5 Day North Coast 500 Itinerary: A Scottish Road Trip

We’ve driven Scotland’s North Coast 500 multiple times, in all seasons, on trips lasting from five days to three weeks. This is the five-day route we’d hand to a first-timer, and as a landscape photographer I’ve shot every stretch of it in everything from June’s midnight light to January sleet.

 

Quick Verdict: Is 5 Days Enough for the NC500?

Yes. Five days is the minimum we’d recommend for a comfortable lap of the NC500’s 516 miles, and the route we lay out below works for most travellers in most seasons. You’ll drive 2 to 3 hours most days, which leaves room for castles, distillery tours, beach walks, and the photography stops the west coast is known for.

The trade-offs to fit it into five days are real: no Cape Wrath excursion (a day on its own), no Sandwood Bay hike (most of a day), and no proper time on the Achiltibuie peninsula. If any of those are non-negotiable, add a day, or look at our 7 day NC500 itinerary instead.

When to drive: May to September. You get long daylight (up to 18 hours in June this far north), open attractions, and weather that mostly cooperates. Midges are worst from June to August but rarely a problem if you’re staying in hotels rather than camping. Winter is doable, but five days becomes tight. Sunset is around 3:30pm in December, which knocks stops off Day 2 and Day 5 straight away, so we’d add a sixth day for any winter run.

If you have less time, four days is the absolute floor for completing the route. Five will give you a more relaxed and enjoyable trip. And of course you can take longer. We’ve done the NC500 over two weeks and still found back roads to explore and far-flung beaches to hike to. If you have a week, Jess’s 1 week NC500 itinerary over on Independent Travel Cats is the better starting point.

Planning tip: if you’d like a copy to take on the road, we offer a printer-friendly version of this article that strips out ads and images. Save it as a PDF from your browser for offline use, which matters on a route with as many no-signal stretches as this one.

This itinerary assumes you’re driving the NC500 in a car or on a motorbike and staying in hotels or guesthouses, and we’ve recommended our favourite places to stay for each night further down. If you’d rather camp, either in a motorhome or a tent, use this post for the route and pair it with our 7 day North Coast 500 camping itinerary and our guide to all the North Coast 500 campsites for where to pitch up.

We’d also suggest reading this alongside our North Coast 500 planning guide, which covers the background detail (history, when the route launched, how it’s signed) that this day-by-day plan doesn’t repeat.

 

How Long Do You Need on the NC500?

Five days is the realistic minimum for the full 516-mile loop, and it’s the trip we’d book if we were planning a first visit around a normal week off work. The NC500 launched in 2015, runs from Inverness right around the top of Scotland and back, and on paper 516 miles sounds like a weekend. It isn’t. Much of the western and northern coast is single-track road where you’ll average closer to 30mph than 60, and the whole point of the drive is the stopping.

Here’s how the common trip lengths actually play out, based on the trips we’ve done at each.

 

Trip length	What you’ll fit	Best for	Our verdict
3 nights	The headline castles and viewpoints only, with most days spent driving	Travellers who only want a taste and will come back	Too rushed. You’ll see the road more than the places.
5 nights	The complete loop at a comfortable pace, with time for the main stops each day	First-timers on a standard week off	Our pick. The plan below.
7 nights	Everything in the 5-day plan plus Cape Wrath, the Sandwood Bay hike, and Achiltibuie	Anyone who wants the big detours and slower mornings	The luxury of time. Our 7 day itinerary covers it.
10+ nights	Slow travel, multiple nights per base, side trips to Skye, Orkney or Assynt’s beaches	Photographers and anyone chasing weather and light	How we usually do it. More is always better here.

 

So why does this guide commit to five days rather than hedge across all of them? Because a first-timer with a week off wants a plan they can book, not a menu of options. Five days is the sweet spot where you complete the loop, see the stops that make it worth driving, and don’t spend your whole holiday behind the wheel. If you have seven, take seven. But the route below is built to make five days work, and we’ve driven this exact version more than once to prove it does.

 

North Coast 500 Route at a Glance

This is the five-day route in one screen. We’ve balanced the days so you get roughly similar driving time each day, even where the mileage differs, because the single-track sections in the northwest (around Durness) and southwest (around Torridon) are much slower going than the fast A9 in the east.

 

Day	Route	Distance	Driving time	Headline stop	Overnight
1	Inverness to Wick	~130 miles	~3 hours	Dunrobin Castle	Wick
2	Wick to Tongue	~90 miles	~2.5 hours	Castle of Mey	Tongue
3	Tongue to Ullapool	~100 miles	~3 hours	Smoo Cave	Ullapool
4	Ullapool to Torridon	~85 miles	~2 hours	Inverewe Garden	Torridon
5	Torridon to Inverness	~115 miles	~3 hours	Bealach na Bà	Inverness

 

Day 3 is the one to watch. It’s both the longest mileage and the slowest roads, so leave Tongue by 9am to give yourself time for all the stops. Everything else has comfortable slack in a summer day. For where to sleep each night, jump to our budget, mid-range and luxury picks further down.

