Scotland: the North Coast 500 and Orkney

1. Day 1: Arrive in Inverness, Culloden

   Inverness Airport to Culloden, then Inverness

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Inverness
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Inverness Airport (INV), or come up by train from Edinburgh in about three and a half hours, and meet your See Sight Tours guide in the early afternoon: plan to arrive by about 1 pm (the exact meeting time comes with your final itinerary; on a later flight, meet the group at the hotel for dinner). From the airport it is about ten minutes to Culloden, where on 16 April 1746 the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was defeated in less than an hour, in the last pitched battle fought on British soil. The visitor centre tells the story from both sides; then you walk out across the moor, where flags mark the two front lines and stones mark the clan graves. From there it is a short drive into Inverness and your hotel near the River Ness. Before dinner your guide runs a short briefing on the week ahead: the ferries, the single-track roads and what to pack for Orkney wind. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner in town.

   Included

   • Meeting at Inverness Airport (INV)
   • Culloden Battlefield and visitor centre with your guide
   • Welcome briefing
   • Welcome dinner in Inverness

   Easier option: Arriving later in the day? Take the included transfer straight to the hotel and join the group for the briefing and dinner.

   Free time: Arrive a day early to walk the River Ness and the Ness Islands

   Activity: About an hour on foot at Culloden, on level paths across open moor.

   

2. Day 2: The east coast to John o' Groats and over to Orkney

   Inverness to Helmsdale, Whaligoe and Wick, then John o' Groats, Gills Bay and the ferry to St Margaret's Hope and Kirkwall

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kirkwall
   Day 2 details

   This is one of the two longest road days, about four hours of driving in all, so we leave Inverness at about 8:30 and break it into short stretches. The A9 crosses the Cromarty and Dornoch firths and follows the coast north past Dunrobin Castle to Helmsdale, where we stop for coffee by the harbour. Beyond the Ord of Caithness the land opens into moor and sea cliffs. At Whaligoe a staircase of several hundred flagstone steps drops down the cliff to a tiny harbour where herring was once landed: walk part of the way down, or all of it. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Wick. Then on to John o' Groats and the clifftop walk at Duncansby Head to the Duncansby Stacks; the walk is timed to our booked sailing and shortens if needed. From Gills Bay the car ferry crosses the Pentland Firth in about an hour. On Orkney we drive north over the Churchill Barriers, built after HMS Royal Oak was sunk in Scapa Flow in 1939, and call at the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm if it is still open (otherwise we pass it, and you can return from Kirkwall), reaching Kirkwall in the early evening.

   Included

   • Coffee stop in Helmsdale
   • The Whaligoe Steps
   • Sit-down lunch in Wick
   • John o' Groats and the Duncansby Stacks clifftop walk
   • Car ferry across the Pentland Firth from Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope
   • The Churchill Barriers, and the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm if open when we pass

   Easier option: At Whaligoe, stay at the top for the view down to the harbour; at Duncansby Head the lighthouse viewpoint is a few minutes from the van.

   More active option: Walk every step down to Whaligoe harbour and back up, then the full cliff path to the Duncansby Stacks, about 4 km return.

   Free time: Evening free in Kirkwall

   Activity: About four hours of driving, in stretches of under about 90 minutes, plus the one-hour crossing. The day is planned around the booked Gills Bay sailing, confirmed with your final itinerary.

3. Day 3: Neolithic Orkney: Skara Brae, Brodgar and Maeshowe

   Kirkwall to Skara Brae and Yesnaby, then the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness and Maeshowe, and back to Kirkwall

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kirkwall
   Day 3 details

   Today is the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, listed by UNESCO in 1999. We are at Skara Brae when it opens, ahead of the coach traffic: a village of stone houses about 5,000 years old, uncovered by a storm in 1850, with stone beds, hearths and dressers still in place. Skaill House, the laird's house next door, is on the same ticket. A few minutes south, the Yesnaby cliffs give you sea stacks and a blast of Atlantic air before a sit-down lunch on the West Mainland. In the afternoon we walk round the Ring of Brodgar, a great circle of standing stones on a strip of land between two lochs, and then the taller Stones of Stenness close by. Maeshowe is seen on a timed guided tour: you stoop along a low passage into a chambered cairn built about 5,000 years ago, where Norse visitors carved runes in the 12th century. Back in Kirkwall by late afternoon, your guide takes you into St Magnus Cathedral, founded in 1137 and built of red and yellow sandstone. The evening is yours.

   Included

   • Skara Brae at opening, with Skaill House
   • The Yesnaby cliffs
   • Sit-down lunch on the West Mainland
   • The Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness
   • Maeshowe on a timed guided tour
   • St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall with your guide

   Easier option: Skip the Yesnaby cliffs and take a longer look round Skaill House, or rest at the hotel after Maeshowe instead of the cathedral.

