Often referred to as Britain’s best road trip, the North Coast 500 (NC500) is a 516-mile route around the northernmost reaches of mainland Scotland. This may sound like a relatively short distance for a driving route, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s something that should be done in just a couple of days: these are Highland roads, and the going is often slow. This is no hardship though, not least because the views along the way are phenomenal, from the wide skies and steep, dark cliffs of Caithness to the soaring mountains of Assynt, with white-sand beaches, heather-clad moorland and old fishing villages in between.
The route starts and ends in the so-called ‘capital of the Highlands’, Inverness. The UK’s most northerly city, it’s overlooked by a 19th century…
You're reading a preview of
Britain (Digital) - 1 Issue, Mar/Apr 2025