Jo Barnes hires a motorhome and takes a trip with her husband and three boys through Ireland before popping over to Scotland. It all started with a chance meeting with some friends in a supermarket in Newport. They were regaling us with stories of their motorhome and what fun they’d been having with it.

Now, we’ve got a tent and absolutely no aversion to driving for miles between campsites in a bid to discover all a region has to offer.

So it seemed to us – why not combine the two? Go for a roadtrip to a place we’ve never been but instead of the hassle of having to pitch the tent every couple of days, we’d hire a motorhome and see what advantages it gave us on our holiday.

So, with that decision taken, it was time to plan the trip and find the motorhome.

The trip was easy. We’d never been to Ireland – so we decided to go. We planned a trip crossing with Stena Line from Fishguard to Rosslare, driving up through Ireland to Belfast and then crossing to Scotland to finish off in Glencoe.

But finding the motorhome proved to be a bit more difficult. There are any manner of firms out there offering motorhomes for hire for all sorts of prices and with all sorts of added extras and hidden costs. After a lot of research – and the feeling that we were leaving things a bit late – we decided on a firm with a nearby pick up point. Thinking we’d found a firm which offered unlimited mileage it was only after we paid that we found out their idea of unlimited mileage was 100 miles per day of the trip – and anything extra was charged at a set fee per mile.

On the day we turned up to pick up the vehicle, we were disappointed to find it looking a bit battered, with some trim being held on with gaffer tape and a few dents and scratches on the body work but it was too late to do anything about it as we had a ferry to catch and needed to pack before heading off.

Once we hit the road, the adventure began.

The crossing with Stena Line was relaxing and fun.

The ferry was comfortable and beautifully designed.

After missing our original afternoon crossing we ended up on the overnight sailing meaning we arrived in Rosslare early in the morning.

Number one on our list of things to do in Ireland was to visit Blarney Castle and kiss the stone. So we headed south from Rosslare to Cork hugging the beautiful coastline in the monster of a motorhome.

We’d decided on a six-berth, as there were five of us (all adult size). We found it comfy for travelling around in and sleeping but discovered you needed to be ultra organised to keep it tidy.

Blarney Castle was full of Americans. This was to be a bit of a theme on our stay in southern Ireland.

After a long queue to get to the top of this castle, the Blarney stone was duly kissed – although not by me (having to hang upside down off the top of a castle being held onto by a chap I didn’t know put me off a bit, as did my fear of heights) but I was there to record the others kissing the stone.

With that ticked off, it was time to head to Dublin. A drive through the beautiful countryside on an almost deserted motorway took us to a campsite on the outskirts of the capital city. We booked in for two nights and decided to take a taxi into the city centre in search of the craic – and boy, did we find it.

Dinner in a bar with a traditional band blasting out some fantastic music was followed by a pint of Guinness in The Brazen Head, an atmospheric, rammed pub, reputedly the oldest one in the city. As I mentioned before, Americans were everywhere. You hardly heard an Irish accent – we found out that we were in town at the same time as 35,000 American football fans who were there for a college football game.

The following day it was back to the city centre (this time via a bus which conveniently stops right outside the campsite) for an open-top bus tour of the sites – and the second ‘must-do’ on our list, a trip to the Guinness Storehouse.

Hordes of queuing Americans had the same idea as us, but it really didn’t matter. Finding out how the black stuff was made, about the history of the brand and the chance to sample it fresh from the brewery was fantastic – even though some of the Americans didn’t seem to like the taste and were leaving unfinished pints all over the Gravity Bar at the top of the Storehouse – which on a less busy day would give you fabulous views over the city.

On this particular day, you found a space and you stayed in it before inching your way back to the staircase after your delicious pint and wending your way down to the equally packed gift shop to stock up on some goodies with which to remind you of your trip.

Laden with everything from chocolate to tankards and T-shirts to fridge magents, we got back on the sight-seeing bus and headed back into town.

We’d been recommended a place called the Market Bar as a great venue for food. This tapas restaurant was excellent, the atmosphere amazing and the food reasonably priced.

The following day we decided to head back into the city for another look round (taking in the old Jamieson distillery this time around), and another fabulous Irish breakfast on O’Connell Street, before heading north to a campsite at Bushmills, a stone’s throw from the Giant’s Causeway.

Any visitor to Northern Ireland should go to the Giant’s Causeway. It is a World Heritage Site and it is well worth the entry charge the locals had been moaning to us about the night before in a local pub.

Armed with our recorded tour guide, we wandered around the causeway finding out about the geology of the area and the legend of Finn McCool.

It was an absolutely beautiful day and being out in the fresh air with the sea breeze was just perfect.

Just along the coast from here is the Carrick-a- Rede rope bridge, which swings precariously from the mainland over to a tiny island.

We joined the queue of those wending their way down to the bridge – now, I’m not good with heights and I certainly didn’t want to cross this bridge while my teenage son was enjoying himself jumping up and down in the middle to make it shake rather vigoursly.

