North Coast 500 – 7 day Road Trip Itinerary and Things you need to Know

North Coast 500 up in Scotland is as great as what people say about it!

Within 7 days, we have seen and done so much: fields, hills, mountains, waterfalls, gorge, castles, beaches, rainbow, farm, cave, gardens, towns… Nothing stood out as one “must-see” thing, but everything had its own charm, making it a memorable holiday. What surprised us the most was the beautiful blue colour that we saw in the first half of our journey towards the North. Perhaps we were lucky with the weather as the sun was shining and the sky was clear. The whole horizon from the water to the sky was covered with shappire blue. It was just so magnificient! It made me think of God and his beauty. He is beauty and he created beautiful things!

In this blog post, I have shared the full itinerary of our trip, our spend, and ratings. I added my own rating of each destination (4/5 = good, >4/5 = excellent, <4/5 = so so average). We found other people’s blog post very helpful for our trip, so hopefully this will be helpful for some others! You can click on the links in the table of content below for relevant sections.

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Midges: Midges were what I was warned when I told peole I was going to do my road trip. Midges are mosquito-like insects that are worst from late May to September, peaking in July and August. They are most active at dawn and dusk, especially on still and humid days. You will encounter them along the lochs, marshy ground and forests. We bought the repellent called Smidge (made in Scotland, very effective) and also midge nets. We used Smidge a few times when travelling along the west coast and didn’t need to use midge nets. I got bitten in a few places but Little Miss FQ and Mr FQ seemed to escape them.

Weather: The weather can be quite miserable in Scotland with frequent rain and wind. The east coast is generally drier than the west, which was the experience of our trip. Temperature was very nice and pleasant during our visit in August (12-25C), though it did get a bit chilly in the wind and rain.

Clothes: It is good to pack a light rain jacket, hiking shoes, a few pairs of jeans/ trousers for going up to waterfalls or hiking, a pair of shorts for walking along the beaches, and swiming suite if you are the type who would jump into the cold water regardless of the water. However, for most parts, you can just wear normal daily clothes including dresses and skirts.

Car hire: We used Arnold Clark as they have high rating. We were very happy with the BMW series 3. As a part of the service, they pickup and dropoff from and to the airport and train station. The company office is close to the centre of Inverness.

Accommodation: It is more challenging to find accommodation on the West coast than the East coast. It is even more challenging to find accommodation with children. We ended up staying in a range of accommodation, including hotels, B&Bs, a guesthouse, cottage, hostel, and a pub hotel. It was an interesting experience. We tried to keep this holiday at a reasonable budget, so didn’t go for any 5* hotels in this holiday; but even budget accomodation was relatively expensive compared to our experiences travelling in England.

Wifi/ phone connection: I thought North Coast 500 would be a remote area without wifi. But it turns out that wherever we go, there was always internet on the phone or wifi. So it wasn’t a problem with using phones or laptops.

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We ended up driving about 600 miles, instead of 500 miles, partially because we avoided using the ferry. The total spend on this holiday was ~£2,500 excluding flights from London to the starting point Inverness.

Accommodation = £1,227
Car hire/ fuel/ parking = £629
Food & restaurants = £757
Flights for 3 people (including 2 hold luggages) = £435

The accommodation averaged out at ~£200/night.

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✈️ 12:00 Flight from London Gatwick to Inverness: Our North Coast 500 (NC500) journey begins in Inverness.

🚗 15:00 Pick up the rental car from Arnold Clark office: The car we got is BMW 320D, very clean and modern with touchscreen dashboard and rear-view camera. Little Miss FQ liked it so much that she now keeps asking us to get a BMW for ourselves.

🛒 15:15 Stop at Tesco in Inverness: We stocked up for the NC500 road trip with instant noodles, fruits, sweets and snacks in case we were unable to find cafes and restaurants.

🍴 16:00 Dinner at Miss Ying Thai, Dingwall (Google Rating 4.8/5, £17pp cash only, my rating 4.5/5): small cosy Thai restaurant with cheap and tasty food – very good value for money.

