Road trip to Scotland over Christmas

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We were planning a road trip to Scotland in the summer but it didn't go ahead and kids and we were gutted. We were going to stay in our caravan.

We are thinking about going for a week at Xmas, which will include Xmas day.

Two main elements the the decision

• will we miss our home Xmas too much
• will it be fun travelling around in the cold winter days and can we make Xmas special?

Kids are primary age. I'm veering between being massively excited and thinking it would be mad.

Family wise, I'm a bit of off with my family at the moment and I tend to find Xmas laden with expectation from them, and DH family are easy about everything but aging fast. My darling dad died this year so a change is welcome in that regard.

This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard

Op please don’t do it

I think it will very much depend on where in Scotland you are planning on going it's pretty big!

The roads in Winter far north are known to be closed fairly frequently due to snow drifts and I'm not talking a little country track its main trunk roads if there is a hill on it so you would need to factor that element in and if its snows or there is heavy rain it will take you at least double the amount of time that Google maps estimates. I would also suggest decent winter tyres!
Parts of the Highlands are stunning but even A roads in a lot of places are actually a single track road with passing places!

If wanting an Island then Skye is one of your only options really with the bridge as ferries are unpredictable in Winter.

I would suggest either looking around Perthshire which is stunning or around Glencoe, Oban and Fort William area. Not very far north of the NC500.

The roads in the Highlands often get closed due to heavy snowfall. Once we were travelling south down the A82 (Road between Glasgow and Fort William) and the police were behind us. They stopped at the snow gates just outside Crianlarich and closed them behind us.

Everything north of Edinburgh is north of Moscow. So (although, for the moment, the Gulf Stream has a modifying influence) it still is cold.

The worst of the snow and ice is usually after Christmas - as the saying goes, 'as the days get longer, the cold gets stronger'. But I've been in Glasgow at Christmas/New Year when the roads are covered in black ice and the pavements are an even worse slippy mass of compressed snow. Out here in the west Highlands, where I live, road conditions can be genuinely scary. Overhanging trees drop moisture that freezes into black ice overnight; little local waterfalls thaw during the day, covering the roads with water which then freezes overnight into sheets of ice. There are not that many road clearances or gritting arrangements - the council workers simply cannot cover them all. Perhaps a caravan can cope with these conditions? I genuinely don't know. All I do know is that more than one experienced and dedicated delivery driver has died in the past few years. One worked for the Co-Op; another was a chap from a Fort William bakery.

I don't know how your caravan is heated, but, in the past, I've known small (blue, butane) Calor Gas cylinders freeze in the cold.

The Harry Potter etc tourist industry people would have people believe that here is a wonderland; but they (mostly) don't live here. It is indeed wonderful, but there is a very high price, sometimes, to be paid if people want 'modern' amenities. Sometimes less - ie caution, moderation, the bare minimum - is more.

I would also echo what previous posters have had to say about ferries.

I do genuinely hope that you and your family will at some point be able to have a lovely holiday here. But - unless you ate in a purpose bult resort - I'm not sure that Chrismas is the best time for it.

Ye gods - tyops:

'Unless you are in a purpose-built resort' ...

That is the point of the road trip. The simple life.

I think the point people are trying to make is that a road trip in Scotland in the winter is unlikely to be simple.

It'll be light for maybe 5-6 hours a day.
Bad weather - it'll likely be freezing cold, wet, grey and damp. Unless you go North, in which case you'll likely struggle with heavy snow, drifts and road closures.
Hotels will likely be booked out already, or if not, they'll be incredibly expensive.
Yes, shops etc. will be open but are small children really into shopping? What else are you planning to do while you're there?

I would save it for Easter, really. Better weather, longer days, easier drives.

What a bunch of misery guts on this thread! Yes daylight is limited the further north and any trip is dependent on the weather, but it could be wonderful. We have spent many Hogmanays in self catering accommodation in the north and all have been fantastic despite the cold. Maybe get refundable accommodation in case the weather means uou can’t get there but otherwise go for it!

