Has anyone done this trip. I'm hoping to do it this year, but want to take my time, hoping to camp along the way. Not sure if I would be better off at one central site and have to commute to and fro each day, but would make it hard going, so would rather camp on the go. Any advice would be very welcome thanx.
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
NC500 doesn't work from a central location - you'll be doing a lot of repeat mileage. Do your research on the things you'd particularly like to see/do and then a campsite search on here as there's some lovely sites on the route.
------------- " When I die I don`t want my life to flash before me in an instant, I want it to be a 3 hour epic !"
We've just done much of the NC500 - did a NC430 as we cut across from Inverness to Ullapool, having enjoyed the coast south of Ullapool many years ago. Unless you stay central (Lairg, maybe), radiating out doesn't work well - one road in and one out to most places. There's at least an hour between campsites, sometimes more and it can be that the end of the day arrives and you find yourself at a site that's not your ideal one. (I printed off the maps of sites that suited us from UKCS, very useful.) They're all acceptable, some are better than others. Prices ranged from £12 to £22 for MH plus EHU. Not all take dogs (due to sheep farming). We pottered & toured - arrived tea time, moved on next day, stopped often at various deserted beaches or lochsides, walked the dog in forestry (due to sheep and ground nesting birds), explored Smoo Cave in the wee boat, had an afternoon at Castle of Mey, visited the famous ceramic studio overlooking Loch Eriboll, spent money to support the local economy in Ullapool, Thurso, Wick, Dingwall etc. WiFi was rare (Tesco supermarkets and towns only), the mobile signal wasn't enough to download emails on the iPhone, and some places had no radio signal. Bliss unless you must have contact. Our trip panned out like this: 1.Inverness (that's 5 hours from home). 2.Ullapool 3.Scourie (Clachtoll was too soon to stop) 4.Bettyhill (Durness too soon) 5.John O'Groats 6.Brora (Wick was too soon) 7.Tain (Dornoch too soon) 8.Dingwall (held up by a broken fan belt). Then home (6 hours from Dingwall with a stop at House of Bruar). But we met someone in a car rushing the whole thing in about 3 days - Applecross to John O'Groats in one day is just silly, but he was boasting about it. Some roads need extra care - going up a single track with hairpin bends on a 1:4 slope is not where you want to come up behind a bunch of cyclists, or meet a hire car coming in the opposite direction. (Clachtoll north along the coast at Drumbeg to the Kylesku Bridge, for example. I don't fancy it in a jacuzzi-size motorhome or towing, but I'm risk averse.) Convoys of MHs were a problem for others to get past(I saw one of 6 vehicles heading north to the famous Berrydale Braes, with a long queue behind). And any car parks that didn't have a "no overnight parking" sign were wall to wall "wild campers", parked so close they could pass a beer from window to window. (Helmsdale, for example.) Free camping does not always equate to wild....
So, in summary, the NC500 website recommends a minimum of 5 days, we took 8 nights to do less than the 500. I'd suggest the full 500 would be a bit of a rush in one week, a fortnight would be ideal and allow you to stop more than one night at places you enjoy, or if you wanted to have a day trip to Orkney or Handa Island (RSPB). We had fabulous weather most of the time, very windy otherwise, and in the midsummer light you can still be outside reading or walking at nearly midnight. Some say do it clockwise, others not: I prefer the Berrydale Braes on the east coast from north to south (downhill on the infamous hairpin bend where the school bus almost went over). But I've just been looking at my photos of Stac Pollaidh in the "geopark" and remembering what a fabulous trip it is.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: North Coast 500
