NC500 and Isle of Skye in May?

Should be a good time, with long days and hopefully no midges yet. Avoiding the late May bank holiday weekend would be good.
 
Peter B said:
Should be a good time, with long days and hopefully no midges yet. Avoiding the late May bank holiday weekend would be good.
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Been reading horror stories about midges :) It is a bit of a last minute plan to make the trip next week(whole week)
 
I was on part on the NC500 today, quite a lot of camper vans and motorbikes! No midges noted when we got out of the car. All I would say is make sure you have plenty of fuel (petrol stations are not abundant - especially on West Coast), don't expect to make rapid progress and don't expect to get food quickly at cafes at peak times, cafes seem to get overwhelmed by a dozen bikers!
 
Lived in the Highlands my whole life and never been midgied.

The NC500 is a fantastic run but it's getting very busy and a lot of it is poorly maintained single track road so be aware. Fuel is not an issue, Ullapool on the way up if you need to or wait till Wick just before you head South again.
Take your good manners and patience with you, if there's lots of campervans you'll need them :) let folk pass if they want to and stop for on coming traffic on the single track bits.
Go see the Smoo cave when you get to Durness, long walk down and up stairs but really not to be missed.
 
Ah Durness, handy bunkhouse there for the night, was a car club overnight stop many times. The route is best done out of season.
 
It is spectacular up there. I recommend you focus on the area north of Ullapool. Skip Skye (too busy these days) and head up that whole north west coast. I wouldn’t bother with the east coast as it’s quite dull (relatively!!) by comparison. Best to spend more time in a smaller area. You could stay in Ullapool and doodle around there - loads and loads to see. And the driving is superb.

Example pics: http://tobinators.com/blog/2019/02/landscape-2/finding-photographs-in-assynt/
 
i love the place,i've done it already at the end of march and considering the time of year the weather wasnt too bad apart from the north west corner from unapool to tonge, the bike only has a small tank range so i do have to suss out were the petrol stations are and being on a bike i can normally get past the traffic without too much bother( saying that at one point this year i never saw another vehicle for 40 miles). the scenery is breathtaking in places, cant wait to do it again at the end of june when i normally go, ive not really had much bother with midges
 
Thankfully there were no midges yet, weather was sunny and dry, which wasn't that great for the Fairy Pools though :) Thanks all for the advice!
 
plamen_gb said:
Thankfully there were no midges yet, weather was sunny and dry, which wasn't that great for the Fairy Pools though :) Thanks all for the advice!
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Midges ........... T minus one week (and they are in one stinker of a mood).
Smidge for midges (also repels ticks).
 
arclight said:
Midges ........... T minus one week (and they are in one stinker of a mood).
Smidge for midges (also repels ticks).
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Smidge worked on me but Mrs Nod got bitten through it. She now uses DEET and doesn't get bitten. Please note that this isn't against midges but Cretan bity beasties! A holiday friend who works in midge central uses Skin So Soft and swears by it (he works in the water industry out in the wild (around reservoirs etc.) so gets plenty of exposure to the things - and does a lot of mountain biking up there too - more exposure!
 
Nod said:
Smidge worked on me but Mrs Nod got bitten through it. She now uses DEET and doesn't get bitten. Please note that this isn't against midges but Cretan bity beasties! A holiday friend who works in midge central uses Skin So Soft and swears by it (he works in the water industry out in the wild (around reservoirs etc.) so gets plenty of exposure to the things - and does a lot of mountain biking up there too - more exposure!
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Update ......... info from Glenbrittle, Skye. The Midges have landed.
Sat 18th the little beggars were out in force and biting.

Some repellants work for some folk and not for others. I find Smidge to be the best for me.
 
As I said, it does work for me. Prefer the smell of SSS though!
 
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