Am just back from Arran, with stays in Glasgow either side. It’s a lovely island (but see comments about re ferries). Lovely walks, views, several nice places to eat (including lunches at the distilleries). Glasgow will have lots to see, and some great museums. Towards Edinburgh there are the Kelpies which are stunning, and the boat lift thing nearby, and then Edinburgh itself. The highlands would be riskier, but if the weather allows plenty of walking, Loch Lomond, is within striking distance of Glasgow.

I live 10 miles north of Inverness and have to say that it's not true that we get all the bad extreme weather/snow. I often find it's down near the central belt that gets far worse flooding and snow.

Everyone seems to assume north of the central belt is like going beyond the wall!

My child has been longing for a snow closure day at school for many years and it's not happened!

Yes it can get dark at 4pm and weather can be wet windy and cold but I'm assuming the rest of the UK is not all basking in the sunshine either!

Aviemore might be worth looking at. Very scenic and some things for the kids to do.

Bideyin

But OP was talking about making the trip in their own towed caravan. That is really not the same thing at all as a nice self-catering. What I said about harsh past winters and freezzing "blue" gas was 100% true.

FWIW Some Glasgow Christmas events have already been postponed - notably the main Christmas Market in George Square. Of course there will still be quite a bit going on, but I'm not sure how child-friendly it all might be.

Covid cases are forecast to spike in the weeks following the end of the COP conference. At that time, I'm not sure I'd want to be there.

Inverness and surrounds are generally quite sheltered. But Tea I would not say what I have just said without good evidence. Where you live is really not the same as rural areas. If OP and her caravan stick to 'safe for caravanning ' areas, then I'm sure they'd be OK.

Yes it can get dark at 4pm and weather can be wet windy and cold but I'm assuming the rest of the UK is not all basking in the sunshine either!

Hmm, the weather in the North of England (I'm in Cumbria) and Scotland is very different to other parts of the UK.

It gets light later and dark earlier, it rains a lot more, it's colder, it's windier, it's also much more grey and damp.

I was raised in Suffolk and the difference in weather is really, really noticeable.

Hi Scottishnames, I have lived north west for quite a few years and I'm aware the weather can be harsh. Rain so sharp it feels like it's cutting your skin. I just hate this blanket statement that posters put about the North of Scotland being like living in the Arctic Circle.

The OP did write this which is why I suggested Aviemore.
^I think we probably wouldn't take the caravan and would try for hotels or b&bs. We are a bit more fair weather than that^

@scottishnames

Bideyin

But OP was talking about making the trip in their own towed caravan. That is really not the same thing at all as a nice self-catering. What I said about harsh past winters and freezzing "blue" gas was 100% true.

FWIW Some Glasgow Christmas events have already been postponed - notably the main Christmas Market in George Square. Of course there will still be quite a bit going on, but I'm not sure how child-friendly it all might be.

Covid cases are forecast to spike in the weeks following the end of the COP conference. At that time, I'm not sure I'd want to be there.

She said she wasn’t taking her caravan

From memory, the Christmas market in Edinburgh close just before Christmas. If that's something you want to see then go before Christmas.

I really wouldn't aim for a road trip in Scotland over Christmas. People are genuinely giving honest and factual reasons why this isn't a great idea.

You might get those lovely bright and freezing days with frost on the ground where you and your family can crunch about and have wholesome fun. But you are also likely to have dreich rainy days. Where the cold leaches into your bones.

If you aim for over hogmanay then remember Scotland gets the 1st and 2nd off as public holidays, postponed to the Monday and Tuesday after that weekend.

I would be wary planning on popping to an island for a day trip. CalMac ferries are prisoners to the weather.

Driving through the borders can be challenging in winter. I've had Christmases where we've driven south and seen black ice on the motorway as well as torrential rain or snow.

You say you want the simple life yet get annoyed at people pointing out the reality.

A lot of places outside the central belt aren't really set up for winter tourism. Ferry crossings may be less frequent. It gets dark by about 3 by the middle of December. Unless you're going to see family or have a specific thing you're doing to do, I would maybe reconsider

Bideyinn OK then if without caravan, but - as so many others have said - it could be great but could equally well be icy/wet and miserable. With not a lot - apart from 'family and friends' gatherings - going on. If the OP really does want just long country walks and early evenings at home, then great. But please, OP get in provisions beforehand, and double-check facilities. I live where most supermarkets won't deliver, where the broadband is very patchy and where, without a special aerial, we can't get decent radio, let alone TV. Already, because it's the end of the tourist season, our local shop has drastically cut back its opening hours and the range of fresh goods available. Just saying ....

