NC500 - Scotland's answer to Route 66

[DoktorLorenz]

I did this for another page heres a list of stations that serve Super Unleaded

 

There's not many places in Highlands that serve 98RON Super Unleaded

If you're going up to remote areas of Scotland and use Super Unleaded i hope this helps.

I compiled a list of fuel stations for my road trip last year that I used to fill up Super Unleaded (when i last used them august 2014).

I'll also put in a couple of Tesco Sites i've used too. I have personally used all these sites in my Fiesta ST with no problems.

 

 

Gleaner Fuel Stations

 

FORT WILLIAM

 

Ben Nevis Services (Gleaner Fuel),

North Road,

Fort William

PH33 8TF

(01397) 702 346

(A82 on North Road opposite Argos/Poundstretcher)

 

 

KYLE OF LOCHALSH

 

Central Filling Station (Gleaner Fuel),

Station Road,

Kyle of Lochalsh

IV40 8AG

(01599) 534 676

(A87, its opposite Langlands Terrace in Kyle of Lochalsh)

 

 

ULLAPOOL

 

Lochbroom Filling Station (Gleaner Fuel)

Garve Rd,

Ullapool, Ross-Shire

IV26 2SX

(01854) 612 560

(A835 on right side just before hit Ullapool)

 

 

THURSO

 

Bridgend Filling Station (Gleaner Fuel)

Bridgend

Thurso

KW14 8PP

(01847) 894 219

(A9 heading out crossing River Thurso after the bridge)

 

 

 

TESCO Filling Stations

 

INVERNESS

 

Tesco Extra Inverness

Business And Retail Park

1a Eastfield Way / Nairn Rd

Inverness,

Highland

IV2 7GD

(Just off A9 on A96 head towards Nairn and first roundabout turn right)

 

PERTH

 

Tesco Extra Perth

Crieff Rd

Perth,

Perth and Kinross

PH1 2NR

(just off A9 on A85 towards Perth)

 

LESMAHAGOW

 

Tesco Lesmahagow
Teiglum Rd,

Lesmahagow,

South Lanarkshire

ML11 0HY

(really handy for driver coming up from England as its literally just off J10 M74)

[DoktorLorenz]

Personally having lived in a few places down south for most of my life (Leicester, Birmingham & Luton) & driving for a living my suggestion would be AS BELOW as you're maximising dual carriageways and motorways where your avg speed will be higher and the only road which can be a bit of an ass is A66 but its better than A1 Newcastle to edinburgh which has alot of single carriageway, its not as long as folk would think but its a long drive because of mileage i'd say 11-12hrs tbh.

 

Go A14 to Huntingdon

 

A1/A1(M) from Huntingdon upto Scotch Corner turn onto

 

A66 across the Pennines onto

 

M6 J40 north (once you're here its 2hrs to glasgow and another 3hrs in inverness)

 

If you need to fillup theres a Tesco on J43 M6 turn left into Carlisle centre its on right hand side (i'm basing this as fuel stop on my fiesta st tank capacity and mpg)

then head back onto M6 north

 

Cross the border into god's country lol then you'll be on M74 J4 onto

M73 then it onto M80 onto M9 then A9 north etc upto Inverness where you can fill up on the Tesco Extra Inverness A9/A96 the adresss is above ^^^^^.

[fabdavrav]

I did this for another page heres a list of stations that serve Super Unleaded

 

There's not many places in Highlands that serve 98RON Super Unleaded

If you're going up to remote areas of Scotland and use Super Unleaded i hope this helps.

I compiled a list of fuel stations for my road trip last year that I used to fill up Super Unleaded (when i last used them august 2014).

I'll also put in a couple of Tesco Sites i've used too. I have personally used all these sites in my Fiesta ST with no problems.

 

 

 

You missed of ALL the Shell garages.................................

 

theres one in Inverness (near the Raigmore Hospital)...........& one in Nairn on the main A96....................etc etc.............

 

http://www.shell.co.uk/motorist/station-locator.html

[DoktorLorenz]

Feel free to add them on here, any locations on filling stations which serve Super is welcome. I put tescos as I get club card points etc and that's what I personally use as the shell in my town is way way too expensive compared to v99 momentum 3 miles away.

[Rooted]

The 'Super unleaded' or what ever term they use in the UK is 97 ron from Sainsburys, Esso, BP,  so not 98 ron, but it is Super.

& 99 ron with Tesco Momentum 99 & Shell V-Power Nitro+

 

There is Sainsburys in Nairn.

Tesco in Oban.

http://petrolprices.com

[Baz66501]

Day 1 is complete and all went as planned! Now settling down for the night. Spent 12 hours, almost to the minute travelling in total, 11 of which driving. Not 1 hold up all the way which surprised me after taking all of your feedback in to account! Full up after a fish pie at the royal hotel in Tain! I'll update progress as I go and pics when I get home.

[RupertsTrooper]

On 21/08/2015 at 17:13, domhnall said:

I think Day 1 is underestimated!

 

I'm in Livingston, from here Hull was 7 hours, you're a fair bit  South of that, and Tain is a good 6 hours North of me! 6 hours with no stops. For that distance from the Central Belt I would normally allow 7 hours or more to reach Tain

Depends how long a "day" is - I recently drove from Tamworth to Strathy on the North Coast in the one day, a Sunday - set out early just after 5am, comfort breaks at services on M6, M74 and M80/M90, lunch at Raila Rest Area, refuel at Tain and on to Strathy just before 5pm - 560 miles altogether without exceeding any speed limits.

