Starting out?

Hello!  My first post, so please be gentle if I've got this in the wrong place etc.  Me and my partner are looking to start doing some wild camping.  We've done plenty of campsites, but need something a bit more exciting and not so run of the mill.  We're not in the best of health so a epic voyage up a  mountain would be no good for us; but we have relative stamina and plenty of determination.  What I'm really after is some suggestions on good places to start our wild camping journey.  We're not too far from the Lake District, but you have the legal issues with wild camping there so we've been looking more at the Forest of Galloway in Scotland which seems to be a great place to visit (although I've never been before).  Can anyone suggest a few good spots in this area (with some great views < what we all want i think .  We would be looking at maybe doing this over a weekend or at most 4 days.  Any suggestions in or around this area would be greatly appreciated.Hope you can help,ThanksAsh

Hi Ashley.  When you say you've done plenty of campsites, how did you get to them? The essence of wildcamping is to carry all your gear on your back.  If your experience so far has been arriving at the site by car, you might do better to start by backpacking on valley routes, which will mean you'll probably camp on a site.  As your experience goes up you'll refine your choice of kit, almost certainly by learning that you can leave some of it at home, have a lighter pack to carry and get fitter. Then you can tackle the hills and find good wild sites.  

Hi Frum,  You are right in saying we have arrived at all the campsites in the past by car; we really want to get away from this.  We understand that a hike will be required to reach the best places and have been looking at downsizing from our 6 man tent and all the gear we normally take; we really do want to take just the bare essentials.  One of the aims of this is to get fitter in the process and so we obviously dont want to jump in at the deep end.Your idea of back packing on valley routes first to get to grips and raise our fitness is one i shall consider and might be a better way to break us in.
Thanks for the info - if anyone else has suggestions they are all welcome

Cheers

My suggestions would be to travel across the border and either wild camp in the Borders or Galloway Hills area. Wild camping is permitted as long as you are away from habitation, which I ineterupt as being out of sight of farms or cottages which is quite easy to do.  Don't go too far from your car, a few miles would be fine just in case things go wrong. You can also use the tent as a base the next day or in the evening for a walk.