We set off at 9.30, with grey skies and the forecast for Essex was thundery showers.

With a 5 hour drive ahead of us and not planning any sightseeing on the way home it gave us time to go over the trip, so here is our summary.

From leaving Inverness to arriving in Fort William we spent 12 nights on the NC500 route (including 2 on Skye) and felt that it was a nice pace to do it in. We would have liked perhaps an extra day on West Coast, but I really struggled booking what we had. Everything was prebooked 4 months in advance and I definitely had to make compromises on the west coast and really struggled finding somewhere on Skye so would probably recommend booking at least 6 months in advance.

All the accomodation was really good, our favourites being Applecross Inn (Applecross) and The Ceilidh Place (Ullapool), the worst probably The Shandwick Inn (near Tain).

Total miles travelled – 2423

Miles travelled between Inverness and Fort William – 1160 (Only just over 2 x times the official 517 miles).

We definitely think it’s best travelling anticlockwise as the scenery just keeps getting better.

Best beaches were on the North Coast.

Isle of Skye definitely worth a visit, although their roads are in a shocking state. North of the island has the best scenery.

No problems getting fuel and surprisingly the prices weren’t too bad at all.

Midges – we must have been really lucky as we didn’t really encounter these at all. 

Alcohol definitely cheaper, food about same prices.

Generally had internet for the whole journey, just a few black spots and didn’t have to refer to the back up paper map at all.

Traffic – a lot less than we had thought except Isle of Skye and Fort William both quite busy.