Embarking on a road trip along Scotland's breathtaking North Coast 500 is a dream come true for adventure enthusiasts. The stunning landscapes, charming villages, and rugged coastline make it an unforgettable journey. To ensure you make the most of your trip, let us introduce you to wildway — the ultimate app for planning your North Coast 500 adventure. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore how wildway can help you plan and navigate this iconic route, making your journey seamless and memorable.
Understanding the North Coast 500
The NC500 is Scotland's most scenic road trip, perhaps one of the best in the world (though as locals we're a little biased). With dramatic landscapes ancient castles, pristine beaches and captivating wildlife, there is an adventure to be found for everyone. Take a look at our listing for the North Coast 500 to find awesome things to see and places to stay along the way.
Introducing wildway
- Plan road trips
- Find campsites
- Discover places of interest
- Connect with other explorers like you
- Build your reputation on wildway
Downloading and setting up wildway
wildway is available for iOS and Android.
wildway is completely free for users. We're adding new features and places all the time and we rely on explorers like you to add your favourite places for others to join in on the adventure. Download now to explore the wildway.
Download nowPlanning Your North Coast 500 Adventure
At over 500 miles from start to finish, you should expect to take around 5-7 days if you want to complete the full trip comfortably. Of course, there's absolutely nothing stopping you taking longer if you want, in which case you could spend longer in each area and see more of what the NC500 has to offer.
Preparing an itinerary:
Plan on roughly when you'll arrive in each area of the trip, from there you can look at places to camp or hotels/hostels. Knowing how much time you want to spend in each area is hard, luckily, wildway has you covered. You can take a look at the map and filter by the stuff you're interested in. From there, you can save all the places you want to see of even add them to your own custom route.
Where to stay
If you're wild camping: Check out the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. TL;DR is that you can wild camp just about anywhere in small groups as long as you leave no trace, stay away from built up areas or roads and that you're not simply parked in a vehicle in a layby. The leave no trace part is very important. Scotland's beautiful scenery and wildlife need to be protected. If you see any other careless campers litter left from when they stayed, consider being a good picking it up. It goes a long way for keeping the NC500 a great experience for all and makes sure it doesn't become an issue for the locals. Check out the wildway app for wild camping spots along the NC500 and across Scotland. Check out our wild camping tips for more info.
If you're in a campervan: Check out the wildway app for campsite listings. If you find one that's not listed, consider adding it for other wildway users to find. It'll build your rep in the app and help others on their journey. It might be best to book them in advance as they're all quite popular in the peak season.
Fuel
There are some large petrol stations along the route, however, take a quick look at wildway's map and filter by "Fuel" to get a view of all the options along the way. This way you'll know how far you need to travel and wont get caught short.
What about the roads?
There is a mixture of roads along the NC500, while all absolutely stunning, they range from spacious to very cramped. There are passing places along the tighter roads so use your common sense, don't go too fast in case you meet something coming the other way. (Why would you with views like this though?) Due to its popularity, it can get quite busy, especially in the summer months so account for that in your itinerary. If you're in a car you will definitely be stuck behind a caravan or lorry at some point but that just gives you more time to soak in some of the most epic landscapes you'll ever see.
Conclusion:
With wildway as your travel companion, planning and executing an epic North Coast 500 road trip becomes a breeze. From discovering hidden gems to finding the perfect campsite and navigating with ease, this app equips you with the tools needed for an unforgettable adventure. Download wildway today and embark on the journey of a lifetime along Scotland's mesmerising North Coast 500. Happy travels!