Hi sdg111. Did you mean Portree or Plockton, which I mentioned? Portree is a lovely place but I wouldn’t call it a small village like Plockton. We had a great Indian meal in Portree when we included the Isle Of Skye in our trip last year
Without trying to sound too much like a hipster, I was driving the NC500 before it was cool. OK, I was trying to sound exactly like a hipster. 
Many, many years ago when I was a student we went to a field course up in Bettyhill on the north coast and I fell in love with that part of the country. The entire north west corner in particular (from about Bettyhill, across to Durness and then down the coast towards Ullapool and beyond to Kyle of Lochalsh etc etc) is amazing. Fortunately I live close enough that I can go for a blast up there a couple of times a year. Even though I’ve done it loads of times, I’m still amazed by it. I’d sum up the experience by me going round a corner, seeing the landscape open up before me and thinking “it can’t get any better than this”, then I go around the corner and that’s exactly what it does!
The NC500 branding has done a lot to increase usage of the route but I’ve never found it to have caused problematic congestion or anything. In fact, it has meant that I have seen some nice, interesting cars up there.
For example, the car park at Smoo Cave, Durness about 3 years ago:
I did this with Central Scotland MX5OC did this several times from 2007 
good easter trips. The write up is still on the Scotland site
Fort William , home to the most disgusting food ever seen on my plate, the town which looks like something from East Germany in the Cold War and whose only saving grace is its petrol station. Try somewhere like Invergarry , it’s so much nicer , or even Onich .
we did in june this year 1650 mls over 10 days midlands to Carlisle …Carlisle to Inverness then the NC500 stop off at b&b on route all pre booked would not do it any other way, onto fort william then glasgow finish off at the lake district then home all in a MX5 RF brought the day before we went picked up on thursday night left friday morning sunnshine all the way no midges could not have done it in a better car recommend you do it but plan well
This trip is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while! This evening, one of our friends was round to say hello to our new puppy and also to say goodbye to us, as she’s bought a guest house in Scotland ( don’t ask me where though ) Anyway, as I’m saying goodbye and wishing her all the best in the new venture, she let it slip that I’ll be seeing her next May anyway, when we drop the dog off for a couple of weeks with her while we do the NC500. My wife’s face was a picture , our friend didn’t realise I wasn’t in the loop and let it slip! So, cat’s out of the bag, apparently all booked, she’s gotten the time off work, can’t wait now but have to pretend I don’t know about it so no questions can be asked
Barrie
Well, well you going next May Barrie or shouldn’t I ask?
Well our hols were booked in Sept for Scotland taking in the NC500 again, we set off in May first stop off Edinburgh and we work our way towards the NC500 from there.
Just to wet you appetite from when we did it Sept 2017, can’t wait to get back there.
Did part of this for the honeyhoon a few years back. Amazing trip. Highlights - the road from inverness to ullapool, and summerisle. I heard applecross is epic too but didn’t do that bit. Would definitely do it again but I’d skip out john o’groats and turn south after tongue, avoiding thurso and wick too.
Advice ? Plan your route for petrol stations carefully, if you’ve got a car mapped for something over 95/97 ron … pack enough octane boosters to boost you for 3-4 fills to get you to your mapped octane. take notes of your fueling/boosting so you keep it above the right octane. the Tesco superstores north of inverness don’t have 99, typically.
Expect cattle grids.
Hiya Mick, I’ll get some more details ( dates, times, stopovers etc) you never know, we might be able to meet up during the grand tour, if only for the day or whatever, that would be nice it might take a while to gain this classified information though
The pictures look brilliant, I’m really looking forward to this.
Barrie
^^^ BTW it’s a direction thing, most who have done it prefer a certain direction. Last year we did the route in a clockwise direction, next May we start it going in a anti clock direction but not strictly doing the whole route, probably 400 miles of it.
A good reference and loads of info, if you do Facebook head to the NC500 page or there’s the official NC500 website.
Anyone doing the 500 ought to think twice using fuel & time to John 'o Groats.
Nothing there really but a shop full of eastern imported tourist tat & tins of shortbread.
If it’s a must-do box ticker fine but it is what it is…bleak & boring.
I say this as a card-carrying Jockhanistani who loves every square inch of his country.
Even the s*it bits.
That’s where we are losing the 100 miles off our route, been there done that.
Also I’ll add Ullapool (sorry if you live there) worst bed for the night (I suppose that was our fault) worse fish & chips we’ve had, basically it’s a ferry terminal and a place to fill up with fuel.
All descriptions are of course personal, other towns available.
Despite having been as far south as Cape Town, when I was a nipper, it took me 60 years to get up to John O’Groats, but only 25 years to Manchester …
… when I got out of Madge in late December 2019 I remembered the scene at Corrour Railway Station from Trainspotting ‘Now what ?’
Had a great breakfast ‘full Scottish ?’ and bought a jumper I still have.
Been back several times to take picks of Madge next to the sign post, most recently after a hoot of a four day LEJOG social run with a lovely bunch of random MX-5 owners who met through an fb owners page last March 
Did I buy a Robin Hood s7 off you ?