North Coast 500

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dezzy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by dezzy »

Well, it was actually the North Coast 573 for us but that was partly due to a road closure at the start, and various planned diversions for a bit of sight seeing. Total trip was just under 1000 miles, including the scenic route back to Glasgow. We did the route over 5 days, with our last day including the final 55 mile section from Dornoch to Inverness and then the drive home.

My main advice is to take your time, plan lots of time for stops, beaches, amazing coastal scenery, nice restaurants, etc. Take it easy on the singletrack. I'm Scottish and very used to driving on singletrack roads. I've driven several of these roads before, but would still recommend taking it easy. Some of them are open with great visibility - some not so good. Save the high speed fun for the wide open two lane roads. My favourite sections are Gairloch to Ullapool (for roads and scenery), Bealach na Ba (Applecross hairpins) and the section from Durness to Melvich.

Anyway, on with the photos . . .

The drive up to Inverness

We drove up to Inverness after work on the Friday night, so that we could stay over and be refreshed for starting the route on the Saturday morning. The drive was miserable in the pouring rain, so we just stuck with the boring route up the A9, but did get our best mpg ever with 36mpg for 170 miles. We also found out that the rain had washed away part of the A832 near the start of the official route, so we planned a detour via the A82 and A87 for the Saturday morning. Not a big problem - just some different, but still great fun, roads to drive on.

Miserable A9 on the way to Inverness
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Day 1 - Inverness to Torridon: 134 miles

Leaving a rainy Inverness behind at the official start - Inverness Castle
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The sunshine came out and it turned into a glorious day
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The famous Bealach na Ba road to Applecross, with amazing views and awesome hairpins. Sunshine either side with some cloud at the top!
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Beautiful beach just after Applecross. This is why you should take your time and do the route over a few days, to enjoy the beaches!
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Highland road blocks!
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Amazing roads and scenery on the way from Applecross to Torridon
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Parked up at the Torridon Inn. Would highly recommend staying here. The hotel is lovely but a bit pricey. The Inn is still really nice as you can see from the room and you can park right outside your room.

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Day 2 - Torridon to Lochinver: 124 miles

Heading towards Gairloch
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On my favourite section of the whole route between Gairloch and Ullapool. Amazing roads and breathtaking scenery.
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A couple of other nice cars in Ullapool. We didn't meet any other sports cars or supercars on the whole route - these were the only "interesting" things we spotted the whole time.
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Ardvreck Castle, worth a stop after Ullapool
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I wouldn't recommend the hotel we stayed at in Lochinver (the Culag - really run down and overpriced), but there was a lovely restaurant next door called Peet's. Highly recommend it! If I was doing it again, I'd stay in a different hotel in this area or go a wee bit further.

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Day 3 - Lochinver to Melvich (with a detour to Sandwood Bay): 129 miles

Our only properly cloudy/rainy time on the whole trip since leaving Inverness. The morning of day 3 was a bit dreich as we say in Scotland, but this chap made up for it. Didn't budge when we drove up and stopped. He was just a few feet from the edge of the road and happy to pose for a photo!

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The weather cleared up just in time for one of the best planned detours of the trip - Sandwood Bay. The most remote/isolated beach on mainland UK. You need to walk 4 miles (each way) to get to it from the carpark. Well worth the detour and the walk. Weather brightened up for is just in time for our walk. Beach was deserted.

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Nice roads and scenery once we were back on the main NC500 route
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Also stopped off at Smoo Caves on the way along to Melvich
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Loved this section of road too
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Would highly recommend the Melvich Hotel. Lovely rooms, great staff, nice wood-fired pizzas, and we also bumped into a group of Harleys doing the NC500 in the opposite direction.

