I’d heard about the North Coast 500 or Scotland’s Route 66 as it is sometimes referred to a few years ago. I believe it officially started in 2015. My partner and I had intended to go abroad this year although thankfully hadn’t booked anything. My brother and his partner had booked somewhere abroad but thankfully got a full refund when Covid struck. None of us fancied jumping on a plane, even when lockdown restrictions eased which was probably just as well as countries were popping on and off the quarantine list on a regular basis.
Discussions during lockdown revealed that we all wanted to do the North Coast 500 sometime and this year might be the best opportunity. We had all figured that being in one car together travelling around a remote area must surely be one of the most ‘COVID secure’ holidays possible currently?
We planned the trip for September hoping the worst of covid had passed, children back at school (on the whole) and the weather still relatively nice.
Here’s our experience and itinerary;
We spent three sessions in advance planning the trip. Food and alcohol helped fuel them! We started with planning the start and end points and booking up these hotels, then in the second session we booked up everything in between. It was good fun looking through all the different accommodation options. We decided early on that camping wasn't really for us. For the final session we listed all of the things we wanted to see and do along the route and started to think about excursions and food reservations. This all proved to be good fun on its own and we all got the opportunity to say what we absolutely wanted to do - the red lines and what was just nice to do if we had time.
This all culminated in an itinerary being produced which one of our group typed up, including researching all necessary postcodes for destinations, calculating miles between stops and other possible stops if time allowed (thank-you Leah!). This saved so much time and we maximised the benefit from the route as we got to see and do so much. No time wasted searching for postcodes as we went and considering the poor phone signal in many locations this was definitely a good idea. The itinerary also helped to maximise the route benefits as we were seeing things as we went and didn't have to double back or waste travel miles. My old English teacher would be proud; "If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail!".
By the time we have finished discussing our trip we had a comprehensive plan. Two copies were printed and laminated. Yes, we may have OCD but it helped! Several places we arrived at had no slots for food etc but we had reservations so no problem. Not for every stop, but where we knew there were limited options - eg Applecross, always pre book here!
We left Thetford (Norfolk) on the Friday night with two of our party working that day until 4pm, that was the earliest we could leave so we aimed to get as far North as we could so opted for Newcastle. The Saturday morning gave us an opportunity to visit the Angel of the North. On the Saturday we made the rest of the journey up to Inverness which was to be our North Coast 500 starting point.
We visited the Culloden Battlefield and walked around Inverness. Sadly Inverness Castle was closed but we had a good walk around the city. We stayed in the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness - it has a pool so we took advantage of that - again because of Covid we had to reserve our slot in the pool and ended up having it to ourselves - hurrah. We ate in the hotel restaurant which was very tasty, but a bit pricey.
On the Sunday we set off for Ullapool on the West Coast, but went via the Loch Ness exhibition centre which was on our list. Various stops occurred at Drumnadrochit, Urquhart Castle and Eilan Donan Castle. From here we then went over to Applecross via Bealach Na Ba - a very narrow, winding road which at its highest point is more than 2,000 feet above sea level. This is a must do in my opinion. However, you need to be confident at driving and prepared to take it slowly. We went across on a Sunday, and it was beautiful weather so it was inevitably packed!
Eilan Donan Castle
We had lunch at the Applecross Inn which tasted amazing! Definitely worth the trip across the winding road. Fortunately we had a reservation as they were fully booked at there are limited options for food elsewhere here. We then took the coastal route up through Torrington and Shieldag as we made our way to Ullapool. This was a nice drive and we made a number of impromptu stops along the way - mainly for cows in the road and a random sheep, that just sat in the middle of the road without a care!
The other thing we recorded on the itinerary was the check in and out times for the different hotels. They varied quite significantly. The sat nav told us that our arrival at the hotel on Sunday night was going to be past the latest check-in time so we managed to message ahead. The latest check in at Ullapool was 7pm and we got there at 6.50pm so in the end it wasn't an issue but it meant we didn't have to panic that we wouldn't get into the hotel. We maximised our day for sure. Ullapool is a nice little town - sadly no excursions running when we went but we had a nice walk round. We stayed at Harbour House which I would definitely recommend. There’s a big lounge area that you can sit in during the evening - which we did with some shop bought drinks and snacks and we played cards! (a pack of playing cards is a must for the trip). Breakfast was included too and very nice (always handy to stock up on extra tea bags or milk, or pieces of fruit if you they are available).
