You have booked your campervan with The Tartan Camper Company , the best campervan rental in Scotland, and the open road awaits you. The children are excited about sleeping in the campervan, and the dog is looking forward to being taken on fresh walks and encountering new smells!
You’ll drive through some amazing scenery; mountain ranges, lochs, forests, waterfalls and castles, which will take your breath away. However, the wonderful thing about Scotland is its vast, and undiscovered, sandy, sunny, and secluded beaches! There’s a lot to be said for hiring a campervan, it gives you the freedom to go where you want, stay close to many of the beaches we’re going to recommend, and then move on to the next.
So, here are our top 5 beaches, in no particular order, to explore in Scotland.
West Beach St Andrews
Just on the edge of the University town of St Andrews (the third oldest University in the English speaking world), and running along-side St Andrews golf course, is West Beach Sands.
Park along-side the golf course, and wander through the sand dunes down to the beach. When the tide is out it offers a mile and more of flat solid sand to walk, run, play cricket or football, swim in the shallow waters or fly a kite!
Tresness, Isle of Sanday, Orkney Islands
Yes, it’s a long way to get there, but it’s well worth it! You’ll almost certainly be alone and have the place to yourself, as there are miles of unspoilt white sandy beaches. Huge dunes flank the sides of the beaches and in the warmer summer month you may see archaeologist excavating Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements. A great place for walkers, explorers and bird watchers. Explore the amazing images at www.orkney.com/explore/sanday
Nairn Beach, Nairn
If you are driving the North Coast 500 route you’ll start in Inverness, and just 16 miles east of Inverness is a slice of Scottish paradise with the seaside town of Nairn. Views from the beach show snow topped mountains and dolphins swinging up and down Moray Firth – there’s also been the odd tiger shark seen. The beach offers something for everyone: Kite surfing, swimming, long walks and a family friendly sandy spots to stay all day. Just back from the beach is a playground for children, two golf courses and some great food. Our personal recommendation is James’ Café serving homemade ice creams and coffee.
Coldlingham Bay
Outside of Edinburgh, on the Berwickshire coast is Coldlingham Bay, one of several beaches within an hour-and-a-bit drive from the capital. Well used by dog walker and surfers it was a recent winner in the Scottish Beach awards which promotes clean, well manged and sustainable costal beaches. Walk the Creel path for more breath taking wildlife and crystal-clear seas.
Aberdeen Beach
You would not imagine thatthe "Granite City" is known for its beach, but the art deco inspired promenade has a bucketful of charm and old world standards. The coastline stretches 3 km and is one of the best beaches in Scotland to see bottlenose dolphins in the summer. Walk towards Footdee and explore a former fishing village with spade-loads of appeal, lined with quirky fisherman’s cottages built for those working on the boats and harbour over a century ago.
