The North Coast 500 road is a 500ish miles journey through some of the most remote areas of the north of Scotland. On this road trip you will marvel at beaches, mountains, lochs, fresh sea food and much more.
This is the story of a 7 day road trip on the North Coast of Scotland. The idea had been planted in my head several years ago, during a previous Scottish trip. We met travellers who couldn’t stop but raving about the wild beauty of the deserted North. We swore to come back and to see it with our own eyes.
on our North Coast 500 Scottish roadtrip.
Planning your trip
We had a week for the road trip and after a bit of research decided to start by the east coast. The West coast is definitely the most spectacular part of the road and packed with hidden gems. I would definitely recommend spending more time there. For the same reason, try to drive anti-clockwise (starting from Inverness) to go from beautiful to grandiose. You won’t regret it.
Let the landscape and a good map be your guides. As a co-pilot (with the boyfriend being the driving wheel), I planned our stops around view points, beaches and cafes, following the pictograms on the map. The below itinerary is inspired from our own trip in September 2019. Like all articles on this blog, I only highlight places we visited/ stayed/ ate that we particularly enjoyed.
The article at a glance:
- NC 500 7 day road trip itinerary
- Budget of the road trip
- When to go and a few tips
- Maps with highlights
North Coast 500: 7 day itinerary and points of interests
Getting there
We woke up with the murmur of the rolling train. It is the beauty of taking a night train, fall sleep in London and waking up in the countryside, on the over side of the country! The Caledonian Sleeper train links London to Inverness in 12h. Prices vary but a twin classic cabin with 2 bunk beds is likely to cost you around 200-250GBP (one way).
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