Scotland's NC500 road trip in a Tesla model S.
With travel on hold and our wanderlust increasing we sat down one grey day in late August and planned a 16 night road trip around the coast of Britain staying in 15 different hotels, with a focus on driving the NC500, a 500 mile road trip around the northern most coast of Scotland. We left home on a Sunday morning in mid September stopping over in Durham on our way to Edinburgh (keep an eye out for a separate ‘Round Britain’ blog) for a couple of nights before heading up to Inverness where we would start our NC500 road trip.
Although we arrived into Inverness quite late in the day we couldn’t resist a quick visit to the picturesque and infamous Loch Ness and Uruquart castle before heading to our hotel. With time slipping by we drove up to our next hotel, Bunchrew House, a beautiful old, pink painted traditional Scottish castle-style house (complete with turrets) set right on the waters edge of Moray Firth. As we arrived quite late in the day and we weren’t able to change our dinner reservation, we didn’t have long to explore the hotel and its grounds before we had to change for dinner. However, getting to the restaurant early had its benefits, with us being rewarded with a stunning table in the bay window with direct views over the water, gifting us a gorgeous sun set and the chance to watch the tide slowly rise.
Dinner was delicious, starting with a little haggis Bon Bon appetiser served with warm, homemade rolls and beetroot flavoured whipped butter. For starters we had a quinoa, avocado and sweet potato salad and scallop and squid ink pasta followed by mains of garlic chicken with fondant potato and monkfish wrapped in Parma ham. Neither of us could manage a dessert but we enjoyed a fresh coffee served with petit four as we watched the sun set and the light fade over our glorious view.
Eager to start the actual NC500 route we were one of the first down to breakfast in the morning enjoying a delicious cooked breakfast before quickly launching the drone to get some lovely aerial shots of this stunning loch side hotel as the sun started to poke its head out from behind the clouds. Then it was time to hit the road again with our first stop of the day the Black Isle and Chanonry point, famous for its dolphins. We arrived there about 10am with little hope of seeing anything other than a few seals but after only about 10 minutes 3 pods of dolphins swam right round the head of Chanonry point.
Super excited by the wonderful start to our day we made our way out of the Black Isle towards Fyrish monument. Rich had seen photos of this monument online and decided this was a photographic must but, well lets just say, Rich doesn’t do the planning and I made the mistake of assuming he had done his research. Although it was technically on our route, when I put in the sat nav something didn’t seem quite right so I quickly googled it, only to find that whilst it wasn’t far off of our marked track, what Rich had failed to realise was that it was up the top of a mountain that required a two hour hike, time we just didn’t have, unfortunately!
So abandoning Fyrish monument we headed straight to Durnoch, our next charging stop for the car. Whilst the car was charging we had a wander around this delightful little town, stopping to buy the most delicious pies from a local bakery which we took back to the meadow to eat whilst the car finished charging. Car charged and bellies full we set off again, this time for Dunrobin Castle, a massive fairytale chateau set on the shores of the North Sea between Golspie and Brora. A popular stop on the NC500 this was one of the busier stops so far but after wandering down to the shoreside to get the best view of the castle we could see why.
Back on the road we travelled for another hour along some of the prettiest coastline we have seen anywhere in the UK. The weather was glorious and we kept debating whether it felt like we were in Cornwall, the Isle of Wight or Southern Ireland. Having read that the best beaches were on the west coast we were surprised by just how stunningly beautiful this part of Scotland was. Just before reaching our final destination of the day, Wick, we had one final stop at another popular NC500 destination, Whaligoe steps. Not surprisingly a stop at Whaligoe involves climbing down more than 300 stone steps to reach this tiny bay, which when we were there was swarming in very large jellyfish. The climb back up to the car was somewhat harder than the one down to the bay but at least I hit my exercise minutes on my Apple Watch!!
With the sun getting low in the sky we took the short drive on from Whaligoe to our final destination for the day, MacKays Hotel in Wick, which boasts the title of being situated on the shortest street in the UK. The hotel itself is a small, family run establishment in the heart of Wick, the most north-easterly town in Scotland, and well situated for our planned visit to John O’Groats the next day. Having checked in and quickly freshened up we headed down to the hotels small bistro restaurant where we were treated to a very reasonably priced and rather lovely ‘homely’ meal of locally caught fish and chips and salmon and mash followed by deliciously yummy desserts.
The next morning we were up early for a full day, stopping first at John O’Groats which for us would mark the start of our End to Ender road trip (which will feature in the upcoming ‘Round Britain’ blog). We arrived at John O’Groats, which people often, wrongly, assume to be the most northern point in the UK, before 9am so there were very few people were there and we managed to get plenty of touristy photos of the infamous signpost before heading off to the most north-easterly point in the UK, Duncansby Head. We parked up and walked the half a mile or so to reach the very impressive Duncansby stacks, well worth the walk and obviously a popular stop on the NC500 route.
