NC500 or Monte Carlo?

[Darren390]

It only seems like 5 minutes since I was leaving school, but somehow I hit the big 5-0 in October so have been looking at getting away for the big day. I have decided to do a road trip and I've narrowed it down to either the NC500 or down to Monaco. I've been to the Monaco Grand Prix a few times but have always fancied driving the circuit when the GP isn't in town.

Alternatively I fancy doing the NC500 but have no experience of the area at all.

I will probably be doing the trip on my own and the only thing putting me of Monaco is it's a long way from Nottingham on my own!

My mode of transport will be either my 2011 Shelby Mustang or my recently acquired 1999 MX5. I know the Shelby will be more suitable for the trip to Monaco and the MX5 for the NC500.

I just cant decide which car or trip to do!

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Edited by Darren390 on Friday 16th June 21:40

[normalbloke]

Both. Next.

[the-norseman]

NC500 but not in October.

[Voodoo Blue]

We've done both, Monaco as part of a longer road trip through Italy and the NC500 last month.

Personally I wouldn't do the NC500 in October, a lot of the roads up the west coast are single lane with passing places and a multitude of blind bends and crests which in decent weather were a pleasure to drive. In poor weather I suspect they would be a bit of a chore. And you want to drive those roads because that's where the best scenery is.

Another tip for the NC500 is drive it clockwise, apparently the vast majority 10:1 drive it anticlockwise and that include the hoards of camper vans to which I can confirm going the other way

[GetCarter]

Voodoo Blue said:

Another tip for the NC500 is drive it clockwise, apparently the vast majority 10:1 drive it anticlockwise

The reason this always recommended is that it gets better as you travel. If you do it clockwise the roads and scenery get less interesting as you progress.

Don't do the NC500... do some research and do the really good bits (many of which are not on the route and all of which are in the west and north west).

MX or Shelby will be fine, but the MX will be easier.

I live on the NC500 BTW.

HTH.

[Darren390]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

GetCarter said:

The reason this always recommended is that it gets better as you travel. If you do it clockwise the roads and scenery get less interesting as you progress.

Don't do the NC500... do some research and do the really good bits (many of which are not on the route and all of which are in the west and north west).

MX or Shelby will be fine, but the MX will be easier.

I live on the NC500 BTW.

HTH.

Thanks for the info. I've had conflicting information regarding doing it in October. Living in the area would you do it in October?

[Voodoo Blue]

GetCarter said:

Voodoo Blue said:

Another tip for the NC500 is drive it clockwise, apparently the vast majority 10:1 drive it anticlockwise

The reason this always recommended is that it gets better as you travel. If you do it clockwise the roads and scenery get less interesting as you progress.

Don't do the NC500... do some research and do the really good bits (many of which are not on the route and all of which are in the west and north west).

MX or Shelby will be fine, but the MX will be easier.

I live on the NC500 BTW.

HTH.

Yep sounds fair.

My family is from Inverness so on their recommendation we spent 3 of the 4 days on the West Coast and ignored the NC500 signs, spent as much time as possible on the single track roads doing about 30-40MPH max. It was brilliant and we got lucky with the weather. We couldn't believe the number of camper vans, sometimes in groups of 4-5 going the other way so was happy we were't part of that.

The last day was down the East Coast from Thurso via John o'Groats back to Inverness and a brilliant weekend with the family. Furthest north I'd been before this trip was family days out to Ullapool when I was a kid with a fish supper so it was great to see a lot more of it.

[GetCarter]

Darren390 said:

Thanks for the info. I've had conflicting information regarding doing it in October. Living in the area would you do it in October?

You get about 30% of the traffic in Oct, but the days are closing in, and the weather is either fab or st. The colours turn at the end of the month which can be stunning. It can easily be the best time to visit....

If you can, wait and watch the weather and book at the last moment. Most hotels/bars etc close at the end of Oct, but B&Bs and hotels will generally have vacancies until then.

Good luck.

[anonymous-user]

Don't underestimate how terrible the roads are on the Nc500, especially on Skye and the west coast mainland.

I bent a rim on Skye, off the main roads the roads are mostly just massive potholes.

It does have some impressive scenary, but it seems to be lots of tourists getting the Instagram shots before moving on to the next 'must see' place on their checklist.

Oh and the Fairy Pools on Skye are the most overhyped place ever and all of the photos you see are photo shopped.

I actually preferred the east coast places like Smoo Cave, Whaliego steps etc. As there were a lot less people there.

We went at the end of April, it must be a nightmare with traffic and parking in peak season.

[Venisonpie]

GetCarter said:

The reason this always recommended is that it gets better as you travel. If you do it clockwise the roads and scenery get less interesting as you progress.

Don't do the NC500... do some research and do the really good bits (many of which are not on the route and all of which are in the west and north west).

MX or Shelby will be fine, but the MX will be easier.

I live on the NC500 BTW.

HTH.

A good post. I did my own version of touring Northern Scotland 4 years ago in my Elise by studying various posts on this site and coming up with an alternative. It did include some parts of the NC but largely avoided them which consisted of empty roads. Great fun and surprisingly good weather for mid April.

[sparkyb999]

I did a road trip to Monaco in April, very little planning, only 5 weeks before we set off, basically met up with a mate at his house and within 2 hours booked the hotels, and a few weeks later set off, and it turned out to be an unforgettable week, was amazing, and i cant wait to do it again.

Our week was basically like this:

Day 1 (Sunday) - My house (Oxfordshire) to Reims in France via La Shuttle

Day 2 Reims to Lyon

Day 3 Lyon to Nice - Via Bedoin and went to the summit of Mount Ventoux
Stayed in Nice hotel for 3 nights

Day 4 Day Trip to Monaco

Day 5 Day trip to Saint Tropez, and stopped at Cannes & Antibes

Day 6 Nice to Dijon via Route Napoleon - (incredible mountain route)

Day 7 Dijon to Ameins

Day 8 Ameins to Oxfordshire

Cant recommend it enough, two of us went and costs us £2.5k each included all hotels/fuel/food - could do it cheaper as our hotels were quite swanky.