Originally Posted by Pausanias

There is a lot to see on the 'top end' and down the eastern side of Scotland, the bit of the NC500 that most people rush past. We based ourselves at the NW corner in Kylesku and, at the NE corner, at the amazingly luxurious B&B owned by Prince Charles at the Castle of Mey - three nights each. And we drove up from SE England which meant we could take a fair amount of luggage and camera gear. A first night spent at Inverlochy Castle at Fort William was an easy drive with none of that tedious airport hassle.
A great trip report, shefgab, with some of the best photos I've seen here.

Originally Posted by gaobest

So ace. Stayed in Inverness 2 total nights in 1998 inbetween following Saint Etienne on tour in the uk. Loved Inverness and day trips. Alas arrived in Inverness Sunday May 10 (after 2 nights in Glasgow for the Friday May 8 concert) and had to be in Portsmouth on Thursday May 14, via rented auto, so it was a limited visit with night stays in Edinburgh and Birmingham! Sure I would love to return and venture more north like shetlands, even having read the Orkney article in National Geographic around 1996, yet I’ve been able to visit other places.

thanks for this, I’m excited for more :-)

Originally Posted by ffI

great TR!

Originally Posted by lall

One of the best trip reports I've come across. Bravo!

Originally Posted by Concerto

Wonderful trip report. This covers the part of the world where I grew up. We lived in Caithness, in Dunnet near Dunnet Head. It brings back many memories of time spent on the beaches during school and university summer holidays. Also went to a few barn dances along the north coast, some of which got quite rough. Driving those roads in the dark was really hard because there were no road markings back then, because they were mostly single track roads. In Caithness there are many places hidden in the bleak countryside that show evidence of ancient settlements, with standing stones, cairns and solitary big stones. We don't know who put them there. The most famous in Caithness is probably the site of Camster Cairns.

The roads are much improved compared to what they used to be, although long stretches of the A838 (near Durness) and the A836 (near Tongue) haven't changed. Around Melvich the road has been much improved. Of course, it always makes me feel that the more accessible you make these places, the more they get overrun and built up. That's why this North Coast 500 makes me slightly uneasy. For me, the classification from Ullapool counter clockwise is A835, A837, A894, A838 and A836, which could be why the consistent number of NC500 was dreamed up. The point is, the original road numbers were designed to serve the ports and harbours (especially the fishing industry but defense too). So A835 would serve Ullapool from points north and south, A837 for Lochinver, A838 for Kinlochbervie (big fishing centre) from north and south, and so on. Some slip roads to the harbours would actually carry separate unsigned numbers (e.g. the A893 in Ullapool along the waterfront to the pier, 500 metres in all).

Originally Posted by restlessinRNO

Lovely trip report. Great photos. I have just noticed and finished reading. Thank you for posting.

Originally Posted by allset2travel

Enjoy reading about your adventure. What a scenic region indeed, full of landscape photo-ops.
Thanks for sharing!