NC 500
The 500 mile NC 500 road trip is now one of Scotland's most well known routes and we will create a tour to make it special for you. We avoid the crowds, take the very best side trips, and leave you feeling restored and renewed.
We started our journey in the Highland capital of Inverness to travel west and enjoy the sublime sanctuary of Attadale Gardens. This is one of the many special gardens open to the public, all across the country, and many more are found here.
Exploring the NC 500
As we travel further west we have options to visit the stunning small village of Plockton, take a side trip to the remote Applecross having travelled the rather scary hairpin bend climb. One not for the faint-hearted. Our favourite route on day one is to journey through the mountains to feel the huge empty spaces of the Torridon Mountains of Beinn Eighe and Liatach. A walk on the Three Corries trail is easy to access with acres of wildness to enjoy, just a few short minutes from the car.
NC 500 Geopark
This north-west corner of Scotland is world famous for it's ancient rocks and geology. The Gneiss rocks are some of the oldest rocks on earth at around 4 billion years old. The striped nature of this stunning rock tells many stories and geologists have travelled to Scotland for centuries to learn about the earth's structure.
This is all brought to life on the ascending trail of Knockan Crag National Nature Reserve, north of the ferry port of Ullapool. Here the geologists Ben Peach and John Horne mapped the area in 1883 and identified the Moine Thrust. Their findings changed the way we think about the formation of the earth and so they became the founding fathers of modern geology. Why not walk in their footsteps!
Rock Route - North West Highlands Geopark on NC 500
As we continue our journey the landscape keeps changing. We follow the Rock Route, discovering the story of ancient people, visiting the old fishing village of Lochinver. Enjoying a circular walk around Little Loch Assynt with views of the stunning Quinang ridge we then see the looming, distinctive Suilven mountain standing tall out of the horizon.
Continuing north along this remote route, we enjoy the final destination for day three - the sublime, tiny hamlet of Kylesku. With nothing but wildlife, water and sky to disturb the breakfast views, it was tough to leave in the morning!
NC 500 beaches
The NC 500 is famous for the many wild, remote, sandy beaches which can either be a challenging hike to reach or an easy walk from the car. One of our favourite beaches is most definitely Oldmoreshore, just a few beautiful miles drive past the village of Kinlochbervie.
We chose the best time to visit as it was Sunday morning and there was a major new TV series being filmed, but the cast and crew were all enjoying a day off! The beach was empty, the sand was white and the sun shining. Well worth three days travel from Inverness, which now felt a million miles away.
Old Pultney and Wick
Our journey along the furthest north coast of Scotland took us from the remote,huge, empty county of Sutherland to the bustling towns of Thurso and Wick. There were wonderful views over the Pentland Firth to the Orkney Islands, the landscape was green, rolling, fertile farmlands. Such a change from the moonlike rock landscapes of the past few days!
To toast our journey it only seemed fitting to visit the historic Pultneytown, designed by Scotland's famous civil engineer Thomas Telford, this part of Wick was a thriving herring port stretching back to the 1770's.
A very informative and fun tour of the Old Pultney distillery was soon followed by a few drams of the golden nectar and a stroll down the steep Whaligoe Steps. Cheers to a wonderful week and let's hope to return again soon.
