North Coast 500 / Our first trip to Scotland

North Coast 500 is a scenic driving route on the North Coast of Scotland. It gets its name from being approximately 500 miles long. It showcases some of Scotland’s most beautiful landscapes, including coastlines, mountains, lochs, and a few castles.

Day 1:
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The North Coast 500 starts and ends in Inverness but we definitely didn’t adhere to that. We started with Glencoe where we spent the night at a camping. The most surprising thing that almost made us turn around was the midge infestation. Maybe we were just unlucky, maybe it was mating and baby making season. But we’ve never seen so many midges, before or since. There were actual clouds of midges in the air. They were getting in your eyes and your mouth. It was just impossible to breathe. We bought some net hats, similar to the bee keeper’s hats, just to be able to walk around. Needless to say, it was a horrifying night.

Day 2:
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We left the next morning and headed north towards Isle of Skye. We’re been there a few times, but this was our first time on the island. We caught a glimpse of Old Man of Storr. First time seeing that too. We even gave the hike a little try. It defeated us that time. We were very unfit at the time. But we persisted and conquered it in the end, a year later. Most of our time though we spent in Portree.

Day 3:
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The next day we began by taking a drive to visit the Dunevegan castle. It’s one of the most popular castles in Scotland and boasts being one of the fewest castles continuously inhabited. It is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of Clan MacLeod, who have lived on the site for over 800 years. The castle sits on the shores of Loch Dunvegan and is surrounded by beautiful gardens. I don’t think there’s any connection between the real clan MacLeod and the fictitious clan MacLoud from The Highlander, but it’s a neat tidbit to mention.

Day 4:
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Once we left Isle of Skye we headed even further north. It had been raining since we started our road trip and continued to rain until we got home. But we didn’t let that stop us. We visited Ardvreck Castle on our way Durness our next camping spot. It’s a castle ruin located on the shores of Loch Assynt. It dates back to the 16th century and was built by the MacLeods of Assynt. It later became owned by the Clan MacKenzie before falling into disrepair in the 18th century.

There is also a legend that surrounds the castle. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of Alistair MacLeod, who was murdered by his cousin in the castle in the 17th century. The ghost is said to haunt the castle’s ruins to this day, but we weren’t lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it. We did enjoy a stroll around it as it sits in a beautiful setting.

Once in Durness we set up camp and spent the day on Balnakeil Beach. A remote and stunning beach located on the edge of a large sand dune system, featuring truly dramatic views, crystal clear blue waters and white sand. It was really one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. We actually liked it so much that we went back the next day to spend some more time there. The only thing I regret is that it was raining the whole time, and it was pretty cold. Meaning we couldn’t really chill on the beach the way you would in a hot country. It was still incredibly beautiful and I would recommend this beach to anyone visiting that part of the world.

Day 5:
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The following day we visited Smoo Cave, located nearby. It is a fascinating sea cave formed by a combination of erosion from the sea and underground streams. The entrance to the cave is located on a rocky beach. Before heading in we donned helmets , and we visited an impressive waterfall that drops into a large pool. There were still several smaller chambers to be seen but they were accessible by boat, so we didn’t get that chance that day.

Researching Smoo Cave I’ve discovered that it also has a rich cultural history, with evidence of human habitation dating back thousands of years. The cave was used as a shelter by early humans, and it was also a hiding place for smugglers and pirates in the 18th and 19th centuries. We didn’t know this at the time, but it was amazing learning about it.

Day 6 and onward:
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Balnakeil Beach was the northern most point we’d ever been. So naturally, from there on, it was all southward. We spent the night at a camping site on Sango Sands, another beautiful location with rugged coastline and pristine beaches. The next day we continued eastward and didn’t stop until we reached the village of John o’ Groats. A thing that makes it famous, apart from the stunning coastal scenery is that it’s an end of the popular long-distance walking and cycling route known as the “End to End” or “Land’s End to John o’ Groats.” This route spans 874 miles by road and could span even 1200 miles by footpaths. Plenty of people have walked on it. All the way from Land’s End in the south of Cornwall to John o’ Groats in the North of Scotland. We have been to John o’ Groats on this occasion, but fun fact is, we’ve also been to Land’s End ( you can see that in our YouTube video here)

Once we visited John o’ Groats we continued our way southward, stopping only on the shore of Loch Ness. We didn’t take anymore pictures there, but there was no point as we didn’t even see the Loch Ness monster, the only reason we stopped there.

I’m happy we started North Coast 500 on the west coast. There were many beautiful sights to see and we took many beautiful pictures. We made great memories there and I’ll cherish them forever. We made our way back on the east coast though which was far less interesting in my view. The landscape wasn’t as dramatic, and we were pretty tired by that point. So I definitely avoided taking any more pictures. But even so, this was our first time in Scotland and Alex still says it was his favourite road trip. So I guess it was a massive success.

We made our way back there a year later. That’s how much we loved it. You can read all about here