The North Coast 500

Last weekend we took our new (10 year old) Land Rover and my recently acquired paddle board North, VERY North, to visit Grahams parents in Thurso and rather than just drive back down the same road we decided to take a detour and explore some of the North Coast 500. It took us a few days to settle into this trip, obviously there’s a lot of driving and for two active people that was quite tough but after a few days we found our stride and started to enjoy life being reduced to driving and stopping wherever looked nice to get out on the water. Here’s a run down of our trip and some tips for driving the North Coast 500:

Thursday

We left Glasgow after work and headed for Aviemore but within half an hour we were stuck behind a crash on the A9. We finally arrived at our hotel well after midnight having missed a ceilidh and a Scottish buffet - true heartbreak!

Friday

We were up early and after a huge breakfast at the Cairngorm Hotel we drove out to Loch Morlich to take my new board out for a spin. It was wet and windy but I loved this area and Loch Morlich, the road to the loch is lined with forests and you’re surrounded by the Cairngorms which makes for a pretty spectacular drive. Loch Morlich is a fresh water loch with it’s very own sandy beach and is perfect for water sports. We hired another SUP from Loch Morlich Watersports and spent a couple of hours exploring the loch. After some time on the water we both felt revived and ready to hit the road.

Our next stop off was Dornoch which turned out to be a beautiful little village with some really lovely (and pretty fancy) shops, cafes and restaurants and a huge sandy beach. After a bit of lunch at Carnegie Hall we battled on up the A9 through torrential rain which made for a bit of a hairy drive but we did see something amazing in the sea; water was pouring off the mainland causing a really weird divide in the sea where the brown/pink freshwater and deep blue sea water refused to mix. We finally arrived in Thurso to spend an evening catching up with Grahams folks.

Saturday

As ever Graham and I woke up at the crack of dawn so we walked to the local bakery to get a hot chocolate and some baked goods and sat on the beach watching the ferry come in from Orkney. Later we drove out to Dunnet Head, the most northerly point in mainland Britain, before heading back to say our goodbyes and getting on the road again.

We drove along the top of Scotland feeling like we were on the edge of the world, stopping off at various deserted beaches along the way. We turned inland at Tongue and drove as far as Lairg before turning west and eventually arriving at Achmelvich where we camped for the night. I’d been dying to visit Clachtoll and Achmelvich for ages and really wanted to get out on my SUP in the famous turquoise waters but the weather was wild so it was a no go. Instead we watched a brave little seal playing in the waves and had a BBQ on the beach. The wind picked up through the night and our tent was battered with wind and rain so we were knackered by Sunday morning.

Sunday

After packing up our tent we headed into Lochinver (which was stunning) before driving on a truly tiny road to Achiltibue and the Summer Isles. It took us about an hour to drive 20 miles but those 20 miles were spectacular, one particularly notable moment was when we saw two huge eagles appear out of the mist to swoop around the mountains, I could hardly believe what we were seeing! Upon arriving in Achiltibuie we picked up a gigantic piece of cake from the Piping School Cafe (highly recommended) and headed to the beach. Paddling around the Summer Isles was incredible, this area seems to have very few tourists so we had the beach and the crystal clear waters all to ourselves, the sun even came out for a time. Then we made the compulsory post paddle cup of tea on the camping stove and devoured the cake before setting off on the next leg of the journey.

We were supposed to be heading to Invergarry to camp but after a few nights of getting very little sleep we were knackered so we stopped in Ullapool (more cake may have been consumed) and scoured the internet for a hotel near Loch Ness. Finding a last minute hotel in Scotland is akin to finding a needle in a haystack, but we did eventually find a room in a hotel near Garve. The other guests were all from a bus tour and the hotel was more than little tired but a glass of wine cost £1.50 and there was a games room so we actually had an excellent night drinking cheap wine and competing in our own Highland Games (table tennis, darts and pool), Graham won, I was raging!

Monday

After a decent nights sleep and a hot shower we felt 100 times better and genuinely excited to get on the road and start a new day. We drove to Drumnadrochit and then all the way down the loch to Fort Augustus. The last time we were on this road we were on our bikes cycling the Etape Loch Ness, needless to say it’s a lot easier on 4 wheels! We stopped in Fort Augustus and I felt pretty smug that rather than take one of the packed cruises I could take my very own cruise on my SUP, but sadly (or perhaps luckily) there were no sightings of Nessie! After the routine cup of tea and piece of shortbread we drove the final leg: the sun was shining as we drove down through Fort William, stopped for lunch in Ballachulish and on through Glencoe. I’ve never been through Glencoe but I’ve always wanted to see it and it really didn’t disappoint, it’s spectacular! Huge hills hug the road as you drive through the glen before opening up onto Rannoch Moor which is totally different but just as beautiful and, at this time of year, covered in vivid purple heather. Finally we drove down the side of Loch Lomond to Glasgow and our home in the West End.

Tips

This trip was spectacular and I think we saw every kind of landscape and every type of weather but here’s some things we learned.

Enjoy the journey

It’s hard not to focus on just getting to your next destination, the first couple of days we were guilty of not stopping off to enjoy it enough. Take breaks, explore, stop for picnics, go down that road to that hidden beach, it’s what you’re there for!

The roads are varied

The driving is hard in bits and it usually takes longer than you think. Most of the roads we drove on were single track so you have to constantly anticipate, there may well be a cyclist or a sheep on the road just around the corner. And drive slowly because you need to be ready to pull into a passing place at a moments notice, cars appear out of nowhere. I prefer this type of driving to motorways (or the dreaded A9) but it takes a bit of getting used to.

You probably won’t be alone

I was a tiny bit disappointed in some of the beaches, they are stunning but what the photos don’t show is that most have campsites and hotels over looking them, the most famous ones probably aren’t going to be empty or as remote as you might think. This goes for most of the big landmarks too, Glencoe was chocked full of tourists which slightly took the edge off the magic of it. If you want to really appreciate the views or take a killer photo you need to get up early!

Plan ahead

It’s a shame because this takes some of the spontaneity out of the trip but if you’re travelling in summer campsites, hotels and B&B’s are going to be really busy. I booked our campsites in advance and I’m glad I did because a lot of them I phoned couldn’t accommodate us or wouldn’t accommodate us for just one night so we changed our route in advance. Pretty much every B&B we passed had a ‘no vacancies’ sign outside it and as I said finding a last minute hotel was not easy.

It’s worth thinking about how much driving you want to do per day too, then add at least an hour for delays and maybe another two hours for stop offs, you don’t want to be rushing so don’t try to cover too much ground in one day and book your accommodation accordingly.

The Route