Scotland Scotland 500 suggestions, please

nigpd

nigpd

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Nigel
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Me and my mate will be doing the Scotland 500 for a week in September. As we are of a certain age (ie raving old!), we will want to be stopping in hotels/guesthouses/airbnb etc.

The plan is to get to each location in time for sunsets (if they happen!), stop in close-by accomodation overnight, catch the sunrise (again, if they happen!) and then drive during the day to the next location/accomodation.

Do any of you good folks have suggestions/recommendations/ideas/tidbits/thoughts/views/experience of accomodation and/or locations along the route, please?

Thanks in advance for your help
 
Accomodation is the big issue you need to solve before heading off. I was in Achmelvich just before lunchtime today, when a car club of souped up Renault Meganes appeared. 8 cars means they'll be looking for 8 rooms, unless some share twins, and everywhere that has a sign by the roadside says No Vacancies. There are loads of other cars and campervans as well, but these car clubs are probably organised months in advance.

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Pass of the cattle at Applecross, Loch Carron, Torridon, Loch Maree, Mellon Udrigle beach, Gruinard Beach (interesting history to the island, used for testing anthrax in WW2), bags of opportunities on back road to Lochinver and from there, road to Drumbeg, including beaches at Clachtoll and Achmelvich, anywhere around Inverpolly nature reserve, Loch na Thull, near Rhichonich, Sandwood beach (stunning, but a long hike in, from memory I think it’s about 6 miles each way), Cape Wrath, Balnakiel beach, there are a number of nice, small beaches along the north coast, at Duncansby Head, if you follow the coast south from the lighthouse, there are some nice sea stacks.
I don’t know how familiar you are with the single track roads in the Highlands, but please take care, they are not easy to navigate and there are plenty of idiots that drive far too fast, so you need to be alert.
Have fun!
 
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A camper is probably the easiest way but be confident/competent driving it and please don't take it on the Applecross mountain road. I know people do but you're not supposed to and it's a nightmare enough. The road is fine it's the amount of traffic and the way people drive. Seen someone forced to reverse uphill round a hairpin bend. Up there in May on the Applecross coast road (which is lovely btw) - narrow nadgery bit and there's a guy coming towards us driving one handed, right arm out the window controlling his drone....,........ Doh. And the bikers who think give way applies to other people, people who park in passing places (an accident recently when someone pulled to the side of the road to give way and rolled their car in a gulley because someone had parked in the passing place).
And... And
Rant over
Been going up there for 20 hrs and boy has it changed. Some's for the better but some.............
 
Jannyfox said:
A camper is probably the easiest way but be confident/competent driving it and please don't take it on the Applecross mountain road. I know people do but you're not supposed to and it's a nightmare enough. The road is fine it's the amount of traffic and the way people drive. Seen someone forced to reverse uphill round a hairpin bend. Up there in May on the Applecross coast road (which is lovely btw) - narrow nadgery bit and there's a guy coming towards us driving one handed, right arm out the window controlling his drone....,........ Doh. And the bikers who think give way applies to other people, people who park in passing places (an accident recently when someone pulled to the side of the road to give way and rolled their car in a gulley because someone had parked in the passing place).
And... And
Rant over
Been going up there for 20 hrs and boy has it changed. Some's for the better but some.............
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The campers those people hire out are Transit van size, so shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
 
From today's Herald newspaper https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17747468.crackdown-speeding-tourists-turn-roads-race-tracks/
There have long been concerns that the popularity of routes such as the North Coast 500 (NC500) was attracting a dangerous mix of both speeders – some behind the wheels of supercars – and slower-moving camper vans and cyclists.

Some locals have started referring to the NC500 as the Indy 500 because of the “petrol-heads” on the route, including those trying to complete the 516-mile circuit to and from Inverness via Applecross, Durness and Wick in under 24 hours.

