North Coast 500 Road Trip

The NORTH COAST 500

• 8 Days
• 2 people
• 1 dog
• 1600miles
• lots of cows!

Hire a VW camper van and go! This was the plan our biggest and longest road trip yet and we were leaving with no idea on when or where to stay!

We left Norfolk early hoping to get inverness on the first day which turned to be a very bad idea completely fatigued and hungry we ended up driving down a steep country lane in complete darkness heading towards a loch which we found on our app for our first wild Camp at Kinloch Rannoch hour from Loch Ness.

Big Burn walk Tucked away at the north end of Goslpie, quite literally a stone’s throw from the A9, is a fab short woodland walk that leads to a stunning waterfall. Amazing walk full of study wood bridges which take across mini rapids in varies parts of the wood. 

Cromarty Firth for a photo of these abandoned oil rigs and a fantastic coffee and hot chocolate from Slaughterhouse coffee great little coffee shop roastery we stumbled across for a quick break.

The Pink house Nestled on the coastline of the eastern Highlands lies a house that has become one of the most Instagrammable buildings in the whole of Scotland. A small, pink house can be found abandoned next to Loch Glass on the eastern side of Ben Wyvis in Easter Ross. Nobody has ever lived in the house and the problem lies with planning permission, something it has never had, so has lay vacant for many years According to google this was a great walk!

John o' Groats a lovely drive on now perfect roads via ‘castle of Wick’ to John o' Groats this is a village 2.5 miles northeast of Canisbay, Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. Great time of the year to visit out of peak season so not too many tourists.  We decided to stay the night here on a little campsite on the cliffs using the facilities and a well overdue hot shower! Before we left the next day in the car park lies a newly built whisky distillery called ‘ 8 DOORS Distillery’ where I got myself a couple of bottles of their limited run blended malt super tasty!!

Puffin Cove sadly we didn’t see any of these cute little bird’s wrong time of the year but the walk was amazing and a little technical in places very steep descent which didn’t help due to the rain and our dog Myla now pulling Casey down the slope.  ONWARDS TO SANGO BAY. 

Sango Bay Wind speed 33mph / Wind Gust maximum of 54 Mph makes for a very scary long night at Sango Bay sleeping on the edge of a cliff we ended up moving further back in the car park and lowering the Pop-up roof! Once sunrise eventually came all was forgotten due the amazing rainbow which to started and finish directly in the bay!

Wailing Widow Falls, Loch na Gainmhich The Wailing Widow Falls is a spectacular waterfall in the Scottish Highlands that can be viewed from both above and below. The 50ft falls spill out over the cliff from Loch na Gainmhich, crashing into a narrow canyon at the bottom.  Perfect place for putting our new explorer coffee bags to the test and get some shots for the website.

Ullapool a picturesque fishing town is nestled on the shores of Lochbroom, the gateway to the Northern Highlands Ullapool offers some very nice pubs and a lovely fish n chip shops which we stopped at for a couple of hours.

Applecross pass via Bealach na Ba. It has the steepest ascent of any road in the United Kingdom, starting from sea level and rising to 2,054 feet (626 meters). Its challenging hairpin bends and its outstanding views over to the Isle of Skye. However not today sadly we couldn’t see a thing top to bottom complete fog and a very slow descent pass a couple of crazy cyclists attempting to get to the top!

Prince Albert’s pyramid. Last part of our road trip adventure was the final stop this time at a posh campsite in Cairngorms National Park treated ourselves with electric hook up and showers. To see Scotland’s pyramid Yep, you read that right. Scotland has its very own pyramid and it’s called Prince Albert’s Cairn! It’s a steep walk into the woodland but well worth the effort to see this incredible landmark and amazing panoramic views.