Don’t let the cold keep you off the road

Our pick of the best Scottish winter drives.

Winter may not seem the obvious season for exploring the Highlands – the farther north you go, the shorter the days.

However, Scotland’s rugged northern scenery rarely looks more dramatic than in wintertime, with snow-capped mountains and frost-laden moorland.

Plus, tourist season is well and truly over so you’ll have vast swathes of scenery all to yourself. Just make sure you’re up early to make the most of the daylight.

No other route gives a more complete tour of the Highlands’ splendour than the North Coast 500, pictured above and right.

Billed as Scotland’s answer to Route 66, the tour launched last year and has already been named one of the top five coastal driving routes in the world by a leading travel magazine – taking its place alongside the Pacific Coast Highway in California and the Amalfi Coast in Italy.

The 500-mile circular route starts and finishes in Inverness and can be tackled from east to west or west to east.

It forms a loop around the whole northern tip of Scotland, from Inverness to John O’Groats in the far North-East, along the stark sea of the north to Durness, then down the convoluted west coast before turning inland at the Applecross peninsula.

You need around four or five days to do the NC500 by car or motorbike. It’s popular with cyclists too, and takes anywhere from eight-14 days depending on your fitness (and how comfortable your saddle is).

The route was put together by the North Highland Initiative, a nonprofit organisation established by Prince Charles to boost visitor numbers and appreciation of the area.

With castles both restored and ruined, jagged mountains, rugged coastlines, lochs, glens, fishing villages and glorious beaches, the journey encompasses everything that is great about Highland Scotland.