.

Stay the Night sites: Cheviots, Wauchope and Innerleithen.

More on Britain

• Britain by campervan
• England
• Wales
• Wild camping or free camping
• Campervan hire in the UK
• DVLA rules for campervans, including registering a conversion as a motor caravan

Sources: Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003; Scottish Outdoor Access Code; Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865; Road Traffic Act 1988; the Highway Code; Highland Council motorhome guidance, Highland Campervan and Motorhome Scheme and car park orders; Argyll and Bute Council; Scottish Borders Council; Cairngorms National Park Authority; Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park camping byelaws; Forestry and Land Scotland; VisitScotland; Transport Scotland and mygov.scot low emission zones; City of Edinburgh Council; CalMac, NorthLink, Pentland Ferries, Corran Ferry, Skye Ferry and the Cromarty–Nigg ferry; North Coast 500; campsite websites; checked November 2026. Know of a change? Tell us in the comments below.