Scotland 500

Lots of people have travelled in the N of Scotland, the main roads are suitable for all vehicles, smaller roads have passing places and some are less accessible due to their terrain. Presuming you are sticking to the main roads you'll be OK. If you want stress free travel you'll probably find it easier to stay put on a small selection of sites and explore each area you choose directly from the sites. So choose a few places you'd like to visit and base your plans on these. Three weeks is quite a long time and you'll cover the popular places easily. The east coast is more rugged in contrast to the more sheltered inlets on the west.

There are several threads on this in UK Sites & Touring. Have a search around.

Be aware that the world and his wife are heading for the NC500 this year so I have doubts whether it'll be a stress free experience.

There aren't a lot of CLs way up north but you'll find alternative sites listed on the Visit Scotland website and on UK Campsite.

Sites seem to be getting booked up rather fast in holiday season this year , so I wouldn't leave it too late!

It might be worth having a look at YouTube as there are usually lots of videos of such tours which could give you and impression of what the roads are like and perhaps those to avoid with a caravan.

David

I towed on this route the year before all the publicity.  I had a long wheelbase Shogun and a 7.2 m caravan.  You need to look and think ahead.  Pulling in to passing places to let faster vehicles pass means that it you have a more pleasant journey than on normal roads where someone is trying to get past and there is nowhere to pull in. 

I did not go to Applecross, even in the car.  Don't take notice of people who say there is nothing on the East side.  There are interesting places to visit in your car when your van is safely tucked up on a site. You will see that there are very few CL sites in the North of Scotland.

Have a look at the books and groups about the area and then visit the places which you find most interesting.  One of the highlights for me was the visit to the Cape Wrath lighthouse.  You have to go on a small ferry and then a mini bus the 7 miles to the lighthouse on the worst road in Britain.  You can always walk there of course.

Can you reverse?  Inevitably you will drive just past a passing place on a single track and something will suddenly appear which may be even bigger than you.

As said above please do pull in to allow overtaking - it might be a local on their way to work, or a doctor, or an ambulance etc.

Then there are those who think it's a race.

The scenery is outstanding of course.  But as Tinwheeler points out it is likely to be quite busy this year as people leave their starting blocks heading for the honeypots.

If it were me, and I live in Scotland, I would either go out of season or head for some of the quieter areas which have their own charms, such as the Borders or Dumfries & Galloway and leave the NC500 till next year.

Whatever you decide, Enjoy.

Very late in the day to join this discussion, but here goes.  I went round it on the motorbike a few weeks ago.  It was a nightmare at times as a fair few people simply don't know what rear view mirrors are for, and what passing place etiquette is (don't forget there are locals who must get even more frustrated at the delays).  We had trouble at times on two wheels, so I dread to think what a big motorhome would be like meeting another.  

I really could not recommend the Applecross road with anything bigger than a transit size campervan, simply because the passing spaces are few and far between and small, so as mentioned, backing up, a long way might be required.  We had to "off road" on the bikes a couple of times because of small passing spaces.

Great route overall - but need to find a quite period to really enjoy.  So perhaps next year now.  

We have just come back from doing the NC500 (well 3 weeks ago).

We took 3 weeks, starting at Fort William. We did not have any problems at all, we towed a caravan.

There are lots of passing places some are just 100 mtrs apart on the twisty bits of the road so we had no need to have to reverse up. If you take your time, as you should, then you have good sight and time to pull in and wait for the oncoming vehicle to come to you.

Sites are busy but we booked ahead and had no problems but as the summer moves on they will be very busy. CLs are in very short supply so I would look at other types of sites.

If you do go, remember miles mean nothing up there its time that matters. On one stretch it took up 1hour to travel 15 miles, not because the roads were busy just because the road dictated you drive slow.

Enjoy

The NC500 is very clever tourist board marketing which draws people to parts of Scotland they might not otherwise visit and indeed might even wonder why they bothered coming to when they got there. There are alternative routes that are equally scenic and have hardly any traffic.

Personally, I'd research the places you are thinking of visiting in Scotland then make a journey plan and ignore the concept of "doing the 500".

I've recently returned from a month meandering around the Cairngorms utilising an assortment of B roads and lesser A roads and even then I felt I only scratched the surface. The NC500 can be a bit like Lands End to John O'Groats - a tick box exercise. Mind you, living on the south coast means a fairly substantial tour getting that far north anyway.