 

5 Day North Coast 500 Itinerary

Five days on the NC500 gives you a good amount of time to see many of the sights along the way. As the going is slower in some parts than others, we’ve paced each day by time behind the wheel rather than miles covered.

The slowest stretches, thanks to the winding single-track roads, are the northwest around Durness and the southwest around Torridon. So while the mileage on some of these days looks short, the roads mean they’ll still take a while. Any detours on the west coast, such as the beautiful beaches at Achmelvich or out to Achiltibuie, will add time too, as these are slow roads.

 

What This Itinerary Doesn’t Cover

Five days is enough to see a great deal of the NC500, but it does mean making choices. This plan doesn’t include the hike out to Sandwood Bay (an 8-mile round trip that needs most of a day), the Cape Wrath ferry and bus excursion (allow 3.5 hours minimum), or a proper exploration of the Achiltibuie and Coigach peninsula.

If any of those are high on your list, add a day or two. Our 7 day NC500 camping itinerary builds in the time for these detours.

 

Day 1: Inverness to Wick

Leave Inverness mid-morning after filling up with fuel and grabbing road-trip snacks. Aim to reach Wick by late afternoon.
At a glance: ~130 miles, ~3 hours driving. Stops: Black Isle, Dornoch, Dunrobin Castle, Carn Liath, Helmsdale, Whaligoe Steps, Wick.

The North Coast 500 starts and finishes in Inverness, so that’s where our itinerary begins and ends too. It’s a logical base: there’s an airport, a fast train line south to the rest of Scotland and England, and you can even take an overnight sleeper train from London. By car it’s just over three hours from Edinburgh.

If you can spare the time, a day or two here at the start or end is well spent. We have guides to things to do in Inverness, day trips from Inverness, and nearby Loch Ness.

Once you’re stocked up (Inverness is the best place on the route for both fuel and snacks), head north. The first area worth a stop is the Black Isle, a peninsula just north of Inverness that’s home to its own brewery, a ruined cathedral, and some beautiful waterfalls. It’s also one of the best places in the UK to watch dolphins from the shore, which you can do at Chanonry Point if the tides are right.

For more ideas here, see our complete guide to things to do on the Black Isle.

Continuing north, a short detour off the A9 brings you to Dornoch, home to a lovely cathedral and one of Scotland’s best-known golf courses, Royal Dornoch. There’s also a stone here marking the spot where the last witch in Scotland was burnt, in 1727. Dornoch is a really good coffee or chocolate stop at Cocoa Mountain, whose hot chocolate is worth the detour on its own. You’ll pass their second branch in Balnakeil Craft Village on Day 3. Both locations open seasonally, roughly March to November.

From Dornoch it’s another 20 minutes north to one of the day’s highlights, Dunrobin Castle. This is the fairy-tale castle of the route, all turrets and formal gardens, and we’d encourage you to budget an hour and a half to two hours for it. As well as the guided tour of the interior, you can explore the grounds, visit the Victorian-era museum, and watch the falconry displays (check the falconry section of the website for times).

For the 2026 season, adult admission is £16, children aged 6 and over are £10, under-6s go free, and a family ticket (two adults plus up to three children) is £47. The castle is open daily from 1 April to 31 October, so off-season your Day 1 frees up but the castle itself is shut.

A short drive north is Carn Liath, the Grey Cairn. There’s a small parking area just before it (here on Google Maps), and a 2-minute footpath to the cairn. Carn Liath is a broch, an Iron Age structure around 2,000 years old. There are many of these around Scotland, and this is one of the better-preserved and more accessible ones on the route.

From here you’re on the final hour to Wick. You’ll pass the fishing village of Helmsdale, home to the excellent Timespan Museum, a good stop for the history of the area. The last stop of the day is the Whaligoe Steps, 365 steps carved into the cliff face down to a sheltered natural harbour. It was once a busy fishing harbour, until artificial harbours nearby made it redundant. No doubt the women who carted baskets of fish up these steps weren’t too sad about that.

Then you arrive in Wick, your base for the night. Save its attractions for the morning. For dinner, your hotel may serve evening meals (Mackays Hotel has a good restaurant), or try the pubs and restaurants in the town centre.

Fuel: fill up in Inverness before leaving. The next reliable stops are Dornoch, Brora, and Wick.
Overnight: Wick (or Thrumster, just south). See our where-to-stay tiers below for picks at every budget.

 

Day 2: Wick to Tongue

Explore Wick’s attractions in the morning before heading north. Aim to reach Tongue by late afternoon.
At a glance: ~90 miles, ~2.5 hours driving. Stops: Wick Heritage Museum, John o’Groats, Duncansby Head, Castle of Mey, Dunnet Bay Distillery, Dunnet Head, Strathnaver Museum, Tongue.

Today you drive along Scotland’s northern coastline and reach the northernmost point of mainland Britain. First, though, a couple of stops in and around Wick. The Wick Heritage Museum rambles through a warren of former houses near the old herring harbour and is far bigger inside than it looks, with a strong focus on the herring fishing that made the town’s name. Wick was once the herring capital of Europe, with over a thousand boats working out of it at the peak in the 1860s.

