North Coast 500 - early July

[mattpollard]

Hi all,

I have a few days off early in July, so am planning on doing the North Coast 500 (departing from London) over three days, from approx. Thurs 7th - Sun 10th (give or take a day). Based on what I've read, will probably head clockwise. If anyone has any 'must do/don't do' tips, including places to stay, they would be enormously appreciated?

More importantly, planning on going solo in V8V N400, if anyone else fancies getting involved for all or part of it then great, do let me know!

Photos/review can follow if interest!

Cheers all - Matt

[divetheworld]

Did it last year - https://slate.adobe.com/cp/ERJMI/


This year, I'm going the other way:

start - Kinnettles Castle Hotel, Forfar DD8 1TR.

133 miles
1. Leave on B9127 towards Douglastown onto A94. Turn right onto A954 towards Alyth.
2. Turn right at roundabout onto A926. Turn right on A93 (Braemar) towards waypoint PH10 7BB.
3. Stay on the A93 (Old military Road) until right turn to B976 (Tomintoul) at waypoint AB35 5TL
4. Turn left at end onto A939. Follow through the Cairngorms and have fun!
5. End of A939 turn left, and keep left onto A9 towards Perth and Inverness via waypoint PH26 3NT
6. Follow Satnav to Bunchrew House hotel via fuel stop IV2 3RH. Hotel at IV3 8TA

118 miles
1. Leave hotel right onto A862 following Satnav via A9 to waypoint KW10 6SF.
2. Fuel stops at 39miles - IV19 1EH, 105 miles - KW12 6UW
3. Stop at Dunrobin Castle KW10 6SF.
4. Dunnet Bay Distillery KW14 8XD
5. Fuel stop near destination at KW14 8PP
6. Follow Satnav to Forsshouse hotel KW14 7XY

118 miles
1. Leave hotel on A836 following Satnav to IV27 4PN
2. Fuel stops at 25miles - KW14 7SP, (crappy) 66 miles - IV27 4PN, 91 miles IV27 4SX
3. Turn right onto local road at Tongue onto A838 to Durness.
4. Follow Satnav to Inverlodge hotel IV27 4LU

122 Miles
1. Leave hotel onto A837 toward Ardvreck Castle, IV27 4HN
2. Fuel stop at 37miles - IV26 2SX, 77 miles - IV22 2NB, 92 miles - IV21 2BL
3. Follow A837 until Ledbeg/Ledmore and turn right onto A835 towards Ullapool
4. At Braemore Junction, turn right on A832 towards Gaireloch
5. Just here is Corrieshalloch gorge (waterfall).
6. Follow Satnav to waypoint IV22 2NB
7. At Kinlochewe, turn right on A896 towards Torridon
8. Arrive at hotel IV22 2EY

Edited by divetheworld on Thursday 9th June 17:47

[mattpollard]

Brilliant, thanks very much for all this, incredibly helpful! Any reason in particular for going the other way this year, purely for a change? Thanks again!

[divetheworld]

Avoiding the Glasgow side and doing the Cairngorms twice

[mikey k]

My tip - forget the NC500
Wester Ross north section is VERY narrow and twisty
North and NE section are boring A roads
Do some of the inland roads
Have a look in the Roads section on here and three links Red Devil posted
Those are a MUCH better route than the NC500
The NC500 is real just a marketing exercise

Oh and avoid the A9 Perth to Inverness at ALL costs!

[dhallworth]

When I finally find the right V8V I'm going to head up to the inland roads in the Cairngorms.

Eva took an N430 up there and the roads look great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkAT82-R0S8

David.

[mattpollard]

Cheers everyone for the great tips. Think I'll devise a rather unique route covering the Cairngorms and the West Coast! Roll on July...

[mikey k]

Heres the stuff I mentioned

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

red devil said:

Here's a suggestion which totals a whisker under 1000 miles. It starts and finishes on the opposite side in Glasgow.

https://goo.gl/maps/cMrfwxHmgq42
https://goo.gl/maps/BryYunc62go
https://goo.gl/maps/5zi4zwnAAtn

A few sections use the NC500 route but most of it is completely different. It's in three consecutive parts which is simply due to Google Maps limiting the number of waypoints (it was too much faff to drag and drop). Accordingly I haven't broken it down into manageable daily mileage nor by places to stay each night.