But they are also frustrated by visitors who stop their cars to take photographs, blocking the sometimes narrow roads.
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Well, we've got ourselves organised and accomodation sorted
nights 1&2 Fort William
night 3 Loch Maree
night 4 Loch Assynt
night 5 Scourie
night 6 Poolewe
night 7 Ballachulish

its like a NC 250x2, sticking to the western, and hopefully more photogenic, side
 
The west coast tends to fare worse for midges and if (that’s a biggish if) the forecast is accurate, the midges could be bad, even in mid September. Pray for a stiffish breeze! I’ve lived up here for 16 years and tried most lotions and potions without any luck, my blood must be especially tasty. The only thing that works for me and my wife is a proper midge jacket.
 
happy haggis said:
The west coast tends to fare worse for midges and if (that’s a biggish if) the forecast is accurate, the midges could be bad, even in mid September. Pray for a stiffish breeze! I’ve lived up here for 16 years and tried most lotions and potions without any luck, my blood must be especially tasty. The only thing that works for me and my wife is a proper midge jacket.
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I've just had to Google midge jacke't, as I hadnt heard of them before. I may have to invest in one
 
Peter B said:
Accomodation is the big issue you need to solve before heading off. I was in Achmelvich just before lunchtime today, when a car club of souped up Renault Meganes appeared. 8 cars means they'll be looking for 8 rooms, unless some share twins, and everywhere that has a sign by the roadside says No Vacancies. There are loads of other cars and campervans as well, but these car clubs are probably organised months in advance.

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What a glorious set of cars though. They're amazing fun on these sorts of roads. The prospect of a Camervan on these roads doesn't appeal at all but one of these :D :D

nigpd said:
Well, we've got ourselves organised and accomodation sorted
nights 1&2 Fort William
night 3 Loch Maree
night 4 Loch Assynt
night 5 Scourie
night 6 Poolewe
night 7 Ballachulish

its like a NC 250x2, sticking to the western, and hopefully more photogenic, side
Click to expand...

Saw your post - you're doing the right thing. West is best and it's criminal to come to Scotland and not do Glencoe. Just take a fun to drive car - and hope the weathers decent and still and you will get nice scenes to shoot.

The midges - I don't like them but they're nothing to give any consideration too. No-one died or was seriously injured from a midge bite.
 
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SFTPhotography said:
What a glorious set of cars though. They're amazing fun on these sorts of roads. The prospect of a Camervan on these roads doesn't appeal at all but one of these :D :D



Saw your post - you're doing the right thing. West is best and it's criminal to come to Scotland and not do Glencoe. Just take a fun to drive car - and hope the weathers decent and still and you will get nice scenes to shoot.

The midges - I don't like them but they're nothing to give any consideration too. No-one died or was seriously injured from a midge bite.
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Steve - it has been your images of Glencoe that has made us stay in the area for a couple of days and then again on our way back down south
 
SFTPhotography said:
The midges - I don't like them but they're nothing to give any consideration too. No-one died or was seriously injured from a midge bite.
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Well the last sentence is true enough, but Steve it would be good if you could have some compassion for those amongst us who are seriously tormented by them, whether by reason of metabolism or temperament or both in concert?

More generally, the Highlands / Islands are a magical resource to visit, but my feeling is that they are suffering over-promotion lately, and that anywhere near a road is in danger of turning into a cartoon version of itself. The car club cluster illustrated shows this - yes, they move on, but they are ever more frequent. The shift, generally, seems to be a movement from being a place of wonder for the visitor to just yet another consumable. 'Have you done it?' 'Have you got the bird?' Life seen as shopping for something, rather than a process of discovery.

The saviour is that the further you are from a road, the more natural things become.
 
droj said:
More generally, the Highlands / Islands are a magical resource to visit, but my feeling is that they are suffering over-promotion lately, and that anywhere near a road is in danger of turning into a cartoon version of itself. The car club cluster illustrated shows this - yes, they move on, but they are ever more frequent. The shift, generally, seems to be a movement from being a place of wonder for the visitor to just yet another consumable. 'Have you done it?' 'Have you got the bird?' Life seen as shopping for something, rather than a process of discovery.
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So true, even on the less popular eastern side we’ve seen a huge increase in the volume of traffic. By itself, not a problem, but at the two extremes, we have those for whom the A9 is a race track and others who crawl along, presumably enjoying the scenery. These road users seem oblivious to the queues building up behind them.
Litter is another problem that has worsened over the last year or so. It’s not helped by the insufficiency of bins, but it’s heartbreaking to see folks driving along and tossing their sweet wrappers or whatever out of the window.
As for toilets, goodness only knows what will happen if the Highland Council proceed with the planned closures of rural public toilets, they’re few and far between as it is.
 
happy haggis said:
As for toilets, goodness only knows what will happen if the Highland Council proceed with the planned closures of rural public toilets, they’re few and far between as it is.
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I hope not - I have IBS and use the ones at Dornie, Broadford, Kinlochewe, Achnasheen etc on my late night runs to take pictures in the morning. They are a god send.

