Hebrides campervan overnight parking
Everyone knows that wild camping in Scotland is legal, but it’s not quite the same rules if you’re travelling in a vehicle. Whether you’re sleeping in your car, a motorhome or a campervan, you must sleep in either a paid campsite or a designated free overnight spot whilst in the Outer Hebrides.
Whatever you do, don’t park overnight on the machair. Machair is low lying arable land formed near the coast by the deposition of sand and shell fragments by the wind, and is found all over the Outer Hebrides although it is one of the most fragile and rare environments in Europe. In simple terms, don’t park up on verges or grass-like areas.
You’ll notice that availability of designated free overnight areas varies massively throughout the islands. For example, South Uist didn’t have any of these on it, North Uist had one or two and Harris (which is a lot smaller than the Uist’s) had at least 6.
The view from our van window at Clachan Sands
Here are our favourite ones:
1) Clachan Sands, North Uist
Follow a gravel track off the main road for a mile or so - it can be quite bumpy at times so take it slow - and you’ll find this haven which feels like the edge of the world. There’s a suggested donation of £10 per night per vehicle, bins and fresh water provided too. There’s room for lots of vehicles here, but getting flat ground is more tricky.
Our van parked up at Clachan Sands
2) West Harris Trust camping spot 3, close to Luskentyre beach, Harris
In West Harris there are several designated overnight spots for vehicles and this one was walking distance from beautiful Luskentyre beach, cake shed and beach hut as well as having a lovely view of the sea inlet. There’s only room for 4 vehicles here, so you may have to park up early.
3) Cliff Beach car park, Cliff, Lewis
A beautiful park up on Cliff beach with stunning views and room for about 7 vehicles. You can walk from here to the Cliff Art Studio and round the headland to Reef beach, or go for a swim in the sea in the sheltered bay at Cliff beach. Or you can simply enjoy the views of Cliff beach from your van. Spoilt for choice.
Cliff beach
4) North Harris Eagle Observatory car park, Harris
This was a simple car park park-up, with room for about 6 vans lower down and a further 2 or 3 on the higher up gravelled area. With easy access to Hushinish beach and also to the Eagle Observatory, this location was great for us and we had a quiet night there with a few other vans.
The Eagle Observatory
5) Melbost beach car park, Stornaway, Lewis
More practical than beautiful, this car park is level hard standing ground with room for about 5 motorhomes. There was a toilet here which was open all night as well as fresh water available around the back of the block. There is access to Melbost beach and it is only a 5 minute drive from Stornaway so perfect for city exploring. When we stayed here we were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights!
