We had an early start on Sunday as we were keen to get to York by late morning. We had booked onto the Leeds DA THS (Temporary Holiday Site); this is a benefit of being a C&CC member, each region hosts its own THS and club meets and these tend to be on large rally fields in interesting locations at a fraction of the cost of mainstream campsites. They tend to have chemical loo disposal, bins and a water tap and can cost between £5-£15 pn.

We stayed on the Bishopsthorpe THS for one night at a cost of £15 which compared to the prices of the club site in York £40pn+ we felt was a bargain.

Bishopsthorpe is just a couple of miles south of York and linked via a very good traffic free but tarmac cycle path. It’s also got a couple of pubs and is within easy access of the solar system. Yes, you read that correctly! York University installed a few years ago, a reduced, but still accurate scale solar system trail along a disused railway path now cycle trail.

You start at the sun, which is about a mile towards York from Bishopsthorpe and then cycle through the solar system for 6 miles! It’s wonderful. Each planet has some interesting info to read and there is even a replica of Voyager 2 along the way. (Click on individual pics to make larger)

We really enjoyed our cycle along here and would totally recommend it. More info here

Having cycled the solar system, we retraced our steps so to speak back into York- which was 10 miles from Pluto 😜 all off road and the last bit took us right through the Racecourse.

We’ve been to York many times so the usual tourist places were skipped this time, our evening was spent catching up with a friend of ours over some beers in some lovely dog friendly historical establishments. We particularly enjoyed a beer in the roof garden of The Habit- which had amazing views over the Cathedral. We also had a delicious toad in the hole dinner at the Guy Fawkes inn. (Where Guy Fawkes was born)

Our York time was short and sweet this time, but it’s one of our favourite cities in the UK and if you’ve not been we’d highly recommend it.

It’s worth keeping an eye out for the THSs as it’s a much cheaper way of visiting. But there are plenty of campsites to choose from for York adventures and it is a very cycle friendly and dog friendly city.

Moving on from York, we hit the A1 north for 4 hours across the border into Scotland and arrived at North Berwick. We have passed by many times but never stopped. We had intended on staying at the THS here but bad planning on my part hadn’t appreciated how far out of N Berwick it actually was and as the weather was rainy we wanted to be closer to town so we cold enjoy some pub action.

“Wild camping” is much more tolerated in Scotland than England so we decided to bypass the THS and find ourselves a spot closer to town instead. We found a great spot on Tantallon terrace just on the outskirts of N Berwick via Park4night app and couldn’t believe our luck when we managed to get a spot which would work only for a side on small van like ours.

Jackpot!

We settled in, and had a walk into town for a few drinks. Our parking spot was free so we were keen to spend some pennies in town. We had a couple of drinks and chatted to locals in the Auld Hoose and then more drinks at the Ship, before going back to the van and drinking in the magnificent views.

Next day and we decided to stay for an additional night- the sun was shining so we offloaded our bikes and had a cycle around the local area. We looked at Tantallon castle and enjoyed the coastal views. We then made our way back into town for a delicious lunch at the Lobster shack. My north Berwick lobster and crab rolls were just Devine!

From here we made our way back to the van for a bit fat chill. It was great and we’d really enjoyed our time here. There were many vans parked up, but everyone seemed to be behaving themselves and locals didn’t seem bothered either.

After our second night we moved on further north, taking nothing but photos and leaving nothing but footprints. A perfect start to our roadtrip and great to be back in Scotland, our spiritual home