NC500 route map: the full loop, section by section

NC500 route map: the full loop, section by section

The NC500 (North Coast 500) is a 516-mile (830 km) signed road trip around the far north of Scotland that starts and finishes at Inverness Castle and takes in the west coast, the north coast and the east coast of the Highlands. Driven clockwise, it runs Inverness, Applecross (over Bealach na Bà), Gairloch, Ullapool, Lochinver, Durness, Tongue, Thurso, John o' Groats, Wick, Dornoch and back to Inverness. Pure driving time is about 13 to 15 hours; most people take five to ten days.

Below are the five sections in the order you drive them, a stop-to-stop table of distances and realistic drive times, a note on every road, and a free printable map. If you are still deciding how many days to book, read how long does the NC500 take and then come back here. If you want it planned day by day, go straight to the 5-day, 7-day or 10-day itinerary. The NC500 hub has everything else.

The route in numbers

• Distance: 516 miles (830 km) on the signed route. Most drivers cover closer to 600 with detours to Cape Wrath, the Assynt coast road or Dunnet Head.

• Start and finish: Inverness Castle. It is a loop, so you can join anywhere; Inverness is where the transport links and the last big supermarkets are.

• Driving time: 13 to 15 hours on clear roads without stopping. Budget 20 to 24 hours of real driving over the trip.

• Single track: roughly 30 to 40% of the route, almost all of it on the west and north coasts.

• Hardest road: Bealach na Bà, which the official NC500 says is "not suitable for large motor-homes, caravans and inexperienced drivers". The alternative is the coast road via Shieldaig.

• Road surface: tarmac throughout. No 4x4 needed.

• Fuel: up to 80 miles between petrol stations on the west and north coasts.

• Launched: March 2015 by the North Highland Initiative.

Which direction should you drive the NC500?

Clockwise is the standard direction and the one we recommend for a first loop. From Inverness you head west on the A835 to Garve, the A832 to Achnasheen, the A890 to Lochcarron and the A896 to Tornapress, then climb Bealach na Bà to Applecross. That puts the most demanding driving in the first third while you are fresh, and if the weather closes in you are still close enough to Inverness to change the plan.

Anti-clockwise is just as valid and quieter. You go north up the A9 to the east coast, run along the top through Thurso and Durness, and reach the technical west coast towards the end. Most coach tours go clockwise, so anti-clockwise in July and August means fewer buses in your mirror, and you finish on the easiest roads when you are tired.

Our rule: clockwise for first-timers and anyone unsure about single track; anti-clockwise for return visitors and for peak-season trips.

NC500 drive times between every stop

This is the table we wished existed when we first planned the loop. Distances are for the signed route, clockwise, with no detours. Drive times are for clear roads without stops. On single-track sections add 30 to 50%, and everywhere add the stops, because stopping is the point.

The small difference between the table total and the official 516 miles comes down to where in each town you measure from and whether you leave Inverness by the Kessock Bridge or through Beauly. Do not plan to the minute; plan to the half day.

Section 1: Inverness to Applecross

Distance: 81 miles direct. Drive time: 2 h 20 without stops. Add the Black Isle loop and Chanonry Point and it is nearer 110.

You leave Inverness across the Kessock Bridge onto the Black Isle (not an island, as you quickly learn), then head west on the A835 through Contin to Garve. At Garve take the A832 to Achnasheen, then the A890 down Glen Carron to Lochcarron. From Lochcarron the A896 skirts the head of Loch Kishorn to Tornapress, which is where the decision happens: left for the Bealach, straight on for the Shieldaig alternative.

Bealach na Bà is the final act. It climbs from sea level to 626 metres (2,054 feet) in about six miles, with gradients up to one in five and three tight hairpins near the top. On a clear day the summit view reaches Skye and the Outer Hebrides. Read our Bealach na Bà guide before you drive it. The official NC500 advice is blunt: if you cannot reverse your vehicle accurately for several hundred yards on a narrow single track, you cannot safely drive this road. Large motorhomes, caravans and anything towing take the coast road via Shieldaig, which has no severe gradients and adds about 15 miles.

Key stops: Chanonry Point for dolphins (time it for a rising tide), Rogie Falls for a short walk to a salmon leap, Attadale Gardens near Strathcarron, and the Applecross Inn for dinner.

Road notes: A9, A835 to Garve: fast A-road. A832 and A890 to Lochcarron: good single carriageway with occasional narrow stretches. A896 to Tornapress: narrow two-lane with passing bays. Bealach na Bà: single track, steep, exposed, can close in snow. Shieldaig alternative: single track with passing places, no steep sections.

Section 2: Applecross to Ullapool

Distance: 119 miles. Drive time: 3 h 40 without stops.

This is the section regular NC500 drivers rate highest. The Applecross coast road runs north up the peninsula with Raasay and Skye across the water, drops into Shieldaig, then turns east through Glen Torridon with Liathach and Beinn Eighe rising to your left. Past Kinlochewe the A832 turns north-west along Loch Maree, which has a strong claim to be the most beautiful freshwater loch in Scotland, to Gairloch.

From Gairloch you go north through Poolewe (Inverewe Garden, worth it from spring to early autumn), past Aultbea and Laide to Gruinard Bay, then inland by Dundonnell and over the Braes of Ullapool. Ullapool is a working fishing port and the busiest town on the west coast: stock up here.