For a different Scottish craft, drop in at the Old Pulteney Distillery. Founded in 1826, it was for a long time the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland, until Wolfburn revived near Thurso. Their single malt has a distinctive flavour that comes from the whisky maturing in salty coastal air. If distilleries are your thing, we have a full guide to the whisky distilleries on the North Coast 500. The ruins of Castle Sinclair Girnigoe are also nearby, though you may want to be making tracks by now.

From Wick, continue north on the A99 to John o’Groats, where you get lovely views across to Orkney. It’s worth a photo at the famous signpost. John o’Groats is the most northerly inhabited settlement on the UK mainland, and the furthest point by road from Land’s End in Cornwall, but despite what the signpost trades on, it is not the northernmost point. That title belongs to Dunnet Head, which you’ll reach shortly.

From John o’Groats, a five-minute detour takes you to Duncansby Head lighthouse, where the cliff-top view is one of the best on the north coast. At the right time of year you might spot whales, and a ten-minute walk across the field brings you to the Duncansby sea stacks.

Continuing west, you come to the Castle of Mey, once owned by the Queen Mother. You can tour the castle and grounds, and there’s a good cafe on site.

One thing to plan around: the castle is usually closed from 24 July to 9 August each year for the Royal family’s private use, and the castle itself is open Wednesday to Sunday with admission between 11am and 3pm, roughly early May to the end of September. If your trip falls in that late-July window, Day 2 loses its main stop, so check before you build your day around it.

Further along, the town of Dunnet has a lovely beach and a gin distillery. Gin lovers should stop at the Dunnet Bay Distillery, makers of Rock Rose gin, for a tour and a tasting (unless you’re driving, of course). Their Express Tour runs around 30 minutes for £15 per person, with set times through the day. From Dunnet, a short detour takes you up to Dunnet Head, an RSPB reserve and the true northernmost point of mainland Britain.

Enjoy the dual-lane roads while you have them, because as you head west you’ll find yourself on single-track. If you’ve never driven one-lane roads, read my guide to driving on single track roads first. The town of Bettyhill is worth a stop for the Strathnaver Museum, which tells the history of the Highlands including the clan system and the tragic Highland Clearances. There’s a Pictish standing stone here too.

The next village is Tongue, with a small shop, a fuel stop, and a handful of places to stay. This is where we suggest you spend the night. Durness is the next town if you want to push on, but we often struggle to find availability there.

In Tongue, if you have the energy, the 40-minute round-trip walk up to the ruins of Castle Varrich is well worth it for the views. It’s only a small two-storey ruin, but the outlook over the Kyle of Tongue is one of the best short walks on the route.

For dinner, the Tongue Hotel and the Ben Loyal Hotel both serve good evening meals. Dining options are limited along this stretch, so if your accommodation doesn’t do dinner, have a plan before you arrive.

Fuel: fill up in Wick before leaving. There are stops in Thurso and a small one in Tongue.
Overnight: Tongue (Durness as a fallback). See the where-to-stay tiers below.

 

Day 3: Tongue to Ullapool

This is the longest and slowest day, so an early start helps. Leave Tongue by 9am to give yourself time for all the stops.
At a glance: ~100 miles, ~3 hours driving. Stops: Smoo Cave, Balnakeil Craft Village, Kylesku Bridge, Rock Stop Cafe, Ardvreck Castle, Knockan Crag, Ullapool.

The first stretch from Tongue to Durness is one of the prettiest on the route, and also one of the most winding and single-track, so take your time. You’ll pass white-sand beaches before arriving at the first stop of the day, Smoo Cave. As the name suggests, this is a large combination sea and freshwater cave, and its most spectacular feature, in our opinion, is the waterfall inside it.

It’s about a ten-minute walk down a series of steps from the car park. You can explore the cave mouth and reach the waterfall on a wooden walkway (it gets slippery, so take care). To go further in, take a guided cave tour. Tours run April to October and cost £15 for adults and £5 for under-16s. Bring cash, as there’s no phone signal inside the cave to take a card. More detail is on the Smoo Cave Tours website.

Other highlights around Durness include Sango Sands beach and, a short drive west, Balnakeil Craft Village. This started life as a 1950s early-warning station, built to detect a nuclear attack but never used, and was repurposed into the craft village you see today. Now largely owned by its residents, it’s home to craft shops, cafes, and a branch of Cocoa Mountain for another of their hot chocolates if you enjoyed the Dornoch one.

If you have extra time and fancy an adventure, the Cape Wrath excursion leaves from Durness: a small passenger ferry across the Kyle of Durness, then a minibus out to Cape Wrath, the most northwesterly point on the British mainland, with a lighthouse and wild cliff scenery. Allow at least 3.5 hours for the round trip. It will eat into the rest of your driving day, so on a five-day schedule you’d need to drop some of the later stops to fit it in.

Now turn south down the west coast. As a landscape photographer, I’ll happily admit the stretch through Sutherland is my favourite on the whole route, and we cover it in detail in our guide to photography locations on the North Coast 500. One of the most iconic NC500 views is Kylesku Bridge, which sweeps across Loch a’ Chàirn Bhàin with mountains rising on either side. There’s a parking area just before the bridge.

