As a seasoned road tripper in the Scottish Highlands, there are a couple of things you should definitely know before hitting the roads for your next adventure.
Don’t stress! It’s not as impossible as it looks, just take a read below and start to familiarse yourself with some of these tips before taking to the streets.

Drive to the conditions
The road signs may say 60mph, but does it look like a 60mph road? Scotland is known for it’s gloriously gloomy weather, and often you’ll find the roads out in the highlands to be a wee bit narrow, full of potholes (more on that below) and wet. So when a speed sign says a certain mph, reconsider before putting your foot on the accelerator. You’d rather arrive at your destination safely, than not at all.
Use passing places properly
When driving through the Highlands you’ll come across ‘passing places’. These are small bays to the left and right of the roads to allow oncoming traffic to go past you on single lane roads. These can also be used to let people behind you take over. Don’t let your ego get in the way, if you’re new to Scottish roads, be polite and allow locals and more seasoned drivers to take over! Put your indicator on to let drivers behind you know that you’re happy for them to overtake.
Hazard lights for thank you’s
If someone overtakes you and flashes their hazard lights, or alternates their indicators, it’s their way of saying thank you. You’ll weirdly get offended if someone doesn’t do this 😂 (we definitely do), but make sure you do the same thing if someone allows you to overtake whilst driving, you’ll get a little kick out of it and feel more like a local!
Pot holes galore
As mentioned earlier, due to rough conditions, you can encounter many a pothole on your travels. It’s important that you’ve got breakdown cover or at least know how to change a tyre (unlike us when our van tyre popped at the most northern point of Scotland 🥵) I don’t wish a flat tyre upon you, but it’s not that uncommon to experience. Also, refer to point 1 and drive to the conditions - take it slow!
Off season
During off season in Scotland (November-Feb/March) quite a few shops, hotels, bnbs and restaurants will close. Ensure you’ve got plenty of fuel when travelling, snacks galore and pre book your accomodation or camp sites if you’re worried. Don’t forget that you can legally park in your camper / van pretty much anywhere in Scotland (bar private property or signed areas with no overnight parking - be respectful!) but if you get a bit anxious like me, it’s nice to know where you’re set to eat and sleep for the night ahead! That being said there are definitely places still open across your highlands travels, so do your best to shop small and support local during quiet seasons.
A highland mile
Finally, you should know that there’s a big difference between a regular mile and a highland mile. For you see, my friend, when one is travelling through Scottish landscapes, one does not simply DRIVE NON STOP! The scenery is going to blow your mind, you’re gonna want to stop every 5-10 minutes to take a picture. When Billy and I first went to Skye we ended up adding an additional 3 hours onto our drive because we stopped so much 😂 Account for extra time on your journey so you can enjoy the sights along the way.

There you have it folks, our 6 things to know before road tripping in the highlands, let us know in the comments below if you found this helpful, or if you have any tips you’d like to share too!

Travel magically + safely!

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6 Things to Know Before Road Tripping in the Highlands