Scotland Driving Question

Along the "M" highways (M74 as opposed to A74 or B8062)of which there are precitous few in Scotland, the service areas seem completely safe and you frequently see people sleeping in their cars. I don't recall seeing any "security" folks walking around however and since the place has a gas station, snack bar, etc, with the attendant noise, I'm not sure how much rest you would get.

"Completely safe" might be a stretch, inside the station is safe but some of the car parks can be quite deserted at night. It's not uncommon to see people sleeping (usually in lorries) but what's sensible for a big trucker is not necessarily the same for two women. One thing to be aware of is that most motorway services have a time limit for free parking, 2 hours is common, so a full nights sleep could end up in a parking ticket.

As mentioned by the previous posters we don't have US style "rest stops," motorway services are the closest, being maybe halfway between that and a "truck stop" and not really suited for sleeping. Wikipedia has a reasonable description Service Station.

As this is the internet I'm almost honour bound to deviate from the OP's original question and offer some unsolicited advice: It seems a shame to me to spend thousands of dollars to fly a quarter of the way around the world to then have a uncomfortable night of interrupted sleep, probably spoiling the next day, to save the price of a cheep motel.

If you're willing to pay in advance the Travelodge chain have rooms from £19 for example.

What Peter said. A quick nap would be ok, but they do have a 2 hr. rule and they do enforce it. I have seen bobbies walking about at 2 AM.

Thank you very much for the thoughts. I will look into the travelodges.

Unlike John I've never seen the police patrolling service station car parks. Parking limits are enforced by private security firms who are not known for being sympathetic when money is a stake!

P.S. Travelodge was just an example of the top of my head, there are other motel chains plus independents.

Consider train travel. You can rest on the train- though most of the time you won't be on there overnight (maybe London/Edinburgh route). Sleeping in your car is not really safe anywhere anymore.

Heather, check into Hostels and B&Bs as well. If you're willing to share the bathroom, you can find some lower priced options and you'll probably meet some interesting people. I celebrated my 45th birthday in a "Youth" Hostel. You can stop in the Tourist Information Office and they will book something in your price range for a fee, or give you lots of suggestions that you can call.

BTW I love driving in Scotland. The wee roads are fun and you'll see some spectacular scenery. Be sure and factor lots of photo stops into your travel times.

Pam

We will fly into Edinburgh and I have business contacts I need to make in the city for a couple of days-- but I am figuring we can see some in town stuff those days. Then, we were thinking of renting a car and just driving around until we flew home. We should have 4 nights-- 5 days of driving around. We love taking landscape photographs. I have heard that the place is gorgeous. And, my name being Heather-- any chance we will see any in June? Or will that be too late?

Edinburgh, Inverness, Ft William, Oban, Edinburgh makes a nice two-day drive with plenty of stopping time. (Stay on the north side of the Great Glen/Caledonian Canal where possible and allow time to stop at the staircase locks at Ft Agustus.) No real recommendation on the Oban -- Edinburgh segment since I'm not a Glasgow fan; many others are.

Aviemore is a lovely village between Inverness and Edinburgh. Lots of landscape photo opportunties as it is in the Caringorm Mts. You could drive or take the train. There is a restored steam train that does a nice round trip and follows the Spey river- you get to see some lovely countryside. You can take the funicular up Mt. Caringorm and get great distance shots. There is also a small company that does photo day trips out of Inverness. They take you in a converted military vehicile and teach you about photography and have printing facilities righ there. You could probably reach them through the Inverness Tourist Information Center (that's where I saw their pamphlet). Inverenss is another good base for photgraphers- lots of good drives/day trips to lovely places. Great Glen, Glen Coe, Armandale gardens, Elliean Donnan castle, Loch Ness and Castle Urquart, etc.

Actually, in June, you're too early for heather. It comes in late August. But the scenery will be gorgeous any time of year and in June you'll have lovely long days to enjoy it. There are some lovely drives. You'll want to get off the A9 for a bit if you can. I would recommend driving to Perthshire the first night you could stay in Dunkeld or over to Aberfeldy. Get a good atlas and take some of the B roads that take you over the hills. Glen Lyon is beautiful. Pam.