I appreciate they cost a bit to run but if they go you've only got the 24hr petrol stations in Ft William and Inverness.
 
droj said:
W

The saviour is that the further you are from a road, the more natural things become.
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Bar litter that's the one big plus of Glencoe and indeed quite a few spots in Skye is you DON'T have to hike miles and miles to get a picture of a natural looking landscape. Barely 200m from the car and you are shooting vistas's that look the same now as they did pre industrial revolution. Assynt and Torridon in my experience less so due to the abundance of telegraph poles and power lines. But in Skye/Glencoe you don't have to go far from the road to see the world as god made it.

Although I love the Alps and Pyrenees far far more the same cannot really be said for them. You really do have to graft and do some distance on foot to get away from "mans visual" impact on the environment.
 
The official Highland Council position is at the link, but anybody's guess how long that will remain the case. Keep a supply of 50p handy, as some now have locks that only take a 50p piece.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/ar...s_the_largest_network_of_public_toilets_in_uk

They are also trying to get businesses to participate in a Comfort scheme as set out below, but it isn't known how successful this will be yet.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/283/community_life_and_leisure/814/public_toilets_in_highland
 
Best suggestion - drive within the law. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-48989218
Seventy drivers received warnings and 39 were dealt with by way of fixed penalties or will be reported to the procurator fiscal.

The offences included dangerous driving and speeding.

Police said other motorists were also detected driving carelessly, failing to wear a seatbelt and using a mobile phone while driving.

A 67-year-old man had his driving licence temporarily revoked after he failed a roadside eyesight test.
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And just as a small reminder, https://www.northern-times.co.uk/news/driver-found-guilty-of-running-down-bikers-180632/
THE driver of a high performance Porsche has been convicted by a jury of causing serious injury to two German motorcyclists on the North Coast 500 two years ago.

Company director Craig Coote, from Liveredge in West Yorkshire, was on holiday with friends, who were travelling in separate cars, when he caused the crash on a bend between Ledmore and Lochinver on August 30, 2017.

Motor cyclists Luiz Cabrera and her partner Annabelle Zekl, both 24, had to be airlifted to hospital in Stornoway. Miss Cabrera was later transferred to hospital in Glasgow to undergo surgery for an 18cm wound on her leg and has been left with a scar.
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Did the 500 a couple of years ago. Went in May time and although no midges it rained the whole time. It is beautiful for sure but the wiggly single track roads require a cast iron stomach at times :)

We rushed it tbh. From Inverness -> John o' Groats then staying the night at the Bettyhill Hotel / B&B. It was a bit old fashioned and the rooms were tiny. There's also no ensuite bathroom which really wasn't a problem. Evening meal and Breakfast was fine (3.5/5 I'd say) and the views were stunning. Well worth a look. We then went to Skye the following day ... 4 of us in a car on those roads was just too much :)

Also try Mackay's Rooms in Durness. We went for a hot chocolate the following day and it looked excellent.
 
nigpd said:
Me and my mate will be doing the Scotland 500 for a week in September. As we are of a certain age (ie raving old!), we will want to be stopping in hotels/guesthouses/airbnb etc.

The plan is to get to each location in time for sunsets (if they happen!), stop in close-by accomodation overnight, catch the sunrise (again, if they happen!) and then drive during the day to the next location/accomodation.

Do any of you good folks have suggestions/recommendations/ideas/tidbits/thoughts/views/experience of accomodation and/or locations along the route, please?

Thanks in advance for your help
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Is it just me that has read this post and thought “why the heck am I not doing that”.

Sounds brilliant and looking forward to the pictures.
 
