My NC500

[Mickmartin]

Only a week before did I decided to get off my arse and do Scotland's Nc500, 500 miles in a turbo/supercharged fabia combi on scenic long roads by myself? Hell yeah!

 

Sorry for the picture overload, I've kept the pictures as low quality as possible to try not kill your browsers.

 

 

Lets have it!

 

Loaded up the fabia will fuel and essentials and headed off, My first 3 hours would be spent just getting to the start at Inverness.

 

Reached Inverness In no time and proceeded up the east coast of Scotland while visiting a few places on the way before reaching my accommodation( Bower Wig Wams) in Wick

 

Dunrobin Castle, Golspie

 

Second day seen me travel the whole breadth of the North of Scotland form east to west, I've seen most of Scotland before but this place will stick in my memories forever and I seen my first puffin!

 

 

 

As you travel from east to west the beaches and views only get better.

 

Dunnet Bay, Thurso.  2 miles of pure white and aqua blue water.....Best beach in Britain in my opinion.

 

 

 

As you make your way across the north coast through the Bay of Tongue and towards Durness the beaches continue to be as spectacular however the landscape get a bit more rugged.

 

Ardvreck castle from above

 

Decided to camp up on Balnakiel Beach for the night, Had the whole beach to myself......

 

 

To my surprise I woke up to the sun splitting the sky and some visitors.......Yep its 7am and the cows are crossing the beach to reach a fresh water stream, Apparently a daily occurrence

 

 

 

Leaving Durness Your pretty much in the most north westerly point in the UK, Visited a few places before heading south down the west coast and entering Wester Ross(Game of thrones fans will grin).

 

Smoo Cave

 

The landscape changes dramatically on the west coast, Huge rolling mountains start to appear as I headed south towards Ullapool,Gairloch and Applecross.

 

 

After staying in Ullapool for the night I was off sharp in the morning for another spectacular drive south west, Passing the Kylesku bridge and hotel for some well needed grub!

 

 

From here I continued south through  Wester Ross at which point he NC500 heads to Applecross then Back to Inverness, I went off track and headed home via Skye, Fort WIlliam and Glencoe

 

 

 

When reaching Applecross you encourter the "Bealach Na Ba" mountain pass, Regarded as one of if not the best roads in Britain with views of the Isle of Skye to the West and The mountain pass on the other.

 

 

Deciding I could probably be home for midnight I cut my last day short and blasted the 6 hour journey home passing "Eilean donan castle" and the might " Buchaille Etive Mor" mountain in Glencoe.

 

 

 

So nearly 3 tanks of fuel and 960 miles later I made it home, Car was awesome, Weather was awesome and the scenery was even better!

 

Would highly recommend anyone to head up north and just do it, The road conditions are perfect and if you get the weather......I don't think may places in the world could top it.

 

 

I'll hopefully have a drone vid posted up soon.

 

Thanks for reading.

Edited 8 August, 2018 by Mickmartin

[Skodaboy1983]

Fantastic Review and fantastic photos from the air as well.

 

Davy

[Mickmartin]

Thanks bud ,Get it done!

 

I'm having trouble deleting the random 4 pictures its showing at the end for some reason!

[Sad555]

Great review,did much the same route some 20yrs ago in a Honda Civic  VTI ,but the last stretch home was from fort William to Bristol nearly 500 Miles but it was worth it to drive in such fantastic countryside.............after seeing those pics it may be right to do it again,thanks.

 

.

 

[Mickmartin]

3 minutes ago, Sad555 said:

Great review,did much the same route some 20yrs ago in a Honda Civic  VTI ,but the last stretch home was from fort William to Bristol nearly 500 Miles but it was worth it to drive in such fantastic countryside.............after seeing those pics it may be right to do it again,thanks.

 

.

 

Definitely mate!  A lot has changed since then and they've improved the roads to deal with all the new found traffic.

 

Briskoda road trip?

[Sad555]

I can still remember the complete lack of traffic,and driving for hours without the need of braking,the pleasures of driving that once were.i can also remember a couple of years prior to that ,flying up to Edinburgh and hiring a fiat uno and ONE  DAY driving up to Inverness THRO the Cairngorms and down Loch Ness,thro the trossachs back to Edinburgh ,bit of a trek ,a long day but well worth it.

Edited 8 August, 2018 by Sad555

[KenONeill]

Well, there have been some upgrades on the Thurso - Durness - Ullapool section since I was last that way.

