Glamping

I have recently returned from a family holiday in the Highlands and Islands of the West Coast of Scotland.

Our travels took us to the Isle of Arran, a wonderful mix of nostalgic atmosphere and outdoor activity. Next we travelled to the isolated coastal area of Kintyre, which hangs down like an loose arm from the mainland. Taking a short ferry ride to get there we were greeted by a 15 mile single track road before getting closer to the main town of Campbeltown. From there we kept going until we reached the edge of the Irish Sea and the campsite at Machrihanish. 

I always wonder what people do for a living in that type of environment. In this isolated edge of Europe, apart from farming, how do people survive? I raised the conversation with my husband who responded with the brilliant quip ’in Scotland camp sites and golf courses are like rats, you’re never more than 10m away from one’.

It was a light bulb moment for me. Sure enough everywhere I looked there was a cleared bit of land, either in woodland or on the sea shore, with a few caravans and tents pitched. Any spare land between the cattle and sheep farms had been carved into spectactularly beautiful golf courses.

When we got to our own wigmam at Machrihanish, we were absolutley delighted with it. Looking at it objectively it was a sturdy, well equiped, wooden pointy shed. But the word ‘wigwam’ is just so romantic, and the setting of rolling hills down to the Irish Sea and (yes you’ve guessed it) a top notch golf course.

It got me thinking about the opportunity for rural Scotland to capitlise on the glamping trend which is currently being covered in every weekend suppliment and lifestyle magazine. How better to add value to the whole campsite than placing a few interesting structures for people to sleep in around the site? Wigwams, tipis, yurts, painted gypsy caravans, airstream caravans, tree houses, the list goes on. £20 per night for a large tent pitch becomes £40 per night for a relatively inexpensive capital outlay.

Entrepeneurial Scottish tourist businesses should grab it with both hands and turn the trend into a long term step change in value and experience for the hardy souls who want a remote rural experience, but like me could be enchanted out of my hard earned cash by a romantic twist to the camping experience.

Inside the wigwams @ Machrihanish