Good morning..

Mrs Bedwas and I have a week off next week and are hoping to head to Scotland for some quiet time. We will be in our day van and taking our 2 dogs with us.
Any suggestions for quiet beaches and picturesque villages to visit, I do like the idea of swimming naked on a deserted beach!!

West of Scotland is a pretty big area!

Sanna Bay in Ardnamurchan is about as far from it as you can get on the mainland.

Applecross is a lovely spot

Lots of isolated spots in Argyl too if you don’t fancy going too far north I was in Carradale last year and it was gorgeous

Applecross peninsula, ride Bealach na Ba, Torridon etc
Lucky you!

Mull would be a good bet from your description. There are some fantastic beaches and Tobermorey is quite an attractive town (in general there aren’t many picturesque villages!) Plenty of places to camp up too. Regular ferries from Oban. If you do this and are travelling from the south, it’s worth taking the time to go via Inverary, Lochgilphead and Kilmartin Glen. Kilmartin Glen in particular is one of my favourite places in Scotland and the whole area is really underated. Going this way to Oban it’s also worth taking in Seil Island.

The outer hebrides have no end of fantastic beaches but are obviously harder to reach, requiring a longer ferry from Oban.

A +1 for Carradale, Kintyre is worth a visit. I’d also thought Applecross but ruled out on lack of attractive villages.

Achmelvich, Gairloch… NW Highlands, plenty of desolate landscape – somewhere I’ve really only scratched the surface of..

Shieldaig

Just googled some of the places mentioned, pretty amazing. Applecross is very appealing saw it on Monty Hall programme a few years back. I was fortunate to cycle from Fort William to Oban and Cambelltown last year, however missed all the attractions. Really liking the idea of Mull. Thanks

Personally, if I was heading to the islands I’d be going to Skye via Fort William and Mallaig. If you stop at Morar just before Mallaig there are some fantastic beaches there as well (though very much not deserted).

Of course if you plan on staying a bit more south, er, don’t. Okay for the drive but in all honesty Ayrshire has nothing worth hanging about for. Argyll would be as far south as I’d look at, you can get a ferry to Dunoon from Gourock that knocks a lot of journey time off if you want to get straight there from Glasgow. If you want scenic +2 hours the A83 over the Rest and Be Thankful is a lovely road especially if you take the Helensburgh-Arrochar route (bit twisty but more interesting than the slog along the Loch Lomond road).

Do Not Go To Ardnamurchan ever! none of you , stay away it is rubbish .

Second Applecross, the Bealach na Ba has some amazing views and it is a short distance to Torridon for some great riding including Annet loop.

Applecross Inn is a great pub, the food is amazing with nice campsite just above it also.

If it is just getting away from it and wanting quiet beaches, then would really recommend catching ferry from Uig across to North and South Uist and on to Barra, not very good for mountain biking trails (we went on fat bikes round the coast) but some brillant beaches and very friendly locals.

Lots of sandy beaches in the far west around Arisaig. Decent camp site here: http://www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/accommodation-details.php?id=27

For a little adventure, you could take the ferry from Mallaig over to Inverie. Some lovely trails (walking or cycling) eastwards from there, and nice & remote.

If you find yourself on Mull, Scoor beach (ESE of Bunessan, on the south side of the island) is a pretty awesome place for swimming/kayaking/sunbathing/fishing/fires to cook fish, as a couple of bays further round to the east (a stoney beach) tends to be pretty full of driftwood that’s easily accessible by water.

Gruinard Bay near Laide on the mainland in NW is also nice, there’s a few crackers round that area.

Personally, if I was heading to the islands I’d be going to Skye via Fort William and Mallaig. If you stop at Morar just before Mallaig there are some fantastic beaches there as well (though very much not deserted).

Oh yeah – ferry over to skye, bridge back to mainland, turn left and over the hills by Lochcarron (catch a game of shinty if it’s sunday and there’s a home game) then over the bealach to applecross. getting to applecross is as good as being there.
a couple of days in the mallaig area could see you take a day trip out to the small isles, maybe a inverie or even just ta day return to tarbet, although a favourite is a walk along the side of loch morar over the pass to tarbet then ferry back via loch nevis.
Loch Nevis


To be honest though, west coast – stock up on midge cream, keep the van fuelled and you’re unlikely to go far wrong

the really busy beach on Islay is worth a trip.

Ardnamurchan is a horrible place. Avoid. Please.

Hi

Don’t forget Arran, it really is a mini Scotland, easy ferry on to kintyre from there. See calmac hopscotch. Good campsites(esp seal shore and lochranza) and a few cheekies

Re midges(we have avon skin so soft and smidge) -so far cleggs are worse (more of them than midges) as they are going thru clothes,also beware ticks i had to remove 5 from gf after a 9 mile walk (wear longs,tucked in and full gloves) and get midge nets that go over helmet

Okay for the drive but in all honesty Ayrshire has nothing worth hanging about for.

Steady on there.

Anyway no need to travel all the way north for wild and remote scenery, the Kyles of Bute are a lovely part of the world, nice and quiet with stunning scenery – around Otter Ferry, Kilfinnan, Tighnabruaich, etc.

LOL, I’m a Troon boy and live in Largs, it’s okay but not on a par with anything north. Arran is great as well but remember the damn cleggs and midgies, vicious gits the lot of them! >:(

So many nice places, probably going to start around Oban and make way up onto Skye via Applecross.

Squirrelking, caught a ferry from Troon 2 weeks ago cycled from Edingburgh. Didn’t see much of it tho!

Not much to see on the coast TBH, lots of touristy seaside towns (not a necessarily a bad thing)but not a lot else worth stopping for. Inland is bandit country, I heard they still eat their young in Patna…

All the above!

I was lucky enough to have to wild camp in Torridon for five weeks a lifetime ago. Time fades things but when I revisited for the first time last summer I was totally blown away by the sheer stunning beauty of the place.

Places to visit are pretty much anywhere you have never been- you really can’t go far wrong to be honest. However, Applecross is very special indeed as is Shieldaig.

And Ullapool and Gairloch. Yes.

Glenuig

Smirisary