Highlands NC 500 Accomodation
Discussion
Hi all
Need some help. Im planning a trip to North Scotland, but am struggling to find Hotels. Im thinking of late September / early October, but all nice hotels allready lack availability. Im with the Mrs, and she insists on decent (ish) places.
Ive read loads on here about routes etc, but everytine I plan I cant get a Hotel
Any advice would be great
Need some help. Im planning a trip to North Scotland, but am struggling to find Hotels. Im thinking of late September / early October, but all nice hotels allready lack availability. Im with the Mrs, and she insists on decent (ish) places.
Ive read loads on here about routes etc, but everytine I plan I cant get a Hotel
Any advice would be great
In September it shouldn’t be too hard. We went in the second week of July last year, booking about 2months ahead. We stayed at Kinlochewe, Scourie and a B&B in Dornoch. I would have thought you can find something around Torridon and Ullapool. One thing though is that some places may have a 2 night minimum which can mess up your searches.
The NC500 has become something of a victim of it's own sucess. My suggestion - get off it and explore all the other roads up there! Almost any road or route north of Stirling will be amazing. You will get less busy roads and more available accomodation. You'll still take in bits of the NC 500 here and there.
Some suggestions:
- Cairngorms - Spittal ofGlenshee / Braemar / Cock Bridge
- Fort William to Interness, but cut off the main road at Drumnadrochit and go straight up towards Muir of Ord.
- The road from Alness up to Bonar Bridge is great - called 'the Struie' is used to be a shortcut for the A9 before the dornoch bridge was opened.
- Bonar bridge and up along Loch Shin, probably the fatest coast to coast run in the whole UK (?!) Places to stay in Lairg - indeed lairg area is perfect for a 'base' trip and day tripping to all sides of the NC 500 (given the changeable weather this can be a good plan as you can be flexible each day to drive a loop on the east or west depending on the forecast).
- While the 'main road' from Wick to John o Groats to Thurso is really good and fun, wriggling around the 'wee white roads' in that area (the "flow country") is amazing. Mostly flat baren landscape means you can see miles ahead so you can bomb along safely for ultimate driving fun.
- To really explore some interesting places I'd suggest staying in Dornoch and then in Wick and taking a whole day for that short stretch - you've got big touristy things like Dunrobin castle, but also lots of amazing wee harbours to drive down and walk around in places like Lybster. Also the Badbea ruined houses on the cliff where they used to chain up the children, and the Whaligoe steps - you won't come across any other tourists as these as they all rush past. In Wick you've got Old Pulteney distillery (much quieter than all the speyside ones so you get a much more personal tour) and the Gringoe Castle which is one of the most photogenic places in Scotland in any weather.
Some suggestions:
- Cairngorms - Spittal ofGlenshee / Braemar / Cock Bridge
- Fort William to Interness, but cut off the main road at Drumnadrochit and go straight up towards Muir of Ord.
- The road from Alness up to Bonar Bridge is great - called 'the Struie' is used to be a shortcut for the A9 before the dornoch bridge was opened.
- Bonar bridge and up along Loch Shin, probably the fatest coast to coast run in the whole UK (?!) Places to stay in Lairg - indeed lairg area is perfect for a 'base' trip and day tripping to all sides of the NC 500 (given the changeable weather this can be a good plan as you can be flexible each day to drive a loop on the east or west depending on the forecast).
- While the 'main road' from Wick to John o Groats to Thurso is really good and fun, wriggling around the 'wee white roads' in that area (the "flow country") is amazing. Mostly flat baren landscape means you can see miles ahead so you can bomb along safely for ultimate driving fun.
- To really explore some interesting places I'd suggest staying in Dornoch and then in Wick and taking a whole day for that short stretch - you've got big touristy things like Dunrobin castle, but also lots of amazing wee harbours to drive down and walk around in places like Lybster. Also the Badbea ruined houses on the cliff where they used to chain up the children, and the Whaligoe steps - you won't come across any other tourists as these as they all rush past. In Wick you've got Old Pulteney distillery (much quieter than all the speyside ones so you get a much more personal tour) and the Gringoe Castle which is one of the most photogenic places in Scotland in any weather.
