NC 500 Congestion?

[ChrisB]

Hi,
We are visiting the UK in late May/June 2019 and had planned to do the NC 500 as a part of a UK bimble. Unfortunately, I have been reading some reports about very heavy tourist traffic on the route with significant numbers of large motorhomes & caravans making the journey a glorified procession. Is there a need to book camp site stopovers in advance? I understand that this gets worse in the school holidays, so we would probably avoid the half term, but has anyone experienced these sort of problems at other times? Thanks in Advance for any advice.

 

[2into1]

The midges will probably be out in force by then. Others will help with the traffic issues.

 

[bvddobb]

We have no experience with the NC500 as such, but we have seen the effect on heavily marketed routes such as the NC500 or Wild Atlantic Way.
We have been on stretches of the Route des Grandes Alpes, the German Alpine Road, and some of the Norwegian National Tourist Routes in high season and we think that nowadyas they are all awfull and best avoided then! Indeed long processions of white whales, clumsy driving by people who don’t know how to handle such a big animal, parking lots full with rows and rows of them, rubbish everywhere...
The growth in this segment of tourism is just way too big (ever been to the Spanish coast in winter? Absolute horror!) and one sees that local inhabitants and authorities are more and more restricting the old freedom with no access, no parking, no camping measures abounding everywhere. Sad, but inevitable.

We are fortunate enough not to be bound to school holidays, so nowadays we stay home during high season, and only travel outside of it.

 

[kp64zl]

I've had long associations with this part of Scotland ever since my first climbing trip there in the summer of 1987 when me and a schoolfriend were rescued by helicopeter off Ben Mor Coigach.

It was a wonderful wild place frequented by a handful of other travellers. So I'm saddened by what I read:


https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1579376/nc500-main/

The 1 and 2 star reviews on tripadvisor make sadly consistent reading, and even the more positive reviews note congesion and irresponsible behaviour in what should be respected as a pristine environment.....

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowU...ness_Scottish_Highlands_Scotland.html#REVIEWS

 

[David Ashcroft]

We did a lap of Scotland in July 2016 and again in October 2018. Not specifically following the NC500 but there aren’t many other options in the far north. We booked sites in 2016 and glad we did as all the ones we stayed at were full.
October was less busy. Enjoy.

 

[Del Boy]

We did the nc 500 in November , one of the best times we have had in the van.We made no bookings an had no plan ,but that is normal for us wherever we go!
The weather was good to us and we did the trip anti clockwise drifting off route at various locations. Much to see and do over the week we spent .
Would recommend it to anyone, we had no midges eather

 

[Wycoller]

We stayed at inverewe campsite for 5 nights last June, not doing the NC500 but covered some of the same roads.

Campsite was full every day with people being turned away. However there were other sites that weren’t full, may not have been as good. Lots of campervans on the road, mainly going clockwise. However not enough to have put me off.

Suggest you book a few key sites and then take a chance on the rest. Probably too many vans for rough camping, unless you arrive late and leave early.

 

[bbqforce10]

This weeks episode of the Grand Tour had Clarkson and co travelling the NC500 (well some of it). They were singing its praises. I expect it to get a lot more congested very soon...

 

[Geesvw]

We did the nc 500 in November , one of the best times we have had in the van.We made no bookings an had no plan ,but that is normal for us wherever we go!
The weather was good to us and we did the trip anti clockwise drifting off route at various locations. Much to see and do over the week we spent .
Would recommend it to anyone, we had no midges eather

I agree. We went in May pre midge season. The roads were busy but not overcrowded. But get off the main route whenever you can, wild camper whenever you can, after all why go on site? - we wild camped on an average of three consecutive days, then had a night on site to “freshen up”
Have a look at Strathy Bay, wild camping overlooking a beach with a log cabin toilet and hot water built by locals, when we stayed there we were the only occupants apart from the cemetery next door!

 

[Velma's Dad]

I agree. We went in May pre midge season. The roads were busy but not overcrowded. But get off the main route whenever you can, wild camper whenever you can, after all why go on site? - we wild camped on an average of three consecutive days, then had a night on site to “freshen up”
Have a look at Strathy Bay, wild camping overlooking a beach with a log cabin toilet and hot water built by locals, when we stayed there we were the only occupants apart from the cemetery next door!

May is a fab time to go up the West coast, although starting to get busy, September also. Between those, I would avoid personally although TBH I've not actually tried it in the summer months so what do I know.

For anyone who hasn't been up that way: as covered on many previous threads, 'wild camping' in a motor vehicle isn't allowed by right (that applies only to tents), while on many Highland roads there aren't actually all that many places to pull off comfortably for an overnight, especially where the roads are single track which is most of the Highlands.

There are indeed some quite magical 'informal campsites' (like the one at Strathy Bay) but it's a good idea to start looking for one well before it gets dark as you may have to drive quite a way to find one. Don't assume you'll just be able to find a roadside spot in the next 10 or 20 miles as they can be quite rare in some areas.

That's not true however for all parts - Lewis and Harris have a lot more places to 'wild' camp and in some places there are community-provided campervan park-ups.

I guess what I'm saying is to stay flexible and expect to rack up a few glorious Cali-miles finding great overnight spots. And as Geesvw says, get well off the NC500 loop to find lovely, quieter spots. A lot of people just seem to stay on the designated NC500 route - maybe they just want to say they've 'done it' I guess.