An NC500 Seven-Day Itinerary
Seven days is the sweet spot for the NC500: enough to walk, swim and wait out weather, and not so long that you run out of road. This is a day-by-day plan built around short driving days, because the mistake everyone makes is planning long ones.
Published 19 August 2026
The single-track sections mean your average speed will be far lower than the map implies. Plan on 30 mph, not 50, and treat every daily distance below as a half-day of driving with the rest of the time free. That is the whole trick. For the route overview and the rules, see the North Coast 500.
The plan at a glance
| Day | Leg | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inverness to Applecross | 90 miles |
| 2 | Applecross to Gairloch via Torridon | 60 miles |
| 3 | Gairloch to Ullapool | 55 miles |
| 4 | Ullapool to Kylesku via Lochinver | 55 miles |
| 5 | Kylesku to Tongue via Durness | 70 miles |
| 6 | Tongue to John o’ Groats via Thurso | 75 miles |
| 7 | John o’ Groats to Inverness via Dornoch | 120 miles |
Day 1: Inverness to Applecross
West via Loch Carron. The decision of the day is the Bealach na Bà, the 626-metre pass into Applecross, with hairpins and 20% gradients. Spectacular in clear weather, unpleasant in cloud, and not for large motorhomes. The coast road via Shieldaig is the alternative and no hardship.
Applecross itself is a single row of houses on a bay looking at Skye, with one very good pub.
Day 2: Applecross to Gairloch
The coast road north from Applecross is the finest twenty miles on the loop and almost nobody drives it, because most people leave over the pass the way they came. Then Torridon, where the mountains, Liathach, Beinn Eighe, are as good as anything in Scotland. Stop at Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve for the woodland trail if you want a leg stretch.
Day 3: Gairloch to Ullapool
A short day, deliberately. Inverewe Garden is the stop: subtropical planting on the same latitude as Siberia, courtesy of the Gulf Stream. Then Gruinard Bay and the long run in to Ullapool, which is the best town on the route: a proper harbour, bookshop, chip shop and a ferry to Stornoway.
Day 4: Ullapool to Kylesku
The best day. Assynt is a landscape of isolated mountains rising from bog (Stac Pollaidh, Suilven, Quinag) that looks like nowhere else in Britain. Stac Pollaidh is a two to three hour climb and the best short mountain walk on the whole loop.
- Achmelvich: white sand and turquoise water, and genuinely startling on a good day.
- Clachtoll and Clashnessie: quieter versions of the same.
- Kylesku Bridge: the photograph, and the boat trip to Eas a’ Chual Aluinn, the tallest waterfall in the UK.
Day 5: Kylesku to Tongue
Round the top. Handa Island’s seabird colony is a short ferry from Tarbet if the season is right. Durness has Smoo Cave, a sea cave you walk into from the road, and Balnakeil beach, plus Cape Wrath if you have a day to spare and the MOD range is not firing. Then the north coast proper: Ceannabeinne, Sango Sands and the long empty run to the Kyle of Tongue.
Day 6: Tongue to John o’ Groats
Flow Country: vast blanket bog, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and much more interesting than it looks from a car. Thurso is the surf town. Dunnet Head, not John o’ Groats, is the actual most northerly point of mainland Britain, and it is a better stop. Duncansby Stacks, a short walk from John o’ Groats, is the best thing at this corner by a wide margin.
Day 7: John o’ Groats to Inverness
The long one, on fast road. Whaligoe Steps, 300-odd steps down a cliff to a former herring harbour, is the stop most people drive past. Then Dunrobin Castle, Dornoch, and the Black Isle back into Inverness.
Where to stay along the way
Accommodation is the binding constraint on this route, not driving time. We list 9 sites within ten miles of the loop, and in the north-west especially they book out months ahead for summer. Reserve before you set off rather than trusting to the day.
Sites near the NC500
Within ten miles of the loop, best-rated first.
See all 9 sites (3 more not shown here).
Common questions
- Is seven days enough for the NC500?
- Yes, and it is close to ideal. Seven days allows short driving days with time for walks, beaches and weather, which three- or five-day plans do not.
- What is the best day of the NC500?
- Ullapool to Kylesku through Assynt, Stac Pollaidh, Suilven and the white-sand beaches at Achmelvich and Clachtoll.
- Do you have to drive the Bealach na Bà?
- No. The pass to Applecross is spectacular but steep and hairpinned, and unsuitable for large motorhomes. The coast road via Shieldaig is an excellent alternative.
- Where is the most northerly point of mainland Britain?
- Dunnet Head, not John o’ Groats, and it is the better stop of the two.
Keep reading
- Campervans & motorhomesThe North Coast 500: Route, Stages and CampsitesA practical guide to the North Coast 500, the route, how long to take, single-track driving, overnight parking restrictions, and where to camp along the way.
- Campervans & motorhomesCampervan Sites in ScotlandWhere to take a campervan in Scotland, the regions worth driving, the overnight parking rules, single-track road etiquette, and the sites that take vehicles.
- Campervans & motorhomesWild Campervan Spots in the UK: What’s Actually LegalWhere you can legally sleep in a campervan in the UK, the law in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Loch Lomond byelaws, and the legal alternatives.
- Campervans & motorhomesElectric Hook-Up Explained: Amps, Cables and What You Can Actually RunHow campsite electric hook-up works, what 10A and 16A give you, why the kettle trips the breaker, what cable you need, and which sites offer it.