Thanks all for the comments, I'm not sure I am annoyed.. @ParishSpinster I was simply clarifying that we are not looking for adventure parks, zoos etc. We would take books and CDs for the journey and make our own fund. When I said shops I mean places to buy food, not shopping as a leisure activity.

Interesting mix of responses so far, heavily on the no,but a few that say just do it. We will keep thinking.

Thanks especially to all the Scots who have answered, I'm not sure why but it makes me feel warm. warmer than a road trip at Christmas

Fun

We used to drive up to Aberdeenshire every Christmas when I was little...then I lived there as an adult and go back frequently. Quite a few times we were snowed in or couldn't drive back when we planned because if snow. But that was going back 20-30 years ago. I don't think it snows as much anymore?

Aberdeen around the solstice is gloriously bleak...wind that cuts right through you, days ofr darkness, often rain...but I wouldn't let that put you off. Life should be a bit of an adventure and you don't know until you try etc...

Apart from the potential for poor roads, I would go an just experience it. If you can, be flexible around the weather and travel.

To be fair it doesn’t usually Snow in December, mostly it snows in January and February. However it does occasionally. A week in a cosy cottage not too far from a main road and a town or city would be fine. However the good ones were booked up months ago. Somewhere like Elie in Fife for blustery walks on the beach, a trip to St Andrews and/or Dundee and nice meals in the restaurants would be great over Christmas. But you needed to book that lunch in The Ship in September!
I’ve been to Skye in December. One day was literally the most beautiful I have ever spent in the Highlands, a scattering of snow on the ground, hard frost, bright blue skies (treacherous walking with frozen puddles on the path and saturated ground off it). The next day there was an inch and a half of rain and it was so windy you could barely stand. Visibility was virtually zero, you would never have known the Cuillins existed.
I’ve often fancied Christmas in a really nice hotel, but only now that my children are grown up so we wouldn’t just be sitting in the room in the evening. Usually this is around noon on Christmas Day wham the kitchen is an inferno and the livingroom in knee deep in wrapping paper. I cure this by looking at the cost. Christmas in a Premier Inn, which is what we could afford sounds bleak.
If money was no object I would helicopter in to one of the houses at Mar Lodge with all my provisions and hunker down for Christmas and New Year. Or Kinlich Lodge on Skye for a week of eating and lounging around on their squashy sofas.
The unpredictability of the weather makes a road trip unappealing, driving through pouring rain on dark days and unfamiliar roads and having no flexibility because of prebooked accommodation sounds miserable and I generally love a road trip.

Somewhere like crieff hydro would be lovely over Christmas

I’m Scottish (live in England now) and would not do it unless I was visiting people. Dark until about 9am and then starts to get dark again around 3.30pm. Cold. Wind like a cold knife across your face! It’s beautiful if the sun shines, but if not it’s miserable. I’d save it for the summer- the short days are replaced by long days compared to England.

My Dad lives in the Western Highlands and I've gone up there for Christmas many times. (not so much since having the kids but before that)
I've never been snowed in much to my disgust! Mostly the weather has been cold and crisp.
Yes, the days are short but you plan for that - a good stomp in the beach or in the forest or up a mountain and then back to keep warm and cosy with good TV/films, books and games.
This year we are going up and staying in a cottage near the coast. We are taking all the food we will need and I'm really looking forward to blissful views and peace and quiet!

OP, if I were you I'd see if there were any cottages left - funnily enough it was easier to find them with Christmas availability than after Christmas because of New Year. My kids are already lining up the books and films they are taking. I'm planning my crochet projects and looking out for some decent blankets as we've got a balcony!

Go to Edinburgh, there will be indoor things to do if the weather is awful. And it's not too far north.
Check if the Maid of the Forth boat is running to Inchcolm island and you could get an island trip in there too? Just for an hour or so.
I would think the chances of getting stuck on a Scottish island over Christmas if there is bad weather or a broken ferry would be quite high. That might not bother you though?
We've had Christmas away from home in a hotel and it was lovely. Different.