My (Mainly Rambling) Review of The North Coast 500.
Discussion
This weekend passed i decided to jump in and get on the NC500 route before the masses fill up the singletrack road heres my opinion of the route!! I have driven many a nice road in my time including 2 banger rallys thru france, andorra and austria, and completed the pacific highway in northern california
Due to time restraint we had only 2 days and couldn't find any other cars to accompany us, so its my girlfriend, me and my 2000 TVR Tuscan S...we had a GoPro on the car but i haven't even got round to removing it from the car let alone downloading the 48gb of data.
In Summary -
Do it, its brilliant one of the best drives i have ever completed anywhere in the world!!!!
Watch out for....sheep, sheep, sheep, cattle grids, crazy locals, even crazier tourists in rental motorhomes.
Time - 2 days is ok but in an ideal world 3 days would allow more time to visit attractions.
Amount of Cars - Id suggest avoiding massive convoys, as you can simply only fit one or at a push 2 cars in each passing place.
Driving Puirist - You will enjoy parts of the roads but its by no means a race track. Its fun but its more about the views!
The Car - The Tuscan did just fine but id have had just as much fun in a little front wheel drive hatchback and when i do it again it will be in a clio 172 or pug 205 or similar as you simply dont need mega HP but instead something you can really throw into the few hairpins where you can see whats coming! The 4.0 speed six managed to average 23mpg
Phone Signal - 3G? - Dont be silly
Sat Nav - The routes pretty simple to follow but my Garmin didnt recognise lots of the small places.
The Long Write Up
I stay approximately 1 hour from Inverness, a dreary drive on the A96, grey clouds in the sky and we both felt (as did the forecast) that this would become the normal view for the weekend!!
We approach the start line about 12pm, and pass the start line of the Inverness Castle (sadly the car park is barrier controlled so you can get a good photo on the start line!
Being a Saturday afternoon the town was busy and as usual the loud burble of a 4.0 Tvr Speed Six with a straight through exhaust reverberating off the buildings turns a few heads. From here we head out the first tourist road, the A862. One of my major worries on this trip is fuel, so i top off the Tuscans tank here, for a "bargain" 119.9 a litre, bogo standard unleaded only!
The A862 runs along the coast of the Beauly Firth, the rain hasn't really eased......we hit Beauly, Muir or Ord and then join the A835 then A890. The views are decent and the road fairly quiet but a pretty typical of a Scottish A road until around about the Lochcarron area. There isnt much on the road here, in terms of places to stop, Auchnasheen has a cafe i believe but we didn't stop here. As you approach Lochcarron the views become more and more beautiful and low and behold the rain eases and the sun can be seen in the mountains in the distance!!
From here you drive a while on your first (of many) singletrack roads and then you hit the famous Applecross road sign. One i have really been looking forward to! You can tell its famous as i arrive to a que of bikes waiting for the compulsory photo of the sign, turns out there are also doing the 500 and they blagged some stickers off me for there bikes.
Sadly being famous, you not only have to wait your turn to set off but also look up the hill to see the barrage of rented Campers and foreign cars coming down the hill and your first couple of sheep on the road. We set off, pass some cyclists (mentalists) and stop at pretty much every passing place. The sun bursts out from behind the clouds and unleasehes the glorious view of the water away down to the left of the road...then hides once again!
At this point i lead a convoy of 6 bikes behind me, we meet a Transit van and a massive rental motorhome coming down the road calling for a 500yard reverse...easier said than done on a narrow road with a large drop! Gives time for a photo tho!
Towards the top (2500ft) the road reveals some nice hairpins all of which we meet cars coming the other way. The road then flattens out and you snake your way down the otherside to applecross itself. Here we head for lunch, about 2 and a half hours of driving behind us.
From here we take another singletrack road, which snakes it way along the coast via a number of small collections of houses with a view of the sea and Raasay off to the nearside. Here we didnt see a single car, the road was open with long stretch s that offer a clear view of the road ahead, don't presume you can start upping the speed tho as there is sheep everywhere and a number of blind crests that should be approached with caution. The road conditions here are very similar to the majority of the run, its rough and not without the odd pothole but generally in ok condition even in a hard suspensioned TVR. This road loops around fearnmore and then down onto the A896 into Shieldaig.
