NC 500 mini tour route suggestions

[George-eed]

Hi everyone

I am looking for some help in planning a mini tour of the NC 500 in a supercar. I plan to drive up from london and have have probably 5 full days to get there and back. Really want to concentrate on the best driving roads that offer great scenery and also give me the opportunity to stretch the car. Will be dong this around april/may this year.

All advice and suggestions will be welcome.

Thanks
George

[Paulm4]

As someone who lives on the route, my main advice would be to be quite careful about "stretching" a supercar. It's not a racetrack, you'll pass through lots of small villages and towns and the police are out regularly in marked and unmarked cars. There will also be a procession of camper vans and caravans.

Get something less "super" but still fun to drive, like a Boxster. Get the roof down and enjoy the scenery rather than trying to make it into a race.

Or book a trackday if you want to cane the life out of a supercar, it might seem rural compared to London but plenty people still live here.

[SkodaIan]

My suggestion would be don't drive there from London, unless you've got a lot longer for the trip. The boring 550 miles of mostly motorway from London to Inverness in a day is pushing it even in a really comfortable car, and you'd probably want a day off driving after that in anything focused on performance rather than comfort.

There are also much better "driving roads" nearer to London as well - NC500 is more about the scenery than the driving - about 200 of the 500 miles are single track and at least another 100 is on pretty busy trunk road where you'll spend most of you time stuck in a line of traffic behind a truck doing 40.

[GetCarter]

Just FYI: In April there will be lots of lambs wandering on the road. They often get killed by cars driving too fast on the NC500. Farmers get really pissed off with this. I mean REALLY pissed off.

Drive carefully.

[George-eed]

Paulm4 said:

As someone who lives on the route, my main advice would be to be quite careful about "stretching" a supercar. It's not a racetrack, you'll pass through lots of small villages and towns and the police are out regularly in marked and unmarked cars. There will also be a procession of camper vans and caravans.

Get something less "super" but still fun to drive, like a Boxster. Get the roof down and enjoy the scenery rather than trying to make it into a race.

Or book a trackday if you want to cane the life out of a supercar, it might seem rural compared to London but plenty people still live here.

My apologies if my comment of stretching the car came across wrong. By that i mean the opportunity to use the car for a nice long drive to catch in the scenery etc. which i rarely get to do here in London. As a shorter route i am hoping to by pass some of the single track roads that may not suit my car but i am certainly not looking or intending it to be a race of any sort.

[GetCarter]

George-eed said:

My apologies if my comment of stretching the car came across wrong. By that i mean the opportunity to use the car for a nice long drive to catch in the scenery etc. which i rarely get to do here in London. As a shorter route i am hoping to by pass some of the single track roads that may not suit my car but i am certainly not looking or intending it to be a race of any sort.

The road east from Lochinver, is two way traffic and good road surface. It also has no sheep! The Grand Tour did a lot of filming there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5eZ5rkj8N0

[George-eed]

Also hoping for suggestions/recommendations of nice hotels and restaurants along the route.

Thanks
George

[the-norseman]

Stick to the west coast, I did my own NC500 a few years ago, east side was boring.

[GetCarter]

George-eed said:

Also hoping for suggestions/recommendations of nice hotels and restaurants along the route.

Thanks
George

My Local is good. Hotel v.expensive, but voted 13th best in the world by The Times. It has an Inn on the same site that is much cheaper but still clean and decent. Safe and lots of car parking.

https://TheTorridon.com. (Hotel)

https://www.thetorridon.com/stay/the-stables/. (Inn)


..and yes... West is best. East is *almost* a waste of time.

Edited by GetCarter on Monday 20th January 12:46

[mjlloyd500]

As someone who was hoping to retire there but sadly wife passed away the roads are not suitable for supe cars or high performance cars of any suits and motorhomes and I have both it's a scenic route that has been spoilt by idiots. I'm coming up there again this summer in my everyday vehicle .please don't spoil it by bringing your ferrari or other silly super cars that are for posing and not suited .also that tt from Denmark and that monstrosity nr tongue he can f right off aswell

[George-eed]

mjlloyd500 said:

As someone who was hoping to retire there but sadly wife passed away the roads are not suitable for supe cars or high performance cars of any suits and motorhomes and I have both it's a scenic route that has been spoilt by idiots. I'm coming up there again this summer in my everyday vehicle .please don't spoil it by bringing your ferrari or other silly super cars that are for posing and not suited .also that tt from Denmark and that monstrosity nr tongue he can f right off aswell

So your assumption is that anyone who owns a supercar especially a Ferrari is an idiot and a poseur? Can it not be the case that some of us are genuine petrol heads, admire these cars as works of art and appreciate the joy and freedom they give us on an open road?