A little further south, on the left, is the Rock Stop Cafe and Exhibition Centre, a good place to learn about the area’s geology, which was central to our understanding of geological processes worldwide.

Where the A894 meets the A837, a right turn heads down to Lochinver, home to an excellent pie shop and the Highland Stoneware centre if you’re keen on pottery, though that’s at least a 30-minute detour. Turn left (east) onto the A837 instead and you’ll soon reach the ruins of Ardvreck Castle and Calda House on the shores of Loch Assynt.

These free-to-visit ruins have parking and information panels on site. Ardvreck Castle was built around 1490 by the MacLeods of Assynt. Clan MacKenzie captured it in 1672 and later, in 1726, built the nearby Calda House, a more formal manor that burnt down in 1737 and was never restored.

From Ardvreck, continue south on the A835. If you’re interested in geology, stop at Knockan Crag National Nature Reserve.

A trail here climbs to the ridge above the car park for even better views, with art installations and information panels explaining what you’re looking at and how it formed.

You’re now near the end of the day at Ullapool, the largest town on the west coast and a good place to refuel and restock. It has the best choice of hotels, B&Bs, and restaurants in the region.

For seafood, and if you don’t mind eating outdoors, the Seafood Shack is excellent, though it operates seasonally (typically April to October) so check their Facebook page before you go. The Ceilidh Place is another good option, and The Arch Inn is worth a look: its upstairs restaurant reopened in 2026 after a refurbishment and serves food from 5pm Tuesday to Saturday (April to October). Book ahead in summer, as Ullapool fills up fast.

If you’d like to be out of town and see more beaches, the half-hour detour to Achiltibuie is a beautiful drive. The hotel we usually stay at out there, the Summer Isles Hotel, is closed for a major renovation and is expected to reopen in 2027. The Acheninver Hostel nearby is the main alternative in the meantime, though it’s a hostel rather than a hotel.

Fuel: there’s a small station in Tongue. After that, fuel is limited until Lochinver (if you detour) or Ullapool. Fill up whenever you get the chance.
Overnight: Ullapool. See the where-to-stay tiers below.

 

Day 4: Ullapool to Torridon

A shorter driving day, which leaves more time for stops. Leave Ullapool after breakfast and aim to reach Torridon by mid-to-late afternoon.
At a glance: ~85 miles, ~2 hours driving. Stops: Corrieshalloch Gorge, Mellon Udrigle, Inverewe Garden, Loch Maree, Victoria Falls, Torridon. Optional half-day add-on: a Reraig Forest deer tour from your Torridon base.

From Ullapool, head south on the A835 then turn right onto the A832 for the coast. The first stop is the Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, a mile-long box canyon you can see from a Victorian suspension bridge, reached by a short but steep walk, with trails along both sides.

Continue on the A832 around the coast. A detour to Mellon Udrigle beach is worth it for a quiet stretch of white sand, after which you reach the village of Aultbea with its memorial to the wartime Arctic convoys, in a small park just north of the village.

Further on is Inverewe Garden and Estate, run by the National Trust for Scotland. Thanks to a quirk of the Gulf Stream microclimate, this far-north garden grows plants you’d never expect at this latitude. The huge California redwoods are the standout, and you might spot red squirrels, red deer, otters, seals, and golden eagles. It opens seasonally, so check the current hours before you plan your day around it.

If you have an interest in WW2 relics, a detour up to the Cove Light Anti-Aircraft Battery from Poolewe is about 20 minutes each way. Built in 1941 to defend the coastline, it was manned throughout the war but never saw action.

There’s still a lot of the installation left to see, though take care, as it’s old and unmaintained. The A832 then loops inland along the shore of Loch Maree, with Slioch mountain as a backdrop and a short walk to Victoria Falls, a pretty waterfall named after Queen Victoria’s visit rather than its African namesake. After Loch Maree you reach Kinlochewe and turn onto the A896, another road that winds between mountains and lochs. Stop only in parking areas, not passing places.

Finally you arrive in Torridon, your base for the night. You can also push on to Lochcarron or Applecross for more lodging options.

Optional half-day excursion: if you’ve got the energy after the drive (or if you’re treating Day 4 as a base day), a deer tour with Colin Murdoch at Reraig Forest near Lochcarron is one of our favourite things on the whole NC500. Colin manages a herd of red deer and runs a 3-to-4-hour tour by Argo across the estate, getting you about as close to wild red deer as is possible in Scotland.

Reraig is around 30 minutes south of Torridon, so it’s a half-day commitment. Book well ahead, and either do it late on Day 4 or split it over Day 4 and Day 5 if you’d rather have a longer morning at the Bealach na Bà.

For dinner, The Torridon’s 1887 Restaurant is excellent (book in advance; it’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays). The Stables next door has a more casual pub-style menu, and in Kinlochewe the Kinlochewe Hotel serves evening meals.

Fuel: fill up in Ullapool before leaving. There are small stops in Gairloch and Kinlochewe.
Overnight: Torridon. See the where-to-stay tiers below.

