5 Day North Coast 500 route planner.

[AD] One of the best things my husband and I have done (minus the children and the wedding of course) is travelling the North Coast 500 up in the Scottish Highlands. The NC500 is a 500 mile round trip starting and finishing in Inverness touring the most Northern Scottish coastline. You can make the trip as long or as short as you need to. For us however we only had five days to complete the route. Because of this we had to be smart and pretty meticulous with our itinerary. Here's what we did. This is our 5 day North Coast 500 route planner.

Hiring a camper.

We decided to hire a campervan during our trip and get the full North Coast 500 experience. We used Go Boony which works in a similar way to Air B&B in the sense that you're hiring motorhomes from local owners.

It was great for us, as at the time we weren't sure whether van life was for us. Me, more so than my husband. Using Go Boony was a great way for us to dip our toes in the water and experience what it'd be like living from a van. Turns out, it's amazing!

We hired a Mazda Bongo which is in terms of vans is one of the smaller campers out there. This was mostly down to me being too nervous to drive a large vehicle. At the time I was driving a VW polo, so the size difference was huge to me.

I found the Bongo super easy to drive though and it didn't take long to get used to it at all. Our first campervan trip was such a huge success that we're planning on buying our own once the car's paid off.

If you own a campervan, consider buying some decorations yourself to dress up your vehicle as well! It will make your trip even more enjoyable and wonderful. Custom Neon Signs are a great choice because they not only make your camper more aesthetically pleasing but also serve as an illumination. And you can customize your own neon sign with your favorite design or slogan at a great price!

North Coast 500 route planner.

_{[North Coast 500 route Day 1]}

Day 1 | Inverness to Wick.

The first leg of the 5 day North Coast 500 road trip covers 100 miles travelling the East coast of Scotland from Inverness to Wick. It's a really easy drive which starts on the A9 leading onto the A99 with plenty to see and do along the way.

Our first stop off was Dunrobin Castle, a large stately home situated along the coastline. This was a quick stop off for us as we hadn't originally planned on visiting the castle. Admission is chargeable although it's been said to be well worth it.

The second stop, and our first experience cooking in the camper was Brora beach which was every bit as dreamy as it sounds. We parked up in the local golf club before heading down to the beach for a wonderfully beautiful, scenic walk. I love the beaches here in the North East of England, but there's just something about the ones in Scotland. They really are stunning!

_{[Whaligoe Steps]}

Our next visit (and one I absolutely urge you to do, whilst doing the NC500) was to Whaligoe steps. Just off the A99, Whaligoe steps lead down to the most stunning Scottish cove. It's really not one to be missed. We actually saw a mama seal and her pup whilst we were there. It was a really special moment.

From here we headed back along the A99 into the little village of Wick which was to be our home for the night.

_[Wick]

Camping in Wick.

If epic sunrises are you're thing, you're going to want to stay in Wick. We parked up on the old coastal road, just past Tinkers cave and the trinkie. As this was our first night camping in the van we were a little nervous, but the location couldn't have been more perfect. It was the best place to start our van life sleeping experience.

_{[North Coast 500 route Day 2]}

Day 2 | Wick to Skerray.

Waking up in Wick to such a beautiful sunrise was epic! It was definitely the best way to start our North Coast 500 road trip in Scotland. Whilst in Wick we headed out for a walk along the coastline to Old Wick Castle. It was only a quick trip for us but it was enjoyable and definitely worth doing while we were there.

The first port of call for us on day two was John O'Groats. This was more of a novelty for us being at the tip top of the country and starting point of the humongous cycle ride to lands end. It's definitely somewhere I'm glad I've been (to say I've been) but there wasn't a massive amount for us to do there.

From John O'Groats we drove along the A836 to Dunnet Head. We travelled here again more for the novelty, as this was the furthest North we could go. We we're quite literally at the tippety-top of the country. Although very blustery there were some fabulous views from this point. It's a great location for looking out onto the Orkney Islands. You'll be surprised how much of them you can see up there.

I mentioned before about the beaches in Scotland being absolutely incredible and our next destination was our absolute favourite. There was something magically jurassic about Farr beach. It's a wonderful little cove which oozes relaxation. Something you most definitely need doing the North Coast 500.

