Scotland Tour 2026

Monday 15 June 2026

Nido's parked up at a new stopover at Hayton Hideways, a short distance from the village of Hayton in Cumbria.  It's only about 5 minutes drive off Junction 43 of the M6 around the Carlisle area, so just south of the Scottish border.  This park-up has only been open for a couple of months, but I think it'll be well used, particularly for travellers like us who want to break their journey.  The owners already have a successful camping pods business, but a few people had suggested opening a motorhome stopover.  It's a little like an aire; a level hardstanding area of about 50m2, with fresh water and a toilet disposal point.  It's very quiet here, surrounded by fields and hedgerows, with some hills in the distance.  I'm sure we'll use it again when visiting Scotland.

We always enjoy visiting Scotland and come up every year.  The rough plan for this trip is to cross over the Forth road bridge, then turn right and follow the coastal route through Fife and East Neuk, then continuing up the coast into Aberdeenshire, the Moray Firth and back down the eastern side of the Cairngorms.  I've researched a few stops, mainly in coastal villages and a couple of C&CC temporary holiday sites, plus our favourite stops in the Cairngorms.  We aim to be away for about two weeks, but don't need to rush back if we get to that point and still have places to visit.

We left home at about 1030 this morning and endured the busy M6, with a quick lunch stop on the way up.  Arriving here at about 3.30pm, we were met by the friendly owner - Dan - who showed us around and pointed out the footpath to the nearby village of Hayton.  After a cup of tea sat out in warm sunshine, we walked to the village, past a children's playground and the church.  Hayton is a quaint village, with lots of sandstone cottages, many with well kept gardens.  The local pub - the Stone Inn - looked welcoming but unfortunately it was too early in the day for a quick pint!  Back at the van, we sat out to eat and spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the peace and quiet, recovering from the hectic M6 journey.

Tomorrow we'll cross the border into Scotland and hope to be parked up somewhere on the Fife coastline by mid-afternoon.