Best Road Trips in Scotland: NC500, Skye, Cairngorms and More

Five Scottish road trips, from a weekend in the Borders to a week on the North Coast 500. Late May, June and September are the best months for most of them: long days, fewer midges than high summer, and quieter roads than July and August.

1. The North Coast 500

The NC500 is a loop from Inverness up the east coast to John o' Groats, along the north coast to Durness, then down the west coast through Ullapool, Lochinver, Torridon and Applecross. The signed route is 516 miles. Our NC500 route page measures 469 miles. The gap is down to which coastal spurs and loops each version counts, so treat 500 miles as the working figure for fuel and time.

The east coast is gentle farmland and small towns. The north coast is open and windswept, with big empty beaches around Durness. The west coast is the reason people come: mountains straight out of the sea, sea lochs and long single-track stretches through Assynt, where the Lewisian gneiss is around three billion years old.

Which direction?

Clockwise means doing the east coast first and then driving south down the west coast. That puts you in the landward lane on the west side, so you look out across the oncoming traffic to the sea. Anticlockwise takes you north up the west coast in the seaward lane, and you tackle the hardest roads while you're fresh. On single-track roads it matters less, because you're in the middle of the road anyway. Pick the direction that suits your bookings.

The Bealach na Bà

The road from Tornapress near Kishorn to Applecross climbs to 626 m with hairpins and gradients signed at up to 20%. Signs at the bottom advise against learners, caravans and large vehicles. If the weather is bad or you're in a motorhome, take the longer coast road round through Shieldaig instead.

NC500 practicalities

• Time: five days is tight and seven is comfortable.
• Fuel: stations are thin on the ground in the north-west and some close early. Fill up when you're down to half a tank.
• Bookings: accommodation sells out from May to September. Book the west coast nights first.
• Sandwood Bay: a walk of about 4 miles each way from Blairmore near Kinlochbervie, to one of the best beaches in Britain.

Driving up from England? See London to Inverness or Edinburgh to Inverness.

2. Glencoe, Glenfinnan and Skye

This is the west Highlands route most people mean when they say "a Highlands road trip". From Glasgow, the A82 runs up Loch Lomond, across Rannoch Moor and down through Glencoe to Fort William. From there you have two ways onto Skye:

• The Road to the Isles (A830): west past Glenfinnan (the viaduct, and the 1745 monument at the head of Loch Shiel) to Mallaig, then the CalMac ferry to Armadale. Book the car space in summer.
• The A87: north via Invergarry and past Eilean Donan Castle to the Skye Bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh. No ferry needed.

Doing one on the way out and the other on the way back makes a loop. See Glasgow to Fort William for the first leg.

On Skye

• Trotternish loop: the Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock and the Quiraing, in a half-day circuit north of Portree. The single-track road over the Quiraing is steep and narrow.
• Neist Point: the lighthouse on the far west tip.
• Fairy Pools and Elgol: the Cuillin from below and from across Loch Scavaig.
• Coral Beach near Dunvegan: white beach made of bleached seaweed (maerl), not coral.
• Distilleries: Talisker at Carbost (since 1830) and Torabhaig in Sleat (opened in 2017).

The big car parks (Storr, Fairy Pools, Quiraing) charge and fill early in July and August. Late September and early October are quieter.

3. Cairngorms, the Snow Roads and Speyside

The Cairngorms National Park is Britain's largest, at about 1,748 square miles, and holds four of Scotland's five highest mountains. The Snow Roads Scenic Route runs about 90 miles from Blairgowrie to Grantown-on-Spey over two of the highest public road passes in the UK: the Cairnwell on the A93 (670 m) and the Lecht on the A939 (637 m). Both have snow gates that close in winter.

From Aviemore, the road up to the Cairngorm Mountain ski centre ends at a car park at about 635 m. The funicular, which reopened in 2023, carries on to the Ptarmigan station at 1,097 m. Speyside is a short drive east, with Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Macallan, Aberlour and Glenlivet all close together.

A four-day loop

1. Day 1: Edinburgh or Perth up the A9 to Aviemore, stopping at Blair Castle. Evening walk at Loch an Eilein.
2. Day 2: Cairngorm Mountain and Rothiemurchus, then into Speyside.
3. Day 3: distilleries (book tours ahead), then Tomintoul and over the Lecht towards Braemar.
4. Day 4: Royal Deeside to Ballater and Balmoral if you have time, then south over the Cairnwell on the A93 to Blairgowrie and Perth.

Late August and early September bring the purple heather.

4. The Scottish Borders

The Borders get a fraction of the Highlands' traffic and are an easy weekend from Edinburgh. If you're driving up from England, the A68 over Carter Bar drops you straight into Jedburgh (part of the London to Edinburgh drive if you skip the A1).

• The four abbeys: Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso and Dryburgh. Look for the bagpipe-playing pig among Melrose's carvings.
• Scott's View: on the B6356 above the Tweed, looking at the Eildon Hills.
• Abbotsford: Sir Walter Scott's house on the Tweed near Melrose.
• Floors Castle: at Kelso, often called Scotland's largest inhabited castle.
• The A708: Selkirk to Moffat past St Mary's Loch and the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall. It's an A-road, but quiet and beautiful.

5. The Argyll Coastal Route

The signed route runs about 129 miles from Tarbet on Loch Lomond to Fort William, via Inveraray, Lochgilphead and Oban. It's greener and more wooded than the far north: sea lochs, forest and castles.

The first big climb is the Rest and Be Thankful on the A83 through Glen Croe, named after a stone put up by the soldiers who built the original military road in the 1750s. The hillside is prone to landslips, and when the A83 is shut traffic is sent down the Old Military Road through the glen or on a long detour. Check Traffic Scotland before you set off.

• Loch Fyne: the oyster bar at Cairndow, at the head of the loch.
• Inveraray Castle: the seat of the Dukes of Argyll.
• Kilmartin Glen: standing stones and cairns north of Lochgilphead.
• Kintyre detour: south to Campbeltown, which once had around 30 distilleries and now has three, Springbank among them.
• Islay: CalMac ferries from Kennacraig to Port Ellen or Port Askaig. The island has ten working distilleries. Book the car space well ahead in summer.

Driving in Scotland: the essentials

• Passing places: pull into one on your left, or stop opposite one on your right and let the other car use it. Let faster traffic past, and never park in one.
• Midges: worst from June to August on still, damp evenings, especially in the west. Carry repellent and a head net.
• Wild camping: the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 allows wild camping on foot, but the access rights don't cover camping in a car or motorhome. Parts of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs also need a camping permit in summer.
• Winter: the Bealach na Bà, the Cairnwell and the Lecht can close in snow. Traffic Scotland has live closures.

Frequently asked questions

How many days do you need for the NC500?

Five days at the minimum, seven to enjoy it. The west coast between Ullapool and Applecross is slow going on single-track roads, and that's where most people wish they'd allowed more time.

What's the best time of year for a Scotland road trip?

Late May and June for the longest days (around 18 hours of daylight in the north at midsummer), and September for quieter roads and autumn colour. July and August are the busiest months and the worst for midges.

Do I need a 4x4 in Scotland?

No. Every route here is on paved public roads. A smaller car is easier on single-track roads. In winter, good tyres matter more than four-wheel drive.