From Ullapool we went to the Corrieshalloch Gorge which I would say is a must visit. It's quite a short walk and the view over the gorge from the viewing platform is great (and like so many of the stops on our route, it was free!). We took an unplanned stop at Blackwater Falls which was also great. We visited Lochinver Harbour which was rather grey and dull on the day - it may have just been the weather but I wouldn’t rush back here. The Old Man of Stoer was next and a bit of a trek and when we got as far as you can go by car we realised there was a long walk ahead which we probably didn’t have time for so that got knocked on the head. This was the first place we visited where we saw signs made by residents saying "North Coast 500 - Go Home!" - so it seems not everyone is pleased with the extra visitors to the area. On the Monday night we had booked to stay at Loch Shin Luxury Pods - £90 for the night split between 4 of us. Bargain! We wish we had done more pods! We stopped at Ullapool Tesco before we left for drinks and food to take with us so it was a cheap night food wise as well.
On the Tuesday we went from Loch Shin back to Kylesku - the bridge there is definitely a good photo opportunity as it is stunning. We then went up the coast to Oldshoremore Beach and on to Smoo Cave - another must do! The boat tour wasn’t running but it was still great to walk into the cave. From here we went to Durness Beach. We went to look at Castle Varrich but again, we got as close as you can in the car but it was getting dark and then you have to walk to it so it would have dark before we got there you can tell we didn't overly like the loads of walking, that said, we did manage 120,000 steps in the 9 days!)
We stayed at Borgie Lodge Hotel on the Tuesday night - amazing! Stay here one night if you can. The food is amazing - more akin to a fancy restaurant than a hotel in my opinion. It was also very reasonably priced and the rooms were very comfy. When we arrived we were given a tour of the hotel which included a bar area, lounge and dining room. Again in the evening we played cards in the lounge!
Wednesday was a busy day - Bettyhill, Strathy Point, Dunnet Head, John O'Groats, Duncansby Head and Duncansby Stacks.
John O'Groats
The highlight this day was definitely Strathy Point - fortunately we had time to walk to this one and even though it was incredibly windy, we walked down towards the lighthouse and the view was amazing. We encountered another sign from local residents asking if our trip was absolutely essential with covid concerns etc.
Another cheap hotel Wednesday night. The four of us sharing a family room at the Castle View B&B so £120 split between 4 with breakfast included. It was cheap and very basic - fine for a bed for the night but wouldn't want to stay for several days.
On the Thursday we did Sinclair Castle which was also very enjoyable and then onto Whaligoe Steps - make sure you do this! We particularly enjoyed it as we saw Dolphins this day!! We also visited Dunrobin Castle on Thursday which is stunning and we paid the £12 per person entrance fee. Even though the official Falconry display had finished we managed to watch the instructor training some of the new birds. Unfortunately on the Thursday our car was hit by a campervan! It was parked up off the road so not sure how they managed to hit it but thankfully they admitted fault and the car was still roadworthy so we could continue our trip - all part of the adventure I guess!
On Thursday night we had splashed out and booked two executive rooms at the Mansfield Castle Hotel - yep, an actual castle. I ended up in the room that Princess Anne had tea in - ooo err! The room and the bathroom were a real treat.
On Friday we checked out Durnoch Beach and then headed off to Edinburgh. Our North Coast 500 route had finished and to make our way home we booked a night in Edinburgh on Friday night and then a night in York on Saturday night to get us closer back to Norfolk rather than one mammoth trip from Inverness all the way back down.
Recommended Fuel Stops - Inverness, Ullapool and Wick.
Must Dos: Kylesku Bridge, Smoo Cave, Whaligoe Steps, Strathy Point, Sinclair Castle
Recommended Hotels / Accommodation: Borgie Lodge in Borgie, Loch Shin Luxury Pods, Harbour House in Ullapool
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