Next on the route it Torridon, some great mountain views as you carry on past Beinn Eighe.
Kinlochewe is next on the road, this little village has a petrol station so i elected to top off the tank (£35 gone). Be carefull if your trying to do this in the winter (not just because most of the roads will be impassible) as i noted this petrol station was closed on sundays in the winter. Here you can take a short cut to Ullapool but we decided to do the full route and carry on to Gairloch and another coastal loop. This road even has a centre line as is wide enough for 2 cars to pass but only in parts. Again this road is almost empty.Follow this road around and you soon join the A835 which is a pretty normal A road and into Ullapool .
We elected to stay in Ullapool, lovely night but too many drams and too many midges but thats another story!! We arrive at 6pm, making for a 6hour drive from Inverness including the lunch stop at a cruising pace.
With sore heads and being uber careful of our uber low drink drive limit in Scotland it was a post lunchtime start.
Again coast roads full of sheep and cattle grids (21 in all) are the routes of choice. The sun is out in all its glory today, we head up towards Lochinver on the North East Tourist route to John o Groats (easy to follow 190mile route). We pass lovely places such as Inverkerkaig with an unspoiled beach and onto Lochinver. A larger town with a petrol station, £20 tops off the tank!
From here we turn onto my favourite road of the trip the B869. 28mph is about as fast as you can go, with tight turns and loads of crests where you haven't a clue whats coming but you don't want to go fast , the scenery and road is stunning.
The highest part of this road takes you into Drumbeg and opens out to a large viewpoint with room for 10 or more cars.
The view is stunning!!
From here on the road is much the same but some parts are soo steep that the Tuscan actually bottomed out at the crests.
Back onto a main road now, towards the Kyleskua bridge.
From here we travel north toward Kinlochbervie, a fine smooth road with 2 whole driving lanes, one for cars in each direction...until you hit the A838.
The A838, was pretty tiring! A busy singletrack road certainly tests the concentration. The road still exhibits some interesting views although not as spectacular as previously. To be honest i was glad to get to Tongue where the road becomes 2 lanes once again.
From here we skip across the top of Scotland, the road doesn't hug the coast for most of the road but goes through some funny little places and past Dounreay the prototype fast reactor Nuclear site. Thurso is next port of call, we arrived here at 5pm (some 4.5hrs after leaving 170miles in). Fuels available here and a few other sites along this road. Onwards to John o Groats next, its never been my favourite of places (although i was glad to see that white stick when i cycled LEJOG!) We stop for the customary photos and leave within 10 mins!
From here its all South, Wick, then a pretty straight forward normal A road, all be it through the Berridale Braes.
From here you are on a scottish standard road and its a comfy 60mph cruise back to Inverness ( not many photos because i have been down this road a few times before). We finally arrive in Inverness at 8.30pm so it makes for a very long second say, in an ideal world id probably have stayed around Wick and finished off via dunrobin castle on the following day.
All in all a fantastic weekend, hope my ramblings were of use to some of you.
Due to time restraint we had only 2 days and couldn't find any other cars to accompany us, so its my girlfriend, me and my 2000 TVR Tuscan S...we had a GoPro on the car but i haven't even got round to removing it from the car let alone downloading the 48gb of data.
In Summary -
Do it, its brilliant one of the best drives i have ever completed anywhere in the world!!!!
Watch out for....sheep, sheep, sheep, cattle grids, crazy locals, even crazier tourists in rental motorhomes.
Time - 2 days is ok but in an ideal world 3 days would allow more time to visit attractions.
Amount of Cars - Id suggest avoiding massive convoys, as you can simply only fit one or at a push 2 cars in each passing place.
Driving Puirist - You will enjoy parts of the roads but its by no means a race track. Its fun but its more about the views!
