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Hi,

Myself i would do it in the day but my wife would prefere it with a stopover, you dont say the ages of the kids. You could break the trip at Moffit on the C&CC, you could just put the tent up and beds and the odd thing you'd need.

Your only 5mins if that from the shops, nice place

andy

We have a small overnight tent and stop over on long journeys. It enables you to see something on the way (be a bit more leisurely) and gives driver and the rest of us a break. We have highlander low seats, a backpackers table, a suitcase stove, cooking bits tupperware box and the bedding and airbeds at the top of the trailer so easy to reach and put back without disturbing the rest. We have one of the coolboxes positioned so that we can access the top of it for keeping the milk cold overnight. Only the small tent, its footprint groundsheet and the fabric low seats are extra to the main camping gear - the low seats are useful for picnics anyway. If you can eat out even better, but a nice cup of tea and cereals in the morning is essential!

The same set up means that we can visit somewhere a little further from the main camping base and stop over night if we want to... [never had to use it for this and hope we never will, but the small tent would also provide a backup if the worst happened with the big tent].

Helen

It depends on you and your kids... (mine are currently 1, 3 and 4)

When we go up to the north of Scotland (around Ullapool), we drive from home (Merseyside) to somewhere around Stirling and break the drive there.  Aviemore isn't too far from Stirling - just a quick dart up the A9.  So, If I were to make that journey, I would do it in one go without any second thoughts. 

I don't personally do overnights unless I absolutely have to.

On the other hand, I know one family in which neither the parents nor the kids could cope well with that journey so I would recommend they have a stop over about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way - that way the journey on the second day is shorter and you arrive on site earlier and can relax sooner!

Tiredness kills, its a message often seen on motorway signs, and its not worth the risk on such along journey, especially with children in the back who are boared and grumpy because they have had enough of being in the same place in the car all day, they can be quite a distraction to whoever is driving at the time.

There are plenty of travelodges around, but would advise avoiding the one at scotch corner which is rather run down and shabby, and situated on a busy road intersection which makes a lot of traffic noise 24/7.

There are some nice Innkepers lodges with the Kestral, just off the A1 near Harrogate, or theres one on the banks of Loch Lomand if you prefare somewhere more northern.

Whilst there you may like to visit the Highland wildlife park near Kingussie, it makes a good day out and you get a chance to meet the animals face to face at feeding time, as well as spotting the red squirels that roam around the trees in the carpark.

Julia