Simon Brassey

An amazing experience

We recently had an amazing experience doing the North Coast 500 in “Bonnie”; in fact our whole experience when dealing with Heatherlee Motorhome was excellent, nothing was too much trouble for Tony and Gilly, they were so helpful. The van was immaculate, she drove beautifully, well equipped and very comfortable indeed. We have hired motorhomes for touring-holidays in the past, but this was by far our best experience. There was no hidden extras, Bonnie was extremely good value for money, in fact we have already booked two weeks in May 2024 for another adventure to the beautiful North of Scotland and hopefully this will include the islands too.

For anyone looking to do the NC 500 we can highly recommend this trip. The scenery is absolutely breath-taking, the people are friendly and lots to see and do locally. To our surprise, despite our trip being in early June, the campsites were not full to capacity; and without exception, all of the campsites we chose were in beautiful locations, with excellent facilities and lots to do in terms of viewing wildlife, forest walks and local points of interest. Here is a taster from our adventure:

Day 1 — Once collecting Bonnie, we headed for John O’Groats, taking in the sights of Inverness and Dornoch on route North.

Day 2 — We took an early morning boat trip from John O’Groats harbour out to Duncansby Head, there were wonderful sightings of nesting birds on the cliffs and sea stacks. This was an excellent trip, only a few days earlier there had been sightings of Minky Whale, Orka and Puffins. After the boat trip we headed for Dunnet Bay Campsite, a relatively short drive west of John O’Groats. On route we had a leisurely stop at the Castle of Mey, the former Queen Mother’s family home; the gardens are spectacular and the café is worth a visit too.

Day 3 — On route through Thurso we headed to our Campsite in Tamine Bay. This was a very small site in a beautiful sandy bay. To top it all, as the sun went down we had an amazing sighting of a pod of dolphins swimming in the bay.

Day 4 & 5 — We headed via picturesque Durness over to Scourie. Only a short drive from Scourie, we took two fabulous walks, one out to Sandwood Bay (14.5k walk) and the other via a short boat ride to Handa Island wildlife sancury (5k walk) - Highly recommend both walks.

Day 5 — Heading on down the West Coast through Ullapool, on route to our overnight stop at Inverewe Gardens Campsite, again another lovely drive and the campsite location was excellent, with good facilities. Inverewe National Trust Gardens and house is well worth a visit.

Day 6 — The drive from Inverewe to our next stop in Shieldaig was absolutely amazing. We stopped overnight at the beautiful village Campsite in Shieldaig. We recommend visiting Nanny’s tearoom in the village for breakfast!!

Day 7 — As we embarked upon our last leg of the tour, the drive from Shieldaig to Applecross was breath-taking. We would recommend taking the coastal road to Applecross and return via the mountain road, as Bealach na Ba is a very steep drive, with lots of hairpin bends, so best approached going downhill in a campervan. We stopped overnight at Applecross Campsite, having dinner at the Walled Garden. The food was delicious and the gardens impressive - Highly recommend!!

Day 9 — We headed East, back through Inverness, having one last stop before dropping Bonnie off. We stopped overnight at the lovely Aberlour Speyside Gardens campsite.

Day 10 — Bonnie was safely returned home to Tony and Gilly!

Overall a whirlwind 10 day trip, but definitely a most enjoyable holiday. We have included some photos to inspire anyone looking to do this amazing trip!

Thank you Tony and Gilly for all of your assistance and helping to make this one of our most memorable holidays. We look forward to our next trip in Bonnie May 2024!

Elaine Ritchie

Best Holiday

Just had the best holiday with Heatherlea motorhomes. We drove up from Kent and left our car safely on Tony and Gilly’s droveway. We took Bonnie out for a week touring the beautiful Highlands of Scotland with the freedom of going where we wanted. The camper was spotlessly clean, Gilly and Tony were so helpful and nothing was too much trouble. We have already booked for later in the year. Thank you for such a great time.