The Car - The Tuscan did just fine but id have had just as much fun in a little front wheel drive hatchback and when i do it again it will be in a clio 172 or pug 205 or similar as you simply dont need mega HP but instead something you can really throw into the few hairpins where you can see whats coming! The 4.0 speed six managed to average 23mpg
Phone Signal - 3G? - Dont be silly
Sat Nav - The routes pretty simple to follow but my Garmin didnt recognise lots of the small places.
The Long Write Up
I stay approximately 1 hour from Inverness, a dreary drive on the A96, grey clouds in the sky and we both felt (as did the forecast) that this would become the normal view for the weekend!!
We approach the start line about 12pm, and pass the start line of the Inverness Castle (sadly the car park is barrier controlled so you can get a good photo on the start line!
Being a Saturday afternoon the town was busy and as usual the loud burble of a 4.0 Tvr Speed Six with a straight through exhaust reverberating off the buildings turns a few heads. From here we head out the first tourist road, the A862. One of my major worries on this trip is fuel, so i top off the Tuscans tank here, for a "bargain" 119.9 a litre, bogo standard unleaded only!
The A862 runs along the coast of the Beauly Firth, the rain hasn't really eased......we hit Beauly, Muir or Ord and then join the A835 then A890. The views are decent and the road fairly quiet but a pretty typical of a Scottish A road until around about the Lochcarron area. There isnt much on the road here, in terms of places to stop, Auchnasheen has a cafe i believe but we didn't stop here. As you approach Lochcarron the views become more and more beautiful and low and behold the rain eases and the sun can be seen in the mountains in the distance!!
From here you drive a while on your first (of many) singletrack roads and then you hit the famous Applecross road sign. One i have really been looking forward to! You can tell its famous as i arrive to a que of bikes waiting for the compulsory photo of the sign, turns out there are also doing the 500 and they blagged some stickers off me for there bikes.
Sadly being famous, you not only have to wait your turn to set off but also look up the hill to see the barrage of rented Campers and foreign cars coming down the hill and your first couple of sheep on the road. We set off, pass some cyclists (mentalists) and stop at pretty much every passing place. The sun bursts out from behind the clouds and unleasehes the glorious view of the water away down to the left of the road...then hides once again!
At this point i lead a convoy of 6 bikes behind me, we meet a Transit van and a massive rental motorhome coming down the road calling for a 500yard reverse...easier said than done on a narrow road with a large drop! Gives time for a photo tho!
Towards the top (2500ft) the road reveals some nice hairpins all of which we meet cars coming the other way. The road then flattens out and you snake your way down the otherside to applecross itself. Here we head for lunch, about 2 and a half hours of driving behind us.
From here we take another singletrack road, which snakes it way along the coast via a number of small collections of houses with a view of the sea and Raasay off to the nearside. Here we didnt see a single car, the road was open with long stretch s that offer a clear view of the road ahead, don't presume you can start upping the speed tho as there is sheep everywhere and a number of blind crests that should be approached with caution. The road conditions here are very similar to the majority of the run, its rough and not without the odd pothole but generally in ok condition even in a hard suspensioned TVR. This road loops around fearnmore and then down onto the A896 into Shieldaig.
Next on the route it Torridon, some great mountain views as you carry on past Beinn Eighe.
Kinlochewe is next on the road, this little village has a petrol station so i elected to top off the tank (£35 gone). Be carefull if your trying to do this in the winter (not just because most of the roads will be impassible) as i noted this petrol station was closed on sundays in the winter. Here you can take a short cut to Ullapool but we decided to do the full route and carry on to Gairloch and another coastal loop. This road even has a centre line as is wide enough for 2 cars to pass but only in parts. Again this road is almost empty.Follow this road around and you soon join the A835 which is a pretty normal A road and into Ullapool .
We elected to stay in Ullapool, lovely night but too many drams and too many midges but thats another story!! We arrive at 6pm, making for a 6hour drive from Inverness including the lunch stop at a cruising pace.
With sore heads and being uber careful of our uber low drink drive limit in Scotland it was a post lunchtime start.
