The North Coast 500
A ‘Wee Hike’ Through the Highlands
Many visitors arriving in Scotland often have their attention grabbed by the bright lights of Glasgow or the neoclassical buildings of the world’s biggest festival city, Edinburgh. Venture further north, however, and you are in for a treat thanks to a recently established concept…
Fast becoming one of the world’s most popular driving routes, the North Coast 500, which starts and finishes at Inverness Castle, has been described as Scotland’s answer to Route 66.
Inverness to Inverness
- 6 days
- 518 miles
- £12.95 avg. fuel cost
Top three road trip gems...
Location: Shieldaig
Within the 26,000-acre estate at Shieldaig lies the wreckage of an American bomber which crashed in June 1945.
Location: A836, Thurso KW14 7YJ
Located near Melvich, at Kirkton Farm, is the first farm tour of its kind in Scotland. Four-wheel buggies take visitors around the hills offering up the opportunity to explore the landscape and local wildlife.
Location: Stadium Rd, Inverness IV1 1FF
Stand over the Beauly Firth shoreline and watch the majestic animals dive in and out of the water— a truly spectacular sight.
The Beginning
Opened as an official route in 2015, the NC500 is a 516-mile route which links Highland destinations such as John o’ Groats and Ullapool. It is awash with areas of outstanding natural beauty, boasting a plethora of stunning geographical landscapes.
Unique
Few road trips in the world, unless your prepared to travel for thousands of miles, are able to offer up such a variety of scenery. The beauty of the NC500 is the forests and mountains roll effortlessly into lochs and sandy beaches — if you don’t do anything on this trip, take a few photos because they’ll make an utterly fantastic postcard or desktop wallpaper in years to come.
Loch Ness
The mythical creature ‘Nessie the Loch Ness monster’ lies dormant in the depths of the water on the periphery of Inverness city. A Jacobite cruise, which comes in two different forms, allows visitors to travel round the loch monster-spotting and taking in the host of castle and monuments. Choose between a relaxing cruise or an exhilarating RIB speedboat.
A Distillery Tour
Even those that wouldn’t consider whisky their go-to tipple, when in Rome and all that. Scotland plays home to more than 120 active whisky distilleries and the Highlands, which you will be negotiating your way through, is one of the five established regions of the blend. The area lays claim to a vast, diverse range of whisky, supposedly catering to the taste of every palette!
Cylnelish, Glen Ord, and Glenmorangie are just some of the distilleries which you’ll pass on your way.
Culloden
Home to one of the bloodiest battles in history, during which 1,500 Jacobethan soldiers were killed in little under an hour back in 1746, Culloden is a site of major cultural significance. Visit the burial ground and site of remembrance for all those who lost their lives during the battle between the English and the Scots.