Scotland 500
Hi everyone
There was an excellent article in the club magazine recently about the Scotland 500. We wish to do this and it recommended taking 3 weeks which is fine. From the article and a few posts I note that some of the route is not advisable for a caravan.
My question is has anyone done this (either clockwise or anticlockwise) and have a stress free caravan friendly route to get us around this beautiful route please?
Any other hints and tips are always welcome too.
We much prefer small CL sites.
Thanks in anticipation!
Comments
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Lots of people have travelled in the N of Scotland, the main roads are suitable for all vehicles, smaller roads have passing places and some are less accessible due to their terrain. Presuming you are sticking to the main roads you'll be OK. If you want stress free travel you'll probably find it easier to stay put on a small selection of sites and explore each area you choose directly from the sites. So choose a few places you'd like to visit and base your plans on these. Three weeks is quite a long time and you'll cover the popular places easily. The east coast is more rugged in contrast to the more sheltered inlets on the west.
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There are several threads on this in UK Sites & Touring. Have a search around.
Be aware that the world and his wife are heading for the NC500 this year so I have doubts whether it'll be a stress free experience.
There aren't a lot of CLs way up north but you'll find alternative sites listed on the Visit Scotland website and on UK Campsite.
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It might be worth having a look at YouTube as there are usually lots of videos of such tours which could give you and impression of what the roads are like and perhaps those to avoid with a caravan.
David
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I towed on this route the year before all the publicity. I had a long wheelbase Shogun and a 7.2 m caravan. You need to look and think ahead. Pulling in to passing places to let faster vehicles pass means that it you have a more pleasant journey than on normal roads where someone is trying to get past and there is nowhere to pull in.
I did not go to Applecross, even in the car. Don't take notice of people who say there is nothing on the East side. There are interesting places to visit in your car when your van is safely tucked up on a site. You will see that there are very few CL sites in the North of Scotland.
Have a look at the books and groups about the area and then visit the places which you find most interesting. One of the highlights for me was the visit to the Cape Wrath lighthouse. You have to go on a small ferry and then a mini bus the 7 miles to the lighthouse on the worst road in Britain. You can always walk there of course.
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Can you reverse? Inevitably you will drive just past a passing place on a single track and something will suddenly appear which may be even bigger than you.
As said above please do pull in to allow overtaking - it might be a local on their way to work, or a doctor, or an ambulance etc.
Then there are those who think it's a race.
The scenery is outstanding of course. But as Tinwheeler points out it is likely to be quite busy this year as people leave their starting blocks heading for the honeypots.
If it were me, and I live in Scotland, I would either go out of season or head for some of the quieter areas which have their own charms, such as the Borders or Dumfries & Galloway and leave the NC500 till next year.
Whatever you decide, Enjoy.
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Very late in the day to join this discussion, but here goes. I went round it on the motorbike a few weeks ago. It was a nightmare at times as a fair few people simply don't know what rear view mirrors are for, and what passing place etiquette is (don't forget there are locals who must get even more frustrated at the delays). We had trouble at times on two wheels, so I dread to think what a big motorhome would be like meeting another.
I really could not recommend the Applecross road with anything bigger than a transit size campervan, simply because the passing spaces are few and far between and small, so as mentioned, backing up, a long way might be required. We had to "off road" on the bikes a couple of times because of small passing spaces.
Great route overall - but need to find a quite period to really enjoy. So perhaps next year now.
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We have just come back from doing the NC500 (well 3 weeks ago).
We took 3 weeks, starting at Fort William. We did not have any problems at all, we towed a caravan.
There are lots of passing places some are just 100 mtrs apart on the twisty bits of the road so we had no need to have to reverse up. If you take your time, as you should, then you have good sight and time to pull in and wait for the oncoming vehicle to come to you.
Sites are busy but we booked ahead and had no problems but as the summer moves on they will be very busy. CLs are in very short supply so I would look at other types of sites.
If you do go, remember miles mean nothing up there its time that matters. On one stretch it took up 1hour to travel 15 miles, not because the roads were busy just because the road dictated you drive slow.
Enjoy
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The NC500 is very clever tourist board marketing which draws people to parts of Scotland they might not otherwise visit and indeed might even wonder why they bothered coming to when they got there. There are alternative routes that are equally scenic and have hardly any traffic.