 

Day 5: Torridon to Inverness

Your final day. The Bealach na Bà and Applecross loop takes most of the morning, so leave after an early breakfast if you want time for stops on the way back.
At a glance: ~115 miles, ~3 hours driving. Stops: Applecross peninsula, Bealach na Bà, Lochcarron, Glen Docherty viewpoint, Rogie Falls, Inverness.

Today you finish the NC500 and return to Inverness. If you have more time and want to keep exploring, this is also the natural point to head onto the Isle of Skye, in which case our tips for visiting the Isle of Skye will help.

Assuming you stayed in Torridon, the first thing we recommend is driving the Applecross peninsula, which takes you on seriously winding roads with views across to Skye. The road is home to the Bealach na Bà, an Alpine-style pass and the steepest ascent of any road in Britain, climbing from sea level to 626 metres (2,053 feet) on tight hairpin bends. The view from the top is one of the best on the route, and the descent is a drive you won’t forget. Take your time and enjoy it.

The road is generally considered unsuitable for larger motorhomes and anything towing a caravan, and it can close in poor weather, especially in winter. If conditions are against you, or your vehicle is too big, take the A896 between Shieldaig in the north and Ardarroch in the south, which skips the Applecross loop. Morning cloud is common on the pass, so an early start gives you the best chance of the view.

From the bottom of the Bealach na Bà you pass through Lochcarron, a lovely spot with loch views and the ruined Strome Castle. The Lochcarron Weavers heritage shop, where you can learn how tartan is made and pick up some of your own, moved a few miles from Lochcarron village to the Smithy Hub at Strathcarron in 2023, so head there rather than the old village site. If you didn’t do the Reraig Forest deer tour on Day 4, this is also where you’d start it (see Day 4 above for the full description).

From Lochcarron, head up towards Achnasheen. A left turn takes you to the Glen Docherty viewpoint, one of the best photo stops of the day, looking down the glen to Loch a’ Chroisg. Otherwise continue east on the A832 towards Inverness. If you have time, stop at Rogie Falls.

At the right time of year, Rogie Falls is a good spot to watch salmon leaping on their way upstream to spawn. Otherwise it’s simply a pleasant waterfall stop. Nearer Inverness, the Dingwall Museum has plenty on the local area. Then you’re back in Inverness, where your North Coast 500 road trip comes to an end. We hope you had a wonderful trip.

Fuel: there’s a small stop in Lochcarron. Fill up there, or in Achnasheen or Contin on the way back.
Overnight: Inverness, if you’re staying. See the where-to-stay tiers below.

 

Best Photography Stops on the NC500

The thing that sets this route apart from most road trips is how often you’ll want to stop and shoot, and I’ve photographed it in every season, from 4am midsummer sunrises to grey January light. This is a quick craft guide to the stops on this itinerary that reward the effort, drawn from our full guide to photography locations on the North Coast 500, which covers 20 locations in depth.

A few words on light first, because it changes everything up here. In late spring and early summer, sunrise is around 4am and sunset well after 9pm, so you get enormous days but very early and very late golden hours. That makes it hard to be in position for both, so I’d pick one a day and plan around it.

Sunrise is the one I chase: at Loch Assynt near Lochinver I’ve had the place to myself with the first light on Suilven, and seen hundreds of deer out on the hillsides at dawn before they’ve clocked you.

The flip side is that Scottish weather is fickle, and some of my favourite shots here came on the grey, rainy days. A misty Highland scene is a better photograph than a flat blue sky, so don’t write off bad weather.

A few of the stops on this route are worth real attention. The signature shot is Kylesku Bridge on Day 3, and the best vantage is from the old road on the south side, where you get the full arc of the bridge with the loch behind it. Use a wide-angle lens to catch the whole sweep, and a graduated ND filter to balance the bright sky against the darker water. Time it for golden hour and the light on the mountains behind is the difference between a snapshot and a keeper.

A little earlier that same day, Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt rewards a still morning: find a spot where the ruin reflects in the water, or walk out onto the promontory for a different angle, and shoot it at sunrise or sunset.

On Day 4, watch for the lone pine by Loch Maree, with Beinn Eighe towering behind it. It’s one of my favourite compositions on the whole route, and the parking spot is tiny and unsigned, so go slowly or you’ll drive straight past it.

Day 5 brings the Bealach na Bà, where a super-wide lens lets you get the road snaking down the pass into frame. I was shooting at 16mm and still couldn’t fit it all in! and on a clear day you can turn around for the view across to Skye.

Back on Day 2, the ten-minute walk from the Duncansby Head car park brings you to the sea stacks, with nesting puffins in summer and dramatic cliffs in any weather.

And on Day 3, Smoo Cave is a high-contrast scene, a dark cave with a bright mouth, so bring a tripod and shoot a bracketed sequence to blend later. Time it right and a beam of light comes through the hole above the entrance.