   More active option: Walk the Yesnaby clifftop south to the Yesnaby Castle sea stack, about 3 km return on rough, unfenced ground.

   Free time: Evening free in Kirkwall

   Activity: Maeshowe is entered by a long, low passage, so you need to stoop for a few metres. Tours run at set times with limited places, booked for you in advance.

4. Day 4: Past the Old Man of Hoy to the north coast and Durness

   Kirkwall to Stromness, ferry to Scrabster, then west along the north coast to Smoo Cave and Durness

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Durness
   Day 4 details

   A slower morning: we drive to Stromness and walk its narrow flagstone main street, where Hudson's Bay Company ships once took on water and crews before crossing the Atlantic. Then the ferry crosses to Scrabster in about 90 minutes, passing under the red cliffs of Hoy and the Old Man of Hoy, a sea stack about 137 m tall; stand on the outside deck on the Hoy side. Lunch is a sit-down stop in Thurso. From there we drive west along the wildest stretch of the North Coast 500: the beaches at Strathy and Farr, the causeway across the Kyle of Tongue with Ben Loyal behind it, and the long loop round Loch Eriboll. Much of it is single-track road with passing places, so we travel slowly and stop often. Late in the afternoon we reach Smoo Cave, just east of Durness, a huge sea-cave mouth where a short boardwalk leads to an inner chamber and a waterfall dropping through the roof. Dinner is at our hotel in Durness, and the light lasts long enough for a walk on Balnakeil beach.

   Included

   • Stromness walk with your guide
   • Ferry from Stromness to Scrabster past the Old Man of Hoy
   • Sit-down lunch in Thurso
   • The north coast road by Strathy, Tongue and Loch Eriboll
   • Smoo Cave, with the inner-chamber tour when it runs
   • Dinner at the hotel in Durness

   Optional experiences

   • Balnakeil Craft Village on the way to the beach

   Free time: Evening light on Balnakeil beach, a few minutes from Durness

   Activity: About 3.25 hours and 145 km of driving including the Kirkwall to Stromness leg, plus the 90-minute crossing. Ferry times change by season and are confirmed with your final itinerary. If the Smoo Cave tour has finished for the day, we go first thing on day 5.

   

5. Day 5: Kylesku, Loch Assynt and into Ullapool

   Durness to Scourie and Kylesku, then Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt, Knockan Crag and Ullapool

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Ullapool
   Day 5 details

   South from Durness the road crosses the bare, lochan-studded country of the far north-west, where the grey Lewisian gneiss underfoot is about three billion years old. We stop above Scourie Bay and again at Kylesku, where a curved bridge, opened in 1984, spans the narrows of Loch a' Chàirn Bhàin. Lunch is a sit-down meal by the water here. In season a small boat runs from Kylesku up Loch Glencoul towards Eas a' Chual Aluinn, at about 200 m the highest waterfall in Britain; it is optional and priced before you travel. Then we drive below the ridges of Quinag to Ardvreck Castle, a ruined 16th-century MacLeod tower on a spit in Loch Assynt. Knockan Crag, in the North West Highlands UNESCO Global Geopark, has a short trail where you can put your hand on the line where older rock was pushed on top of younger. We reach Ullapool, a white-painted harbour town laid out by the British Fisheries Society in 1788, by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day free.

   Included

   • Scourie Bay viewpoint
   • Kylesku and the Kylesku Bridge
   • Sit-down lunch at Kylesku
   • Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt
   • Knockan Crag geology trail

   Optional experiences

   • Boat trip from Kylesku towards Eas a' Chual Aluinn, in season

   More active option: Walk the full Knockan Crag trail to the top of the crag, about 2.5 km with a steady climb.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Ullapool

6. Day 6: Coigach and Assynt: Stac Pollaidh and Achmelvich

   Ullapool to Stac Pollaidh and the coast road to Lochinver, then Achmelvich and back to Ullapool

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Ullapool
   Day 6 details

   No packing today. We head north out of Ullapool and turn off along Loch Lurgainn to Stac Pollaidh, a 612 m sandstone ridge with a skyline of pinnacles that rises straight out of the moor. You choose how to see it: the steep path round the mountain to the saddle below the summit ridge, or an easy walk along the loch shore and the viewpoints, with Cùl Mòr and the Summer Isles in sight. From there a narrow, twisting single-track road threads between lochs and knolls to Lochinver, where we stop for a sit-down lunch. Just beyond is Achmelvich, a bay of white shell sand and clear green water, best when the sun comes out; bring a towel if you fancy a very cold paddle. We return to Ullapool on the main road past Loch Assynt by about 3:30 pm. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are free, for the harbour, the small museum or fish and chips on the front.

   Included

   • Stac Pollaidh with your guide
   • The single-track coast road to Lochinver
   • Sit-down lunch in Lochinver
   • Achmelvich beach

   Optional experiences

   • Summer Isles boat trip from Ullapool harbour, on days it runs

   Easier option: Walk the Loch Lurgainn shore and the roadside viewpoints below Stac Pollaidh, about 30 minutes on the flat.