Personally, I'd research the places you are thinking of visiting in Scotland then make a journey plan and ignore the concept of "doing the 500".
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I've recently returned from a month meandering around the Cairngorms utilising an assortment of B roads and lesser A roads and even then I felt I only scratched the surface. The NC500 can be a bit like Lands End to John O'Groats - a tick box exercise. Mind you, living on the south coast means a fairly substantial tour getting that far north anyway.
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Anyone considering this route coming from say Middle England or further need to consider a few basic things
1) the whole trip will be upwards of 2000 miles.
2) Factor in getting to say Inverness to start the 500
3) your average travel speed will be 20/25 mph excluding stops.
4) Sites are not that frequent.
5) Keep your fuel tank topped up especially at supermarket prices as other outlets will be extremely pricy.
6)The natives will no longer be that welcoming
7) Midges will be a problem from early June to October.
8) Timber lorries, motorcyclists and other towers will be your biggest hindrance.
9) Dont even contemplate towing up to Applecross or in my opinion trying it with a M/H. You will have a lot of reversing on very steep road.
10) Take your time and dont be put off!
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We have just returned from the NC500 last week (17/6/21). Don't believe the mileage. We took seven weeks from the beginning of May and travelled just over 1800 miles from the North East of England. Some beautiful places to visit especially in the area of Eileen Donan Castle and Isle of Skye area, including Plockton Village. Alas, we admitted defeat in the second week of June when the midges appeared in vast numbers. My wife turned out to be very sensitive to the little blighters and we were forced to return home ten days before we were due. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our holidays and weren't put off by some of the narrow roads. Just take your time and let others pass when you have the opportunity. We stayed on a mixture of both Club sites and CL,s for four or five days at a time.
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Brian- how does my 10 suggestions above look to you who has just recently done it. As an aside did you by any chance turn off at Laide to Mellon Udrigle. Superb beach with simple (CL type) site. Also excellent long distance walking/fly fishing on the peninsular
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BUSTER DERRY,
If you tab down to the bottom of this page on UK Sites and Touring, click on PAGE THREE ~~ there you will find a longer thread under the same title. I think that should/could/would answer most of your questions over a much longer period { Well its not changed That much up north
!! } I have a Ducato camper & just love it thereabouts
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I have taken 7m motorhomes over the Pass of the Cattle to Applecross on several occasions without hinderance. Just pick your time of day and take it slowly and be courteous to other road users. It’s beautiful up there and well worth it. For those towing small cars just unhitch at the bottom and get your partner to drive solo that last few miles into Applecross. Of course that’s if they drive too!
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Of you could drive it up to the top of the pass yourself, leaving OH with the M/H, park up and then walk back down to collect your van, drive back up, hitch up again and descend in tandem to Applecross. Simples😁
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'Tis one way of doing it anyway. It's very hard to accomplish if one spends all day just driving around without getting out occasionally for a decent walk.
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But surely one of the reasons for choosing that route, to quote that well know phrase, is because it is there. It's part of the whole round and the mystical experience promoted by the Scottish Tourist Board.
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We've just returned from our trip of NC500.
Total mileage from Bedfordshire was 1715 via an overnight at Troutbeck Head, 6 nights at Bunree, 3 at Kinlochewe, an overnight at Bones Caves then onto Youth hostel at Kyle of Tongue (excellent facilities & Covid practices) via Scourie & Durness, 3 nights Dunnet Bay, 3 nights at Brora via John O Groats, long trip down to Edinburgh via Falls of Shin, 2 nights Old Hartley, 2 nights Bridlington then a final stop at Bolton Abbey to meet up with our daughter who lives in West Yorks.
Don't understand why it is recommended to do E to W as the views of the coastline were always on our n/s & in view!!!!
Fuel wasn't a problem, filled up in Stoke on Trent, Fort William, Thurso, Edinburgh & Wetherby on return.
Narrowest roads without passing places were A82 north of Loch Lomond & A838 around Durness by Smoo Caves.
Roads were amazingly EMPTY & I have video footage to prove it.
YES, the midges were out in force which prevented us sitting outside to enjoy the late light evenings but it was also only 16*C during the day..... was advised to buy a lotion called Bogs Myrtle, expensive but helped to at least sooth the itches.....
As others have said, read the road well & be courteous to allow others to pass, you're in no hurry..... but time maybe important to them.....
Views are stunning & we found several empty beaches.....
Enjoy.
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