We fancied a wee weekend away back in March, somewhere we could explore a bit more of the East coast, and that also wasn’t going to be mega expensive. We settled on the East Neuk of Fife, and after browsing Airbnb and hotels.com for a while I decided instead to go for our first ever Wigwam Holidays stay. (It turned out that this particular weekend was the weekend before lockdown began and at that time it felt very much like the apocalypse was imminent and we spent the whole time in the East Neuk avoiding all the humans. But that’s another story.)
A client of mine used to tell me about her travels to some of Scotland’s most beautiful places, always staying in Wigwam sites, just her and her dog. Her multiple return visits and glowing reviews always made me want to try them, and so this year I decided to give it a go.
Cosy and comfy
Wigwams are basically like camping, but in a cabin. Glamping – everyone’s heard of glamping now. They’re budget self-catering cabins, located in loads of sites all over Scotland, and all around the UK. Everywhere from Shetland to Skye, Campbelltown to Wigtown and loads of spots across the east coast. The cabins are basic but comfortable.
In each cabin there is a little kitchen with kettle, toaster, crockery, cutlery, cups, pots, etc; it had everything we needed for making breakfast/lunch. There is also a toilet with shower cubicle, a small table with chairs, a tv, and 2 smallish double beds. One of the beds is already set up as a bed on arrival and the other is a sofa that flips down into a bed.
You can bring your own bedding, or pay slightly extra for bedding for all the beds. There is also a bench outside each cabin for al fresco breakfasts, and up the far end of the campsite is a round hut with a fire pit in the middle for cooking barbecues, toasting marshmallows or just having a heat round the fire.
By the time we arrived on the Friday night it was already quite late, and with it still being winter it was also dark. So we grabbed what we needed and headed into the cabin with two very excited kids and one very excited dog to sort out our beds and attempt to get everyone to sleep. The ‘main’ bed is wedged into a cosy wee cubby hole, so we sorted the kids into their jammies and put them in there while we sorted the second bed which was a sofa bed. I’m quite a fussy sleeper and anything but a proper mattress usually means I hardly sleep, but to be honest even though it was a sofa bed it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t wake up through the night, nor did anyone else!
The front wall of the cabin is entirely made of glass, so when we woke in the morning and opened the curtains, the view was really beautiful. There’s not much around there and we were on top of a bit of a hill. We could see the forth bridges away over to the east and the firth of forth in front of us in the distance.
What to do in the area
The Wigwams at Largo Law are very well placed for exploring the beautiful coastline and beaches along the coast in the East Neuk. We stayed at the Wigwams Largo Law for two nights, and during that weekend we visited St Andrews, went for breakfast there and to St Andrews Castle; spent the full Saturday driving all along the coast, getting out at whichever beaches or beautiful little towns or villages we wanted; visited Cambo Gardens and went to see the Sonic movie at the cinema in Dundee. The farthest we went was to the cinema in Dundee on the Saturday night, and that was still less than 50 minutes back to our wee cabin.
The Largo Law Wigwams site wasn’t the easiest to find that first night in the pitch dark along tiny Scottish country roads: we drove past a road we were meant to go down multiple times. But once we’d been once it was really easy to find.
Ron, who runs the Wigwam site at Largo Law, rang me after I’d made my booking to check a few things and he was incredibly friendly. I (accidentally) hadn’t booked bedding for the kids and after realising this and sending a message a few days before he was more than happy to leave the bedding out before we arrived, and for us to just leave cash in the cabin for the cost.
The cost
For the two nights, for two adults, two kids and a dog our Wigwam cost us £170. The Wigwams are cosy, comfy and give you everything you need for a weekend away, especially a weekend with kids. So I think the £170 was really reasonable, especially considering what you’d pay for a hotel room. (If you can even get a hotel room to fit 4 people!)
The Verdict
This little trip to Fife was delightful. To be honest, when we’re away somewhere we’re always out exploring and doing stuff anyway, so a cabin or hotel room is mainly just a place to lay our heads for the night. Our cosy wee Wigwam was perfect for what we required for this weekend. Would highly recommend for families, and those with dogs.
