Highland fling

Caravanners, backpackers and daredevil cyclists.

Roadtripping in Scotland is a chance to explore the country’s awe-inspiring landscape on your own schedule, while dodging droves of eclectic travellers doing the exact same.

My partner and I spent eight days in July navigating the Scottish countryside in a rented campervan.

We picked up our home on wheels — a well-appointed Volkswagen van — near Edinburgh and headed north for the highlands. Rolling farmland quickly gave way to rolling hills and tall evergreens. A wee taste of what was to come.

While most major destinations are within a few hours of the capital, the ever-shifting terrain of mountains, lochs and forests can make even a short drive feel like interplanetary travel. You’ll probably feel a few years older upon arrival, too. Driving in Scotland is not for the faint of heart.

Travelling on the other side of the road is no big deal. The roundabouts are manageable.

Beyond the main motorways, however, luxuriously wide highways pinch into winding two-lane roads, where drivers are dared to travel at 60 miles (96 kilometres) per hour. Cyclists battling steep inclines and the occasional sheep add to the excitement. Thankfully, there are many places to pull off and steel your nerves while letting the locals fly by.

Still, the awaiting sights are worth the white knuckles.

Case in point: The Kelpies. Located less than an hour from Edinburgh, the gleaming, 30-metre-tall steel horse sculptures loom large above a canal, ice cream stand and picnic area.

Other recommended pitstops include the Wallace Monument in Stirling; Conic Hill near Loch Lomond; and the tiny town of Fort Augustus at the southern tip of Loch Ness, where brave souls can wade into the famed icy lake.

All roads lead to a sense of scale. Scotland is home to thousands of hundred-year-old castles and hundreds of million-year-old mountains — bringing the span of human and geologic history into sharp relief.

That feeling of smallness is ever-present on the Isle of Skye, where ancient bienns (Scottish Gaelic for mountains) flocked in heather rise from the sea to the sky in every direction. The western island is accessible by bridge and full of wild and civilized adventure.

We spent several days in a campground near the capital of Portree and daytripped to hike the Old Man of Storr, swim in the Fairy Pools and sample Scotch at the Talisker Distillery — some of which was accessible by local bus, saving us a few nervy drives on the island’s single-track roads.

What Scottish caravan parks lack in privacy and firepits, they make up for in amenities and impressive vistas. Despite sleeping in glorified fields full of midges (think mosquitos, but worse), we regularly awoke to misty mountains and oceanside sunrises. Most campgrounds also had free showers, on-site laundry and communal kitchen areas.

While backcountry tenting is legal in Scotland, campervans and motorhomes can make use of the overnight parking lots found in many towns. It’s a bare-bones option that allows for flexibility and the possibility of waking up to a steam engine rolling through a vintage train station, as we delightfully experienced during a night’s stay in the mountainside town of Aviemore.

Camping, it turns out, is also a great way to experience the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Edinburgh is always a bustling place and its population balloons during the month-long August festival, making everything from food to pints to accommodations prohibitively expensive. We opted to stay at the Mortonhall Caravan Park, located on the outskirts of town and within walking distance of a city-bound bus stop.

There’s much to love about Edinburgh — Arthur’s Seat, the old architecture, the spooky history — but the Fringe is a true local gem.

With more than 3,000 performances taking place across 265 venues this year, choosing what to see can be a tad overwhelming. Read reviews, roll the dice or pick a venue — many of the major ones have their own beer gardens and food vendors. Or you can forgo the ticketed show entirely and enjoy the roving street performers, sprawling block parties and chatty theatregoers.

As long as you venture past the touristy Royal Mile, there’s no wrong way to experience the festival.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com