The 10 best campsites in the Scottish Highlands

Nothing in Britain compares to camping in the Highlands. The scale is different: bigger skies, longer glens, and beaches that would embarrass the Mediterranean if the water were ten degrees warmer. In June you can read outside your tent at eleven at night, and in the far north west the light barely leaves the sky at all. Distances are real up here, and a site that looks close on the map can be two hours of single-track away, so plan a base rather than a nightly tour.

Then there are the midges. Anyone who tells you they are not a factor is selling something. From roughly mid June to late August, still, damp evenings bring them out in clouds, especially on the west coast. Repellent, a head net and a breezy pitch solve most of it, and May, early June and September dodge the worst while keeping the long light.

Here are ten sites from Skye to the Cairngorms, each one worth the drive.

How we chose

Landscape above all, then a spread across the west coast, the islands and the Cairngorms, and a mix of famously simple sites and comfortable full-service parks. Every one is an established name that campers return to year after year, and we checked each site's own information and recent reviews before including it.

1. Glenbrittle Campsite, Isle of Skye

4.4 ★ Google rating

Glenbrittle Campsite sits at the foot of the Black Cuillin, right behind the beach at Loch Brittle, at the end of a long single-track glen. Run by the MacLeod Estate and welcoming campers since 1961, it is the classic base for walkers and climbers, and the Fairy Pools crowds vanish a mile past their car park. You can book electric hook-up pitches online, while the large grassy tent area is allocated on arrival, and there is a toilet and shower block plus laundry. The campsite shop and café are a genuine draw in their own right, selling camping kit alongside coffee roasted in the Highlands, fresh-baked bread and hot food at lunchtime. Reviewers rave about the setting, with the honest caveat that facilities feel stretched when the site is full in high summer. Practical tip: it is open from April to mid October, and the glen is exposed, so bring proper tent pegs and check the forecast before committing to canvas.

2. Sligachan Campsite, Isle of Skye

4.1 ★ Google rating from 800+ reviews

Sligachan Campsite is the historic camping ground opposite the famous hotel at the junction of Skye's main roads, with the full Cuillin skyline filling the view from your tent door. Hardstanding pitches for motorhomes and campervans, with and without electric hook-up, can be booked ahead, while the open grass tent pitches work on a first-come basis. Facilities include hot showers, dishwashing, laundry and a motorhome service point, dogs are welcome, and the small shop stocks the essentials, including midge repellent, which tells you something. A food truck serves evening meals on site through the season, and the hotel's bar across the road holds one of Scotland's great whisky collections. Reviewers consistently praise the location and the view, which is among the best of any campsite in Britain. The site is open from April to the end of September, and it is exposed when the wind funnels down the glen, so peg out everything properly.

3. Glen Nevis Caravan and Camping Park, Fort William

4.7 ★ Google rating from 3,400+ reviews

Glen Nevis Caravan and Camping Park is the big, superbly organised park in the glen directly beneath Ben Nevis, a few minutes from Fort William. It takes tents, campervans, motorhomes and caravans on grass and hardstanding pitches, many with hook-ups, and there are cosy wooden camping pods with views towards the Ben for anyone who wants a bed and walls. Facilities are the strongest of any site on this list: free showers, a well-stocked shop, a play park, laundry and a bar and restaurant within walking distance, and it picked up a best-campsite award for the Highlands in 2025. Reviewers praise how clean and well-run it stays even at full capacity, which for a park this size is an achievement. The Ben Nevis mountain path starts practically next door. Book well ahead for July and August, because half of Europe's motorhomes have the same idea.

4. Red Squirrel Campsite, Glencoe

4.5 ★ Google rating from 1,300+ reviews

Red Squirrel Campsite is 22 acres of informal riverside camping in the woods of the most storied glen in Scotland. There are no marked bays, just over a hundred unmarked grass pitches spread along the banks of the River Coe and through the trees, so you pick your own spot. This is camping stripped back on purpose: facilities cover the essentials, and the big draw is that campfires are allowed in raised fire bowls, which you can borrow on site, with firewood sold at reception and fires out by 11pm. Dogs are welcome. What people love is the atmosphere, and the reviews show it: campers on one booking site praise its "wonderful location", and the recommendation rate runs well above ninety per cent. The Clachaig Inn is a short walk away for post-hill pints. Arrive early in summer to claim a riverside spot, and remember this is a wooded west-coast glen, prime midge country on a still evening.

5. Clachtoll Beach Campsite, Assynt

4.8 ★ Google rating from 1,100+ reviews

Clachtoll Beach Campsite sits behind white sand and improbably turquoise water in the far north west, a few miles north of Lochinver on the North Coast 500, with Assynt's strange, wonderful mountains on the horizon. The family-run site offers level grass pitches, a mix of serviced pitches with hook-up and simpler unserviced ones, and the beach is a two-minute walk through the dunes. The facilities block is the stuff of legend among NC500 travellers: spotless showers and toilets, a family room, dishwashing and laundry, with reviewers repeatedly amazed by the little touches and the warmth of the welcome. Sentiment across recent reviews is about as good as campsite reviews get, with cleanliness and friendly staff the two constants. It is a long way from anywhere, which is exactly the point. Book ahead for summer, and aim for May or June for endless light, quieter roads and far fewer midges.

