NW500

grantmac

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Thinking of planning something for 2018 late summer. There will probably be 5-6 of us. Can anyone give me any tips? Such as:
1. best roads - or is this already fixed?
2. how many miles / km per day?
3. overnight stays recommendation - something half decent. B&B & options for an evening meal
4. even .gpx files of the routes.
5. Which way round?
6. How long will we need bearing in mind e'd have to come over using the DFDS bucket.....ooops ferry to get over from the Continent.
7. Any references or reading material I can access to really get prepared.

thks
 
I did it last year anti clockwise starting from Inverness. East coast is fairly boring, north coast has great beaches. West coast is simply stunning.
The NC500 is a route so just google it and put some waypoints into your sat Nav.
Accommodation, its getting busy so book up, the west coast is harder to get. On the North Coast we stayed in Thurso which was a bit depressing, nicest BAnd B we had on the north coast was Kens at Scourie guest house,Scourie.

Fuel wise we rode over a bank holiday and some of the smaller stations had run out. Fuel is available 24 hrs often with pay at the pump. If you are doing it on a thirsty bike, fuel up when ever you see a station.

We only did 200 miles per day, there is so much to see, especially on the west coast, budget to ride and enjoy ,not just blasting through. The small roads on the west coast will drop your average to mid 30's
 
I did it last year clockwise, missing the bit between Inverness alongside Lock Ness and starting around Fort William, we stayed in Ullapool and Thurso, stopping at Crianlarig on the way up from Yorkshire and Dollar on the way back.

West coast is stunning, north coast nice and east coast boring.

The route is fixed and already out there.

Good luck
Rich
 
The Nc 500 route is "fixed" but obviously you can dip in and out of it as you wish. Find a deserted side road that's single track with passing places or stick to the bigger roads. Just book the first night and then go where you fancy using something like booking.com for your next nights accom. I very much doubt everything will be booked up.
 
Just been advised "if you can get" BBC I player in Holland , select Alba as the channel. They have 3 X 30 min programs covering the NC500. The footage is stunning, the commentary is however in Gaelic with subtitles!
 
Plenty of time for people with local knowledge to show all the "great" road sections - then it only needs you to stitch them together into a holiday.

There are road sections that are "stunning beauty" and there are ones that are "stunning riding" - and there are some that fit both requirements.

So - in the next year, compile all the:

Sights to see.
Roads to ride for the scenery
Roads to ride for the enjoyment

Then - sort out the route, overnights etc.

Al
 
loads of info on here re this area , they even have a Facebook page, which advertises lots of camping and / or Guest houses.

Ive been round twice, west is best , so start at Inverness and ride anti clockwise .. Late summer as in Sept you might be midge free with luck
 
Ive been round twice, west is best , so start at Inverness and ride anti clockwise .. Late summer as in Sept you might be midge free with luck

I'll be 'up that way' in September, five or six weeks walking the hills, just me, mi VW Camper and mi dawg :D

The Highlands and Islands of Bonnie Scotland .... don't just do the NC500 but take in Islay, Mull, Harris, Lewes, Orkney, to name but a few :thumb

i-xc3hHdw-L.jpg


:beerjug:
 
I'll be 'up that way' in September, five or six weeks walking the hills, just me, mi VW Camper and mi dawg :D

The Highlands and Islands of Bonnie Scotland .... don't just do the NC500 but take in Islay, Mull, Harris, Lewes, Orkney, to name but a few :thumb

i-xc3hHdw-L.jpg


:beerjug:

I just love Fidden campsite, and only about 18 miles from that lovely old mileage marker :thumb

Mike.
 
I just love Fidden campsite, and only about 18 miles from that lovely old mileage marker :thumb

Mike.

I came back in to suggest to folks don't just do the NC500, it's geared up to whip you round the route ... take time to explore, get lost, you can soon put another 500 miles on the NC500 ... and six weeks :D

Thank you :thumb

:beerjug:
 
Fidden camp site ...

i-2Dx74Q2-L.jpg


:beerjug:

Excellent, yes. Take a trip across to Iona, go to Fingals' Cave, walk over to the the old observatory on Erraid when the tides out ( be careful on the way back though as I had to swim once when I misjudged the tide :blast ), do a coastal loop round Mull from Fishnish ( North / South ) and down to Fidden....and almost best of all there are virtually no Midge so go and enjoy in mid summer even.

The NC500 is a well publicised ( but long established road network ) route which is now over popular and tends to attract certain petrol heads who's aim it is to cover xxx miles in the shortest possible time regardless , be aware and look out for Lamborghini's and the like :eek:

There are far nicer areas to explore...
 


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