Heading west along Scotlands Northern coast road the next little town we came across was Dunnet, home of the Dunnet Bay distillery, which we obviously had to stop off at. This is a tiny little distillery with its own little gardens and a bio-dome, which produces approximately 2000 bottles of gin a week. Due to COVID they weren’t doing any tours but we queued up for a visit to the tiny shop and had a bit of a history of the distillery from one of their staff on the door of the shop while we waited for our turn to go in. Once in the shop another distillery worker described in depth the variety of gins on offer and sold us a bottle of their pink grapefruit ‘Old Tom’ gin and their classic NC500, which has botanicals from various places along the route.
Our Dunnet Bay gin distillery haul
After our sending spree we backtracked a little to go to Dunnet Head, the true most northerly point on mainland UK (not John O’Groats!). This spot was busy with tourists so we just walked up to the viewpoint to take in the 360 view over the headland and out to the Orkney Islands before getting back in the car to drive to Dunnet Bay beach. We parked up in a small car park off the main road then gathered some stuff together and took the easy walk over the dunes to be met with the most stunning beach we have seen so far. The white sand stretched for miles either side of us and in front of us. We set up our camping stove to make ourselves a lunch of noodles and a cup of tea to enjoy whilst sitting in the dunes listening to the sounds of the sea.
The last stretch of our journey today included a car charge at Melvich before attacking the windy single carriageway lanes necessary to get to our stop for the night, Borgie Lodge. The change in the landscape across these Northern most roads was quite startling to the day before, going from the gorgeous coast road when we were travelling right beside the sea to the rather barren and bracken highlands. Borgie Lodge itself is a rather quaint little hotel sitting in very well kept grounds which makes the most of its quirky building, character and landscape. Our room for the night was equally as quirky as the rest of the house, with the entrance leading into the bathroom then through to a little ante-room to a sweet little bedroom in the eaves of the roof. We loved it here, the staff were so friendly, the owners warm and attentive, and the food divine, and to top it off they had two decent charging points for the car.
Day four of our NC500 road trip and we had the most ground to cover to reach our next destination, Ullapool. And though we set off early and knew we had lots planned for this day we just couldn’t resist stopping every five minutes to take in another view or beach along the way. The weather was amazing and made the scenery even more delightful. Our first planned stop was at Smoo caves and though we didn’t have long to spend here we had a little explore in the caves and around the surrounding clifftops before heading off to our most north-westerly stop at Balakaniel craft village for a mid morning snack and hot chocolate at the infamous Cocoa Mountain. Though this was a little out of our way the hot chocolate and truffles made it worth our while.
With quite a few miles still to cover we headed to our next planned stop, a chance to admire the architectural and engineering magnificence of curvaceous Kylesku bridge. Opened by the Queen in 1984, this 275 metre bridge replaced the old ferry service between Kylesku and Kylestrome and saves travellers a 100 mile road trip around a large sea inlet.
With lunchtime approaching and my excitement levels for our next stop rising we set off for the beautiful town of Lochinver, driving along the shores of the stunning Loch Assynt along the way. Whilst Lochinver is in itself worth a stop, what makes it even more magnetic for NC500s is the magnificent Lochinver Larder pie shop, home of the finest pies in Scotland. We ordered our pies then joined the many other patrons in their lovely garden overlooking the loch to take in the sunshine and enjoy our delicious lunch.
Lunch over we headed north around this little peninsula, on the tiny, windy roads to Clashnessie beach. Though it was a gloriously sunny day it was strange that all of the beaches we had seen had been shrouded in cloud and Clashnessie was no exception. But we weren’t here for the beach, we were here to take on the wet and muddy walk up to Clashnessie Falls. This challenging walk even involved using some rather unstable and sometimes submerged stepping stones to cross a fast running river, but it was worth the effort to get close enough to these impressive falls to feel the spray on our faces.
Finishing off this loop of road we headed back to Lochinver to charge the car before our final stretch of driving for the day and our destination, Ullapool. The drive took us back passed Loch Assynt, a gorgeous loch dotted with tiny little islands adorned in fir trees and a popular overnight stopover for camper vans and wild campers. And with the sun now getting low in the sky we could see why, the lighting and backdrop giving the loch a serenely magical and romantic atmosphere.
Our long day of driving finished with our arrival at the lovely Harbour House Hotel in Ullapool, home of our final food destination of the day, the infamous Seafood Shack. We checked into the hotel then headed straight out again for the short walk along the loch side, through this lovely little town to get some much anticipated supper at the Seafood Shack. Of course this being peak time on a Saturday evening there was quite a queue by the time we arrived and in the time it took for us to reach the front of the queue a lot of the menu had been struck off, but we were more than happy with our haddock wraps, which we ate sitting in the bustling garden on a gloriously balmy Scottish evening.
Though we didn’t have much time to explore Ullapool itself we were pretty impressed by this quaint town which sits alongside Ullapool river, with cosy cafes, pubs and restaurants lining the road overlooking the river. Back at the hotel we made the most of the view from the hotel, taking a glass of wine out to the terrace of the riverside gardens to sit and watch the sun set over the town.
