Great escape
If you’re planning a tour in Scotland, take a look at the North Coast 500 route – whether it’s wildlife or whisky and history, the NC500 has it all
Scotland’s North Coast 500 In the first of a new series on essential road trips, we follow the fabulous NC500
There are many reasons why you might want to head out to explore some of the world’s greatest road trips, but there’s one unifying benefit from the experience of doing so. Regardless of the country or region in which a planned route is located, you get a better understanding of a place by exploring the Tarmac and cobbles of its streets. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the magnificent North Coast 500, which starts at Inverness and coils around the edge of the north of Scotland, up to John O’groats and Dunnet Head – the top of mainland Great Britain – and back down again on the other side.
While the route means navigating 516 miles around the tip of the country, it’s entirely flexible on time, interests and preferences. In any case, you’re going to witness the beauty of the Scottish Highlands.
This is a road trip that can be built around your own desires: whether that’s castles and wildlife or whisky and history, the NC500 can fit it all in. In that sense, it’s important to devise an itinerary of sorts before you go. Knowing roughly where you’re heading – even if you are open to distractions and detours – will result in a much more enjoyable journey for all involved.
Take your time on tour
This also means having to factor in the time it will take. Towing a caravan, you will need to check the route from one campsite to the next, and once unhitched and out exploring, the plentiful single-track roads mean the driving can often be slower than you might expect.
Sheep on the road can be a common occurrence, and don’t forget all of those pit stops for photo-ops! The NC500 is great at slowing you down, so remember that when putting the plan together; it’ll be far less stressful in the long run and you are on holiday, after all.
Five days is the official recommendation for a tour by car, but if you want to make the most of the route’s penchant for unexpected discovery, we’d suggest at least two weeks with a caravan in tow.
Readers Alisdair and Christine Lyle took three weeks when they did the tour in 2018 (issue 407); we’ll read more about the sites they stayed at later. You could also do it in chunks, taking a few days at a time in one area.
The trip starts in Inverness, so it makes sense to take a look around the city itself before you head out on the road. It may not have Edinburgh’s olde-worlde charm