After the beach we headed over to Skerry to settle down for night two on our North Coast 500 route planner.

_{[Farr beach]}

Camping in Skerray.

We picked Skerray Bay for night two and boy it didn't disappoint. We parked the van up on the side of the pebbled beach a mere ten meters or so away from the sea. It was perfect! The are was super secluded here too, it struck me as one of those places not many people knew about. Which for us, is ideal!

_{[Skerray Bay]}

We met a couple here who were also doing the NC500 in a camper, but they were doing it over the space of three weeks. It really goes to show you can make as much out of the trip as you'd like. If we'd had more time we'd 100% have spent longer on our road trip.

_{[North Coast 500 route Day 3]}

Day 3 | Skerray to Knockan Crag.

Waking up a stones throw away from the beach was incredible! We had a lovely morning that day exploring the cove, walking around the harbour into the highlands.

Our first stop that day was a really exciting one for me. We were visiting Smoo Cave, which if you've ever even just remotely looked at a North Coast 500 route planner you'll have no doubt seen this natural beauty pop up. The cave itself is stunning and a must if you're doing the NC500. It's a tough walk up and down the steps, but if you're able to, I'd really recommend visiting. You can also walk along the top into the headlands which give the most stunning (and slightly scary) views.

_{[Smoo Cave]}

From Smoo Cave we drove along the A838 towards Kylesku bride stopping off at a number of different locations along the way. We didn't have that much planned for day three as we were advised from the get go that the left hand side of the country would be the most beautifully scenic and that we'd want to be able to stop off wherever and whenever we wanted to.

Our advisers weren't wrong. The left hand side of the Scottish highlands is like nothing we've seen before. We had a couple of different tea breaks which turned into full on expeditions of the Highlands.

_{[Kylesku Bridge]}

We followed the road down until we saw signs for Unapool and Knockan Crag national nature reserve. At the nature reserve walks were easily signposted and we took the most beautiful walk up through the mountain side.

_{[Knockan Crag]}

Camping in Knockan Crag.

We actually camped in Knockan Crag that night and after two nights of being totally remote, the nature reserve felt like somewhat of a luxury!... There were toilets! And sinks! I felt like a new woman being able to brush my teeth in front of a mirror.

_{[North Coast 500 route Day 4]}

Day 4 | Knockan Crag to Balgy.

The views from the nature reserve the next morning were second to none and although camping here felt a little less rural, I'd 100% recommend for the breakfast views.

_{[Corrieshalloch Gorge]}

Next on our North Coast 500 in 5 days route planner was Corrieshalloch Gorge... And although amazing, it's not for the faint hearted! The gorge sits in the Corrieshalloch nature reserve and sits at 150 feet high. A crashing waterfall runs through the gorge and you can walk around the nature reserve via a hanging suspension bridge. I hadn't considered myself scared of heights before, but because the bridge was moving, there were parts which were really quite scary. Amazingly breathtaking, but scary!

If one waterfall isn't quite enough for you, do what we did and head to Victoria Falls. These waterfalls are much smaller in comparison, but still really beautiful.

From here we drove through the Torridon Hills and were really luck to catch a deer with her babies roaming free. This took us to Balgy which was to be our final nights camp on our NC500 journey.

_[Balgy]

Camping in Balgy.

We went a little rogue on our final night. We had no plan and just parked up at the side of the A896. In hindsight this wasn't our best idea as it was really windy and high up in the mountains. It was a really rough nights sleep that night which fortunately had the edge taken off the next morning by waking up to the most breathtaking hazy views.

_{[North Coast 500 route Day 5]}

Day 5 | Balgy to Inverness.

Day five was the final day for us on our North Coast 500 route. It was a day of heading back to real life and heading back to a little bit of luxury in the form of a nice hotel room at the end of it.

We headed along the A832 making a couple of stops, one of which left us settled under the mountain peak Fionn Bheinn. It was a really lovely, really easy drive to finish off our NC500 in 5 days route.

Our stay that night in a Hotel Du Vin was well deserved!

Have you done the North Coast 500 before? Would you ever fancy something like this? I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would.