   More active option: Climb the Stac Pollaidh path round the mountain to the saddle, about 4 km with roughly 500 m of ascent on steep, stepped ground, 2 to 3 hours.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Ullapool

7. Day 7: Corrieshalloch, Inverewe and Loch Maree to Torridon

   Ullapool to Corrieshalloch Gorge, Gruinard Bay and Inverewe Garden, then Loch Maree and Glen Torridon

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Torridon
   Day 7 details

   A short drive south brings us to Corrieshalloch Gorge, a slot about 60 m deep where the Falls of Measach drop beneath a Victorian suspension bridge; it is narrow and bouncy, and the viewing platform beyond looks straight down the chasm. The road then swings out to the coast round Little Loch Broom and Gruinard Bay, with pink sand below and the mountains of An Teallach behind. At Poolewe we spend the middle of the day at Inverewe Garden, begun by Osgood Mackenzie in 1862 on a bare headland and now full of plants from far warmer places, thanks to the Gulf Stream and a shelter belt of trees; lunch is a sit-down meal there. In the afternoon we follow Loch Maree, dotted with pine-covered islands, to Beinn Eighe, Britain's first National Nature Reserve, for a short walk in the old Scots pine woods. Glen Torridon then opens out below Liathach and Beinn Eighe, mountains of sandstone around a billion years old. Dinner is at our hotel in Torridon.

   Included

   • Corrieshalloch Gorge and the Falls of Measach
   • Gruinard Bay
   • Inverewe Garden
   • Sit-down lunch at Inverewe
   • Beinn Eighe woodland walk by Loch Maree
   • Dinner at the hotel in Torridon

   Easier option: At Beinn Eighe, stay on the short, level pinewood path by the visitor area.

   More active option: Walk the Beinn Eighe woodland trail up through the pines to the viewpoint over Loch Maree, about 1.6 km with a steady climb.

   Free time: Evening in Glen Torridon

8. Day 8: The Applecross coast and the Bealach na Bà

   Torridon to Shieldaig and round the Applecross coast, over the Bealach na Bà, then Lochcarron, Rogie Falls and Inverness

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Inverness
   Day 8 details

   The longest road day, about four and a half hours of driving and the only one over our four-hour cap, because the Applecross coast road and the pass are slow single-track; we break it at viewpoints and over lunch. From Shieldaig we follow the single-track coast road round the Applecross peninsula, looking west across the sound to Raasay and the Cuillin of Skye, and reach Applecross village for a sit-down lunch by the bay. Then we climb the Bealach na Bà, the Pass of the Cattle, which rises from sea level to 626 m in a few miles of hairpins with gradients up to 20 percent; large coaches cannot take it, but our minivan can. From the top, on a clear day, you see Skye and the Outer Hebrides. If cloud or wind make the pass pointless, we take the coast road back instead. We drop to Loch Kishorn and Lochcarron, then cross the country through Achnasheen to Rogie Falls, where salmon leap in late summer, before reaching Inverness by about 5:30 pm. Tonight we sit down together for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • The Applecross coast road from Shieldaig
   • Sit-down lunch in Applecross
   • The Bealach na Bà pass, weather allowing
   • Rogie Falls
   • Farewell dinner in Inverness

   Activity: About four and a half hours of driving in stretches of under about 90 minutes, much of it slow single-track road. The pass is steep and narrow; tell your guide if you are nervous of heights and we will take the coast road both ways.

9. Day 9: Loch Ness and home

   Inverness to Dores on Loch Ness, then Inverness Airport or Inverness railway station

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   After breakfast we drive about 20 minutes south-west to Dores, a village at the northern end of Loch Ness. The loch runs about 37 km down the Great Glen and is around 230 m deep at its deepest, holding more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales together. From the shingle beach at Dores you look straight down its length, usually with far fewer people than at the viewpoints and castle on the main road. Take a slow walk along the shore, skim a stone, and say a last goodbye to the Highlands. Then we drive back past Inverness to Inverness Airport, arriving by about 11:30, or drop you at the railway station in the city centre for trains south to Edinburgh, Glasgow or London. Your guide checks your flight or train before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 1:30 pm; if yours is earlier, we take you straight to the airport after breakfast.

   Included

   • Loch Ness shore walk at Dores
   • Drop-off at Inverness Airport (INV) or Inverness railway station

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 1:30 pm to include Loch Ness.

   

Wildlife and weather: May and June are often the driest months in the north and come before the worst of the midges; July and August are mildest but bring midges on still west-coast evenings. In June there is light until about 11 pm on Orkney. Seals are common on the north coast and around Orkney, and seabirds nest on the cliffs in early summer.

• Inverness1 night
• Kirkwall2 nights
• Durness1 night
• Ullapool2 nights
• Torridon1 night
• Inverness1 night