Scotland · Highlands · Premium route guide
North Coast 500
1,000 kilometres around the top of Scotland — Bealach na Bà, Applecross, Durness, John o' Groats and every empty single-track road in between. The full loop on the map, a GPX for your GPS, and rider-vetted stays along the way.
- Distance
- 1006.6 km
- Peak elevation
- 622 m
- Elevation gain
- 7,750 m
- Best months
- May–Sep
The route
The NC500 is a full loop from Inverness — north through Dornoch and Wick to John o' Groats, west along the top coast to Durness, then south down the west coast via Ullapool, the Applecross peninsula (Bealach na Bà) and Loch Carron back to Inverness. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted.
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Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route — how to load this into your GPS
What you're downloading is a GPX track — a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It's not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zūmo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner → new trip from track) if you want turn-by-turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive — it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it doesn't re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour — Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these don't read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX-capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line — pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~0 m at the base to 622 m at the top — 7,750 m of total climbing across the route.
Plan five days minimum. It's technically doable in three but you'll see the road, not Scotland. The east coast (Inverness → Wick → John o' Groats) is the fast half — decent A-road, farmland, fishing villages. The north and west coasts are the reason you came: single track with passing places, sheep on the tarmac, and views that make you keep pulling over.
Ride the loop anti-clockwise if you can. It puts the sun on your right for most of the west coast — better light for the views, easier for photos — and it saves Bealach na Bà for later in the trip when you've settled into single-track riding.
The road, honestly
This is not the Alps. There are no long alpine sweepers, no bank of hairpins to lean into. What you get instead is 500 miles of empty road, cambered single track, blind crests, and passing-place etiquette that becomes second nature by day two. It's a road trip more than a riding trip — the point is the country, the villages, and the fact that you can stop for the night wherever the light is best.
The two big-ticket bits — Bealach na Bà onto the Applecross peninsula, and the run from Durness down to Ullapool — are as good as anything in Europe. The rest is Scotland, which is enough.
Bealach na Bà (Pass of the Cattle)
The single most-photographed piece of road in Britain. Steepest ascent of any A-road in Scotland, hairpins, gradient signs that read 20%, and a top at 626 m. In good weather it's genuinely great. In wet weather or with a heavy pillion it's a proper test. The alternative — the coast road round to Applecross village via Shieldaig — is longer and easier and worth doing in the opposite direction.
There's a small pass sign at the top and a viewpoint car park. On a clear day you can see across to Skye and the Cuillins. On a wet day you can't see the next hairpin. Both are the NC500.
Weather, midges, and fuel
The window is May to September. April and October are possible but the west coast can be closed by wind and rain for days at a time. Midges are worst July–August in still weather, near lochs, at dusk — carry a head net if you're camping, and don't stop for a photo by still water at 8pm.
Fuel gets sparse north of Ullapool. Fill up in Ullapool, Durness (or nearby Rispond), Bettyhill and Thurso — none of these are big towns. Card acceptance is universal but the pumps close at 6pm in some villages. Cell coverage is patchy on the north coast — download offline maps.
Where to base yourself
Riding it as a loop, most people do 4–6 overnight stops. Sensible bases: Dornoch or Wick (east), Durness or Tongue (north), Ullapool (west), Applecross or Lochcarron (south-west), Inverness at either end. Book at least 3 months ahead in July and August — the route's popularity has outpaced Highland bed capacity.
What to see along the way
- Bealach na Bà (626 m) — The Pass of the Cattle — steepest A-road climb in Scotland, hairpins onto the Applecross peninsula.
- Applecross village — Working fishing village at the far end of the pass. The Applecross Inn is the reward pint.
- Ullapool — Working port with the ferry to Stornoway. The natural mid-loop overnight stop.
- Kylesku Bridge — The most-photographed bridge on the loop — sweeping S-curve across Loch a' Chàirn Bhàin.
- Durness & Smoo Cave — Top-left corner of the loop. Sango Sands, the beach, and a proper sea cave you can walk into.
- John o' Groats — Top-right corner — the signpost photo. It's touristy and that's fine; you've earned it.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for North Coast 500
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Inverness — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
Rentals powered by BikesBooking. StayToRide may earn a small commission — no extra cost to you.
Rider-verified stays within 30 km
Automatically selected by proximity to the traced route — no editorial cherry-picking. Sorted by how close they are to the road.
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