The full 516-mile loop round Scotland's far north in 14 days, with two nights wherever it matters.
The North Coast 500 Grand Tour is a 14-day self-drive tour of Scotland's far north, designed by Alison at The Kilted Unicorn, a local Scotland agency in Edinburgh. You drive the whole 516-mile North Coast 500, with the Cairngorms on the way up and Glencoe on the way home, and you sleep two nights in four places so the trip never turns into a race.
It is about 1,070 miles from Edinburgh and back, and no driving day takes more than three and a half hours at the wheel. We book every night, the car and the entry fees, and you travel with a day-by-day travel book.
Arrive and settle in. There is no car yet: Edinburgh is best on foot, and you collect the car on the morning of day 3, on your way out of town. Walk up the Royal Mile, watch the light go from Calton Hill, and eat in an Old Town pub from the list in your travel book.
A full day in the capital. The castle on its volcanic rock, the closes off the Royal Mile, Greyfriars Kirkyard and the curve of Victoria Street. In the afternoon, climb Arthur's Seat for the view, about 45 minutes up, or walk the Georgian streets of the New Town.
Collect the car at Edinburgh Airport and head north through Perthshire. Stop at Dunkeld, its cathedral half in ruins on the bank of the Tay, then walk the hour-long loop at the Hermitage to the Black Linn Falls. The road climbs through Scots pine and heather, and you reach the Cairngorms in time for a walk by a loch before dinner.
No packing today. The Cairngorms is the largest national park in Britain, 4,528 km² of mountain, forest and loch. Spend the morning at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore, an open-air village built to show three centuries of Highland life, and the afternoon at Loch Garten, where ospreys nest from April to August. A Speyside distillery fits in if you want one.
North to Culloden, where the last Jacobite rising ended in 1746: give the battlefield and its visitor centre an hour and a half. A few minutes away, the Clava Cairns are Bronze Age burial cairns standing among beech trees. Then down the east side of Loch Ness to Dores beach for the long view up the loch, and back to Inverness for the evening.
The North Coast 500 proper starts here, up the gentler east coast. Dunrobin Castle, seat of the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland, has formal gardens above the sea and falconry displays in season. Further north, the Whaligoe Steps drop more than 300 steps down the cliff to a tiny harbour where the herring was once carried up by hand.
The wildest stretch of the route. Start with the cliff walk from Duncansby Head lighthouse to the Duncansby Stacks, pass the Castle of Mey, and fill up in Thurso before the road turns single-track along the north coast. At Durness, Smoo Cave opens straight off the road and Balnakeil beach is a few minutes away.
South into Assynt, where single mountains stand alone above a land of small lochs. Cross the Kylesku bridge, then take the single-track coast road to Stoer lighthouse and Achmelvich bay, white sand and clear water when the sun is out. Lunch in Lochinver, and Ullapool on Loch Broom by late afternoon.
A second night in Ullapool, and the reason for it. Stac Pollaidh is a small mountain with a big view: the path round the back takes two and a half to three hours and looks across to Suilven. Or drive on to Loch Assynt for the ruin of Ardvreck Castle and the walk to the Bone Caves at Inchnadamph, where the bones of bears and lynx were found. Pick one, or both if the legs allow.
Corrieshalloch Gorge first, a suspension bridge over a 46-metre waterfall a short walk from the car park. Then Inverewe Garden, where the Gulf Stream lets palms grow this far north. From Gairloch, a detour to Camas Ruadh, a quiet bay on the Badachro road, adds about 30 minutes. Loch Maree, the red sandstone of Torridon, then the coast road round to Applecross.
Leave over the Bealach na Bà, which climbs to 626 metres in tight hairpins, with Skye behind you on the way up. If cloud sits on the pass, your travel book gives the lower road round. Eilean Donan stands where three sea lochs meet; the road then runs under the Five Sisters of Kintail to Fort Augustus and its canal locks, and on to Fort William below Ben Nevis.
Two glens in a day. In the morning, drive to the end of the road in Glen Nevis and walk the gorge path to Steall Falls, about an hour and a half there and back. In the afternoon, Glencoe: the Three Sisters from the roadside, the visitor centre for the story of the 1692 massacre, and the Lost Valley walk if you have three hours left.
