North Coast 500
NC500 loop · Inverness → Inverness (loop) · Scotland
- Length
- 516 miles
- Drive time
- 3–5 days
- Type
- Coastal road
- Region
- Scotland
Before you go: Bealach na Bà can close in winter weather
Scotland's answer to Route 66: a 516-mile loop from Inverness around the entire north Highland coast, including the fearsome Bealach na Bà hairpins to Applecross.
Five hundred and sixteen miles from Inverness around the north Highland coast and back. It is a marketing loop made of real roads, including the Bealach na Bà if you take that option, and it is not a day's drive. Three to five days is the honest window once you allow for single-track, ferries of attention, and the fact that everyone else bought the same sticker. The west and north coasts are the point; the A9 bits are transit.
Fuel is the planning problem. Scourie Filling Station on the A894 is a 24-hour card pump in a thin stretch; treat it as last-chance, not a maybe. Cocoa Mountain at Balnakeil is a legitimate stop near Durness. The Bealach can close in winter — if that is your reason for the loop, have the coast road as the way round. Summer is motorhomes on single-track; May and September are kinder. Book beds before you need them.
Do not try to "do the NC500" as a time. Pick a coast and some of the roads the app already holds — Applecross, Kylesku, the Bealach — and let the sticker route be a corridor, not a target. John o' Groats is a turning loop, not a climax.
The loop exists because a tourism body drew a line. The driving is the single-track and the passes inside it. Drive those, and ignore anyone timing the whole thing. Single-track passing-place etiquette on the west coast is the skill that actually matters; a motorhome coming the other way owns the next lay-by if you hesitate. Do not drive the Bealach as a tick if the rest of your day is already 200 miles. Ullapool (The Ceilidh Place) is a civilised overnight that breaks the west into two. The sticker is optional; the fuel stops are not.
Highlights of the North Coast 500
- Bealach na Bà pass
- Durness & Smoo Cave
- John o' Groats
Where to stop on the North Coast 500
- The Ceilidh Place food — Ullapool's all-day institution — cafe, restaurant, bookshop and bunkhouse in one
- Scourie Filling Station fuel — 24-hour card pumps on the A894 — fill here, fuel is scarce across the far north-west corner
- Cocoa Mountain café — Legendary hot chocolate in Balnakeil Craft Village near Durness — handy leg-stretch at the top corner
- Whaligoe Steps viewpoint — 365 stone steps down to a hidden cliff harbour — easy-to-miss car park at Ulbster
Drive the North Coast 500
Open North Coast 500 on the map → ⬇ Download GPX
GPX works with Garmin, TomTom, Beeline and most bike sat-navs. Free, no sign-up — these are indicative waypoints, so follow the road signs, not the arrow.
Plot it, add it to a club run with a meeting point and pit stops, then share the whole trip as one link. Free, no account, works offline.
Route research: Venture Bound
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