Up early the next morning and fuelled by a substantial breakfast we found the car charging points in the town and set off to find Corrieshalloch Gorge. This popular NC500 stop was way more impressive than I imagined, with a suspension bridge spanning the impressive gorge and a viewing platform looking down to the waterfalls.
Impressive as it was we didn’t hang around here for long as we had a long drive to get to our much anticipated next stop, the fabulous Torridon Hotel. The drive today was hugging some beautiful lochs and though the weather was less clear than the day before it gave us some stunning backdrops for the scenery we encountered along the way. Keen as we were to get to the Torridon as early as possible, we couldn’t resist a quick detour to Mellon Udridge beach which overlooks the beautiful Gruinard bay. Given its remoteness and accessibly difficulties, we were surprised how many other people were parked at the tiny beach car park but when we ventured on to the beach we understood why. It was a beautiful little bay with a wide expanse of beach. We used this opportunity to light our camp stove and make a nice hot cup of coffee to enjoy whilst taking in the beauty of the beach with the clouds rolling in.
Caffeine levels and sea air replenished we hit the road for our last stop before the Torridon, Victoria Falls - no not the famous ones, just her little Scottish sister. Though I’m sure she wasn’t as impressive as her famous older sister she still gave us a lovely half hour stop to admire the river heading down this valley.
We made it to The Torridon in the early afternoon and were delighted that our room was available. We had been really looking forward to this hotel, it being the most northerly 5 star hotel in the UK and the only one on the NC500, so we were expecting a real treat. We had been lucky to get a room here as they are usually booked up for months in advance but we had somehow managed to get a cancellation room. This meant that we had the ‘obstructed view’ room which is probably one of the least desired rooms in the hotel but even though it didn’t give us any of the gorgeous views from most of the hotel windows the room itself was beautiful, newly refurbished with a lovely large bathroom and the most comfortable bed of our journey so far.
But the room was secondary, we were there for the hotel and it’s surroundings. With the weather holding out I headed out to the garden with my book and ordered a cup of tea to take on the lawn while Rich went off to do some filming of this glorious hotel. After an hour or so sitting in the hotels gardens we headed indoors to get ready for dinner in The 1887, the hotel’s fine dining restaurant.
Before dinner we headed down to the impressive whisky bar for a pre-dinner drink. This small but comprehensive bar is unlike any I’ve seen before and we enjoyed the hotels own gin with a tonic as we sat in the bay window of the lounge watching the sun go down on a glorious day.
At exactly 7pm we were accompanied to our table which this evening was located in in the contemporary glass addition to the main dining room offering a lovely light area to the dining room, perfect for summer evenings. Dinner was delicious and service exemplary. Though I won’t go into detail about the meal in this blog you can read a full review of our stay at The Torridon (featuring this delicious dinner) here.
After such a delicious meal where we were treated like kings we headed back to our room and the amazingly sumptuously soft bed waiting to give us a wonderful, comfortable sleep . After a lovely nights sleep we woke late and got dressed so we could take a walk along the Loch before breakfast. We headed out of the hotel grounds and walked the 2km lochside walk to the boatshed and back before a very leisurely breakfast. We were seated in the main dining room for our breakfast and the service, care and attention equalled our meal the night before.
We managed to eek out our stay at this fabulous hotel by checking out as late as we could meaning we didn’t leave Torridon until midday. Though we had planned to drive the Applecross pass before making our way to Fort William for our next stop, the weather had other plans for us today with the clouds rolling in and th infamous Scottish highlands fog setting in for the day. However, we did manage a stop at the majestic Eilean Donan castle on our long drive to Fort William.
Taking this route meant we didn’t technically complete the NC500, missing the cross country road from Applecross back to Inverness. But never fear we intent to return next year to complete the route, drive the Applecross pass and visit the island of Skye, which will definitely feature in a future blog.
We booked Bunchrew House, Inverness directly and paid £131 for bed and breakfast. Dinner was priced at £35 for 2 course and £45 for 3. The hotel had 2 Tesla destination chargers free to use for patrons.
We booked MacKays Hotel, Wick through booking.com and paid £132 for bed and breakfast. We ate in their No. 1 bistro restaurant and paid £55 for two courses and a large glass of wine each. The hotel had 2 Tesla destination chargers free for patrons to use.
We booked Borgie Lodge, Skerray through Booking.com and paid £125 for bed and breakfast (one of the best breakfast we had on our travels). We ate in their restaurant and paid £50 for two courses and a glass of wine each. The hotel had 2 electric car charging points free to use for patrons.
We booked Harbour House hotel, Ullapool through booking.com and paid £145 for bed and breakfast.
We booked The Torridon hotel directly and paid £425 for a 3 course dinner, bed and breakfast. the hotel had 2 Tesla destination chargers free to use for patrons.
If you enjoyed this blog post why not take a look at our Tuscan road trip blog post.
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