One year later... Still planning to go to Ullapool (without the dog)

JohnN

JohnN

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Hi all,

Last year I asked about camp sites near Ullapool - but the threat of weather stopped us short, this year however we plan a stop over at Glasgow to make it there this time!

This year we will make it (well unless its really bad!) and no dog so things are a little easier - still two kids (3 & 6) though :)

Anyway we're up there a few days and was wondering if any of you guys have been and if theres some things we really should see or do.

So far we're planning a boat trip and going to a Ceilidh (my wife's suggestion - she's Scottish)

Any other cool things?
 
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The trip from Ullapool to Gairloch is probably one of the nicest you could ever do, stop off at Corrieshalloch then drive alongside loch Broom, past Gruinard island, Inverewe Gardens. The countryside changes so much over the drive you get a bit of everything.
 
Cheers Hugh - perhaps one of the days could just be a drive out.
 
Get on the ferry at Ullapool and head for the Western Isles ;)

Joking aside - in the Ullapool area:

This is a lovely campsite.....

http://www.clachtollbeachcampsite.co.uk/

As mentioned - Inverewe Gardens are nice if you like that sort of thing

Corrieshalloch Gorge is very close to Ullapool but will only kill an hour or so.

Head north up the A835 - Inverpolly Nature Reserve - Lochinver for spectacular scenery.

Take a wee boat trip on Loch Glencoul to see Eas Coul Aulin (Britains Highest Waterfall at 638 feet)

http://www.rachaelclare.com/
 
get some midge nets and repellant.
 
Thanks again - we're going to have a serious look at that second campsite, mostly because of the beach - its another hour away but quicker to get to from Glasgow, but we'd end up going via Inverness rather than the west coast (or it would be 7.5 hrs)

A bit further away from the cruise we plan on doing from Ullapool, but we're always up early anyway when camping so might not be a problem.

BTW does anywhere in that area sell muscles? I've looked at a couple of pubs and they're not being served by the look of it which is a surprise and my daughter loved them when we stayed near Fort William last time and as its her birthday when we're away we fancied treating her.
 
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Well, just got back from a week at http://www.clachtollbeachcampsite.co.uk/ (thank again Phil) and the first couple of days were amazing - hot weather, white sand beaches, fish literally swimming round our feet - the kids and wife loved it - of course the weather turned, but hey that Scotland for you.

Saw the Old Man of Soer, went up to Smoo cave (sadly so much rain mean the tunnels were flooded so we missed out out on the tour by 30 mins :(), just wandered around too.
The 4 hour cruise from Ullapool - the Summer Queen - is well worth the money and even let my seven year old daughter go on free (£15 saving) because it was her birthday - and when we got back she wolfed down almost a kilo of muscles!

Great holiday and thank for all the advice.
 
The trouble with Smoo Cave is that you go around for the next 20 years saying 'smoo' :)
 
JohnN said:
Well, just got back from a week at http://www.clachtollbeachcampsite.co.uk/ (thank again Phil) and the first couple of days were amazing - hot weather, white sand beaches, fish literally swimming round our feet - the kids and wife loved it - of course the weather turned, but hey that Scotland for you.

Saw the Old Man of Soer, went up to Smoo cave (sadly so much rain mean the tunnels were flooded so we missed out out on the tour by 30 mins :(), just wandered around too.
The 4 hour cruise from Ullapool - the Summer Queen - is well worth the money and even let my seven year old daughter go on free (£15 saving) because it was her birthday - and when we got back she wolfed down almost a kilo of muscles!

Great holiday and thank for all the advice.
Click to expand...

I know someone who was at Clachtoll a couple of weeks ago and there was a problem with jellyfish for the kids. Have they all gone now John?
 
I've seen people visiting the Highlands run out of fuel because they hadn't realised that petrol stations could be so far apart ...
 
There were a fair few jellyfish later after high winds but I only saw two lionmanes, the rest were harmless (there was a ranger on site on Wednesday), but before that we just told the kids they could sting and they kept away. While we were there there were kids in the sea all the time and I never once heard of any problems with the jellyfish.

I can imagine people running out of fuel, but not if they sensible. Driving up you'll notice stations getting further and further apart, the best idea if you're worried is to keep topped up, personally I wasn't worried as Lochinvar was only 5 miles away from the campsite and had both diesel and unleashed.
 
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Ah, one thing I did forget to mention that surprised me - it never got dark, not even at 2am (shuffle butt kids help with finding that out!), which was a bit annoying as I'd hoped to have a go at some astro shots - still after the second night I didn't exactly have a clear sky anyway :)
 
Yeah it doesn't get very dark up here at this time of year, starting to get dark colder nights now, much better for astro photography and very little light pollution.
 
hehe, the funny thing is I was saying to my daughter before we went that she'd see what dark really is :)
 
John, really glad you enjoyed your holiday in a great area.

However, have you realised you now have an addiction?

Don't resist it, just feed it every year or, if possible, even more frequently.

Dave
 
lol, you could be right - although I think we're going to try Wales next year, but damn it was nice up there and I'm really glad we had a stop off in Glasgow on the way back as I could have quit my job and stayed... well if I didn't need to eat :)
 
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