Amazing Road Trip
We…read morewere travelling England, Scotland and Ireland for a few weeks by car with our doggy.
Northern Scotland of course was high on our to-do list. We weren't able to do the whole way, only about 2/3 of it (Inverness - whole East Coast - John O'Groats - Thurso - and a bit further than Durness). But the part we did was amazing - beyong any words. I've done some good Road Trips before. The Route 66. The US / Mexican Border. Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway). Australia (Uluru - South Coast - East Coast) and more. And this here belongs to the very top Road Trips I know.
The landscape is simply amazing. Every few minutes you feel the urge to stop, get out of the car and take in the wonderful views. You could do that - if you have a bunch of weeks time. We took about 5-6 days for our part of the NC 500 and we still felt it flew by so fast.
After Thurso the main road becomes a one-lane. That's for both directions! There are enough spaces though to let other cars pass....about every 100-200 meters. Most drivers are very respectful too. Sometimes some Caravan Drivers acted like they own the road though.
Besides that it's a fantastic ride - almost a rollercoaster somtimes :)
So many lovely towns, views, vista points and landmarks. Some that we think you shouldn't miss:
Inverness: lovely town, good shopping
Wick: a good lunch stop
Duncansby Head: one of the most amazing landscapes we've ever seen, great walks - way better than Dunnet Head
Thurso: nice town, also a good base for exploring the area
The Road to Dunnet Head: great views, nice small lakes, Dunnet head itself is a bit disappointing
Dunnet Bay: huge (and empty) beach, pet-friendly, great views
Kyle Of Tongue: amazing views, backed by many mountains
Durness and Sango Bay: good stop for lunch, lovely Beach
The stretch between Thurso and Durness were for us the most impressive. Fantastic all the way. The landscape along Loch Eriboll is also magical.
It's a wonder this Road Trip is not more popular. There is some traffic, yes. But still not much. But that's a good thing! Better keep it secret....oh, I shouldn't have written this review then :)