So I apologise to the people waiting behind me but I had to wait until the bridge was clear, kept my eyes firmly looking up and my hands firmly clutching the two handrails and then marched briskly across, knowing that I’d have to make the return journey at some point soon.

Both crossings complete, we once again hopped into the motorhome and drove through the wonderful Antrim countryside towards Belfast and an interestingly-located campsite behind huge fences in the middle of what seemed to be an industrial estate.

The following day, after some delicious fish and chips and a good sleep, we headed into the city centre for another open top bus tour.

We found out all about George Best and the Titanic, visited Stormont and learned about the city folks’ pride in their barrage (which Newport could learn a few lessons from) and then headed out to the Falls Road and Shankhill Road to view the Peace Wall and some of the murals. This part of the trip felt a bit voyeuristic and I did feel a touch uncomfortable – not because of where we were but because of why we were there.

With a rendition of Danny Boy adapted specially by our young tour guide we were back in the city centre and it was time to get to the ferry port for our trip over to Scotland and our two night stay in the village where my father was born at the foot of Ben Neivs.

On the way up to the Highlands we stopped at a rather unfriendly campsite on the banks of Loch Lomond at Balloch. Fair enough we’d turned up a bit later than their 8.30pm cut off and fair enough they did find us a space after a bit of doe-eyed pleading on my part but it certainly wasn’t the welcome I was hoping for from Scotland.

The following morning it was another drive north through the dramatic scenery of the Highlands, over the desolately beautiful Rannoch Moor and through Glencoe. We popped to Fort William to buy supplies and headed back to Glencoe for a walk up to the Hidden Valley – a breathtaking walk next to a powerful waterfall on another sunny late summer afternoon.

Then we decided to find a campsite for the night – and what a find.

We headed to Onich, a tiny village just south of Fort William where we booked in to a Caravan Club site at Bunree on the banks of the loch. The previous night they had suffered torrential rain but for the two nights we were there it was just perfect – calm, blue skies, clean air – just beautiful.

Behind Bunree are Inchree Falls, another mustvisit part of the Lochaber area. We took a walk up there, watched some people enjoying a spot of gorge-walking and then headed back to Glencoe for a drink at the world famous Clachaig Inn before heading south with one aim in mind for the trip home.

Lockerbie, known worldwide as being the site of an horrific act of terrorism, is home to one of the best cafes we have ever come across – Cafe 91 – where you can get a fantastically filling breakfast at a very reasonable price. We wanted to stop there to fill up before taking to the motorway for the trip south.

So we pootled down from the Highlands, stopping off at Doune Castle near Stirling where most of Monty Python’s Holy Grail film was shot (sadly it was closed so we didn’t get to play with the coconuts they helpfully keep under the counter in the shop) before stopping at Beattock for dinner and a campsite.

The first one we went to turned out to be a field in the middle of nowhere and not really what we were looking for. We were directed to one in the centre of town where the receptionist took one look at our rather forlorn-looking motorhome and offered us a pitch without electricity for £40 for the night.

No thanks, we thought, and were pointed in the direction of another campsite on the edge of town which turned out to be something out of Aufwiedersein Pet – full of chaps working on the motorway living in static caravans. Well, it was only for one night amd it was cheap – and Lockerbie was close enough for us to get to in time for breakfast, which is exactly what we did.

And then we headed home, wondering when we’d do it all again...

Motorhome hire tips

• Hire a motorhome which is big enough for your needs – a four-berth might be a bit of a squeeze if your children are quite big so it would be a good idea to have a look at some motorhomes to see what they offer.

• Try not to leave it to the last minute to book a motorhome as you’ll find the choice is limited and you may not be able to get the dates you want.

. Remember to give yourself time to pick up the motorhome (hirers will have set times for pick up and drop off) – you may have to add an extra day’s hire and at the beginning and end of your holiday to be safe.

• Check the small print for any hidden costs – you could be charged extra for extra mileage, using gas or not emptying the toilet cassette.

• Try not to use the toilet or shower if you don’t have to – it means you don’t have to clean the toilet cassette which is not the most pleasant job to do.

• Some hirers charge you extra if you want to take the motorhome to southern Ireland or into Europe.

FACTFILE

• We crossed from Fishguard to Rosslare and from Belfast to Cairnryan with Stena Line. For prices, timetables and other information visit www.stenaline.co.uk.

We took advantage of the Stena Plus lounge which is included as part of the Premium fare and which you may be able to upgrade to once onboard.

• www.DiscoverIreland.com is a must when planning your trip – it is packed with lots of ideas of things to do, places to see etc

• It is better to book ahead when planning a camping trip, especially during busy periods.The Irish Caravan and Camping Council (www.camping-ireland.ie) publish a really helpful booklet of recommended campsites throughout Ireland.All the campsites we stayed at in Ireland were in this booklet.

• It could be worth joining the Caravan Club is you are planning on making motorhoming a regular pastime – www.caravanclub.co.uk