Kit-wise, the lens I reach for most is a wide-angle (I shoot a 16-35mm on a full-frame Canon EOS R5), with a 70-200mm for deer and compressed landscape shots, and a 100-400mm for dedicated wildlife. A sturdy tripod and a set of neutral density filters are what make the waterfall and long-exposure shots work, and a camera rain cover is essential here, because the weather turns in minutes.

If you’re shooting on a phone, don’t worry about any of it: just carry plenty of battery and storage, because you’ll take far more photos than you expect. When you get home and want to take it further, my online travel photography course walks through the whole process.

 

Advice From Driving the NC500 in Every Season

We’ve driven this route in high summer, deep winter, and everything in between, and a handful of lessons come up every single time. Here’s what we wish we’d known on our first lap.

 

Single-Track Roads and Passing Places

Patience is everything on the single-track sections, and there are big stretches of them across the west and north. The etiquette matters: pull into (or opposite) a passing place to let oncoming traffic through or faster cars behind you overtake, and give a wave of thanks. Don’t pull onto the grass verges, which causes long-term erosion, and never park in a passing place.

If single-track roads are new to you, our guide to driving single track roads covers who goes first and the rest of the unwritten rules. Our wider tips for driving in the UK are worth a read too if you’re visiting from overseas.

 

Fuel and EV Charging

Fuel and EV charging thin out fast once you leave the larger towns. You’ll find both in Inverness, Dornoch, Wick, Thurso and Ullapool, but between them, especially the northwest between Durness and Ullapool and the southwest around Torridon, they get scarce. Fill up whenever you pass a station rather than waiting for the gauge to drop.

If you’re driving an EV, start each day with a full charge and check Zap-Map or ChargePlace Scotland for the latest charger locations. Coverage improves every year, but an EV here still needs more planning than a petrol or diesel car.

 

Phone Signal and WiFi

Phone coverage is spotty across this sparsely populated corner of the UK, so download your maps before you go. Most hotels and guesthouses have WiFi, though don’t count on it being fast, and the thick-walled castle hotels can have dead spots. Download your route in Google Maps for offline use before you set off, which is what I do every time.

 

The Bealach na Bà and Its Fallback

The Bealach na Bà is the driving highlight of Day 5, but it closes in bad weather and isn’t suitable for large motorhomes or caravans. If the cloud is down or your vehicle is too big, take the A896 via Shieldaig instead. You’ll miss the hairpins but keep your day on track, and the Shieldaig road is lovely in its own right.

 

Midges, Month by Month

Midges are about from late May to September, and worst on still, warm, overcast days. In our experience they’re far more of a problem if you’re camping than if you’re in hotels and B&Bs. They’re slow, so you can outpace them at a normal walking speed. Bring a midge-specific repellent: the best we’ve found is Smidge, sold in most outdoor shops and pharmacies in Scotland, with Avon Skin So Soft the long-standing budget alternative. Pack a tick-removal tool too if you plan to hike through long grass or bracken, and check yourself over afterwards.

 

Winter Driving and Daylight

A winter NC500 is rewarding, with empty roads and dramatic light, but it needs more daylight than five days allows. December daylight drops to around 6 hours, which knocks stops off Day 2 and Day 5 immediately, and roads can ice up and occasionally close in snow.

There are gritters, but this is a long, remote route, so when we drive it in winter we carry snow chains just in case. We’ve never had to fit them, but on a road this remote we’d rather have them. If you want a winter trip, add a sixth day and prioritise the daylight-dependent stops early in each day.

 

Booking Ahead

Book your accommodation well ahead, especially from May to September. The NC500 has become very popular, sometimes labelled Scotland’s Route 66, which is great for the local economy but means rooms get tight in season. There aren’t many beds in the remote sections, and turning up without a reservation can mean a long drive to the next available room. We’ve heard of people sleeping in their cars because they didn’t pre-book. Don’t be one of them!

 

Where to Stay on the NC500: Budget, Mid-Range and Luxury

Accommodation is the part of NC500 planning people most often get wrong, so here are our picks for each overnight stop, split by budget. These are the places we’d book ourselves, and where we note we’ve stayed somewhere, we mean it. Book early, especially in summer, as the best rooms on this route go months ahead.

 

Night	Budget	Mid-range	Luxury
1. Wick	Bower Pods (glamping)	Nethercliffe Hotel / Thrumster House B&B	Mackays Hotel (AA Rosette restaurant)
2. Tongue	Ben Loyal Hotel glamping pods (open year-round)	Tongue Hotel	Tongue Hotel premium rooms
3. Ullapool	Ullapool Youth Hostel	Harbour House / Croft 17 B&B / Westlea B&B	Royal Hotel Ullapool
4. Torridon	Torridon Youth Hostel	Old School House B&B / Kinlochewe Hotel	The Torridon (5-star) / The Stables
5. Inverness	Bazpackers (hostel)	Kingsmills Hotel	Bunchrew House Hotel

 

A few notes from our own stays. In Tongue we’ve stayed at the Tongue Hotel, which was refurbished in 2023 and serves good evening meals. We haven’t stayed at the Ben Loyal Hotel, but we had a lovely dinner there and have toured the rooms and glamping pods (note the hotel and bar close from late October to early April, though the pods stay open year-round).

