North Coast 500

[Captain Mainwaring]

Hi @Ed Webb
Yeah the book is comprehensive - full of local info and points of interest which are easily missed when trying to get from
A to B each day.
Obviously the weather does dictate what you can and can't do some days.
Campsites are all very good - mixture of CAMC sites plus the rules!! And more casual ones.
Lots of places where off piste camping possible if facilities not needed!!
So much to see that it is difficult to fit everything in - depends on how many days you intend to stay up there.
If you like a Munro to climb then a good one is Stac Pollaidh - fabulous views and geologists dream!! Easy to park on the road
at the foot of mountain.
We had 11 nights all together and tried to keep the day's mileage to an acceptable total.
Some stretches on the single track roads are slow going and so many places to stop to take another pic of a Loch, Mountain or River!

To add to that, the North West coast is arguably the most spectacular area in the UK. Visually and geologically it is totally different to the rest of Scotland and is actually a breakaway part of the Canadian Shield. If you can, do it outside the peak season in July and August when it becomes a bit of a victim of its own success with everything fully booked. As Gavandi said, loads of opportunities for wild camping and not really an issue as long as you are well away from houses etc. Lots of interesting things to do and visit like distilleries, but in the end the biggest attraction is the scenery, and with the narrow roads, don't expect to average the same speeds as elsewhere. @Gavandi to be totally pedantic Stac Pollaidh is not a Munro as it is well short of minimum Munro height of 3000 ft/914m

 

[kiter]

We are planning on 7 days currently. I know it's not much but it's a nice start. I was thinking of starting with the West coast and planning a longer trip another time to tackle the east and redo the West.

west is most definitely best little bit biased being a west coaster. If you want to just do the west this trip, from Glasgow head for Loch Lomond and come up via Glen Coe, if you have mountain bikes stop at Glencoe ski centre, pop your bikes on the chairlift and get to the top the easy way and enjoy the ride back down. After Glen Coe you have Nevis Range at Fort William, again bikes on the gondola and you can scare the crap out of yourself on the downhill track on the way down. Other option is to climb Ben Nevis - be warned the tourist is very busy, cracking campsite at Glen Nevis at the bottom of the Ben. If it was me I would head from Fort William to Mallaig, hop on the ferry from here to Armadale on skye, this part of skye quite different to the rest, very green and lush, not known as the garden of skye for nothing. You can then come off skye via the bridge or the 'wee' ferry at Kylesku. Your are then well placed to get on the NC500 and head further north.

 

[Gavandi]

To add to that, the North West coast is arguably the most spectacular area in the UK. Visually and geologically it is totally different to the rest of Scotland and is actually a breakaway part of the Canadian Shield. If you can, do it outside the peak season in July and August when it becomes a bit of a victim of its own success with everything fully booked. As Gavandi said, loads of opportunities for wild camping and not really an issue as long as you are well away from houses etc. Lots of interesting things to do and visit like distilleries, but in the end the biggest attraction is the scenery, and with the narrow roads, don't expect to average the same speeds as elsewhere. @Gavandi to be totally pedantic Stac Pollaidh is not a Munro as it is well short of minimum Munro height of 3000 ft/914m

Yeah …. TOH told me that but.....would I listen!! It is still a great big rock to climb and for us Lincolnshire Folk anything over 100Ft is high!!

 

[Gillon Johnstone]

Hi, On the West Coast we now have a couple of new camping areas and of course me own little slice of heaven at Stoer Lighthouse offering hot food and overnight camping for Campers complete with a waterless toilet

 

[Stewby]

Hi, On the West Coast we now have a couple of new camping areas and of course me own little slice of heaven at Stoer Lighthouse offering hot food and overnight camping for Campers complete with a waterless toilet

Stoer lighthouse camping?? Tell me more please.

 

[Trevor]

I will be doing this again in May so I will keep an eye open for fellow members.

