Feeling Welcome in Lamlash, Arran, Scotland by Motorhome

A few years back we wrote a blog post saying that we were gearing up to hit the road again. Someone kindly took the time to write to us and say ‘Don’t come to Scotland, you’re not welcome’. That single comment has been stuck in our minds for years, and is probably the reason we’ve been to Ireland and the continent for several years, instead of this beautiful part of the world. 

We’ve only been north of the border for a little over a week and so far everyone has been very welcoming. There are now lots of places to stay overnight, ranging from private individuals hosting 5 van sites, to council run parking areas, Forestry and Land Scotland car parks and ones hosted by the Scottish Canals.

It may help that we’re not going to the big draws like the NC500 or the Isle of Skye. While we haven’t struggled to find places to stay, we have discovered that the campsites on Arran we wanted to visit are full for the next week or so.

Top tip: if coming here in high season, or just good weather, book places in advance. Maybe that’s why when we’ve found places where you can park up for the night, the locals are really friendly and welcoming about it. 

It’s true there are ‘No Overnight Parking’ signs aimed at motorhomes in a lot of the villages, but I have no complaint about that. We visit the villages in the day and move somewhere a bit quieter for the night.

On our way out of Brodick we popped into the tourist office to ask for advice about where we could stay. We were shown a list of campsites, some of which we already knew were full, as well as a few ‘motorhome stops’ what we know as aires.

Asking if there was anywhere else, I was told the legal line. Wild camping is permitted by law in Scotland, but this only applies to tents, not vehicles. It isn’t technically legal to wild camp in a motorhome. This does somewhat beg the question as to why there are at least three stand-alone motorhome service points that we know of in Arran, which have been provided by the local communities.

It seems that while the official line is we’re not allowed to wild camp, everyone I’ve spoken to, which has been mainly Scottish motorhomers and locals, say as long as there isn’t a ‘No Overnighting’ sign, you can park. It’s tolerated while we don’t camp (although we have seen a few chairs out), don’t leave any mess and use our common sense (don’t park near houses or in passing places etc).

We decided to put this to the test and drove all of a mile and a half from Brodick to a small car park by a viewpoint. We bagged Zagan a flat space with a cracking view over the mountains and set out to explore a nearby circular walk.

On the walk we saw over the other side of the hill we were parked on, looking down into Lamlash Bay and across to Holy Island. And while the space we were parked in was beautiful, we knew there was a small car park in that bay which might be better.

After drinking in more views on our walk, we decamped and headed another mile or so into Lamlash. The plan being if the other car park wasn’t a goer, we didn’t have far to come back. The single track road along the coast wasn’t as bad as the reviews had made it out to be. It has enough passing places and was easily driveable in Zagan. At the end we reached the car park and instantly decided we were staying.

Another motorhome joined us after a while, then a small panel van. Lots of cars came and went throughout the day, not an eyelid was batted in our direction and only the three vans were left overnight.

With the temperature climbing (I never thought I’d be saying that in Scotland) Jay went for a snorkel, watched over by some of the local seals.

As it started to cool in the evening we walked along the coastal path to Hamilton Rock spotting several more seals chilling out on the rocks. Some porpoises even jumped out for the water for us, but they were far too quick to catch on camera. We drifted to sleep that night with just the sound of the waves on the shore and slept like logs.

The morning was cloudy and much cooler when we awoke so we both went out for a run in separate directions along the coastal path.

As the sun burned off the clouds we headed into town for a spot of lunch in Lamlash to celebrate 22 years since our first date – our Dateiversary if you will. The food and service in the Drift Inn were spot on, and the view almost matched the one from our windscreen. Instead of dessert we popped into the local newsagent as I wanted to try the Scottish Tablet flavour of the local Arran ice cream. It didn’t disappoint.

We hadn’t planned to visit Lamlash, but are so glad we did. We’d really fancied a few nights in a campsite to chill out and relax, as wild camping still puts me on edge even after all these years. We’ve stayed in some amazing places wild camping, but it’s those very few nights when there’s a bang on the side of the van that I remember the most. Waking up terrified as to what’s going on and what they’ll do to the van or us.

So far we’ve only experienced one bit of damage in many years of motorhome travelling. A cracked side window, which happened in an official paid for aire in Spain. Here in Lamlash it might not be an official place to stop, but everyone is so welcoming it has really helped me to sleep at night. So thank you Scotland for changing our minds and helping us to realise that one comment from all those years ago was wrong.

Ju x