NC 500 (Scotland)

[Sparkymart]

Hi all I'm looking at driving up from Cornwall and driving the NC 500 . I'm planning to drive up to the lake District and stay overnight to break the journey to Inverness and back into to shorter drives.

 

Has anyone drove the NC 500? If so any tips , advice, places to visit and stay , etc would be gratefully received

I'm planning on doing this in early August.

Thanks in advance

 

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

If it was me I would ignore the east coast and concentrate on the west.  The west and Skye are breathtaking. The east is very  mmmmmmm . Not so.

 

[BigSkyBrad]

@Martin Rice (Sparkymart) - Cornwall AO

 

How about doing it mid-August and include the Scottish Lowlands Navigational Mystery Run (200) on the way home - after the NC500 you'll be a dab-hand at single track roads!?! It's on Saturday 24th of the bank holiday weekend, so that gives you two days to get back down to Cornwall - and there's great roads from Peebles right down to the border, then over the Pennines.

[Alfascozzesi]

Just back from doing this a fortnight ago and while I agree with Geoffrey that the best bits are in the North and West coasts I wanted to do the NC500 so we did the full thing. We actually did it in reverse going up the East coast first. There is a route where you go cut out the East coast and go across diagonally to the North which is a good road.

 

All in all the East coast isn’t bad though. All the pictures below are along the East coast on our first day (doing it in reverse). It’s a great trip.

 

We stayed the first night in the Tongue Hotel and then the next in Gairloch.

 

Things I enjoyed seeing where the lighthouse / stacks at Dunnets Bay head, Smoo caves, the many beautiful beaches along the coast. Wanted to stop at the Waligoe steps but drove past the turn off, will have to do another day!

 

I am sure you will love it.

 

 

[Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO]

I'm just back from it too, but did a slightly different route. Started near Dundee, drove across the Cairngorms to Inverness, then around the North Coast but instead of cutting back across to Inverness, went south to Skye instead.  That route worked out really well.

 

In terms of things to do, depends on what you're after. If you're into hiking, there are no shortage of places. Can let you know a few of the ones we did.  Otherwise, there are a few really cool castles which are well worth a visit.  My favourite of these was probably castle Sinclair Gringoe, but there are plenty around. 

 

 

If you're camping, there are no shortage of wild camp spots. If you're self sufficient, I'd actively avoid planning where you're going to stop each night so you have the flexibility if you see something nice to just stop and stay there. Obviously goes without saying to leave no trace afterwards etc. 

 

If you want to do a Distillery tour somewhere, that's definitely worth advance booking. I didn't do it far enough ahead and ended up going to a slightly disappointing tour at a new distillery. 

 

Other than that, one serious word of warning for that time of year - you will be eaten alive by midges. I went in May for that reason and they arrived half way through my trip.

[BigSkyBrad]

Yeah, the east coast…hmmm…from Inverness to Wick is ok, but won’t set your world on fire. There’s some twisty little roads in the middle of the 500. We spent a week in a cottage in Lairg and spidered out in a different direction/loop each day and did the 500 that way, so did way more than 500 miles. The Falls of Shin was good to see as the salmon were leaping up them. John O’Groats is a tourist rip-off, it’s Dunnet Head that’s the most northern point. Though from J O'G you can get an early passenger ferry from there (in the pic above) to Orkney and a tourist coach takes you for a guided day trip around the island, was very interesting.

 

So my recommendation would be to turn off at Tain, go inland to Lairg, up through Altnaharra (coldest recorded temp in UK – minus 27 from memory) to Tongue then east along the coast to Dunnet Head (and J O’G if you insist). Then head west towards Smoo Caves and Caithness as the 500 does – yes, there’s 30-40 miles you’ve already done but it always looks different in the other direction. One tip for the 500 – if you see a gas station, fill up, a lot of them run on Highland time.

[Alfascozzesi]

John o Groats is the most Northernly inhabited place and Dunnet Head is the most Northerly point is the difference we were told. Nice to get a pic at both signs.

 

The stacks at Dunnets Bay East of JoG was really good. Dunnet Head is West of JoG.

 

We were lucky with the midges as there was always a breeze which keeps them down.

 

No rights and wrongs though whichever route you choose will be great 

[Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO]

JoG might be a tourist trap, but get there early enough and the views are quite nice and it's quiet. There's a nice little cafe that does breakfast for about £3.50 too. It was ideal for a morning stop off, but I wouldn't spend any longer there personally. 

[Alfascozzesi]

1 hour ago, AndrewOBW said:

JoG might be a tourist trap, but get there early enough and the views are quite nice and it's quiet. There's a nice little cafe that does breakfast for about £3.50 too. It was ideal for a morning stop off, but I wouldn't spend any longer there personally. 

 

Agreed. Get a pic by the sign and then grab a bite to eat. There is a wee van closer to the sign / view than the more permanent cafes / gift shops which is fine with nice folk serving.

[Sparkymart]

Thanks for the information guys and different routes @Geoffrey (Buttercup) - North Yorkshire AO do you have any more info on the route you suggested?

@BigSkyBrad I like the sound of doing a cottage as a base

The midges sound a bit disconcerting as things that bite love me  

Any advice on the number of days I would need to do it in ?

Cheers again

[BigSkyBrad]

For the midgies, use Smidge That Midge from any good outdoor store/ebay, or Avon Skin So Soft (really!, the army uses it - and you'll be ever tho thoft and thupple😘)

[Onliest Smeg David]

1 hour ago, Martin Rice (Sparkymart) - Cornwall AO said:

 

Any advice on the number of days I would need to do it in ?

 

Everyone will suggest different !!!

 

But for my pennies worth.....

Take as long as you can to make the most of the time up there, it's a long way especially from you.

Panda and me did 7 shortish distances Mancesher > Manchester between overnight (but missed out North East section), so we could decide whether to head straight there or undertake longer circuitous route enjoying more roads or go for a drive around after dumping gear at overnight stop.

 

Conversely I'm sure someone will have done the whole of NC500 in one stint!

 

Really it's down to how you'll enjoy it most.

[Davep1]

21 minutes ago, Dave (OnliestSmeg) - Manchester AO said:

 

 

Conversely I'm sure someone will have done the whole of NC500 in one stint!

 

 

In a land rover series 1...

 

[Onliest Smeg David]

11 minutes ago, Davep1 said:

In a land rover series 1...

 

So easily doable in a Westie! 

[Sparkymart]

As long as your not stuck behind a caravan..!