Discovering the North Coast 500 with GoTravelDaily

Bleakly beautiful, the North Coast 500 is Scotland’s very own Route 66. Buckle up for a road trip around Britain’s outer limits, where you’ll find otherworldly landscapes and down-to-earth welcomes.

Day 1 – Inverness to Invergordon, 25 miles

Even in its brisk overture, just another A-road ferrying commuters and HGVs to and from Scotland’s northernmost city, the NC500 can’t help exuding a sense of hardy portent. Thirty minutes into the journey is the Storehouse of Foulis, a restaurant in an 18th-century granary that sounds like a place where Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow might victual his men.

It looks it, too, with steam rising from a platter of potato-and-sausage stovies, through a view of windswept bracken and the blue-black waters of Cromarty Firth. Working off Highland food becomes a routine duty on the NC500. I reach the lofty 18th-century Fyrish Monument after an energetic hike over a carpet of brown heather studded with fairy-tale red toadstools.

The reward for seeking out this tribute to Scotland’s colonial past – built after a siege in India, won by the local laird – is a prospect of its uncertain future. Moored down the firth looms a fleet of mothballed North Sea oil rigs. Further on are the turrets of Kincraig Castle, a baronial clan-mansion reinvented as a grand but convivial hotel.

“People think the NC500 is all about the great outdoors,” says owner Ray Grant, proffering a fireside armchair in the wood-panelled sitting room, “so it’s nice when they find out the indoors aren’t bad, either.”

Day 2 – Invergordon to John O’Groats, 98 miles

The NC500 sticks fast to Scotland’s benign but blustery northeast coast, through villages of rust-streaked whitewash. Traffic thins and so does the tarmac. I make a footwell-muddying stop at Dunrobin Castle, an embodiment of Victorian aristocracy’s flair in the Highlands, its mighty towers circled by buffeted flocks of crows.

Into Caithness, and the coastline starts to tilt and crack, waves crashing distantly against cliffs topped with Macbeth-like ruins. At Whaligoe Steps, a steep flight of 350 hand-hewn stairs ascends one dramatic cleft to the remains of a historic herring station.

Davie Nicolson, the Steps’ custodian, stands by a ramshackle outbuilding festooned with antlers. “They got the name from the whales that used to get beached down there,” he says. “In my granny’s time they lived for a year off one of those.”

Another 20-odd-mile drive north brings me to John O’Groats. A drab scatter of windswept pebbledash, it seems an underwhelming start or finish line for all those transnational journeys.

However, at second glance, through the yawning glass frontage of a Scandinavian-style cabin at Natural Retreats (now called Together Travel at John O’Groats), the views are majestic. Huge vessels battle through the Pentland Firth, one of the world’s mightiest tidal straits, its bed scattered with hundreds of wrecks. Behind them loom the sheer-sided Orkneys, each cliff crowned with a lighthouse.

Later, with the wood burner aglow and a local beer in hand, the view outside transforms into a humbling spectacle. High above those wind-whipped tussocks, a wavering, ghostly searchlight of luminous green steadily creeps across the star-jewelled sky: the northern lights, to the rest of the world down south.

Day 3 – John O’Groats to Durness, 90 miles

Striking out west, I stop first for lunch at Captain’s Galley, a fabled seafood restaurant created by Jim and Mary Cowie in an old salmon ice-house.

“Every family up here has roots in the sea,” says Jim, his gentle voice echoing lightly off the ancient vaulted ceiling. The soft charm that defines the Caithness character is a dependable antidote to the hostility of their weather.

Jim can look back on 50 years in the fishing trade, and his focus on sustainability reflects both good taste and good sense. “We never order fish at all: I just go down to the quay every day and ask the skippers for their best and freshest catch.”

Following Jim’s journey, those who appreciate quality seafood can’t help but be impressed by his culinary skills. The Thai-style broth he prepares is a glorious tribute to both the raw materials and his self-taught skills honed since he opened the restaurant in 2002.

After Thurso, tracking west along the UK mainland’s top edge, the NC500 really gets into its stride. Highland cattle, huge horns parting their ginger fringes, begin to gather along the ever-lonelier road. Hardy surfers, marooned on yawning white sands, drag boards towards the rolling waves.

There are swooping sections of drama, characterized by single-track roads that make it impossible not to grip the wheel with a smile, feeling like the star of your own adventure. At Dunnet Head, the northernmost point on the British mainland, the NC500 passes Dunnet Bay Distillery, which crafts a delicate gin from local botanicals.

As dusk falls, I descend into the jagged mouth of Smoo Cave, a mystic venue that seems straight out of a fairy tale.

Day 4 – Durness to Ullapool, 94 miles

“I just love the Sutherland autumn,” shouts countryside ranger Donald Mitchell, his exuberance illuminating the dramatic scenery. Just northwest of Durness, Balnakeil Bay attracts adventurers, from sand-kiters to gannets crashing into the tumult offshore.

Every observation made by Donald seems to be an accompaniment to the elemental symphony of wind and waves, from Cape Wrath to the ivy-smothered ruins of Balnakeil church, where secrets of the past linger.

Brutally depopulated by the potato famine and Highland clearances, the county of Sutherland retains an enhanced sense of isolation. The NC500 passes through hardbitten settlements where modern conveniences are recent novelties and some places remain closed on Sundays.

One of the exceptions is Cocoa Mountain in Durness, where a rich hot chocolate adds to the charm of this location.

Life up here often requires an appropriate sense of adventure, amplified by the spectacular landscapes the NC500 navigates towards Ullapool: rainbows, horizontal cloudbursts, and pools of sunset gilding sheep-speckled crags.

Day 5 – Ullapool to Torridon, 86 miles

“My life up here is just one long excuse for a very scenic cup of tea,” says adventure guide Tim Hamlet, tending a sooty camp kettle on the slender beach that girdles Loch Lurgainn. Before us lie the canoes we have dragged from the still waters; high above, half lost in the mist, towers the gorse-skirted bulk of Stac Pollaidh.

Following the Gothic vistas of the NC500 that unlock through the mist, it feels right to engage directly with the stunning landscapes. Tim reflects on his journey: “To some locals, the landscape simply means hard work.”

South of Ullapool, the NC500 weaves through Ross-shire, a realm of steep rock threaded with tumbling cascades. Just west of Torridon, headlights reveal the bare stones of the Bothy at Ben Damph, this trip’s off-grid retreat. With both wood burners ablaze, the ancient crofter’s hovel is transformed into a cozy haven amid the wilds, where the night’s sounds include the calls of rutting stags and hooting owls.

Day 6 – Torridon to Inverness, 62 miles

Morning brings extravagant views of the loch beneath the bothy, guarded by Scots pines. A 4WD tour of the Ben Damph Estate reveals stags blank-eyed from their nocturnal activities.

Rejoining the NC500, the road hugs the coast as it winds south. Alone on a bald escarpment, the Applecross Smokehouse run by retired fisherman Derrick MacIver offers a delightful experience, with local products featuring prominently, especially his hot-smoked salmon.

“It’s more of a cooked product, really, nothing like the slimy cold-smoked stuff,” he emphasizes. The crafting process is laborious, involving brining and marinading for three days.

Applecross village, with its picturesque seaside homes, stands guard before the NC500’s crowning challenge. Bealach na Bà, the steepest road in Britain, twists dramatically up a mountain. At its summit, breathtaking panoramas await, with the road surging towards the silvery waters of Loch Kishorn, a journey ripe with scenic adventures.

This article aims to inspire exploration of Scotland’s breathtaking NC500 route through captivating landscapes, rich culture, and unique culinary experiences without the need for formalities.