North Coast 500. Scotland's route 66 ! (1 Viewer)

Nov 30, 2009
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lorger

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Jul 11, 2008
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Not done it all but have done bits and bobs here and there, it will be one for us once we get the new van maybe do a PVC tour :)
 
Feb 24, 2013
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A lovely part of the world, some of our favourite roads, did Durness myself this year in January, will probably be doing again, but not for the nervous driver at that time of year :)

personally if I was going to follow that route I would do it in reverse, the west coast is by far the best bit, or I would cut the corner and not bother with JoG (y)
 
Aug 15, 2014
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Ralph-n-Bev,
Many thanks for that, I intend to be up there at the end of this month so I may check some of it out, just a damn pity that I am not toooo computa litrit to make use of the downloadable map.
I shall see if there is a paper version available, again many thanks.
Norman.
 

ambulancekidd

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Sep 23, 2014
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Its a cracking route, try before the start of june & you'd miss the little biting critters. If you crack the weather th scenery will blow your mind.

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O

Old Soldier

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We did that route many years ago in our first van, fantastic adventure. Heading back up there in September and will be doing part of it again, this time stopping for longer and enjoying the scenery. Might see some of you at some point or another...:hi:
 
Apr 9, 2014
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Hoping to do this Sept, with some diversions on the west. Assuming that as out of peak season it will be less busy and easy finding places to stopover.
 

Jaws

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Scotlands answer to route 66 ??
Anyone who believes what is left of route 66 is mainly about 5 feet wide, has deep pot holes every few yards ( except when actually IN a village ) and infested with sheep which leap out of the edge of the road in front of you will certainly not be disappointed.. I, on the other hand was !!

Have to agree with Old Soldier
driving / riding it IS definitely a bloody adventure ( in to the realms of the unknown )
The west coast is really pretty but has little in the way of roads ( that you would call roads or in some cases even recognise as road !! ) and no chance of getting fuel either for the vehicle or the body for gawd knows how many miles
The North is not too bad at all.. The east is not exactly stunning at all.. In fact you could be anywhere from the Wash up and see much the same sights and coast, vbut the roads and all facilities are very good
We found sites damned expensive though

The southern route is not dissimilar to the western one in pretty much all respects .. just minus the sea

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Gellyneck

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Jun 5, 2014
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More than toes wet now!
personally if I was going to follow that route I would do it in reverse,

IN REVERSE!
Be Jeezers! It'll take you bloody ages and the view through a reversing camera ain't as good as the one out the windscreen unless you're into historical views (after you've been past them!).:whistle::giggle:
To say nothing about the fuel consumption and wear and tear on the gearbox.
Oh, suppose if you've got a Ducato with the reversing shudder problem your cocktails will be premixed by the time you get where you're going.(y)
 

Allan & Loren

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Dec 8, 2014
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We're thinking maybe a trip to Scotland next year but only planning at this stage. The scenery will be wonderful but we'd take more time to enjoy the area. Need to look carefully for petrol stops though as our Rv prefers LPG? Definitely need to avoid as many biting beasties as possible and may or sept is usually good months for the nicer weather.

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MillieMoocher

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Jul 18, 2015
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Glad we did a bit of this route earlier this summer as no doubt the area will be heaving next year.

Quick word of warning though - the route shown in the Mail over to Applecross takes you over a road known as Belach- ne-Ba, which isn't really suitable for larger vehicles. They do take small lorries (up,to fire engine sized) over it but there are some extremely difficult hairpin sections which would not be suitable for the longer motorhome or less confident driver. The alternative route to Applecross via Kenmore is spectacular, but about 1 hour longer . It's all worth the trip though:)
 

Allan & Loren

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Dec 8, 2014
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Glad we did a bit of this route earlier this summer as no doubt the area will be heaving next year.

Quick word of warning though - the route shown in the Mail over to Applecross takes you over a road known as Belach- ne-Ba, which isn't really suitable for larger vehicles. They do take small lorries (up,to fire engine sized) over it but there are some extremely difficult hairpin sections which would not be suitable for the longer motorhome or less confident driver. The alternative route to Applecross via Kenmore is spectacular, but about 1 hour longer . It's all worth the trip though:)
Thanks for that tip. We're just about 9 metres with the bike rack so probably ok but did enough hairpin bends in France this year so would probably like to avoid them.
 

pops

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We did 10 weeks touring Scotland from mid April to July this year. Planning to go beginning of March next year. Not so brave as DavidG58 but enjoyed the 3 small snow storms we had, but the roads were clear. Lorger might be a good idle to do a PVC tour or have a couple of meeting points as we all travel round. We met Techno100 and his good lady in JoG, we had a good chat and a good breakfast in one the cafe's.

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Jaws

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Is this not what makes it so appealing.?....if the roads were dual carriageway and Macdonalds in every hamlet then it could be anywhere.

To some extent you are of course spot on.. (y)
But there are only so many deeply rutted, pot holed and in some cases little better than dirt roads ( all marked as A roads on the maps !!! ) that I can take.. If I wanted to 'off road' I would not do it in a 5 tonne rather expensive motorhome, but a vehicle more suited to the environment ;)

Put it like this, upon return from the recent bike trip, I had to rebuild the rear shock on my sons BMW Adventure bike.. A bike built to take all the rough off road conditions you can throw at it..
 

keith

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Aug 25, 2007
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Done this many times over the years, but not all at once. If you really want to see it all it could take forever.
We have done it in stages and it never fails to impress
John (Jaws), complains about the price of camp sites but this is the Mecca for free camping without anyone bothering you.
Wake up looking over to the Cullins, sit above the village and look out over Loch Sheildaig or walk the White sands of Achmelvich. These are some of the magic moments that will live in my memory for ever.
 
Aug 7, 2007
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Did this route numerous times since working in Kishorn building the Chevron oil platform, first time in a land rover, then a VW camper,car & caravan,motorhome and motorbikes too.
Used to driver soldiers to Ault Bay training camp in coaches !!
Did it last year with 28 friends in Mazda Mx5's can't believe just how much the road has changed over the years , one thing that has never changed is the sheer joy of driving in such beautiful scenery and so many cracking wild camping spots.
Just make sure that you fill up before heading north, do not let the tank go below half and top up when you can as there is not a lot of fuel stations and it was £1.47 Per litre in April this year.
Do come and enjoy, it is a great place !

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Jun 22, 2011
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We will be doing bits of it in a few weeks - end of August/beginning September. Ages since we have been up there. Looking forward to it.
 

Cobweb

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We are in two minds as to where to go this September and Scotland is on top of the list . We did a short tour last September which included the Applecross crossing . It was sunny to start with but soon we were in thick fog ! We have a 7.2 meter van and we had some hairy moments especially when another large Motorhome came past the other way . The scenery when the fog cleared was amazing ! This autumn we really hope to have some decent weather so that we can see the bits we missed last time .
 

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