It seems to me, but loosely, so I'm not condemning anyone, that there's a tipping point between somewhere being a place to live and it being something to be consumed briefly by those who don't live there. Yes, visitors bring money in, so there's an economic charge, but as their numbers increase do they begin to denature the very thing that they've come to see?
 
droj said:
It seems to me, but loosely, so I'm not condemning anyone, that there's a tipping point between somewhere being a place to live and it being something to be consumed briefly by those who don't live there. Yes, visitors bring money in, so there's an economic charge, but as their numbers increase do they begin to denature the very thing that they've come to see?
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As someone who has been visiting the Highlands for maybe 40 years, exactly this. One of the last great wildernesses in Europe handed over to campervans and petrolheads.

OK, it's not as bad as that, but streams of motorbikes, powerful rented cars, camper van standoffs on the Drumbeg road, discarded rubbish, "wild" camping, and so many loads more downsides have changed this part of the world, maybe forever.

You can read of how Edinburgh centre has been changed/damaged by AirBNB, how Venice has to fight the super cruise ships. This is the modern age. You can afford to go see the stuff that in the past you viewed on telly. Go see it, even if it destroys it in the process!
 
In addition to Pound Coin's comments, there's a piece on the BBC website this morning which suggests that 1 in 10 properties on Skye is now an AirBnB, either completely or maybe just one room. The problem is that some Housing Association tenants might be involved in this, and they are being reminded of their tenancy agreements and the possibility of eviction for breaking them. I guess the attraction of a few cash deals for overnighters will appeal to both sides, but clearly there are possible longterm implications.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49346172
 
droj said:
It seems to me, but loosely, so I'm not condemning anyone, that there's a tipping point between somewhere being a place to live and it being something to be consumed briefly by those who don't live there. Yes, visitors bring money in, so there's an economic charge, but as their numbers increase do they begin to denature the very thing that they've come to see?
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Catch 22. It's a much bigger problem in places like the Alps, Dolomites etc. There is scarely a view in the Dolomites where some cable car, mountain hut or hiking path scars the landscape. At least here we don't have much of skiing industry - the mountains are too small and the winters to unpredictable to allow for it.
 
I thought this was interesting in view of comments in this thread. A snippet from today on BBC news

“The 19-year-old was reported for driving at 55mph in a 30mph zone before he was stopped by the same officers for speeding at another location.
The incidents were among 41 offences detected by police patrols on the Highlands' NC500 this week.
A further 118 drivers were given warnings about their driving.
Many of the offences detected were for speeding. Others included careless driving, using a mobile phone, failing to wear a seat belt and having no insurance.”
 
I believe the Skin so Soft formula was changed and it does not work so well.
 
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happy haggis said:
I thought this was interesting in view of comments in this thread. A snippet from today on BBC news

“The 19-year-old was reported for driving at 55mph in a 30mph zone before he was stopped by the same officers for speeding at another location.
The incidents were among 41 offences detected by police patrols on the Highlands' NC500 this week.
A further 118 drivers were given warnings about their driving.
Many of the offences detected were for speeding. Others included careless driving, using a mobile phone, failing to wear a seat belt and having no insurance.”
Click to expand...

That from a week’s patrolling. They’d probably get that every week if they had enough resources. Of course, if they had enough resources, they wouldn’t catch the same chap twice in a day, because he'd behave better.
 
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happy haggis said:
I thought this was interesting in view of comments in this thread. A snippet from today on BBC news

“The 19-year-old was reported for driving at 55mph in a 30mph zone before he was stopped by the same officers for speeding at another location.
The incidents were among 41 offences detected by police patrols on the Highlands' NC500 this week.
A further 118 drivers were given warnings about their driving.
Many of the offences detected were for speeding. Others included careless driving, using a mobile phone, failing to wear a seat belt and having no insurance.”
Click to expand...
To be fair, the 19 year old was probably a local rather than a tourist. The NC500 is very picturesque, but I'm thnking Magaluf or similar is a better bet for someone that age. :cool:
 
ST1 said:
I read your post Glenn and remembered this. I personally prefer Smidge as a repellent

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Agree about Smidge, Peter.

I think Smidge is not quite, but not far off, as good as a DEET based product but Smidge does not have the unpleasant side effects.

I have a few bottles of the old 'Skin so Soft' which might still be OK. However, I find SsS effective if I'm sitting still, or not being to active. Its smell is pleasant but if I'm moving about then Smidge is the weapon of choice.

Dave
 
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