The last road day. Across the open bog and lochans of Rannoch Moor, down to Killin where the Falls of Dochart run through the village, and on to Callander for lunch. In the afternoon, Stirling Castle, the royal fortress that rivals Edinburgh's. You return the car at Edinburgh Airport and take the tram into town for the last night.
Breakfast without hurry, a walk through Princes Street Gardens under the castle, shortbread and whisky for the suitcase. The tram takes you back to the airport. We stay on the phone until your flight leaves.
The route as driven, numbered by overnight stop. Coastline from Natural Earth, roads from OpenStreetMap. Hover a day to find it on the map.
Distances and times come from OpenStreetMap routing and leave out stops. On single-track roads, allow a little more.
Accommodation is 4-star boutique as standard, with restored manors and castle hotels on the upper tiers. Every address is in your travel book rather than on this page: these are small places, and we book them for you. Rooms on the far north coast are few, so for July and August we book those nights up to a year ahead.
| Stop | Nights | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh | 2 nights | Boutique hotel or guest house in the centre |
| Cairngorms | 2 nights | Country house or Highland lodge |
| Inverness | 1 night | Townhouse B&B or small hotel by the river |
| Wick | 1 night | Family-run B&B or small hotel |
| Kinlochbervie | 1 night | Remote inn or B&B with a sea view |
| Ullapool | 2 nights | Harbour guest house or small hotel on Loch Broom |
| Applecross | 1 night | Country inn or B&B |
| Fort William | 2 nights | Highland lodge or guest house |
| Edinburgh | 1 night | Boutique hotel or guest house in the centre |
From May to September, and May, June and September are our favourites. In May and June the far north keeps the light until after 10pm and the midges are not yet at full strength. September brings the first autumn colour and quieter roads once the British school holidays are over. July and August work too, but they cost more, the north coast rooms go months ahead and the midges gather by the west coast lochs.
From November to March we advise against this route: many places on the north and west coasts close for the winter, and the days are short.
The loop is 516 miles and can be driven in five days, but that is a race rather than a holiday: long sections are single-track, and the stops are the point. Our tour takes 14 days from Edinburgh, with the Cairngorms on the way up and Glencoe on the way back, and two nights in four places so you are not packing every morning. Short on time? Tell us your dates and we will shape a shorter version.
May, June and September. In May and June the far north keeps the light until after 10pm and the midges are not yet at full strength; in September the roads go quiet once the British school holidays end. July and August are possible but busier and more expensive. From November to March we advise against it, as many places on the north and west coasts close.
Not hard, but it asks for attention. The east coast is ordinary two-lane road. The north and west coasts have long single-track sections with passing places, and the Bealach na Bà climbs to 626 metres in tight hairpins; in cloud or strong wind, take the lower road round, which your travel book shows. Driving days on this tour run between one and a half and three and a half hours at the wheel.
No four-wheel drive: every road on the route is tarred. We book an automatic unless you ask for a manual, with room for your luggage. The hire includes unlimited mileage, collision damage waiver, third-party and theft cover; extras such as an excess waiver or a second driver are paid at the hire desk.
Yes. All 13 nights are booked before you leave, and your travel book gives each address, the check-in times and how to get there. On the north coast, around Durness and Kinlochbervie, rooms are few: for July and August we book them up to a year ahead.
Yes, with three or four extra days: Skye lies just south of Applecross, across the bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh. Tell us when you send your request and we will rebuild the route. If Skye matters more to you than the far north, our Isle of Skye and the wild islands tour may suit you better.
7 days
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Edinburgh · Wester Ross · Assynt · Sutherland
Two nights in Edinburgh, then the North Coast 500 with a driver-guide, in a week.
From £4,400 per person
10 days
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Road to the Isles · Skye · Applecross · Torridon
The Jacobite steam train, three nights on Skye, then Applecross.
From £2,600 per person
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Staff pick
Edinburgh · Highland Perthshire · Loch Ness · Skye · Glencoe
Highland Perthshire, Loch Ness, Skye and Glencoe, two nights in each.
From £3,500 per person