🏨17:30 Check in at Kinkell House, Cononbridge IV7 8HY (B&B, Google Rating 5/5, £156/night, Booking.com 9.1/10 “Superb”, my rating 4.5/5): This is my favourite accommodation of the trip – such a spacious B&B with a lovely view of the surrounding rural area. There was seating at the back garden with the view of the cow fields and tractors. The only downside is that there were no cooked breakfast, but a good continental one was provided.

📍18:30 Rogie Falls, Strathpeffer (Google Rating 4.7, my rating 4/5): This is a waterfall with close-up views from a suspension bridge, known for leaping salmon in late summer. It is not the most impressive waterfall but nice little walk into the forest. Mr FQ really enjoyed seeing the salmon jumping up the waterfall.

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North Coast 500 Day 2: Cononbridge → Rosemarkie → Fortrose → Cromarty → Dornoch (~ 80 miles, no ferry route)

🍴08:00 Breakfast at Kinkell House (My Rating 3.5/5): Continental with croissants, fruit, yoghurt, no hot food

📍10:00 Glen Fairy Waterfall, Fortrose (Google Rating 4.7/5, My Rating 4/5): nice mossy woodland waterfall with an easy walk of ~1.5 miles through the forest.

🍴11:30 Lunch at Crofters, Rosemarkie (Google Rating 4.7/5, My Rating 4/5): Seaside café with homemade cakes.

📍12:30 Rosemarkie Beach (Google Rating 4.8, My Rating 4/5): Sandy beach with a lot of beautiful pebbles to pick for personal collection.

📍13:30 Watch dolphins at Chanonry Point (Google rating 4.6/5, My Rating 5/5): Chanonry Point is a famous dolphin-spotting point with a lighthouse built in 1846, which is one of my favourite memories of the holiday. The water and the sky were so blue and mesmerizing. We heard the sound of dolphins and managed to spot a little black head of the dolphin in the distant water.

📍15:00 Walk around Cromarty town (My Rating 3.5/5): Harbour town with pastel houses, art shops, and children’s playground – Everything seems to be really expensive here.

🏨16:00 Check-in Eagle Hotel, Dornoch IV25 3SR (Google Rating 4.3, pub hotel 3* £188/night, Booking.com 8.1/10 “Very Good”, My Rating 3.5/5): The room and the bathroom were very spacious. However, I wasn’t impressed with the shower as there wasn’t much water pressure.

🍴 17:00 Dinner at Eagle Hotel (My Rating 4/5): British bar & pub style food – I loved the nachos with cheese and pulled pork.

📍 18:00 Dornoch Beach (My Rating 4/5): Golden sandy beach with a romantic sunset – when we were there, the sea water receded significantly creating interesting patches of water on the sand. It was fascinating to step on the wavy sand on the sea floor.

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🍴 08:00 Breakfast at Eagle Hotel (My Rating 4/5): Hot and cold options, including the traditional Scottish breakfast with black pudding.

📍 10:30 Dunrobin Castle, Golspie (Google Rating 4.7/5, £15.5/adult, £9/child, My Rating 5/5): We were debating whether to stop at this castle given we have seen a plenty of castles with our membership of the National Trust. And we were so glad that we did decide to stop in the end! It is such an impressive castle, especially the back garden and the view of the castle from the back garden. We didn’t expect that Little Miss FQ would have so much fun with the croquet game.

🍴 12:00 Lunch at Morags Café, Wick (Google Rating 4.4/5, My Rating 4.5/5): I was disappointed with the town as it felt quite deserted and run down, so it was a nice pleasant surprise to find a lovely local café with nice food and a plenty of choices.

📍 14:00 John O’Groats (Google Rating , My Rating 4/5): This is an iconic landmark with a famous signpost, where everyone doing the North Coast 500 route would stop by to take a photo. Many people think this is the most northern point of the UK, but it is not! The whole area is well designed for tourists. There was a modest queue to take a photo with the John O’Groats signpost. It is definitely not a place to faff around without feeling judged by the other fellow tourists.

