Our Scottish Tour, Part 1- Making Our Way To Edinburgh

We’d dreamt of touring Scotland before we’d even picked up the caravan, so you can imagine our excitement when the time had come. We had booked all the campsites, planned out routes and packed everything we needed. We were finally ready to start this journey.

Day 1

We left on Saturday morning and the sun was shining bright, after a long winter it felt like spring was finally here. There was a 2000 mile road trip ahead of us so we eagerly made our way to our first stop- Chapel Lane Caravan and Motorhome club site. The site was just as lovely as our two previous stays there and it was in an ideal location for a stop over- just south of Birmingham with easy access to the M42.

After a peaceful nights sleep we were feeling refreshed and ready to push further north, our next stop was Englethwaite Hall Caravan and Motorhome club site in Carlisle.

Day 2

One thing I’ve always loved about road trips is that you get to see so many amazing things along the way. This became even more apparent driving up the M6 when we were greeted with the stunning rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales.

When we arrived on site we were greeted by beauty yet again as a woodland area with daffodils in full bloom led us to the entrance. After a quick set up we took a little stroll around the site and Stephen even made friends with one of the locals!

We both agreed that we could happily spend the week at Englethwaite Hall but adventure awaits, so we spent the rest of the evening relaxing, ready for our exciting day ahead.

Day 3

This was our third consecutive day of hitching up and travelling, so by now we were becoming pros! We left Carlisle and headed straight for the border.

After driving over 500 miles in three days we were pleased to have arrived at Edinburgh Caravan and Motorhome club site. Just as we unhitched the caravan the sun came out, so we had a little wander around. It was a lovely site, the wardens were very friendly and it was in a great location- right by the coast and only a 15 minute drive into Edinburgh city centre.

It was a sunny afternoon and we wanted to make the most of our short time in Edinburgh so we headed straight to the Royal Yacht Britannia. We had heard good things about its accessibility for wheelchairs and were not disappointed! I was able to access every area of the ship and they even offered me headphones for the virtual tour guide device, and a longer neck strap so that it could rest on my lap. We both thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history and seeing inside the grand yacht.

We were wary of the fact that the weather forecast for the following day wasn’t looking so great, so we wanted to take advantage of it while we could. We made our way to Calton Hill and parked on a cobbled side street, then we started the ascend. It was steeper than it looks in the pictures but we made it to the top and the view was worth it!

Day 4

Pleased to be having a day off from travelling we enjoyed a lazy morning in the caravan before heading back out to the city centre. It turned out that the weather forecast was very wrong and it was in fact even better than it had been the previous day. We started exploring Princes Street Gardens, admiring the flowers and of course Edinburgh castle, the sunshine just added to the beauty. Wanting to see the whole city we decided to go on a bus tour, we weren’t sure if I’d be able to see much because wheelchair positions are always facing backwards, but I was pleasantly surprised when we got on and saw that there was a screen in front of the space showing the view out the front of the bus. We heard all about Edinburgh’s interesting history and saw all the main landmarks as we passed through the cobbled streets.

Next we headed to the National Museum of Scotland, we weren’t really sure what to expect but we were amazed by how big it was. There were different areas covering different subjects- science and technology, space, fashion, Scottish history, and my personal favourite- nature and wildlife. We ended up staying in there until closing time.

Heading back to the campsite we decided that the weather was too nice to go back yet, so we took a small diversion to Cramond Beach where we went for a lovely stroll along the promenade as the sun dipped low in the sky. It was just what we needed after a busy day exploring the city and a perfect end to a fantastic stay in Edinburgh.