 

North Coast 500 shouldn't be rushed - leave that to the bikers - back off the throttle north of Inverness and enjoy the countryside - I'd reckon on 4 days for NC 500 itself and the a day each to/from Inverness - longer on NC 500 if you try any side attractions like day trip to Orkney, minibus to Cape Wrath, or even just exploring some of the many fabulous beaches.

 

For a longer trip, continue on the West Coast, all the way down to Campbelltown, taking in Skye and Mull on the way

[stever750]

On 01/10/2015 at 22:04, Baz66501 said:

Day 1 is complete and all went as planned! Now settling down for the night. Spent 12 hours, almost to the minute travelling in total, 11 of which driving. Not 1 hold up all the way which surprised me after taking all of your feedback in to account! Full up after a fish pie at the royal hotel in Tain! I'll update progress as I go and pics when I get home.

So did you finish the route? Pics? I'm thinking of going this, but not  sure when and how. The stupid part of me says non stop but at a time when the camper vans have gone home. 

[KenONeill]

@stever750 - When would the grockles be gone time be? IME we're looking at some of them "early March to late October" and then another fit about 18th Dec to 5th Jan inclusive.

 

Also, there's a significant part of the NC500 that is single-track; it has good sightlines so 60mph cruising is reasonably possible between other traffic, but you can spend as much as 1 minute in 5 stationary if you hit some parts at the wrong time of day.

[Rooted]

The chance of Police Scotland or Safety Partnership vans having you receive 1, 2 or even more NIP's from your 500 miles or more is becoming rather high and the risk increases at times when the camper vans have settled down for the night, or season which is becoming rare.

 

There are so many other 'Best Driving Routes', check out the coming to a Car Magazine Artice 'Snow Road Route' before it becomes official and quite possibly ruined once it receives more publicity.

 

'Simply Clever',

 Drive a Q Car, not a shouty one, or loud exhaust one, Cloak of Invisibility ' Harry Potter Styleee'.

 

Edited 20 September, 2017 by Headinawayoffski

[RupertsTrooper]

50 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@stever750 - When would the grockles be gone time be? IME we're looking at some of them "early March to late October" and then another fit about 18th Dec to 5th Jan inclusive.

 

Also, there's a significant part of the NC500 that is single-track; it has good sightlines so 60mph cruising is reasonably possible between other traffic, but you can spend as much as 1 minute in 5 stationary if you hit some parts at the wrong time of day.

If that bothers you, don't go - it's not a route that's meant to be hurried - if you just want to get from A to B at 60mph, stick to the A9.

[KenONeill]

4 hours ago, RupertsTrooper said:

If that bothers you, don't go - it's not a route that's meant to be hurried - if you just want to get from A to B at 60mph, stick to the A9.

That was advice for Steve. I live in Scotland (clue in my location field) and have done the NC500 (before the marketing name was "invented"). I actually did it over 4 "driving days" and 8 "tourist days".

[Rooted]

Respect here on doing it non-stop, but then he has just cycled around the world in under 80 days.

 

[CWARD]

After this years motorbike tour of Scotland, the NC500 is on my list to do. The Malt Whisky tour too but with that I'll be chauffeured around for maximum enjoyment.  

[stever750]

I've no intention of smashing it, but a non stop challenge is just that. Partly because I couldn't justify so much holiday time driving a car, no matter how beautiful the scenery is. Similarly I need to consider cycling lejog in a compressed time period! 

[Rooted]

With the NE500 you just need to average 40 mph and it just takes over 12.45 hours allowing for even having a p33.

[RupertsTrooper]

6 minutes ago, Headinawayoffski said:

With the NE500 you just need to average 40 mph and it just takes over 12.45 hours allowing for even having a p33.

For much of the season, averaging 40mph in a car may prove impossible - even on the two-lane A9 stretch

[Rooted]

Very true, so if you just want to do it set off at 9pm and you are round and back in time for breakfast being served.

You dont see the scenery obviously..

 

PS

There is Fishing Seasons, Shooting Seasons, sometimes a skiing season but as for the driving in Scotland there is a 365 day a year Average Speed Cameras Season on the A9 to Inverness season & tourist season is 365 days a year as well.

The A9 north of Perth has a while until it is all 2 lane dual carriageway.

Why its better really to head to the driving roads starting only 20 miles from Perth.

Mid week not Summer.

Edited 20 September, 2017 by Headinawayoffski

[stever750]

You guys are really not selling this to me... 

[Rooted]

You have wonderful roads all around the North of England and across the Scottish Borders. 

A trek to Inverness for the NC500 which is pretty nice but a bit 'Touristy' really,  but if you want to 'do it' then you have to do it,

it can be great around the Trossachs, Tayside, and the Cairngorms / Grampians and actually good fun without all the miles.

[stever750]

Equally good roads around Wales, but as Kelly said sometimes you gotta go to come back. 

[Rooted]

http://bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b095bwgx/landward-20172018-episode-13 

@ 12 minutes there is a bit on the NC500 in last weeks Landward,

 (maybe check out the Climbing Centre bit if you are going to be near Edinburgh, it is near the Motorway M8 Edinburgh Glasgow and there is a TESLA garage near, maybe borrow a TESLA for doing the NC500)

then there is the programme Dougie Vipond did 2015/16 Episode 6,

or better still Ann Lundens for Alba.

Edited 24 September, 2017 by Headinawayoffski

[S00perb]

We were thinking of the NC500 in this - http://classic-vintage-car-rental.com/triumph_herald_classic_car_hire.php