NC500 (north coast road)

[ian2144]

GetCarter said:

carparkno1 said:

I'm hoping a 440i and a Mustang aren't going to be too wide!!

No... plenty of motor-caravans do it.

I’ll be up at Torridon in my Mustang in a few weeks time, I would say it’s the best time to do it. Virtually no tourists and still a bit of snow on the hills.

[carparkno1]

ian2144 said:

GetCarter said:

carparkno1 said:

I'm hoping a 440i and a Mustang aren't going to be too wide!!

No... plenty of motor-caravans do it.

I’ll be up at Torridon in my Mustang in a few weeks time, I would say it’s the best time to do it. Virtually no tourists and still a bit of snow on the hills.

Early May for us... If you happen to be about!

[Synchromesh]

Thinking of heading up at the end of the month.

Is there much difference in traffic levels weekend vs weekdays at this time of year?

[GetCarter]

Yep... but Easter is busy all week(s)

To give you an idea, you'll meet (roughly) a car a minute. Sounds empty, but on the single track roads it's a pain.

If you want empty roads, drive at 6 a.m. - the only car you'll see is mine.

Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 9th April 16:39

[towser]

Synchromesh said:

Thinking of heading up at the end of the month.

Is there much difference in traffic levels weekend vs weekdays at this time of year?

Never uncommon driving in the highlands but this has been getting worse....quiet roads + scenery is a bad mix.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-i...

[Davie]

Headed north first thing tomorrow... destined for Skye.

As yet undecided on the best route, my options being:

Edinburgh > A9 > Spean Bridge > Skye

Or...

Edinburgh > M9 > Glencoe > Fort William > Skye

Sadly the ferry idea was knocked on the head, deemed a little too time consuming so it'll be the bridge and across either way but I suppose the advantage of the Glencoe route is it's arguably nicer scenery and Fort William has supermarket and fuel... as do other places but you know what I mean.

Anybody know if there's any issues be it roadworks etc on either routes... Tarffic Scotland seems to think all is well so I guess it may come down to the volume of traffic impeding progress, says he... armed with a fully laden estate car!

Edited by Davie on Wednesday 17th April 15:33

[GetCarter]

Davie said:

Headed north first thing tomorrow... destined for Skye.

As yet undecided on the best route, my options being:

Edinburgh > A9 > Spean Bridge > Skye

Or...

Edinburgh > M9 > Glencoe > Fort William > Skye

Sadly the ferry idea was knocked on the head, deemed a little too time consuming so it'll be the bridge and across either way but I suppose the advantage of the Glencoe route is it's arguably nicer scenery and Fort William has supermarket and fuel... as do other places but you know what I mean.

Anybody know if there's any issues be it roadworks etc on either routes... Tarffic Scotland seems to think all is well so I guess it may come down to the volume of traffic impeding progress, says he... armed with a fully laden estate car!

Edited by Davie on Wednesday 17th April 15:33

No idea on traffic, but Glencoe is much prettier.

[anonymous-user]

A9 was flowing but busy earlier this week. Glencoe is the nicer drive. Single track isn't much fun at the moment due to Easter and the sun.

[mak250300]

57 Chevy said:

I don't think I ever shared pics of our 2016 trip round the NC500 in our 78 Plymouth. We went to Orkney on the way round too.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/grantgb/albums/72157...

North Coast 500 by Nick Grant, on Flickr

We stopped there a few years ago at that same petrol station. Nice that you heading along towards Gairloch and on past Poolewe to Cove and the War Memorial. Such a lovely place. We spent every May in a wee cottage up there and loved every minute. Nice photos.

[57 Chevy]

mak250300 said:

We stopped there a few years ago at that same petrol station. Nice that you heading along towards Gairloch and on past Poolewe to Cove and the War Memorial. Such a lovely place. We spent every May in a wee cottage up there and loved every minute. Nice photos.

My wife's family have holidayed in Gairloch for over 40 years so we know that area well. We stayed around there for the best part of a week on our trip It's beautiful.