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View from the dinner table.
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Day 4 - Melvich to Dornoch (with a detour to Dunnet Head): 131 miles

I went for a run along the beach at Melvich just before leaving that morning. Beautiful . . .
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Detour off the route again to the most northerly point of the UK mainland - Dunnet Head
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Stopped off for a tour of Castle of Mey (the one the Queen Mother bought herself)
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And then along to the most north-easterly point, John O'Groats.
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Stop off at the Whaligoe Steps (google it and read all about it - worth a wee visit)
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Then our final night, parked up at the Dornoch Castle Hotel and some sunshine to enjoy a drink in their garden!
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Day 5 - Dornoch to Inverness: 55 miles

A quick visit to Dornoch beach before leaving
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Upset the golfers with a few pops and bangs :lol: 8-)

Back at Inverness. The sunshine followed us most of the way around the route and we brought it back to Inverness with us! 8-)
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A rather dirty car that I'm looking forward to cleaning
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Thank goodness for Gtechniq C5 . . . this won't be too difficult to shift! :D
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Total mileage and mpg for the route. We spent most of the twisties in Sport/Paddles with a rather heavy right foot, and then in Drive/Auto on the more cruisy sweeping sections. Dynamic mode all the time. Pretty happy with the mpg for that kind of driving!

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Hope you guys enjoyed the photos. Just shout if you have any questions at all about driving the NC500. We will definitely do it again!
V6 coupe, Ultimate Black, 19" propellor wheels, suede cloth performance seats, interior black pack, suede cloth headlining, flat bottom steering wheel, heated seats, power tailgate

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TopCat
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Post by TopCat »

Thanks for posting the photos, looks a fantastic drive. I had looked at some videos on you tube and there appeared to be some bottlenecks on the route with reports of the NC500 being too successful but you don't appear to have encountered any / many holdups, was the traffic okay?
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Boostfan
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Post by Boostfan »

Lovely pictures, we did it from Leeds over 10 days in our Focus RS Spring 2016. We stayed in the same room & had the same parking spot as you at the Torridon Arms! - Wonderfull.
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Tel
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Post by Tel »

Thank you for sharing your trip with us; Excellent photos. Scotland CAN look so appealing when the sun's out...which is quite rare I believe ;-)

I have done the Applecross pass in a Volvo 850 T5 estate many years ago when I was doing some trials work in Inverness and the nearby Lochs...it's a great road, but one that I would't want to get wrong!

We are all very fortunate to live in such beautiful country.
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dezzy
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Post by dezzy »

TopCat wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 7:54 am Thanks for posting the photos, looks a fantastic drive. I had looked at some videos on you tube and there appeared to be some bottlenecks on the route with reports of the NC500 being too successful but you don't appear to have encountered any / many holdups, was the traffic okay?
We were worried about traffic as it was the bank holiday weekend but no problems at all really. It was a bit busy on the way home from Inverness but the actual NC500 route was fine. On the single-track, most people are nice and pull over for a sports car. On the two lane roads there were plenty of overtaking opportunities. I didn't get frustrated at any point. Had to be patient a few times. We had some roads completely to ourselves at points.

We also pulled in and waited for a while at the bottom of the Applecross road to let a few cars in front of us get away and create some space.

Only other time to watch is 9am on a weekday morning when the locals who are late for work drive like maniacs on the single-track roads!
V6 coupe, Ultimate Black, 19" propellor wheels, suede cloth performance seats, interior black pack, suede cloth headlining, flat bottom steering wheel, heated seats, power tailgate
dezzy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by dezzy »

Boostfan wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:48 am Lovely pictures, we did it from Leeds over 10 days in our Focus RS Spring 2016. We stayed in the same room & had the same parking spot as you at the Torridon Arms! - Wonderfull.
Hehe, great place ain't it? Where else did you stay while doing the route? Any particular highlights for hotels?
V6 coupe, Ultimate Black, 19" propellor wheels, suede cloth performance seats, interior black pack, suede cloth headlining, flat bottom steering wheel, heated seats, power tailgate
dezzy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by dezzy »

Tel wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:56 am Thank you for sharing your trip with us; Excellent photos. Scotland CAN look so appealing when the sun's out...which is quite rare I believe ;-)
:D Yep I do have a love/hate relationship with my own country due to the weather. It really is stunning in that kind of weather!
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wanner69
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Post by wanner69 »

Great thread dezzy, looks amazing
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Post by Deleted User 1088 »

Hello Dezzy

as others have already mentioned ... great amazing post .. felt like I was there with you

also many thanks for taking the time to post your adventure :D .. you have set the standard now
JurassicF
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Post by JurassicF »

Stunning photos, I really want to do this. Maybe next year.
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