📍 15:00 Dunnet Head (Google Rating, My Rating 4.5/5): This is the real Northernmost point of mainland UK with the lighthouse built in 1831. I enjoyed this area more than the famous John O’Groats. It was less busy and more natural with a little walk up the hill.

📍 16:00 Castletown (My Rating 4/5): We stopped by Castletown, the little village on the way to our accommodation in Thurso. I wouldn’t say it stood out as an amazing place, but there were a variety of things to see along the coastline. It was quite different from other things we had seen during the trip with the Flagstone Herritage Trail near the Castlehill Heritage Centre.

🏨 17:00 Check in at Holborn Hotel, Thurso KW14 7BQ (£135/night, Booking.com 8.0/10, My Rating 3/5): This is quite a basic accommodation with a rather small bathroom. It is clean and convenient in terms of location, but I wouldn’t choose to go back again.

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🍴09:00 Breakfast at Haven Coffee Shop & Restaurant, Thurso (Google Rating 4.5/5, My Rating 5/5): We chose not to pay for breakfast at the hotel, but wandered into the town and visited this coffee shop. I must admit I didn’t know what to expect as Mr FQ picked this place, but what I saw completely wowed me. I loved the creative organic modern design style of this coffee shop so much that I couldn’t stop myself from taking photos. Their food was interesting and tasty too!

📍10:30 Geise Farm, Thurso (Google Rating 4.9/5, £13/adult, £5/child, My Rating 5/5): I’m not a big fan of farms, but we decided to visit this farm to entertain Little Miss FQ. It turns out to be one of the best farms I have ever visited! The animals were interesting, cute and friendly. As soon as we arrived, there was a little dog running towards Mr. FQ, lying down on his back with four legs up asking for a tickle! There are also a few little walks around.

🍴12:00 Lunch at The Store Bistro Bar, Bettyhill (Google Rating 4.8/5, My Rating 4.5/5): This is a cool cafe on the hill top. It has a lovely view, a cosy décor and lots of board games. We could spend ages there. After filling our stomach, we took a walk around the area, enjoying the rural view.

🍴14:30 Coffee at Tongue Hotel Bar: This is a historic bar with the view over Kyle of Tongue. We actually wanted to do the walk to Castle Varrich (3.1km, ~1hr, easy). However, it started to rain, so we stopped at the hotel bar instead and had some drinks.

🏨 16:00 Check in at Shepherd Moon, Talmine (£370/night, Booking.com 9.3/10 “Superb”, My Rating 4/5): This is a self-catering cottage with cosy fireplace and lovely sea view. We paid slightly more for this part of the trip as it wasn’t easy to find an accommodation around this area for a family. Generally it would average out with the youth hostel we would stay at for the next day.

📍18:00 Talmine Bay (Google Rating 4.9/5, My Rating 4.5/5): We ventured down the hill in front of the cottage at first to find a way to the beach. We were unsuccessful in reaching the destination as there was a fence at the end of the land stopping people from falling over the cliff. However, it was a fun adventure! It turns out that the way to get to the beach is only 3 minutes drive towards Talmine. There were some lovely pebbles to collect and we saw a rainbow!

🍴19:30 Self catering at the cottage: Here was the pot noodle time!

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🍴09:00 Choraidh Croft Tearoom: We didn’t bother cooking breakfast at the cottage, instead headed down to a family tearoom looking out to Loch Eriboll! Such a lovely place to have breakfast on a sunny day.

📍 11:00 Ceannabeinne Beach (Google Rating 4.8/5, My Rating 4.5/5): We stopped here as we saw people queueing for a coastal zipline at the top of the hill. It turns out to be a beautiful sandy beach too! It was amazing to see so many quiet beautiful beaches around.

📍11:30 Smoo Cave, Lairg (Google Rating 4.6/5, £15/adult, £5/child, My Rating 4.5/5): It is a huge limestone cave with underground waterfall. The area surrounding the cave is free, but if you want to go deep into the cave, then tickets are required. What we loved the most was the passion of staff there with caves. They are still working to explore more inside the cave.