Again coast roads full of sheep and cattle grids (21 in all) are the routes of choice. The sun is out in all its glory today, we head up towards Lochinver on the North East Tourist route to John o Groats (easy to follow 190mile route). We pass lovely places such as Inverkerkaig with an unspoiled beach and onto Lochinver. A larger town with a petrol station, £20 tops off the tank!
From here we turn onto my favourite road of the trip the B869. 28mph is about as fast as you can go, with tight turns and loads of crests where you haven't a clue whats coming but you don't want to go fast , the scenery and road is stunning.
The highest part of this road takes you into Drumbeg and opens out to a large viewpoint with room for 10 or more cars.
The view is stunning!!
From here on the road is much the same but some parts are soo steep that the Tuscan actually bottomed out at the crests.
Back onto a main road now, towards the Kyleskua bridge.
From here we travel north toward Kinlochbervie, a fine smooth road with 2 whole driving lanes, one for cars in each direction...until you hit the A838.
The A838, was pretty tiring! A busy singletrack road certainly tests the concentration. The road still exhibits some interesting views although not as spectacular as previously. To be honest i was glad to get to Tongue where the road becomes 2 lanes once again.
From here we skip across the top of Scotland, the road doesn't hug the coast for most of the road but goes through some funny little places and past Dounreay the prototype fast reactor Nuclear site. Thurso is next port of call, we arrived here at 5pm (some 4.5hrs after leaving 170miles in). Fuels available here and a few other sites along this road. Onwards to John o Groats next, its never been my favourite of places (although i was glad to see that white stick when i cycled LEJOG!) We stop for the customary photos and leave within 10 mins!
From here its all South, Wick, then a pretty straight forward normal A road, all be it through the Berridale Braes.
From here you are on a scottish standard road and its a comfy 60mph cruise back to Inverness ( not many photos because i have been down this road a few times before). We finally arrive in Inverness at 8.30pm so it makes for a very long second say, in an ideal world id probably have stayed around Wick and finished off via dunrobin castle on the following day.
All in all a fantastic weekend, hope my ramblings were of use to some of you.
Good write up. I've just got back from a 4 day drive up there. 440 miles on the first and last day to get there and back left 2 days to complete the route. I differed in that I stayed at the Muir of Ord for all 3 nights, so did the bottom west section (the best bit imo) up to Ullapool on the first day and then headed back to Muir of Ord (The A835 is also not a bad driving road but is mainly a quick A road). The second day was back up to Ullapool and then to complete the rest of the route. Shame that it was very misty on the second day which hide a lot of the views and made the A838 really interesting. Agree that a small quick hatch or 2 door sports car would be great. I was in an Jag XJR which was interesting to fit on certain roads.
I have been doing that route since the 80s and it is wonderful, my favourite drive anywhere . In the last 15 years it's been in Caterhams, which are ideal as they are small and as the roof is nearly always off you get to see the mountains better. I have certainly noticed a few more people doing the drive and I would appeal to people not to drive in big convoys as it looks daft, can inconvenience others and can also get the last man taking silly risks to keep up.As said, it isn't a racetrack and we aren't the only community of enthusiasts who love it up there so make brisk progress by all means but don't be a t
t . Having done both group and solo runs there's no doubt that for me the solo run offers the biggest fun . I can think of few things I'd rather do again than set off from near Ft William and just drive - up to Kyle , over to Loch Carron , Applecross, Gareloch, Ullapool , Scourie and Durness. Long drive but the views are beyond sublime .
t . Having done both group and solo runs there's no doubt that for me the solo run offers the biggest fun . I can think of few things I'd rather do again than set off from near Ft William and just drive - up to Kyle , over to Loch Carron , Applecross, Gareloch, Ullapool , Scourie and Durness. Long drive but the views are beyond sublime . 
Great write up, thanks for sharing. 
Scotland has fabulous roads and scenery that are a must for any PHer.
Scotland has fabulous roads and scenery that are a must for any PHer.
Edited by g3org3y on Sunday 6th September 11:53
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