🗺️ NC500 Attractions

Badachro Distillery is a small craft spirits operation in the remote Badachro community near Gairloch, producing gin using water drawn from the nearby Loch Bad an Sgalaig. The distillery uses locally foraged botanicals alongside traditional ones, giving its gin a distinctively Highland chara…

The Applecross Peninsula is one of the most celebrated detours on the NC500, and the Bealach na Bà ("Pass of the Cattle") is the reason why. This remarkable mountain road climbs to 626 metres via a series of severe hairpin bends on gradients up to 20%, making i…

The Torridon mountains are among the most ancient and dramatic peaks in Britain. The great ridges of Liathach, Beinn Eighe and Beinn Alligin are formed from Torridonian sandstone deposited 750 million …

Gairloch is a scattered community of small settlements on the western coast of Ross-shire, centred on a beautiful bay with the mountains of Torridon and Flowerdale Forest rising behind it. The village has an excellent heritage museum, a good fuel station, a Tesco Express and several excellent cafés and rest…

Inverewe Garden is one of the great horticultural surprises of Scotland — a lush exotic garden on the shores of Loch Ewe, at the same latitude as Siberia and Labrador, but warmed by the Gulf Stream to a degree that allows plants from Chile, New Zealand, the Himalayas and the Mediterranean to thrive. The garden was created from 1862 by Osgood Mackenzie, who transformed a barren promontory into 54 acres of extraordinary…

Corrieshalloch Gorge is one of the most dramatic natural features in northwest Scotland — a classic box canyon gorge, 60 metres deep and over a mile long, carved by meltwater at the end of the last ice age. The gorge is a National Nature Reserve and the walls are clothed in ancient woodland dripping with mosses and ferns in t…

Ullapool is the most lively and complete town on the western NC500, a planned village founded in 1788 by the British Fisheries Society to exploit the herring shoals of Loch Broom. The distinctive grid of whitewashed houses by the loch has a genuine charm, and the town is well-equipped with shops, re…

Strome Castle is a National Trust for Scotland property — a dramatic ruin on the shore of Loch Carron, sitting at the narrowest crossing point of the loch where a ferry once operated. The castle was a MacDonalds of Glengarry stronghold and was blown up by the MacKenzies in 1602 during one of the endless…

Eilean Donan Castle is the most photographed castle in Scotland and one of the most recognised images of the country worldwide — a medieval stronghold dramatically rebuilt in the early 20th century, sitting on a small island at the confluence of three sea lochs (Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh), connected to the mainland by a stone bridge. Though just off the main NC500 route (a 10-mile diversion south from the A890 junction near Achnasheen), it is universal…

Dunscaith Castle is a remote and atmospheric ruin on the southern tip of the Applecross Peninsula, sitting on a sea stack connected to the shore by natural rock bridges. The castle has legendary connections to Scathach (or Sgathach), the mythological Irish warrior-woman who supposedly trai…

Redpoint Beach sits at the tip of a long peninsula south of Gairloch with breathtaking views across the Inner Sound to the Isle of Skye and Raasay. The beach has a distinctive warm, pinkish-red tinge from Torridonian sandstone fragments. Access requires a drive down a…

Big Sand Beach is a magnificent 2-kilometre sweep of golden sand on the Gairloch peninsula, consistently rated among the finest beaches in Scotland. The beach faces northwest across the Minch toward the outer Hebrides, with the jagged peaks of the Torridon mountains ma…

Gairloch Beach is the main village beach between Charlestown and Achtercairn at the head of Loch Gairloch — the hub of Gairloch's coastal life. The beach is clean and sandy with safe, shallow swimming, backed directly by the village with all amenities close at han…

Firemore Beach is one of the most intriguing beaches on the NC500, known for its unusually red-hued sand — a result of local red sandstone geology that colours the beach a warm terracotta glowing magnificently in evening light. The beach sits on the eastern shore of Loch Ewe near Poolewe, looking west across the loch toward Inverewe Garden. The s…

Mellon Udrigle Beach is a hidden gem of the Wester Ross coast — a crescent of white shell sand with clear turquoise water and some of the most spectacular mountain views of any beach on the NC500. The great peaks of An Teallach, the Fisherfield Hills and the Wester Ross mountains create an extraordinary backdrop tha…

Gruinard Bay is a spectacular sweeping bay on the A832 between Gairloch and Ullapool, with multiple sandy beaches and laybys offering magnificent coastal views. The bay is backed by the great peaks of An Teallach with Gruinard Island sitting in the middle — an island with a dark…

Ardmair Beach sits in a wide bay 4 miles north of Ullapool, a pebble and coarse sand beach with spectacular views south to the Ben Mor Coigach ridge and across to the small uninhabited Isle Martin. Ardmair Point Holiday Park is immediately adjacent, making this a convenient overnight stop just a short drive from the …