 

[Shaggy1969]

I'm planning on taking my Kombi on a road trip in August and doing the full NC500.

Anybody done this and any stories to share? Are the roads OK (not too narrow for a van), plenty of places to stay etc etc?

 

[Spaghetti]

I did part of the east coast of Scotland from Inverness up to John O’Groats. Roads were lovely and didn’t go through any crazily narrow bits.

Lots of places to stop and admire the view and make a cuppa. We didn’t wild camp but booked sites, so I wasn’t really on the lookout for camping spots.

 

[Peatey]

North coast 500
Might help you, not done it myself yet

 

[kiter]

Roads will be fine for the van, August time if you are planning to sleep in the van then it will be fine, if you want B&B/Hotels don't expect to turn up and find somewhere without having pre booked in advance. Been a victim of its own success and busy.

 

[Sammy29]

I'm doing the full NC500 in July (governed by school holidays) so have booked up campsites as per recommendations.

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

The roads are mostly OK but a few bits of single track with passing places. Going in high season I would recommend campsites if you can. It does get stupidly popular

 

[Teejay1]

I've done most of it although not in one go. It can be very frustrating as it can get very very busy with large motorhomes and many that don't understand noh to drive on single carriageway. Scenery on the west coast is stunning.

 

[$immo]

World agree with all of above, we skipped most of East Coast as road were faster A roads dotted with touristy breweries (if that's your thing you will enjoy East Coast) the West coast is stunning.

Top tip get up early, watch out for Japanese tourists behind the wheel of either 7 series BMW'S or S-class Merc or worse a 3m wide plastic motorhome. They cannot drive.

But Do It... It's amazing.

Pic are off my phone from the beach at Durness.

 

[AndyB57]

You’ll have absolutely no problem doing the NC500 in a VW. We did the full route last year, including the notorious Applecross pass, when we had a 6M Fiat Ducato (Globecar) and it was absolutely brilliant. Some roads are a bit narrow but there’s plenty of passing places.
As it’s a circular route you can of course do it in either direction but I’d suggest going anti-clockwise as the eastern side is a bit boring from Inverness up to John O’Groats. After that the scenery just gets better and better and, by heading west, you’ll get to see some truly stunning sunsets!
We mixed staying on campsites with a few instances of (responsible) wild camping and going in May/June had no problem finding anywhere to stay. September/October might be a good time too - you’ll also avoid the dreaded midges then.
Have a great trip!
Andy

 

[spook]

Super place

 

[St4n99]

I'm planning on taking my Kombi on a road trip in August and doing the full NC500.

Anybody done this and any stories to share? Are the roads OK (not too narrow for a van), plenty of places to stay etc etc?

I only just did this last week solo . As above said best way would be anticlockwise especially if you are going round appplecross as it's easy to do the bealach na ba road in this direction . I followed a 5 day nc500 Itinerary that was online but added appplecross and also instead of staying at ullapool I stayed in a place called altandhu On the coast ,can send you a link if you like . I feel mibi 7 days would be better for to get more things done . I also stayed a night in Inverness coming home to do the beasty boats tour which was fun

 

[Carndearg]

We were there last month, took 3 weeks off to do it clockwise. Loved every minute as can’t wait to do it again. We did mostly
campsites and some semi wild camping including one night when the road between Kinlochewe and Gairloch
was closed after a collision between car and motorbike for around 6 hours.

 

[St4n99]

View attachment 45241 View attachment 45242 View attachment 45243 View attachment 45244 We were there last month, took 3 weeks off to do it clockwise. Loved every minute as can’t wait to do it again. We did mostly
campsites and some semi wild camping including one night when the road between Kinlochewe and Gairloch
was closed after a collision between car and motorbike for around 6 hours.

Love pic two with the sun set

 

[Carndearg]

Love pic two with the sun set

That was Sheildag car park, free but bought local produce from the smokehouse, dinner in pub. public loos immaculate and open all night. nearly forgot the sighting of white tailed eagles.