A week on the NC500
Seven days, five hundred miles and more sea than we bargained for. The long way round the top of Scotland, in Fenyx.
The route
Inverness
Pick up, provision, and point the campervan north.
Applecross
Over the Bealach na Bà pass, then a pint by the water.
Durness
Beaches, sea caves and the very top of the mainland.
John o’ Groats
The corner of the country, then south down the quiet east coast.
We picked Fenyx up on a grey Friday and pointed her north. By Sunday the grey had burned off, and we were eating breakfast on a beach with no name, the only footprints our own.
The road sets the pace
The NC500 is not a route you rush. The single-track roads see to that, with their passing places and their sheep, and so does the scenery, which asks you to stop every few miles, planned or not.
We learned to start late and finish later. A morning swim, a slow brew, a drive that was mostly stopping. The heater took the chill off the early mornings, and the high top meant we could stand up to cook while the rain came and went.
Woke up next to a beach on the NC500. The van gave us the freedom to do it our way.
Where it surprised us
Applecross was the one everyone warned us about, the high pass with the hairpins, and it earned every gear change for the view at the top. But it was the quiet east coast on the way home that we talked about most: the harbours, the empty miles, and a fish supper eaten on a wall.
Seven nights felt right. Long enough to slow all the way down, short enough to leave us planning the next one before we had even unpacked.
The campervan that does this trip
Enola
If this is the one you have been picturing, we will help you sort the dates and the route.