📍13:15 Kylesku Bridge (Google Rating 4.5/5, My Rating 3.5/5): Scenic viewpoint for photos.

📍13:30 Ardvreck Castle (Google Rating 4.6/5, My Rating 4/5): It is a16th-century ruins of the MacLeod clan on the bank of Loch Assynt. The ruins itself wasn’t the most impressive, but the whole area is definitely worth visiting. On the opposite side of the road lies a small waterfall.

🏨16:00 Check in at Harbour House, Ullapool (£210/night, Booking.com 9.0/10 “Superb”, My Rating 4.5/5): The guesthouse was modern with a spacious living room area with harbour view. Our room was a family room with car park view. We spent our evening in the living room area playing some games and watching sunset.

📍17:00 Walk around Ullapool (My Rating 3.5/5): Ullapool is a nice town with a number of shops along the street opposite to the harbour. I only gave it 3.5/5 as it was relatively small with not many things to see or do.

🍴18:00 Dinner at Shore Inn, Lochinver (Google Rating , £180 for 3 people with 3 glasses of wine, My Rating 5/5): We booked the restaurant with the highest rating in town. It is slightly strange way in as you have to walk up the stairs of the hotel’s accommodation and the restaurant is on the 1st floor. There was some signpost, but not very obvious unless the restaurant was open (from 5.30pm). It was the best restaurant of the trip with delicious seafood. We treated ourselves with some wine and port there.

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📍09:30 Breakfast at Harhour House (My Rating 4.5/5): I have added the photo of the waffles we had for breakfast with the hotel photo above. The dining has a big window looking out to the water, so very pleasant view for breakfast. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

📍10:30 Corrieshalloch Gorge, Garve (Google Rating 4.7/5, My Rating 4.5/5): What I like the most about this walk to the gorge was actually the beautiful mushrooms we found along the way. We also saw a cute little mouse hiding behind some grass. The gorge itself was quite impressive with a Victorian suspension bridge hanging across. It may not be the best place for people who are afraid of heights, but it is doable.

📍13:00 Inverewe Garden, Achnasheen (Google Rating 4.6, My Rating 4/5): We stopped by Inverewe Garden, which is a botanical oasis founded in 1862 with over 2,500 exotic flowers and plants. Generally I’m not very interested in gardens, but I ended up taking some many photos in this garden because of the variety of flowers and plants that it has.

🍴14:00 Lunch at Inverewe Garden Café (My Rating 4/5): It was a nice surprise that it has a large café, with many choices of good food too.

📍15:00 Gairloch Beach (Google Rating 4.8/5, My Rating 4.5/5): Another beautiful beach with soft sand – the special thing about this beach is the colourful shells. I have never seen so many colours of shells like that before. Little Miss FQ collected a bag of blue, pink, yellow and orange thin shells, while I collected the yellow and grey more sturdy cone-shapped ones.

🏨16:00 Check in at Torridon Youth Hostel (Google Rating 4.7, £144/night for a room with 4 single beds, Booking.com 8.8/10 “Fabulous”, My Rating 4/5): While we wanted to keep the budget down, we weren’t sure about hostel and the idea of sharing bathrooms with others, especially with a little child. However, there weren’t many choices for family there. To our surprise, it was such a lovely and interesting experience staying in the hostel. It became Little Miss FQ’s favourite accommodation because of the bunk bed. The room and facilities were clean. The smell did remind me of my university time. I found it nice bumping into other guests in the kitchen, and as expected, most of them weren’t youths.

🍴18:00 Dinner at the hostel: Another pot noodle day!

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🍴 10:00: Breakfast/ brunch at Waterside Cafe in Strathcarron (Google rating 4.7, £12pp, my rating 4/5): I found the Old Butchers cafe with Google rating 4.9, however, we stopped at the Waterside Cafe by mistake as we didn’t realise there were 2 cafes at such a tiny little village. It was a nice little family cafe with water view. We took a little stroll along the water side after breakfast. There were steps to go down to touch the water on the stone shore.