 

Oh and I've never seen a boat in Smoo Cave before! Divers yes, but not a boat. In which general context, were there any fulmars nesting on the cliffs there? (like gulls, but much stiffer wings in flight, nostrils extend along beaks.)

[Mickmartin]

2 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Well, there have been some upgrades on the Thurso - Durness - Ullapool section since I was last that way.

 

Oh and I've never seen a boat in Smoo Cave before! Divers yes, but not a boat. In which general context, were there any fulmars nesting on the cliffs there? (like gulls, but much stiffer wings in flight, nostrils extend along beaks.)

 

I seen puffins, razorbills, guillemots, fulmars and kittihawks that day, I lady I spoke to also said there were nesting skwers too.

 

The boat in smoo cave is now free and just outside they’ve built a new zip slide called “the golden eagle zipslide”

 

 

 

 

[Mickmartin]

15 hours ago, Sad555 said:

I can still remember the complete lack of traffic,and driving for hours without the need of braking,the pleasures of driving that once were.i can also remember a couple of years prior to that ,flying up to Edinburgh and hiring a fiat uno and ONE  DAY driving up to Inverness THRO the Cairngorms and down Loch Ness,thro the trossachs back to Edinburgh ,bit of a trek ,a long day but well worth it.

 

There was very little traffic when I done it even though I was warned that "its so busy now" and "there's motorhomes everywhere", I drove 200 miles of single track roads and only had to reverse once as there's parking spaces everywhere.

 

If you can get the weather there's not many places in the world tat can rival it.

[Gaz]

Awesome and breathtaking 

 

Thanks for sharing Mick 

 

Gaz

[Mickmartin]

On ‎09‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 18:02, V6TDI said:

Awesome and breathtaking 

 

Thanks for sharing Mick 

 

Gaz

No problem Bud! Glad to share.

[fabdavrav]

Yup..not bad up here where I live!!…..haha....

 

Mind you.....you are better off at Perth turning towards the A93, & go over to Braemar & then you can do the whole of the A939..which takes you to Nairn....best road out...2hrs of solid driving...…& several steep descents/ascents...

[Mickmartin]

On 06/09/2018 at 21:18, fabdavrav said:

Yup..not bad up here where I live!!…..haha....

 

Mind you.....you are better off at Perth turning towards the A93, & go over to Braemar & then you can do the whole of the A939..which takes you to Nairn....best road out...2hrs of solid driving...…& several steep descents/ascents...

I’m sure I’ve driven a part of that road bud, love the road up by Glenshee, even better in the winter.

[stuart vrs]

Stunning views and awesome weather, I've got family east coast at Inverbervie so we do an annual drive up from South Wales, 540 miles and 10 plus hours later with 3 pit stops. Great views Scotland has. 

 

[Ootohere]

^^^ Inverbervie is just perfect for doing the North East 250.

http://northeast250.com

 

[john999boy]

My preference to doing the complete NC500 is to just do the portion on the West coast as the scenery is so much better there.

Follow whichever road takes you entirely on the coast even if the journey ends up taking longer.

 

Here's some additional photos that @Mickmartin should recognise and maybe some places he didn't manage to get to.

 

Another view of Balnakeil Beach.

 

The Kylesku Bridge and Hotel from different angles.

 

 

Cape Wrath.

 

 

Inquisitive sheep..

 

 

A Puffin on Handa Island.

 

 

Landing craft used at the Duke of Westminster's estate.

 

 

Where we stayed and the view.

 

 

Ullapool.

 

[Mickmartin]

19 hours ago, john999boy said:

My preference to doing the complete NC500 is to just do the portion on the West coast as the scenery is so much better there.

Follow whichever road takes you entirely on the coast even if the journey ends up taking longer.

 

Here's some additional photos that @Mickmartin should recognise and maybe some places he didn't manage to get to.

 

Another view of Balnakeil Beach.

 

The Kylesku Bridge and Hotel from different angles.

 

 

Cape Wrath.

 

 

Inquisitive sheep..

 

 

A Puffin on Handa Island.

 

 

Landing craft used at the Duke of Westminster's estate.

 

 

Where we stayed and the view.

 

 

Ullapool.

 

 

Amazing pics mate, Cant wait to go back next year. I agree the North and West coast's are the most spectacular however on the east I visited Fort George, Chanonry Point, Dunrobin castle, etc. Theres some great history to be had on the east coast and some cracking lighthouses along the cliffs.

 

I planned to camp on cape wrath on my 2nd night but the ferry car park was full and I ended up camping at Balnakiel. I'd done a fair chunk of the coast before but never the coast road into Applecross(not the bealach na ba, the only way in lol) and that blew me away with the views over to skye.

