I did it this year as part of a 2000 mile route ,i took 6 days in all much to quick,but what an amazing scenic drive,i did it the opposite way round to whats recommended but lots people scenery wise say that is best,up the east coast across the top down the west coast,i went with no accomadation booked at all, at end July,lots places doing B & B always used to get digs easy,but because of scottish 500 a lot were full,i got some B & B but one night used a tent i had taken with me,one night somepne let me hire her touring caravan in back garden that she does digs in,i had good weather that is why i just went suddenly when forecast good,i intend to go to orkneys next year on the spur of moment.
Great pics. We did it last October. Found the stretch between Ullapool and Durness most enjoyable - a fast, open and fantastically scenic road, canât wait to do it again.
SWMBO saw a program on TV recently which showed bits of the North Coast 500 (I missed it so donât know which one it was) and then this morning read the latest STHT, so now she has decided we will be doing it next spring, while including a visit to relatives in Scotland.
Now I just need to persuade her we will be doing it in the NC (for North Coast) and not the Mazda3.
Some very interesting tips and hints on this thread.
My wife and I currently in the early stages of planning a NC500 trip this 2018 summer in our Ceramic ND, probably in June.
For some reason I assumed all folk would do the trip in an anticlockwise direction, probably because the âRough Guide to the North Coast 500â book , suggested seven day itinerary does it that way round.
However I have been doing further research, on this, and other forums and a clockwise trip round has been the order of the day.
I am now wondering which is the best way to do it - clockwise or anticlockwise??
It did strike me that if the majority went the same way round âgoing with the flowâ would reduce head on congestion on the more narrow roads.
I would be grateful for any thoughts on the pros and cons along with any other suggestions.
We did our trip clockwise, some say anti is better as you leave the best for last if you follow. Going on that statement I agree West is best but thatâs just my opinion many folk will tell you the East side is just as picturesque and interesting, you just need more time to find the places off route.
Which brings me around to time, we found over 6 days we were rushed each day, I think even spending a whole month up there wouldnât do it justice. We plan on returning next May, which is very specific but we want to do it at in a different season in the year, last year we did it in September going into October. Missing out the summer period also brings into the equasion of avoiding the midges which can be a problem in the warmer months in some parts.
We will be doing it anti clockwise when we return, spending more time on the East side as we seemed to rush that part last year. We will plan ahead and get our bookings done early, most likely by this summer, it can get booked up early as we found last year if you are doing B&B or hotels. Itâs a lovely part of the UK, we did 18 days total taking in the NC500 as part of the tour. Our tour started in Dumfries & Galloway and ended in Edinburgh taking in Loch Lomond, Loch Ness, Fort William, Oban, a brief encounter with Skye, Ullapool, Inverness, Pitlochry and many more including the odd distillery a few castles and gardens (NTS) etc.
Any info just ask, I canât say we know but will pas on what we do know now we have done the route. There are many members on here from that part of the world, well Scotland that will add more that I can, hopefully. Iâll just say itâs one of the best holidays we have had in many a year, made all the more special in the MX-5.
I did it years ago before it was branded & did a lot more than the NC500 - I stayed in Glasgow & went up the West coast - as I come from just west of Glasgow & stay there now I have a preference for that side of the country & it is more picturesque IMO
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If you like trout fishing then Caithness, commonly referred to as the âflow countryâ is really good for that, some good areas for salmon fishing as well. Iâd recomend getting a hold of Bruce Sandisonâs Trout Lochs of Scotland which has good info on a lot of lochs & who to contact for permits & discussions on what flies are best to use, you can pick a copy up on Amazon for 1p & postage! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trout-Lochs-Scotland-Fishermans-Guide/dp/0044400055
By strange coincidence my wife and I have been busy planning our route and booking hotels today. We are doing the anticlockwise trip for no particular reason. We are doing a mixture of b&bâs and hotels and one motel. The plan is to do a total of 13 nights staying at each place for 2 nights. Really looking forward to it going up from south Essex so that will be 600 miles just getting there! Going in my mk1 eunos hopefully weather will be good for the last 2 weeks of June and will be able to get the top down! Hopefully taking loads of photos so will post some after the trip.Â
I have let Nibor have a copy of a guide I have written on touring Northern Scotland . Some will know the area even better than I do but I first explored the wonderful area north of the Great Glen in 1983 so I have accumulated a fair bit of knowledge. If anybody would like a copy of the guide please pm me .
Just a short note to thank all who have responded to my plea for info. on the NC 500 - Especially John who kindly sent me an entertaining and informative guide with his take on the tour.
Thanks to John for the info on this tour. The wife and i will be tackling this route next year. We go to Fort William every year but this will be the first time in the 5. Cant wait to get her on some of the roads up there.
Just out of interest, now that the route is becoming more and more popular with motoring andbiking groups, whatâs the speed camera / mobile fuzz situation like? Not that i condone speeding but are the Scottish constabulary seeing it as a revenue spinner?
There is some evidence of more police activity but it is a tiny presence . What has triggered it is some locals understandably getting p****d off with convoys , especially like some of the idiots in supercars Iâve seen making too much noise and showing no consideration to anybody .Time it right , be discreet and respect the place and its people and itâs heaven .
We did it last September going into October and apart from the very built up areas saw very little in the way of police or speed cameras. You canât speed really unless you have a death wish, too much that takes your attention anyway, easy does it. As for convoys and high powered cars, not really, well not at the time of year we did it. A few of your racey types at Lands End I noticed when we were there but they were going the opposite way to us
On the whole we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, not much traffic, canât remember encountering many who either didnât give way or wanted to get past you quickly. Be aware the few that do are most likely locals getting on with daily life and you, weâve got all day as we are on our hols.Â
Iâm for anti clockwise simply as the western bit of the North coast all the West side bit in my opinion is so much better. The first bit from Inverness up the East Coast just doesnât compare, so get it out of the way first.Â
Some of the locals are pretty brisk . Last time I was up there I was making what I thought was good progress in my 220bhp Caterham , on a single track road with lots of blind bends somewhere near Lochinver. I saw that somebody was catching me - 911GT3, F458 perhaps ? Nah- ancient Peugeot van - local plumberâŚ
But I had better draw a discreet veil over the precise details of the time when (on a well sighted and totally deserted road miles from anywhere ) some superbikes thought they could outpace a Seven.They couldnât âŚ
I can better that, a few years ago, heading North East, somewhere north of Fort William, A87 I reckon, three MX-5s in convoy, now its was wet, but we werenât hanging about, but in the end we had to admit defeat, we pulled in, and let the faster vehicle behind us past, it was a local bus!
Watch out for Tesco man, we encountered him again the next day.
He doesnât hang about and the only vehicle I had to dive out of the way of, luckily we were close to a passing place but he wasnât going to stop no matter what
