I expected the bits of the coast I hadn’t seen before to be pretty.. but they were breathtaking

BBC Alba presenter discovers a new side to Scotland that leaves her stunned during road trip on the now famous North Coast 500 route

I’m from Lewis, there were many parts of this route I’d never been on. I was embarrassed to admit this at times. But it was glorious.

“The area around Ullapool was new to me. Before this trip, the only reason I would go there would be to get the ferry home.

“In the Outer Hebrides we have pretty spectacular beaches and scenery. I’m always a little bit biased towards the islands, a bit protective of them. Of course I think my home has got the best scenery in the world.

“So I expected the bits of the west coast I hadn’t seen before to be pretty. But they were breathtaking.”

The 516-mile round trip – the NC500 – is designed to take drivers on a circular, B-road tour around the most spectacular scenery on the mainland.

Anne and her crew chose to shoehorn those mountains and beaches into eight days, starting at Inverness then heading west.

In episode one, shown on BBC Alba tomorrow, she sets off from Inverness Castle and tackles Bealach Na Bà, the mouthdrying road to Applecross. In a VW Beetle. So no pressure there.

She said: “As a driving experience it was spectacular, but a lot of roads encountered on the route were not for the faint hearted. Bealach Na Bà is not advised for learner drivers.”

The old drover’s pass is carved out of the hillside in the style of the Alpine passes James Bond whizzes along in his sports cars. But it also has passing places, groups of bikers, peching cyclists, Germans in huge RVs and sheep and cows who think they own the road.

All to be coped with in the Scottish climate.

Anne said: “There are lots of blind summits and hairpin bends, plus steep edges.

“On the whole, we were fairly lucky with the weather but it turned on us a bit there. It was like something out of a movie.

“The thick fog came down and I encountered a caravanette coming towards me. As there was quite a drop to the left, there wasn’t much I could do but hang fire and hope for the best.”

On a drive when even the alpha males of Top Gear would appreciate aircon and power steering, Anne was in a vehicle designed to be mended by the blacksmith. It was “a drive unlike any other”.

The NC500 was dreamed up by the North Highland Initiative two years ago to encourage tourists to see the whole of the coast rather than the greatest hits. It is such a simple idea, it’s amazing that no one had done it before. In its first year, Now Travel magazine named it one of the top five coastal routes in the world.

Not everyone she encountered was well prepared.

Anne said: “I met a couple of people who were just starting out who had never heard of midges. They were going to be eaten alive.”

Anne was horrified by how persistent the beasties were.

She added: “I didn’t expect them to be so bad but it was mild. When the sun went down it was perfect conditions for them.”

Unlike the optimistic Dutch adventurers, she knew to pack swimwear, sunblock, scarf and sweater.

Anne said: “Of course we had quite a range of different types of weather. Four seasons in one day – or even one hour – was not unusual. But it wasn’t cold, it never got so absolutely miserable that we couldn’t get out of the car.”

And that, as everyone who has ever holidayed in Scotland knows, counts as a win. The next time she tackles Bealach Na Bà,