Key stops: Applecross Walled Garden, the Torridon visitor centre, the Slattadale forest walk on Loch Maree, the beaches at Poolewe and Gruinard Bay, and Corrieshalloch Gorge just south of Ullapool, a short walk to a suspension bridge over a 45-metre waterfall.

Road notes: Applecross coast road: single track, spectacular, slow. A896 Shieldaig to Kinlochewe: narrow two-lane. A832 Kinlochewe to Braemore Junction: good two-lane with narrow stretches. A835 into Ullapool: fast two-lane.

Section 3: Ullapool to Durness

Distance: 90 miles. Drive time: 2 h 25 without stops.

North of Ullapool the road climbs into Assynt and the country turns properly wild: glacier-scoured moorland under Stac Pollaidh, Cul Mor, Suilven and Quinag. The A837 takes you to Lochinver; from there the B869 coast road (optional, single track, slow) passes Achmelvich beach, Clashnessie and the Stoer peninsula, while the A894 crosses the Kylesku Bridge, a curved concrete span that won architecture awards when it opened in 1984.

Beyond Kylesku the road passes Scourie (a good overnight, with the Handa Island ferry for seabirds) and Laxford Bridge, then heads east through empty country to Durness. You can drive ten minutes here without seeing another car.

Durness deserves a night. Smoo Cave sits on the edge of the village, and Balnakeil, Sango Sands and Ceannabeinne beaches are all within a short drive; our NC500 beaches guide covers them. With a spare morning, the Cape Wrath ferry and minibus is one of the most memorable excursions on the loop.

Road notes: A835 Ullapool to Ledmore Junction: good two-lane. A837 to Lochinver: narrow two-lane with passing stretches. B869 coast road: single track. A894 to Laxford Bridge: narrow two-lane. A838 to Durness: single track with passing places.

Section 4: Durness to John o' Groats

Distance: 93 miles. Drive time: 2 h 40 without stops.

The north coast. You drive east from Durness along beaches, low headlands and peat bog with the Atlantic on your left the whole way. After Tongue the road dips inland around the Kyle of Tongue, then runs out to Bettyhill and Strathy before crossing the north edge of Caithness to Thurso, the biggest town on the north coast and the best place for a supermarket for a hundred miles.

From Thurso the A836 continues through Castletown to John o' Groats. Stop at Dunnet Head, the true northernmost point of mainland Britain, five miles north of John o' Groats. The village itself is underwhelming; the reason to come this far east is a mile and a half beyond it at Duncansby Stacks, where the road ends at Duncansby Head and a fifteen-minute walk brings you to the finest sea cliffs on the loop.

Road notes: A838 Durness to Tongue: single track with passing places. A836 Tongue to Thurso: narrow two-lane with single-track stretches. A836 Thurso to John o' Groats: standard two-lane. Duncansby Head road: single track to a car park.

Section 5: John o' Groats to Inverness

Distance: 131 miles on the signed route. Drive time: 3 h 25 without stops.

The east coast run home, and the quickest section. South on the A99 through Wick, past Whaligoe Steps (a flagstone staircase down a cliff to a natural harbour, worth twenty minutes), then the Berriedale Braes hairpins and the small towns of Helmsdale, Brora and Golspie. Dunrobin Castle, just north of Golspie, is the most northerly of the great Scottish houses: 189 rooms, French chateau towers, falconry displays in summer.

From Golspie the A9 runs south to Dornoch (small cathedral town, long beach, Royal Dornoch golf course), crosses the Dornoch and Cromarty firths, and drops into Inverness. This is the softest landscape on the loop: farmland, estuaries, oak woods and the occasional castle.

Road notes: A99 John o' Groats to Latheron: standard two-lane. A9 Latheron to Inverness: fast two-lane with dual carriageway sections.

Downloadable NC500 route map

Two resources we use ourselves: a printable PDF map with every section, fuel stops, main towns and suggested overnight stops, and the Collins map and guidebook, which has places to stay and eat as well as the points of interest. The official NC500 also has a free app on Google Play and the App Store with an interactive map.

Practical tips for driving the NC500

• Allow double the sat-nav estimate on single-track sections. Passing places, slow vehicles and scenery stops add up faster than you expect.

• Fuel up in Inverness, Ullapool, Durness, Thurso and Wick, and do not let the tank drop below a quarter on the west coast. Applecross, Kinlochewe, Gairloch and Laide have 24-hour card pumps.

• Download offline maps. Signal disappears through Assynt and Sutherland.

• Do not follow sat nav blindly; it sometimes sends drivers onto unsuitable tracks. Cross-check with a paper map.

• If you are hesitant about Bealach na Bà, take the Shieldaig road. It adds miles and saves nerves.

• Drive in daylight on your first loop. Learning passing-place etiquette in the dark at the end of a long day is not the plan.

• Scotland's drink-drive limit is lower than England's (50 mg per 100 ml). If the distilleries are on your list, they are the end of the driving day, not the middle.

Start planning your trip

Once the shape of the route is in your head, the next step is a day-by-day plan:

• 5-day NC500 itinerary for a fast trip

• 7-day NC500 itinerary, the version we recommend

• 10-day NC500 itinerary for a slower, deeper drive

Still weighing it up? Read how long does the NC500 take and the best time of year to drive the NC500. For a curated list of stops, see 25 of the best stops on the NC500, and for beds along the way, where to stay on the NC500. And if the wildlife is half the reason you are going, our NC500 wildlife guide covers the dolphins, puffins and eagles to watch for along the way.