Keltie Bridge Callander October 2026.

Callander is the gateway to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Nature Park and is a very beautiful part of Scotland and certainly worth visiting. We stayed at the family run Keltie Bridge Camping Park which has  a quiet riverside location.

The site is excellently laid out and organised for all forms of camping with modern, clean facilities. There is a bus stop just outside the site with direct services to Callander and Stirling.

Our activities were rather restricted by the weather, is was wet a lot of the time, so  unable to get about as much as we wanted to. 

Our first chance to get out was to Bracklinn Falls which can be reached by a footpath direct from the camp site. Bracklinn is a series of dramatic waterfalls on the Keltie Water. Located in a deep wooded gorge, Its been a popular destination since Victorian times. One of its unique features is the footbridge made of weathering steel that was opened in 2023 and allows exceptional vantage points of the water falls. 

The following day it was decided to take a chance and get the bikes unloaded and cycle the 2 mile pathway into the town of Callander. We also managed to dodge the rain and walk into the town using the same route. another day. 

Callander is known as the Gateway to the Highlands and has been a bustling tourist town since the 19th century.  Its Victorian main street has plenty of independent shops and traditional tearooms. We frequented the Alrium Restaurant which is located above the very well stocked outdoor clothes shop CCW Clothing. For lunch we visited the Mhor Bakery for some giant rolls.

As i said before you can get the Bus 59 from outside the site which we used to travel to Doune village to visit the famous Doune Castle which is a remarkably well preserved 14th century medieval fortress managed by Historic Environment Scotland .

The castle was built in the late 1300s by Robert Stewart the Duke of Albany. He was the the son of King Robert 2nd and is said to have ruled Scotland as regent during the reigns of three monarchs.  Unlike a good many other castles Doune remains largely complete.  It features a striking gatehouse, an expansive great-hall with a timber roof, and a very impressive kitchen tower designed to withstand long sieges.Its modern claim to fame, and something that brings in the tourists, is its use as a filming location. It doubles as nearly every castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, stood as Winterfell in the pilot episode of Game of Thrones, and portrayed Castle Leoch in Outlander.  

From the castle grounds there are some very pleasant walks including one down to the River Teith and back along the river side.

Making our way back to the Buttercup Restaurant for lunch we walked passed the Mill of Doune. A historical traditional water powered corn and grain mill that has been in existence for some 500 years. The mill finally closed its doors in 1939. 

Considering the weather we still had a very enjoyable time break.  

 

Tantallon - North Berwick September 2026.

Our yearly trip to Edinburgh for the All Under One Banner March to support Scottish Independence was followed by a visit to one of our favourite campsites at North Berwick.

Having booked a fully serviced pitch overlooking the golf course and therefore overlooking the Firth of Forth for 7 nights at Tantallon Camp Site was a very welcome break after a rather busy time. Situated between Craigleith and the majestic Bass Rock it is one of the Meadowhead group of campsites. The facilities and cleanliness of the site is second to none with a great team of staff that are both helpful and friendly. Another plus is that the site is walking distance of a major supermarket. 

Its a really pleasant walk from the site into the town of North Berwick and one we would happily complete a few times while we were here. Unfortunately this year the Saturday market was cancelled due to a forecast of very high winds which in fact did not materialise.

Although the weather did vary we did have some nice days where we could eat our piece outside including from the Greggs in the town and making use of the public seats along side the west beach.  

A new adventure this year was to complete the coastal walk east of the camp site. The trail follows a scenic, rather rugged cliffside path past Horseshoe Bay to the award winning clifftop cafe called the Drift. Its quite unique being constructed from up cycled shipping containers and timber, sitting dramatically on an escarpment overlooking the beach and providing views over the Firth of Forth and the Bass Rock. Best pick a good day for your walk as it is very exposed. 

We can highly recommend both the area and the campsite if your looking for a wee break on the East Lothian coast.

Woodland Gardens Lundin Links August 2026.

This being our first visit to Woodlands Gardens since the original owners sold the site we were looking forward to meeting Iain and Tara Clark, and of course their young baby Cameron. They turned out to be a lovely friendly young couple who like the previous owners made us feel very welcome. 

This is the seventh year running we have visited Woodland Gardens Caravan and Camping Site on the slopes of Largo Law in the East Neuk of Fife. The reason for our regular visits to this one acre site, which caters for Pods, Caravans, Motorhomes and Campervans, is that its quiet, peaceful and clean and well organised. All caravan/motorhome pitches are hard standing with electric hook up as standard plus two of the pitches are fully serviced. The site was busy as usual but without feeling over crowded thanks to decent size pitches.

Obviously this area is now very familiar and we tend to cover some of the same ground that we have trod previously. So our first walk was down to Lower Largo and a first visit to the shore for a short walk along he beach. 

The following day we had our first visit to Blacketyside Farm Shop and Restaurant for lunch to celebrate 58 years married. Excellent lunch followed by strawberry sundaes. This was followed by a lovely walk back to Lower Largo via the beach, the sea air air being very invigorating.

This coast line of the Firth of Forth has an abundance of small picturesque villages and this year we decided to catch the X60 bus to Pittnweem to sample the local Arts Festival. Situated between St Monans and Anstruther its one of the only villages still an active fishing village. Its highly regarded for its beautifully preserved 17th and 18th century white washed cottages featuring traditional red pantiled roofs made possible by by the National Trust for Scotland under its Little Houses Improvement Scheme. The arts festival transforms the the entire village into an open air gallery and as witnessed it makes it very busy. 

St Andrews is a beautiful town named after Saint Andrew the Apostle, whose relics are said to have been taken there in 732. St Andrew has been celebrated in Scotland for over a thousand years, However, it wasn't until 1320, when Scotland's independence was declared with the signing of The Declaration of Arbroath, that he officially became Scotland's patron saint. 

The town is famously home to the University of Scotland, Scotland’s oldest university, founded by Bishop Kennedy in 1411, as well as being the seat of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club which was founded in 1754 and  attracts a great many of today’s visitors. This years visit was spoilt some-what by the fact that the main shopping area had its yearly show which spoilt the ambiance of the town and was very noisy. So we walked to the shore and sat and enjoyed our piece overlooking the sea. 

Along the coast line from Lower Largo runs the Fife Coastal Path witch brings you to Shell Bay, part way along  we decided to diverted to the beach and walked the rest of the way  along the shore line, always a great pleasure on a nice day.      

 

The bay itself includes the very large Elie Holiday Park where we stopped for some refreshment before we continued to Earlsferry and Elie via a cross country path and down into the village to catch the X61 back to Lundin Links. 

Cycling locally is certainly not recommended on the main 'A' Roads that criss-cross this area of Fife as they are narrow, bendy and are extremely busy, but there are some decent B Roads that you can cycle without risking life and limb. 

A seven mile bike ride from the camp site is Ceres, once described as ‘the most attractive village in Scotland’ so always worth a visit. It is also one of the only villages in Scotland to have a village green. Known locally as the Bow Butts because of the archery practice that took place there in medieval times. It also holds the title for hosting the oldest continuously held Highland Games in Scotland dating back to a charter given by Robert the Bruce in 1314.

Overlooking the Bow Butts is a monument commemorating the men of Ceres who fought in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 when Robert the Bruce gave an English King, Edward the Second, a sound thrashing on the battle field.

The following day we had our second visit to Blacketyside for lunch walking both ways along the beach. 

Very pleased with our visit this year we have already made a booking for 2027, on our regular serviced pitch, for 10 nights. The site itself has not changed and we are interested to see if in another year anything does change.