 

I'm already planning my 2019 trip!

[Ootohere]

Tis wonderful.  Do not miss Shieldaig.

Edited 23 October, 2018 by Offski

[Ootohere]

Shieldaig.   

There is someplace to camp with a water tap.  & a Pub / meals. (not cheap.) http://shieldaigbarcoastalkitchen.co.uk

 

Edited 23 October, 2018 by Offski

[john999boy]

3 hours ago, Mickmartin said:

I agree the North and West coast's are the most spectacular however on the east I visited Fort George, Chanonry Point, Dunrobin castle, etc. Theres some great history to be had on the east coast and some cracking lighthouses along the cliffs.

 

I'd forgotten that Fort George etc was on the route as that's worth seeing as well as Chanonry Point with the virtually guaranteed dolphins.

 

Fort George & some oil rigs.

 

3 hours ago, Offski said:

Shieldaig.   

There is someplace to camp with a water tap.  & a Pub / meals. (not cheap.) http://shieldaigbarcoastalkitchen.co.uk

The place on the right is where I've previously stayed George but I think it was called the Tigh an Eilean Hotel then?

 

 

[fabdavrav]

16 minutes ago, john999boy said:

 

I'd forgotten that Fort George etc was on the route as that's worth seeing as well as Chanonry Point with the virtually guaranteed dolphins.

 

 

I know that part of the world quite well for some strange reason...

 

& Clava Cairns & the Culloden Viaduct are also just down the road....nice for pictures....& then you have the big sandy beaches of Nairn, & Roseisle.. Rogie falls, Foyers falls, Glen Affric, Lochindorb (ruined castle of the The Wolf of Badenoch)….

 

 

Then the stuff east of Forres...masses

 

 

Basically its all scenery up here...if you need a local guide....

Edited 23 October, 2018 by fabdavrav

[Ootohere]

http://tighaneilean.co.uk

 

 

Shieldaig. 

Best bed in the village parked across from the pub and keys left in there.

 

Edited 23 October, 2018 by Offski

[Mickmartin]

13 hours ago, fabdavrav said:

 

I know that part of the world quite well for some strange reason...

 

& Clava Cairns & the Culloden Viaduct are also just down the road....nice for pictures....& then you have the big sandy beaches of Nairn, & Roseisle.. Rogie falls, Foyers falls, Glen Affric, Lochindorb (ruined castle of the The Wolf of Badenoch)….

 

 

Then the stuff east of Forres...masses

 

 

Basically its all scenery up here...if you need a local guide....

 

I mentioned it before on another post, Would be awesome to some kind of club meet and do a few of these routes. When doing the NC500 I randomly joined with a convoy of an impreza,2 fiesta St's, A Duke Nismo RS and an s3, We absolutely hammered a few of the roads near torridon and lets say I never got much sight seeing done for a few miles.

Edited 24 October, 2018 by Mickmartin

[Ootohere]

Clamp downs coming on speed and some anti-social driving behaviours.

People are being asked not to be in convoys.   Also to be aware of Speed Limits which are maximums not a target.

Someone has scattered tacks on the road recently.  (As has happened in Perthshire when a cycle race was causing roads to be closed and locals to get annoyed.)

 

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-45238735

 

Lots of Cyclists now being drawn to the NC500 and other just wanting the views, stops and to travel the route safely.

As it is now the growing popularity is becoming the issue.  

Saying that, today would be a great day to head up there.  Wednesday's being a pretty good day..........

Edited 24 October, 2018 by Offski

[Mickmartin]

5 hours ago, Offski said:

Clamp downs coming on speed and some anti-social driving behaviours.

People are being asked not to be in convoys.   Also to be aware of Speed Limits which are maximums not a target.

Someone has scattered tacks on the road recently.  (As has happened in Perthshire when a cycle race was causing roads to be closed and locals to get annoyed.)

 

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-45238735

 

Lots of Cyclists now being drawn to the NC500 and other just wanting the views, stops and to travel the route safely.

As it is now the growing popularity is becoming the issue.  

Saying that, today would be a great day to head up there.  Wednesday's being a pretty good day..........

 

I went in the height of the summer and I kid you not when I type this, I had to reverse once in 200 mile's of back roads due to the lack of traffic as the roads were dead.I can understand the local frustration in places but the flip side is the local economy is getting boosted from the tourism, I would hate for them to change the route in anyway as its perfect the way it is now.