UK Road Trip – From the Isle of Skye to the Lake District

I pulled off the M6 to head to Ullswater first on my northern leg to start my trip at the lake and take swim. I always love this view from the boat house.

A quick dip in Ullswater as it was 32 degrees and absolutely beautiful, that day. The reason I started the trip was Scotland at this time in the early summer was due to the fact the UK was in a mini heat wave.

I drove from Ullswater to my Brothers house to watch the England Game in Lockerbie and not so elegantly reversed into a lampost on his drive, DOH. I took off the left side panel on the van. I manged to fix it and did a bodge. But the bumper did it’s job and protected the frame.

After leaving Lockerbie I decided to plan a general route of things I wanted to see including a few tourist stops. This was my route around Scotland.

From Lockerbie I went straight up to Glenfinnan Railway. This is a cute like tourist spot with accessible walks for everyone. This shot of the viaduct is taken from the hill just under the tunnel and follow the signs for the view points. The train comes twice a day in the summer and you can find the times online and at the little tea shop. Parking is a few pounds and i remember there being separate parking for vans with a height barrier for vans.

A great sleepover by Loch Lochy and a morning SUP on the loch. I saw two jets fly over here whilst on my board and pulled into this little beach after incase they flew back to try and get a better look!

SUP views out over Loch Lochy

Camping in a layby on Loch Lochy, this was a great spot to get my SUP out in the morning and go for a paddle.

There was a few other campervans sharing this parking space with me. Everyone was very nice and private and I said hello to anyone that passed by infront, as I kept the door open and popped in and out onto the private beach below.

After leaving that Loch I drove through the Highlands and took in the beautiful scenery. I pulled after Loch Garry to take a picture of the Glen. This old boy was playing bagpipes for tourists in the pull in. When I asked to take his picture he grabbed my arm and said not until he played me a song first. Thank you to the two girls in the Golf who took this picture of us making friends on my camera.

After coming through the beautiful Glen Sheil where the battleground is marked if you want to take a walk down the valley. I came to Eileen Dolan castle.

Once on the island I blasted past the busy Portree and up the right hand side of the Island across the mountains to Rigg viewpoint, which is absolutely beautiful and has great views out the Islands of Rona and Rassy. You can see Applecross and the mainland of Scotland in the background too a fantastic place to watch the sunset. I also camped here overnight.

Sunset views. Me and the sheep enjoying a full blown skyline bonfire which didn’t set until 11 pm, as the sun sets later the further you head north! Note to self pack darker curtains as it also gets light at 4 am!

I headed from Rigg back down the coast to start The Man of Storr trail. This has a windy path to start, then cuts into some slab step which are well walked. The trail then forks to a short trail around the base of the stones and cliffs. You can take a loop trail up and around, just avoid falling rocks from the cliff stacks. Or I took the path up past Storr and into the hills behind to get a better view from the side of rock formations.

A spooky place in the morning mist, I can see why places like this hold so much spiritual intrigue. I didn’t see any fairy’s just two hikers who slept at the top of one of the hills next to stacks. I came down at 9 am before the crowds came and cracked on with my site seeing.

This is my face after a week of vanlife and at 5am after a few hours sleep. I would still do it all over again. As it’s a beautiful places that can be very busy in the summer and I had it pretty much all to myself!

Quick selfie over looking the Loch Leathan before the crowds arrive for a day of walking

Morning views from the van. For more roadtrip destinations you can visit this was a helpful map for me and i kept a PDF download of it on my phone as the island has one main coastal road most of the way around.

After scaling the north coast I visited the Fairy Glens and headed down to Glenbrittle to explore the Cullins Mountain range and their amazing waterfalls.

The Sgurr Dearg Path leaving from Glenbrittle itself is beautiful. There are lots of paths like this one starting opposite the white house YMCA, which has a parking bay. Leave your vehicle there and head up the walking path into the hills to experience beautiful waterfalls and gorgeous mountain views like this.

If you need a campsite down in Glenbrittle the the Glenbrittle Campsite is located right on the beach. They serve hot tea and coffees, which is lovely after a long cold walk or climb in the hills if you camping and there hot showers were great and run late into the evening.

Admiring the Cullins on another hike searching for more waterfalls. This region of Skye was my favourite.

On route off Skye I stopped on my way through the Highlands down south to take a few hikes and adventure on route. This was a super quite place to sleep I didn’t see a car or a soul for 16 hours.

A hike through Glen Sheil and to take the route at the base of valley just like the soldiers did when fighting hundreds of years ago! This was the most wonderful road and I really enjoyed my day here.

On route down off Skye the weather turned so I filled up at Fort Bill and headed to Glen Coe and took a trail through the valley past the Three Sisters.

Quick shower stop on route to Yorkshire after all the river dipping I like to make sure I am clean before I enter new water sources as I don’t want to contaminate it with my sun cream and mosquito spray.

First stop in Yorkshire was at the Gap, I wanted to visit Haiden’s Wall and walk to the tree at Sycamore Gap

The path is well walked and laid out and holds some beautiful scenes of the Yorkshire countryside.

Sycamore Gap on a sleepy Thursday afternoon in early July. Made super famous in the 90s with the film Robin Hood.

Stunning views and in the heatwave 34 degrees and one of the hottest day of the year. I had to take breaks and drink lots of water. There is parking at the YMCA near here, which is were I parked and they sell ice creams and hot drinks too!

I headed for York first to see my friend and old band mate Paul. After a delisous dinner in town I headed off for the North York Moors and to Filey Brigg.

After picking up my buddy we went to Flambrough to see the wild cliffs and explore the cliffs at Flamborough

The beach at Filey was absolutely stunning and not a soul there after 6pm. After a sea swim we made a bonfire and had our dinner right on the beach and watched the sun come down.

The sunset was exceptional from the beach front

Kyle or Impala as he is know on social media as he is my thru hiking buddy. He is also a total legend and has walked through America, New Zealand, Europe and at this point in summer he had finished the LEJOG end to end 1020 miles hike the week before this. He is currently walking the HTP, or the length of Pyrenees go check out his adventures.

After leaving the coast I headed to see another insta friend @mountains_whisky_wirehairs of mine who lives on a farm and just had some puppies, so naturally I had to stop and visit!

After leaving the North Yorkshire I headed into the Dales and to visit the waterfalls near Ingleton.

There is parking in the village at Ingleton or pay at the center where the majority of the walks start from. The car park closes at 6 but you can still access the trails all evening in the summer.

I pitstopped in Harrogate to pick up my brother and his wife and we headed to Knaresbrough to their newly built house

I have vowed to come back here and take my paddleboard!

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