[GetCarter]

mak250300 said:

57 Chevy said:

I don't think I ever shared pics of our 2016 trip round the NC500 in our 78 Plymouth. We went to Orkney on the way round too.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/grantgb/albums/72157...

North Coast 500 by Nick Grant, on Flickr

We stopped there a few years ago at that same petrol station. Nice that you heading along towards Gairloch and on past Poolewe to Cove and the War Memorial. Such a lovely place. We spent every May in a wee cottage up there and loved every minute. Nice photos.

That garage has gone now. House being built.

[naetype]

So, have I been proven correct on my assumption that the Grand Tour piece on the NC500/PENIS has generated significantly more traffic? Down here I would certainly say it's ridiculously busy...

I assume Steve's been out with his click counter... no excuses regardless of the weather

[GetCarter]

Seems about the same as last year. Mostly motor-caravans.

I'm sitting in the garden with wine (and the Mrs and the dog)... I'll count the next hour.

Edited by GetCarter on Monday 22 April 13:28

[S2red]

Article in Herald today re NC500 mentions local concerns, mentions poor driving with an attached picture of a 911 Bet the owner of the car is pleased that registration is clearly visible

[GetCarter]

So I just did 13:28 to 14:28 and there were 93 vehicles passing by Shieldaig. Noticeable increase in motor-caravans. A group of two and a group of four that were obviously on a blat! (You can tell by the grouping, the type of car, the modified exhausts and the speed!).

[Condi]

Its also easter, and sunny.

In a weeks time, when its raining and cold there wont be so much.

[Davie]

Just back from a long weekend in Skye, contributing to the traffic chaos...

Went up M90 > A9 > Spean Bridge > Skye Bridge on Thursday and the traffic wasn't bad at all, surprisingly light I thought. Skye wasn't too bad either, granted an abundance of hired camper vans and hired Vauxhall Grandlands piloted by those who seem a tad unsure. Tried to avoid all the tourist hot spots but progress round the island was slow. Patience only ran out with a chap in a 66 plate Tiguan who refused to let me past for several miles on some single track... several flashes and indicator and he finally let me by.

Run home yesterday wasn't too bad either, traffic was light off the island and right down to Spean Bridge however had an incident with a Renault Kajar just along the Loch Lochy road where, having gone round all the corners at 25mph... said Kajar decided to accelerate as soon as I (and the following Mondeo) tried to pass on the sizeable straights. Dropped back, watched as some odd lines were taken and erratic speed continued. Fort William was quiet, the Clachaig was quiet (good!) and I only really hit traffic south of Lochearnhead (local plod out there earning a few quid as usual) and then got stuck in traffic coming in to Callendar for about 40mins however a blokes getting his 1 series stuck in a field entrance kept us entertained.

All in all not bad, all things considered... just shy of 1,000 miles all in and to be fair, the traffic was far less than I anticipated. I had debated going via Applecross on the way home but gave it a miss on the grounds that it could be busy and I had a two year old in tow and 10hrs+ in a car and he starts to lose his sense of humour!

[naetype]

GetCarter said:

So I just did 13:28 to 14:28 and there were 93 vehicles passing by Shieldaig. Noticeable increase in motor-caravans. A group of two and a group of four that were obviously on a blat! (You can tell by the grouping, the type of car, the modified exhausts and the speed!).

So that's only an increase of about 5% at this time of year compared to August... jury's still out but looking like I may have been wrong.

Must have been lovely up there this weekend with the wine, sun, wifey, the good boy* and a significant lack of midgies

'* Still the bearded collie? One of my favourite pictures ever is of him (?) with the Biggles goggles on.

[GetCarter]

naetype said:

'* Still the bearded collie? One of my favourite pictures ever is of him (?) with the Biggles goggles on.

Sadly not... gone to the great gig in the sky.

Now have Bert:

[alangla]

GetCarter said:

a group of four that were obviously on a blat! (You can tell by the grouping, the type of car, the modified exhausts and the speed!).

Wasn't these 4 was it? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48092454