In Ullapool we’ve stayed at Harbour House several times and always had a good experience. In Torridon, The Torridon is where we’d treat ourselves: it’s one of the few 5-star hotels on the route, and we had a memorable night’s stay, dinner at the 1887 Restaurant, and afternoon tea. We also enjoyed our stay at the Kinlochewe Hotel. And near Inverness we’ve stayed at and can recommend both Bunchrew House Hotel and Kingsmills Hotel.

The Smoo Cave Hotel and Mackays Rooms are the main Durness options, but these can book out months in advance. For more depth, see our pick of the best B&Bs along the NC500 and Jess’s full guide to NC500 accommodation, or our guide to where to book holiday cottages in the UK for self-catering.

 

Car and Motorhome Hire for the North Coast 500

You’ll need a vehicle for the NC500, and most people drive either a car or a motorhome. You don’t need a 4×4: all the roads are sealed, and a smaller car is easier on the narrow single-track sections and in the tight parking areas. If you don’t have your own vehicle, here’s what we recommend for hire.

• For car hire, compare prices and book through Discover Cars, which searches across the major rental companies. You’ll find pick-ups at Inverness Airport and in the city centre. Make sure you get unlimited mileage.
• For motorhomes, compare across providers with a service like Motorhome Republic. You can see their UK listings here.
• For something more rugged, the four-wheel-drive camper trucks from Wild Camper Trucks are a good option. See their Scotland options here.

 

Eating Along the North Coast 500

A theme runs through all our NC500 tips, and it’s the remoteness. There aren’t many restaurants along the route, so plan where you’re eating each day, especially dinner. Many hotels serve evening meals and breakfasts, and some towns have restaurants, but opening times vary and plenty of places close outside the main season, so check ahead and book in the busy months.

If you’re in a smaller guesthouse or B&B, it likely won’t serve an evening meal, so eat before you arrive or have a nearby spot in mind. You don’t want to reach your bed for the night hungry and discover the nearest food is a 40-minute drive away.

 

Responsible Travel on the North Coast 500

The NC500’s popularity has put real pressure on the local infrastructure, from public toilets and waste disposal to the roads themselves. This is a beautiful part of the world and we’d love it to stay that way. If everyone does their bit, taking litter home, emptying chemical toilets only at official disposal points, and driving with care for residents and other road users, that’s exactly what will happen.

 

Map of North Coast 500 Itinerary

To help with planning, we’ve put together a map of this five-day North Coast 500 itinerary. You can open the saveable version on Google Maps here to load it on your phone for the road.

If you’d like a physical map, the Collins NC500 Pocket Map is a good option. You can buy it online in advance from Amazon, and it’s also sold at shops and tourist information offices around the route, including the Inverness iCentre. There used to be an official printed map produced by the NC500 itself, freely available in tourism offices, but it’s no longer printed. The official map is now digital, available on the NC500 website and app.

 

Further Reading for the North Coast 500

Hopefully this post has given you plenty for planning your own five-day North Coast 500 itinerary. As mentioned, we’ve driven the route many times, in all seasons and weathers, and we’ve put together a stack of guides to help you plan, along with a few third-party resources we’d recommend.

• Read this alongside our detailed planning guide for the North Coast 500 and our list of reasons to drive the NC500.
• For accommodation, see Jess’s guide to where to stay on the North Coast 500 and our pick of our favourite B&Bs on the NC500.
• For a longer or camping trip, we have a 7 day North Coast 500 camping itinerary and a comprehensive list of all the campsites and glampsites on the NC500.
• If you enjoy whisky, here’s our guide to the whisky distilleries on the North Coast 500.
• For photographers, I’ve gathered my favourite photography spots on the NC500 to help you plan your shots.
• For driving advice, see our guides to single track roads and driving in the UK.
• To extend the trip, you could add the North East 250 from Inverness (see our 3 day NE250 itinerary), or visit the Isle of Skye or the Isle of Raasay. If you’d rather not drive yourself, we’ve also reviewed Rabbie’s five-day Highlands and Skye tour. You could also base yourself in Inverness for some day trips from Inverness.
• For budgeting, see our guide to how much it costs to travel in the UK.
• The official NC500 website has maps, itineraries, and route advice.
• For more of Scotland and beyond, browse our guides to Scotland and England, including things to do in Edinburgh, things to do in Glasgow, and the whisky distilleries on Islay.
• For more inspiration, see our guide to the world’s best road trips.
• For a guidebook, we’d recommend the Rough Guide to the North Coast 500 and, for Scotland in general, Rick Steves Scotland.

And that’s it. We hope you’ve found this guide useful and are feeling ready to tackle the North Coast 500. If you have any questions or feedback, let us know in the comments below. Happy driving!

 

Frequently Asked Questions about the North Coast 500

 

Is 5 days enough for the North Coast 500?

Yes, five days is enough to see a great deal of the NC500 and enjoy it without feeling too rushed. We’d call it the minimum for a comfortable trip.

You can drive it faster, but you’ll miss the stops that make the route special. If you have more time, a week is better, and we’ve personally done trips of two weeks or more. But five days, as laid out in this itinerary, gives you a good balance of driving and sightseeing.

