Motorhome hire - Scotland

[AnythingConsidered]

Looking to do a 7-10 day tour of Scotland in the October half term. Initially thought about b&b/air bnb, but I love the idea & romance of a motorhome hire.

We are two adults + 15 year old & enjoy the outdoors & caravan holidays, but never done motorhome before.

Any recommendations for a motorhome hire company (ideally collect in Scotland)?

Tips and tricks or advice on staying in motorhomes?

Routes/tours/must see sees in Scotland on 7-10 days

Or am I just mad to think a week in a motorhome in Scotland, mid-end October is a good idea?

Bump. I have no advice to offer but this is exactly what we are thinking of doing with our five year old. Very interested in any replies.

Avoid using a company called National Motorhomes at all costs - they are known under a number of different company names. They are basically scammers and will not refund your deposit.
I believe there are lots of reputable small companies though.

We did a few nights when DS was 12 at Easter - being Scotland we had uncharacteristically bad weather. It wasn't as much fun as I had imagined as campsites tend to be quite far out of town, and it's difficult to park the motorhome in a number of places. I wouldn't say we would never do it again, but probably only the two of us plus dog and would hire the smallest van we could.

The weather in Scotland in October can be bad - we’ve been October half term and had snow and it was very cold. Also more likely to get storms coming through. On the plus side, no midges.

October can be great, or miserable, depends on the weather. Keep your plans flexible. That's true of pretty much all of Europe but Scotland in particular. It's one of my favourite times to travel - "interesting" weather makes for interesting light, for pretty scenery and good photography.

Join a few forums and FB groups to keep up to date on the state-of-play regarding Covid and what sites/facilities are open, and which areas are getting too busy. Things are pretty fluid for motorhoming this year.

Oh, and reserve your vehicle early. Motorhomes/campers are suddenly in very high demand, this is reducing availability, increasing prices, and increasing tensions with locals in over-popular areas.

Please don't consider just parking up somewhere in a motorhome: make sure you book into campsites - wild camping in Scotland is for tents only, not vehicles.

When in October is your half term? Scottish half term is the first 2 weeks of the month and most touristy places will be busy then. Many such places close after the Scottish holidays but may extend their season's this year. The weather could be glorious sunshine or snow...

And if you can't reverse 500m on a single track road then forget the whole notion 😏

Can’t recommend a hire firm as we own our own but have owned them fir over twenty years, four to date, & go to Scotland most often so pretty much know about motorhoming there.
October can be surprisingly mild & you should, with luck, be just out of midge season. The west is always far far worse than the east for midges. The west is also much busier as a tourist destination. People go for the stunning scenery, the drive up the west coast is spectacular. But I do like the east more than most do, easier roads, quieter roads, better beaches & scenery that is still lovely if not as dramatic.
Don’t, whatever you do, be tempted by the NC500 route, it being your first experience. Many roads in Scotland can be tricky & that route is not for novice motorhomers. You’ll find that in many areas the roads can be single track, if you’re lucky with passing places! And a motorhome is a big vehicle to manouver, especially reversing up a winding single track. With many models you also have to rely on wing mirrors & rear view camera for seeing what your back end is doing, car drivers often turn to look through the rear window or use rear view window. Not all motor homes have a rear window. In fact you need to be aware of your back corners in all manoeuvres, even changing lanes on motorways or going round corners. Of course if one of you is a coach or lorry driver it will be second nature!

Meant to add that in Scotland don’t be fooled on a map by an A Road.
Often it can be more a case of there being “a” road.

Just Go have vans that can be collected from Edinburgh airport.

The weather can be fab in October but bring warm and waterproof clothing! We looked into doing this but ended up ditching the idea because it was very expensive. There are motor home owners who loan out their own vans through a company but I can’t remember the name of the company - might be worth researching as it was definitely cheaper.