Richie

Excellent

What can we say, nothing was too much trouble on arriving our car was securely parked and the motorhome was so easy to drive and all the amenities were excellent clean and very well maintained. I think the price was very reasonable and would definitely recommend hiring from Heatherlee and driving around the Highlands. We will be back. Thank you.

Ashley Anderson

Everything was perfect

We hired the motorhome Bonnie from Heatherlee Motorhomes’ at the beginning of September 2023 for one week, I can honestly say that everything was perfect. The pick up and the run through of how everything worked was excellent they even gave us a welcome pack of shortbread and a card, how nice. Bonnie, the motor home for our week round the NC500 was immaculately presented and everything was included. We had a fantastic week’s holiday driving and living in Bonnie and can thoroughly recommend Heatherlee Motorhomes for anyone wanting to see Scotland at its best. It was the first time I had ever driven a motorhome and found it as easy as my car, Bonnie coped well with all the roads and passes we travelled. Just book and enjoy you will love it. Ashley Anderson

Jacqueline and Mike (plus Fifi and Mitzy)

A joy to travel in

We have just returned from our 7 day trip covering the North Coast 500 in one of the Heatherlee Motorhomes. We picked Clyde as we wanted to bring our 2 dogs along on the trip and the Clyde motorhome is pet friendly. We had an amazing time and Tony and Gilly made our trip stress free from start to finish and for answering all our questions so promptly. The motorhome was spotless and a joy to travel in and we loved the welcome box full of yummy goodies and beautiful card left in Clyde on our first day by Tony and Gilly. We can’t thank you guys enough and will be booking up soon for 2024. We highly recommend! Look forward to seeing you guys in 2024.

Stephen Legge

Highly recommended

Can't thank Tony and Gilly enough, for the service at Heatherlee Motorhomes. This was our 1st motorhome holiday and would highly recommend them, helpful with all the information intailed from start to finish. We done the NC500, the motorhome we hired was Clyde, which was super easy to drive. Very clean and comfy, We got a lovely welcome pack to start our holiday. Will definitely be used them again next year. Highly recommended.

Tracey Malka

Can’t thank you enough!!!

We hired Clyde at the end of August, and had an amazing time. The booking was very easy and Tony kept in touch throughout! Picking up the campervan was seamless and we had help putting the bikes on the back! Tony had installed a tetherpoint for the pup, so he was safe and secure throughout the trip! The birthday card was a lovely touch as were the snacks which we enjoyed! One thing my 6’3” partner was impressed by ... he could lay out flat on the bed with no issue!! He was expecting to be curled up in the fetal position all week. Can’t thank you enough!!!

Shane Mitchell

I would 100% recommend

Hired Clyde for 5 nights for my wife & I and our small dog, and we loved it. The communication from 1st message sent to even after we returned home was fantastic. Clyde was so clean and the thoughtful welcome box that we received along with a hand written card was a really nice touch. I would 100% recommend and I will definitely return. Our dog just loved it and was really happy. Thank you both of you.

Michael Chambers

A dream to drive

Hired Clyde for a trip round the NC500, well most of it, and what a great experience. From start to finish the communication from Tony and Gilly was first class. Ease of booking, payment and details for insurance purposes. Having 2 drivers on the insurance as standard was a great touch. Pricing is very competitive and even included gas for heat and cooking. Only extra to pay was for diesel.

Clyde was a dream to drive and, with it being only 6m, easy to manoeuvre in tight spots. All the features in the van worked well so absolutely no problems. Would definitely recommend hiring from Heather Lee, Tony and Gilly are such a lovely helpful couple, and we'll be using them again next time we're up in Scotland for another adventure.

Brian Livesey

We had all we needed

We hired Clyde for 2 weeks in June. The weather was cold and windy but the motorhome was comfortable and cosy. It was easy to drive. We thought the bed would be small and uncomfortable initially but in fact it was really comfortable. We didn’t use the shower as we used the campsite showers. The fridge, oven and hob was great and we appreciated the full tank of water on pickup and enough gas for all our meals. We had all we needed. Tony was very prompt with all communication, before and during the holiday. We loved our holiday and would hire this again.