Thank you for making me feel so welcome!

[normalbloke]

George-eed said:

mjlloyd500 said:

As someone who was hoping to retire there but sadly wife passed away the roads are not suitable for supe cars or high performance cars of any suits and motorhomes and I have both it's a scenic route that has been spoilt by idiots. I'm coming up there again this summer in my everyday vehicle .please don't spoil it by bringing your ferrari or other silly super cars that are for posing and not suited .also that tt from Denmark and that monstrosity nr tongue he can f right off aswell

So your assumption is that anyone who owns a supercar especially a Ferrari is an idiot and a poseur? Can it not be the case that some of us are genuine petrol heads, admire these cars as works of art and appreciate the joy and freedom they give us on an open road?

Thank you for making me feel so welcome!

Go up, enjoy Scotland. I wouldn’t restrict yourself to the NC500. We did that route(ish) long before it became the PR fest that it now is. It’s become a victim of its own success.As mentioned, west coast is far more interesting generally, but I think you’ll find some of the NC route tedious in anything as full on as a ‘super car’.

[Paulm4]

George-eed said:

My apologies if my comment of stretching the car came across wrong. By that i mean the opportunity to use the car for a nice long drive to catch in the scenery etc. which i rarely get to do here in London. As a shorter route i am hoping to by pass some of the single track roads that may not suit my car but i am certainly not looking or intending it to be a race of any sort.

No need to apologise, I'm on the shores of Loch Ness pop in for a cup of tea on your way past My suggestions for travelling would be to leave late and travel in the evening, even the A82 from Glasgow to Inverness through Glencoe is a nice road if you travel in the evening and catch the road when its quieter.

[TVRBRZ]

I'd suggest that you either:

Change your dates and do the NC500 "loop" now or Feb, early March and forget about it from Easter onwards. Too busy with Vanlifers - arguably even now.

Or, use Inverness as a hub and travel out on the "spokes" to Kyle of Lochalsh, Gairloch, Lochinver etc and then return to Inverness. Stick to twin lane A roads.

Leave the nice car in Inverness and hire a super mini or similar 1.0l and then do the NC500. More fun, won't risk your licence and you are so much more agile nipping in and out of passing places dodging converted Merecedes Sprinter vans where DPD logos have been replaced by some aspirational graphics saying "freedom/adventure/one life live it/I shat by the side of the road/we don't clean up our shat"...

[POIDH]

Consider an different route?

While I love the north area, there are some equally stunning Scottish places to take a drive in. And you won't have as many van lifers to contend with...The northwest is stunning though, and so I get it.

Last supercar I saw on the NC500 route was a Ferrari California on 3 wheels - seems they tried to squeeze through a gap just after Achnasheen junction and caught an edge....

[LankyFreak]

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/57.7192286,-4.27...

This is my favourite local driving road. You'd probably struggle in a supercar.

[TVRBRZ]

Oh that is a brilliant section, and this is the kind of car you want to drive it in. Doesn't help the OP mind...

[hiccy18]

I'd be tempted to head up to Tyndrum, Glencoe, Fort William, then Kyle of Lochalsh, perhaps Applecross, the bit from Kinlochewe through Poolewe towards Ullapool is excellent, but then head down to Grantown on Spey, The Lecht, Braemar, Blairgowrie, Crieff & Callander. Overnight stops 1st and 4th night in Glasgow and Edinburgh would make that about 17 hours driving across the other 3 days, extending the route to Laxford Bridge and over Struie Hill would add a couple of hours on.

[Tye Green]

get a plane to Aberdeen or Inverness then go to Elgin and hire a caterham - much better car for the roads up there.

[mr momo]

GetCarter said:

My Local is good. Hotel v.expensive, but voted 13th best in the world by The Times. It has an Inn on the same site that is much cheaper but still clean and decent. Safe and lots of car parking.

https://TheTorridon.com. (Hotel)

https://www.thetorridon.com/stay/the-stables/. (Inn)


..and yes... West is best. East is *almost* a waste of time.

Edited by GetCarter on Monday 20th January 12:46

"almost" is a get out clause

Here's a starter for ten - 500+ miles of lovely roads, half east, half west (ahem Steve...)