Length: 500 miles
Driving time: 8 hours, but we suggest up to 3 nights/4 days for the whole trip
Suitable for: cars, motor bikes and caravans
Pitched as Scotland’s answer to Route 66, the North Coast 500 is a spectacular and varied circular route that starts and finishes in Inverness, looping around the country’s feature-packed northern tip.
Go north from Inverness and you’ll pass the beautiful Black Isle and towering Ben Wyvis. Then skirt Cromarty Firth to reach the French chateau-style Dunrobin Castle with its 13th Century keep, then on to the lively village of Brora and the deserted ruins of Badbea village. Beyond Wick is the stunning ruined castle of Sinclair Girnigoe, not to mention the odd Iron Age broch and medieval keep.
As you descend into John O’Groats on the north coast, you might be lucky enough to glimpse the deserted Stroma island across the water – get your timing right and you can take a day trip to enjoy the wildlife. Back on the coastal road, pop into Castle Mey, a former home of the Queen Mother. Beyond are the huge dunes of Dunnet Bay and, by contrast, the decommissioned Dounreay Atomic Reactor. Head towards Durness, with the limestone Smoo sea cave nearby.
Turning south on to the west coast, head to the Kylesku Passage, which sits at the centre of Scotland’s first Global Geopark, then to Lochinver and Gairloch beach, with its wonderful marine life, and on to Loch Ewe and Loch Maree. Finally, turn back towards Inverness, winding past the lofty Torridon Massif and the vertigo-inducing Bealach na Bá pass.
If you ask us, it’s better than Route 66.