North Coast 500: Ask your questions and share your tips and advice for the NC500
We've had a number of discussions in the past about the North Coast 500, also known as the NC500, so I thought it would be good opportunity to have one main discussion where people can share their recommendations or ask any questions they may have if planning this incredible route.
Some campsites you might want to consider include:
- Culloden Moor Club Campsite
- Brora Club Campsite
- Dunnet Bay Club Campsite
- Birchbank CL Site
- Drumbhan CL Site
- Inchbae Caravan and Motorhome Site
- Choraidh Croft
- Kinlochewe Club Campsite
If you're planning on touring the NC500 ask your questions here or if you have toured the NC500 please share your photos, recommendations and favourite Club Campsites and CL Sites along the route.
Comments
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Just a word of warning, at least for this year. The situation is that there are many more ticks about than in previous years, on the west coast at least, a nd not just in the long grass, also that the midges are out in force earlier than usual both in the early morning and during the evening.
With such good weather up to now the campsites, at least the C&CC ones, are very busy, with "Site Full" signs in place at both of their Oban and Glencoe sites these last 10 days, and the wardens expect it to continue this way for a while yet.
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For anyone keen on “ticking off” routes, there’s also the SW300, which is based around Dumfries and Galloway and parts of Ayrshire. It’s mainly coastal, but ventures inland into the hills and forests of the area, and is far, far quieter than the NC500. It has a huge variety of places to pitch up, from (both) Club Sites, CLs, CS’s, private, commercial, Forestry stopovers, and Aires. Wonderful scenery, you get the Gulf Stream warming the seas on the coast late Summer, so it’s fabulous for sea swimming, and the gardens are tropical and lush. Lovely little villages and towns, lots of Literary connections (Wigtown, Gatehouse of Fleet, etc..), castles, abbeys, gardens. Cycling and walking trails.
Top tip from me………don’t rush things, Scotland is far too beautiful to be merely a tick box, Instagram exercise. Venture away from the suggested routes and you won’t get caught up in the rush from place to place, the haven’t got a clue hirers of MHs (impolite and selfish is the polite version for some of them, although those hiring via the Club are fine).
Wild swim beach on Galloway coast.
Logan Botanical Gardens on Mull of Galloway.
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https://www.visitwester-ross.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/bealach-5340084.jpg
Please follow the advice about what you are driving.1 -
Sango Sands, Durness.
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LLong Time since we used that site, 15 years?. We didn't know we were doing the NC500, it wasn't a thing then. But that site and the Castle of Mey, along with other places including Orkney have stayed long on the memory. It would have been this time of the year and we enjoyed wonderful weather. One day we might get back, but for now memories have to suffice.
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Those pics were 2014 before the NC500 was 'invented'. It’s a fabulous area and beyond, too, to Orkney and Shetland or west to the Outer Hebrides. We did them all. Unforgettable!
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Hi everyone, we recently filmed a 9-day tour of the NC500 for CAMC's social channels, taking in Culloden Moore, Brora, Dunnet Bay and Kinlochewe Club Campsites as well as the Choraidh Croft CL.
Here is the trailer for the four part series which we will release over the month of June.Has anyone else been round the NC500 this year? We were incredibly lucky with the weather :)
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We didn’t know you were supposed to drive all the way round - so long ago we went to Skye before there was a bridge, got right down to Glenbrittle, climbed the Cuillins, got woken in the middle of the night to help carry a rescue stretcher, hired a boat to go over to Rum, caught fish for supper, and so on.
I still think choosing where you want to go in Scotland is a whole lot more rewarding than just driving round the well advertised NC500 in convoy.2 -
I gave up when he talked about the huge range of CLs 'up here'. Really? They must have sprung up recently since I was last there.
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Thanks for the video. We have done quite a bit of the route years ago but didn't realise we were doing the NC500!!!
David
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I absolutely agree! We 'did' the NC500, or parts of it, many times before it became popular. That’s back when it was relatively quiet before the route became over publicised and the 'in' thing to do (as in this road trip). There are very few CLs, not many privately owned sites or C&CC / CAMC sites. It’s an area where you need to book sites to ensure it all goes to plan.
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We found in 2007 that one or two of the sites did not take bookings, Scourie was one of those, but you can phone on the day to ask what the situation is, best to then arrive early. That may be different now. Beautiful sunsets there.
We went quite far up the west coast back in 1972, past Poolewe, but so long back that we cannot remember exactly how far. Memory not as good as it used to be.
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Sorry but it’s become a “tick box” holiday nowadays, something to “do” rather than enjoy, racing around almost in a convoy. The lucky ones did it years ago before it was a thing. It’s not an adventure if thousands are doing it, like little lemmings in white boxes. Beautiful places deserve time, exploration, reflection. It would take us twenty years to fully explore properly.
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