6. Sands Caravan and Camping, Gairloch

4.8 ★ Google rating from 1,100+ reviews

Sands Caravan and Camping spreads through the dunes behind Big Sand beach near Gairloch in Wester Ross, with views across the water to Skye and the Outer Hebrides. It is one of the great family sites in Scotland: you can pitch a tent in a sheltered hollow in the dunes or take a sea-view spot, there are touring pitches with electric hook-up for vans and caravans, and camping pods in standard and luxury sizes plus holiday caravans for anyone travelling without kit. The site shop bakes fresh bread and pastries, and the on-site café serves proper meals, which turns a wet day from a problem into an excuse. Reviewers score it highly and often single out the beach, the space and the food; many call it the best-value stop on their NC500 trip. Sunsets over the Minch are the nightly programme. Kayaks and bodyboards make the trip worthwhile here, and the dunes give welcome shelter when the wind picks up.

7. Applecross Campsite, Applecross

3.6 ★ Tripadvisor rating from 440+ reviews

Applecross Campsite sits above the village on a peninsula reached either by the coast road or over the Bealach na Bà, one of Britain's great mountain passes. The family has run it since the 1970s, and its six acres of open field take tents, motorhomes and caravans, with a small number of fully serviced and electric pitches alongside plenty of open space. For a solid roof, there are eleven insulated, heated camping huts and wigwams sleeping up to four. The village, its famous pub and the bay are a few minutes' walk downhill, and the peninsula's seafood reputation is fully deserved. Reviews praise the clean, well-kept facilities and the views across the Inner Sound to Raasay and Skye; one Tripadvisor reviewer sums it up as a "nice, quiet and clean site". It is open from March to the end of October. If you are towing, take the coast road round rather than the Bealach, and check your brakes either way.

8. Resipole Farm Holiday Park, Loch Sunart

4.7 ★ Google rating from 190+ reviews

Resipole Farm Holiday Park is a quiet, family-run park on the shore of Loch Sunart, on the long single-track road out towards Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly tip of the British mainland. It has been welcoming campers for over forty years and offers dozens of level touring pitches, most with electric hook-up, along with lodges for those who want more comfort. Facilities include a modern heated amenity block, a drying room, a launderette and even an on-site art gallery, and boat owners can use the slipway onto the loch. This is a site for people who want oakwoods, otters and silence rather than entertainment, and the reviews reflect that: recent visitors praise the spacious pitches, the helpful wardens and the view over the water. The night skies here are seriously dark. Allow a slow day for the drive out to Ardnamurchan lighthouse, and watch the loch at dusk, because the otters are not a rumour.

9. Glenmore Campsite, Loch Morlich

4.0 ★ Tripadvisor rating from 1,300+ reviews

Glenmore Campsite puts you among ancient Caledonian pines beside Loch Morlich, the Cairngorms loch with its own sandy beach and a mountain backdrop. Run on Forestry and Land Scotland's national forest estate, it is a big site with around two hundred pitches across grass, hardstanding and electric options, taking tents, campervans, caravans and motorhomes, and unusually for the Highlands it is open all year round. Facilities cover toilets, showers, dishwashing and laundry, dogs stay free, and there is deliberately no Wi-Fi, which reviewers tend to mention approvingly once they have recovered. It is the best all-rounder in this list for families: swimming and paddleboarding from the beach, forest bike trails from the gate and the Cairngorm plateau above, with Aviemore ten minutes away when the rain sets in. Pitches under the pines are the atmospheric choice; lochside ones get the view. Book school holidays early, as this is one of Scotland's best-loved sites.

10. Rothiemurchus Camp and Caravan Park, near Aviemore

4.5 ★ Google rating from 330+ reviews

Rothiemurchus Camp and Caravan Park is small and beautifully kept, with around forty pitches scattered among towering Scots pines on one of Scotland's finest estates, a couple of miles from Aviemore in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park. The heated amenity building, with proper showers, dishwashing and a laundrette, draws consistent praise, and one Tripadvisor reviewer calls it a "beautiful woodland campsite", which is exactly right. Red squirrels at breakfast are a genuine likelihood, and the estate's walking trails, lochs and activity centre are on the doorstep. Two quirks to know before you go: bookings are made by email or phone rather than online, and dogs are only accepted with motorhomes and caravans, not in the tent area, so plan accordingly. It suits couples and quieter families who want the Cairngorms without a big-park feel. Walk the estate path to Loch an Eilein, one of the loveliest short walks in Scotland.

Before you book

Two words decide a Highland trip: season and midges. May, June and September offer the best light, quieter roads and the fewest bites; July and August evenings on the west coast demand repellent, a head net and a sense of humour. Distances are long and single-track roads are slow, so base yourself in one or two areas rather than touring daily, and remember passing places are for passing, not parking. Book summer weekends well ahead, especially on Skye and along the North Coast 500, and note that several sites here handle tent pitches on a first-come basis even when hook-ups are bookable, so arrive early in the day. Pack for four seasons whatever the month, and bring a windproof layer even in July.

When you are ready, find a campsite and point the car north. Warming up with something closer to home? Start with the best campsites in the Lake District, or see what made the best UK campsites of 2026, so far.