Thanks for all the advise
So, this is what I have done. After some persistance I managed to find hotels. I only have 5 days/ 4 nights and am travelling from just inside the M25
Day 1 Home - Glencoe (Staying at the Glencoe Inn)
Day 2 Glencoe - Corran Ferry - Glenuig then A861 to Mallaig - Ferry to Armdale - Uig (Stay at Greshornish House)
Day 3 Skye - Applecross - Rua Reidh - Hug the coastline to Loch Inver (Stay at Inver Lodge)
Day 4 Loch Inver - Achmelvich - Tongue - Bona Bridge - Aviemore (Stay at Rowan Tree Country Club)
Day 5 Back down South
Am I mad ?
So, this is what I have done. After some persistance I managed to find hotels. I only have 5 days/ 4 nights and am travelling from just inside the M25
Day 1 Home - Glencoe (Staying at the Glencoe Inn)
Day 2 Glencoe - Corran Ferry - Glenuig then A861 to Mallaig - Ferry to Armdale - Uig (Stay at Greshornish House)
Day 3 Skye - Applecross - Rua Reidh - Hug the coastline to Loch Inver (Stay at Inver Lodge)
Day 4 Loch Inver - Achmelvich - Tongue - Bona Bridge - Aviemore (Stay at Rowan Tree Country Club)
Day 5 Back down South
Am I mad ?
As you will be mostly driving and probably not enough time for a proper distillery tour, a 'quick stop' option is the Dalmore distillery at Alness - about 3/4 of the way through your day towards Aviemore. You'll need a stop to stretch your legs after driving over the Struie road from Bonar Bridge (I spent most of my childhood throwing up in the back seats on that road!). Dalmore doesn't do full on tours but they have a nice wee shop and the courtyard outside has a nice traditional feel to it. You can also pick up bottles of distillery exclusive (~£200) that you can either enjoy drinking or sell a year or two later for a profit. After Alness the road to Aviemore is easy and not twisty.
If you need to catch up time after getting stuck behind traffic on Skye (I found it hard and I have 550bhp!) then I would miss out the applecross loop - I don't get why people are so obsessed with it. It's also crawling with tourists and all food stops are massively over priced. I'd recommend using the time on the north loop around Skye if the weather is clear as you get a cracking view of the outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland.
You typically pay 2x for food on the NC 500 'headline locations' - we stopped at the very nice Waterside Café in Lochcarron which was half the price of anything in Applecross.
A couple of easy edge-of-the-road stretch-the-legs-stops going up the west are Corrieshalloch Gorge and Knockan Crag (one of the most significant geological sites on the planet... and there's a toilet there). Both are 10 mins short walk about, see stuff, keep going.
The slowest part of our journey will be the north coast - it twists and turns in and around inlets with such amazing views you'll want to stop every half mile to get out and take a picture! Even just Durness to Tongue you'll likely stop 4 times!
If you need to catch up time after getting stuck behind traffic on Skye (I found it hard and I have 550bhp!) then I would miss out the applecross loop - I don't get why people are so obsessed with it. It's also crawling with tourists and all food stops are massively over priced. I'd recommend using the time on the north loop around Skye if the weather is clear as you get a cracking view of the outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland.
You typically pay 2x for food on the NC 500 'headline locations' - we stopped at the very nice Waterside Café in Lochcarron which was half the price of anything in Applecross.
A couple of easy edge-of-the-road stretch-the-legs-stops going up the west are Corrieshalloch Gorge and Knockan Crag (one of the most significant geological sites on the planet... and there's a toilet there). Both are 10 mins short walk about, see stuff, keep going.
The slowest part of our journey will be the north coast - it twists and turns in and around inlets with such amazing views you'll want to stop every half mile to get out and take a picture! Even just Durness to Tongue you'll likely stop 4 times!
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