 

Which direction should I drive the NC500?

Our itinerary runs counter-clockwise, from Inverness up the east coast, along the north, and back down the west. It’s the direction most people drive.

There’s no wrong answer, but we prefer this way because you get the faster A9 out of the way early and save the most dramatic west-coast scenery for the end. Some people drive clockwise to have the drama first. Either works, and the roads are the same in both directions.

 

Do I need a 4WD for the North Coast 500?

No. All the roads on the NC500 are sealed, and a normal car is perfectly fine. We’ve driven the entire route in winter in a small hatchback with no problems.

A smaller car is often easier, because the single-track roads and passing places are narrow and parking areas can be tight. The only exception might be very severe winter weather, where winter tyres or chains could help. For most visitors, a standard rental car is all you need.

 

What kind of car is best for the NC500?

A small or mid-size car is ideal. All the roads are sealed, so you don’t need a 4×4 or anything large, and a smaller car makes the single-track sections and passing places much easier.

We’ve driven the route in winter in a car around the size of a Ford Fiesta with no trouble. Pick up your hire car at Inverness Airport or in the city, make sure you have unlimited mileage, and you’ll be fine. Just choose something big enough for your luggage and passengers.

 

Are midges a problem on the North Coast 500?

Midges are present from roughly late May to September, and they’re worst on still, warm, overcast days. In our experience they’re much more of a problem if you’re camping and sitting outdoors than if you’re staying in hotels and B&Bs.

They’re slow, so you can outpace them at a normal walking speed. Bring a midge-specific repellent (we recommend Smidge), and you should be fine. Don’t let them put you off visiting.

 

Is the NC500 better in July or September?

Both are good, and we’d lean slightly towards September. It tends to be a bit quieter, the light is lovely, and the midges are tailing off by then.

July gives you the longest days and the warmest weather, but it’s peak season for both crowds and midges. The truth is Scottish weather is fickle in any month: we’ve had dry Septembers and rainy Julys, and the other way around. Whichever you pick, pack for all conditions and you’ll have a great trip.

 

Can I drive the Bealach na Bà in a motorhome?

The sign at the start of the Bealach na Bà advises against very large vehicles or caravans after the first mile. It’s advisory rather than a legal restriction, but the hairpins are tight 180-degree bends with steep drops, and longer vehicles have got stuck on them.

If you’re in a larger motorhome (over about 7 metres), take the alternative A896 route via Shieldaig and Lochcarron instead. In a smaller campervan, if you’re confident, it can be done, but go slowly.

 

Do I need to book NC500 accommodation in advance?

Yes, we’d strongly recommend it, especially between May and September. The NC500 has become very popular, and the smaller B&Bs and hotels in the remote sections can book out months ahead.

We’ve heard of people having to drive an hour out of their way, or even sleep in their car, because they hadn’t pre-booked. Save yourself the stress and book ahead.

 

Is there EV charging along the North Coast 500?

Yes, there are charging points in the larger towns, including Inverness, Dornoch, Wick, Thurso, and Ullapool. Outside these, charging gets limited, particularly in the remote northwest between Durness and Ullapool.

If you’re driving an EV, plan your charging stops carefully, start each day with a full charge, and check apps like Zap-Map or ChargePlace Scotland for the latest. It’s improving every year, but it still needs more planning than a petrol or diesel vehicle.

 

How long does it take to drive the NC500?

Five days is the minimum we’d recommend for a comfortable lap, and seven is the sweet spot for most people. We cover the full breakdown of trip lengths in the how long do you need section above.

In short: under four days and you’ll spend most of your time in the car. Ten days or more gives you space for slower travel and the bigger detours.

 

When is the best time to drive the NC500?

May to September is the sweet spot. You get long daylight (around 18 hours in June at this latitude), most attractions are open, and the weather is generally cooperative.

June to August is peak season and peak midge season, so May and September are often our favourites for the balance of light, weather, and lower crowds. Winter is possible but tight on five days, with daylight down to around 6 hours in December and the chance of snow, so we’d add a sixth day for a winter run.

 

Should I do the NC500 in 5 days or 7 days?

Five days is enough to drive the route and see the headline stops without feeling rushed, and it’s the plan we’d book for a first visit on a normal week off. Seven days adds the Cape Wrath excursion, the Sandwood Bay hike, and more time in places like Achiltibuie and Applecross.

Our five-day plan is built around hotel and B&B stays in a car. If you’d rather camp or want longer at each stop, our 7 day NC500 camping itinerary is the better starting point.

 

Is there a luxury version of the NC500 itinerary?

Yes, and the route lends itself to it. The Torridon on Day 4 is one of the few 5-star hotels along the way, with its 1887 Restaurant and an afternoon tea worth the stop on its own.

Other upmarket options on this itinerary include the Tongue Hotel (refurbished in 2023) and Mackays Hotel in Wick (which has an AA Rosette restaurant). Pair these with a higher-spec hire car through Discover Cars and you’ve got a comfortable, indulgent NC500 trip without leaving our five-day structure.