Basics - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 29

youthful or otherwise - who are unable or
unwilling to pay the rates charged by hotels,
guesthouses and B&Bs. Most hostels are clean and
comfortable, sometimes offering doubles and
even singles as well as dormitory accommodation.
Others concentrate more on keeping the price as
low as possible, simply providing a roof over your
head and a few basic facilities. Whatever type of
hostel you stay in, expect to pay £10-22 per night.
The Scottish Youth Hostels Association ( W syha
.org.uk), referred to throughout the Guide as “SYHA
hostels”, run the longest-established hostels in the
Highlands and Islands. While these places sometimes
occupy handsome buildings, many retain an institu-
tionalized air. Bunk-bed accommodation in single-sex
dormitories, lights out before midnight and no
smoking/no alcohol policies are the norm outside
the big cities. Breakfast is not normally included in the
price, though most hostels have self-catering facilities.
If you're not a member of one of the hostelling
organizations a liated to Hostelling International
(HI), you can pay your £10 joining fee at most hostels.
Advance booking is recommended, and essential
at Easter, Christmas and from May to August. You can
book online, in person or by phone.
The Gatliff Hebridean Hostels Trust or GHHT
( W gatliff.org.uk) is allied to the SYHA and rents
out very simple croft accommodation in the Western
Isles. Accommodation is basic, and you can't book
ahead, but it's unlikely you'll be turned away.
Elsewhere in the Highlands and Islands, these places
tend to be known as bothies or bunkhouses, and
are usually independently run. In Shetland, camping
böds , operated by the Shetland Amenity Trust
( W camping-bods.co.uk), offer similarly plain accom-
modation: you need all your usual camping equip-
ment to stay at one (except, of course, a tent). For
more details about Gatliff hostels and camping böds,
see the relevant chapters in the Guide.
There are also loads of independent hostels
across the Highlands and Islands. These are usually
laidback places with no membership, fewer rules,
mixed dorms and no curfew. You can find most of
them in the annually updated Independent Hostel
Guide ( W independenthostelguide.co.uk). Many of
them are also a liated to Scottish Independent
Hostels ( W hostel-scotland.co.uk), which has a
programme of inspection and lists members in the
SIH Hostel Guide , available free online.

to October. The most expensive sites charge about
£10-15 for two people with a car to pitch a tent,
and are usually well equipped, with shops, a restau-
rant, a bar and, occasionally, sports facilities. Most of
these, however, are aimed principally at caravans,
trailers and motorhomes, and generally don't offer
the tranquil atmosphere and independence that
those travelling with just a tent are seeking.
That said, peaceful and informal sites do exist, and
are described throughout this guide, though they are
few and far between. Many hostels allow camping,
and farmers will usually let folk camp on their land for
free or for a nominal sum. In this guide, we've listed
the price for a pitch (ie one tent for two people, plus
a car) wherever possible; where campsites charge per
person, we've listed prices in that format instead.
Scotland's relaxed land access laws allow wild
camping in open country. The basic rule is “leave
no trace”, but for a guide to good practice, visit
W outdooraccess-scotland.com.
The great majority of caravans are permanently
moored nose to tail in the vicinity of some of
Scotland's finest scenery; others are positioned singly
in back gardens or amid farmland. Some can be
booked for self-catering, and with prices starting at
around £100 a week, this can work out as one of the
cheapest options if you're travelling with kids in tow.
If you're planning to do a lot of camping at of cial
camping and caravanning sites, it might be worth-
while joining the Camping and Caravanning Club
( W campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk). Member-
ship costs £51 (£41 if paying by direct debit) and
entitles you to pay only a per-person fee, not a
pitch fee, at CCC sites. Those coming from abroad
can get the same benefits by buying an inter-
national camping carnet, available from home
motoring organizations or a CCC equivalent.
Another good option, if you want to roll your
accommodation and travel costs into one, is to
rent a camper van - visit W walkhighlands.co.uk
for a range of options. Few companies will rent to
drivers with less than one year's experience and
most will only rent to people over 21 or 25 and
under 70 or 75 years of age.

Self-catering
A huge proportion of visitors to the Highlands and
Islands opt for self-catering , booking a cottage or
apartment for a week and often saving themselves
a considerable amount of money by doing so. In
most cases, the minimum period of rental is a
week, and therefore this isn't a valid option if you're
aiming to tour round the country. The least you can

Camping

There are hundreds of caravan and camping parks
around Scotland, most of which are open from April