📍12:15 Boat trip Seaprobe Atlantis from Kyle of Lochalsh (Google rating 4.4, £22/adult, £18/child, my rating 5/5): This wasn’t in our original plan when visiting the town, but it turned out to be the highlight of the day. Tickets can be bought online, at the boat, or at a cafe not to far from the harbour. The most exciting bit was the underwater view from the bottom deck of the boat. We saw seaweed growing on the sea floor, glittering water surface from underneath, little fish swimming around and lots of tiny jellyfish right outside the window. The boat also stopped at the sight of the seals.

📍13:30 Eilean Donan Castle (Google rating 4.6, £12/adult, £6.5/child over 5, free under 5, my rating 4/5): This is an old castle on an island where 3 lochs meet, dating from the 13th century. The whole area was well organised with a nice gift shop and cafe.

📍15:00 Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness (Google rating 4.5, £16/adult, £10/child, my rating 4.5): The castle is considered one of the most romantic ruins in Scotland, with its crumbling walls and towers overlooking the deep waters of Loch Ness. Many famous “Loch Ness Monster” sightings claim to have been made near the castle, making it a cultural landmark as much as a historical one. I like the big green grass ground surrounding the castle. It is a good place to view and take photos of Loch Ness. I also saw a long line of people queueing to get on a boat going out to Loch Ness.

🏨 16:30 Check-in Alban and Abbey House (Guesthouse without breakfast, 3*, £160/night, booking.com rating 8.3 from 1702 reviews, my rating 3/5): We picked up the keys at the reception in a separate building, which is about 2 minutes walk from the actual guesthouse. Our room is spacious and clean. The things that put me off were the shower with low water pressure, and the lack of sound proof between rooms. We didn’t hear people talking, but could hear the sound of noisy showers and footsteps.

📍17:00 Inverness city centre: Inverness was a much bigger city than I expected. There is a large shopping centre and there are a plenty of restaurant choices. The city is charming with the big redbrick Inverness Castle standing high up on the hill, the church across the Breig St Bridge and little pedestrian streets between the old buildings.

🍴18:00 Dinner at Thai Dining in Inverness (Google rating 4.4, £27pp, my rating 4/5): After a week of pubs and cafes along the North Coast 500 route, we were looking for some Asian food as a change. Initially we wanted to try Hou Hou Mei, a Chinese restaurant nearby with Google rating of 4.7, however, it was fully booked. So we opted for Thai Dining, which was in the city centre. We were very happy with the food as well as the friendliness of the staff. It was nice to hear the staff chatting and laughing. Little Miss FQ was busy with her new book, so we could enjoy our dinner with some proper conversation.

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I don’t call this day as a part of the 7 day road trip as we didn’t drive anywhere. We added Day 8 to the trip to allow us some time to rest and chill, especially we had a 10 year old with us.

🍴9:00 Breakfast at Ember, Inverness (Google Rating 5/5, My Rating 4/5): We came to this cafe as it received 5* rating from Google. I could see why it received such a high rating with a photo wall, board games on each table, a cosy corner with bean bags, some interesting barrista’s choices (e.g. coconut iced latte, cinnamon capuccino). I can imagine it would be very popular with young people and travellers. While the vibe was cool, I prefer the classy cafe with organic modern design like the Haven Coffee at Thurso.

📍10:00 Inverness Botanic Gardens and Cafe & Playground (Google Rating 4.6/5, My Rating 5/5): We chose to visit this area because of the playground, but I was very impressed at how big the area is and what a variety of activities there are. Other than Gardens, Cafe and Playground, there is also a leisure center. Seeing many daddies with their babies at the playground, I wondered whether all the mums were spending time at yoga/pilates classes. It was such a lovely thing to see how men were so involved with the childcare.

🚗 12:45 Return car at Arnold Clark office: it only took 10 minutes and all was done.

✈️ 15:00 Return flight to London: The trip officially came to an end. I think 7 day was a good length. We felt that we had done enough by Day 7 and were ready to go back to the normal life.

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