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North Coast 500 - 7 Days

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Price

£1,595.00 based on 2 people sharing a Twin/Double Room

($1,993.75 USD or $2,855.05 AUD)

£300.00 deposit

£550.00 single room supplement

Dates

2nd May to 10th May 2025

Book now!
LEJOG August 2019 was excellent, it was exceptionally well organised, friendly and a great experience. The Pedal Britain crew worked very hard to ensure everything was as good as it could be with food, accommodation, information and route.Neil Ritson

Highlights

  • A truly unique Scottish cycling experience, our 7 day North Coast 500 is incredible.
  • Experience the unique scenery of the west coast from rugged coastlines, white sandy beaches to dramatic mountain peaks.  
  • Sample amazing local produce from incredible fresh seafood, organic meats and of course haggis, with the odd wee dram.
  • Our route avoids the busy A9, taking some very special remote roads through the 'flow country' 

 

Sounds like the perfect cycling tour?

Book now!

Joining the tour

Start: Inverness 

Arrival day is Friday in Inverness, where we stay overnight in a centrally located Hotel before setting off from Inverness Castle on Saturday morning.

For more detailed information please click the "Itinerary" tab

Cycling level

Cycling level is 4 out of 5

Challenging: For cyclists with stamina and a good level of fitness - requires training. Long days with some tough ascents.

Description


A Truly Unique Scottish Cycling Experience

Duration 7 days cycling
Accommodation 8 nights
Distance 513 miles | 826km
Av. Daily Distance 73 miles | 117km
Longest | Shortest 92 miles | 56 miles | 148km | 90km
Ascent 35,167ft | 10718m


A journey around the 500 mile circular route which offers cyclists a spectacular array of mountain ranges, lochs, glens, castles, ruins, beaches and wildlife - not forgetting a range of memorable locations to sample some of the best of Scotland’s food and drink.

Tour Summary

We start in 'The Capital of The Highlands' Inverness and head west to the coast. A stunning but optional ascent over the famous 'Baelach na Ba' awaits with a hair-raising descent into Applecross. Whitewashed crofting houses pepper the road to Gairloch, where we may if lucky catch a glimpse of dolphins.

Following this is the awe-inspiring scenery of Glen Torridon, which is amongst the most spectacular you'll see in the UK. Heading into Wester Ross, the road hugs the coast and there are views of Skye and the Western Isles. After stocking up on supplies in the wee fishing town of Ullapool, we cycle through Lochinver with stunning views to Stac Pollaidh and Suilven, just two of many idiosyncratic peaks in the area.

The sleepy settlement of Kylesku and its iconic bridge see us heading north on a winding single-track road towards Assynt, a region that captures the stark, elemental beauty of the Highlands like nowhere else. The north coast road continues to Durness, the UK's most NW village and worthwhile detour into Smoo Cave. 

The stunning North Atlantic coastline guides us to Melvich before we turn south towards one of the world's last wild places, the 'Flow Country'. An undulating, vast expanse of peat and pools provide our backdrop to Forsinard Station. A smooth single track road weaves alongside Loch Naver and past the famous Crask Inn to Lairg. Our route then heads towards the east coast for the first time and coastal town of Dornoch.

Riding back west to Bonnar Bridge we get spectacular views over Dornoch Firth to distract from climbing 'The Struie', whilst Cromarty Firth and The Black Isle provide a welcome sense of the end being in sight. Before long the cycle paths of Inverness draw us to our conclusion at the majestic Inverness Castle.

 Overview of our 7 Day Itinerary

   Start  End  Distance (Miles)
Arrival Day : Friday   Inverness   
Day 1 Inverness Lochcarron  64 
Day 2 Lochcarron  Gairloch  80
Day 3 Gairloch  Ullapool  56 
Day 4 Ullapool Rhiconich  75 
Day 5 Rhiconich  Melvich  67 
Day 6 Melvich  Dornoch  92 
Day 7 Dornoch  Inverness  79 
Departure Day: Saturday Inverness    513

Customer safety and enjoyment are always our priorities at Pedal Britain, and on this tour we have made a few adjustments to what would ordinarily be considered the traditional NC500 route that enhance both of these.

Firstly, we avoid large parts of the very busy A9 which runs along the east coast section of the NC500, favouring a much safer and ultimately more scenic route further inland. Interestingly this is also a detour highly recommended by Mark Beaumont, who holds the record for this route - just the 38 hours!!

Secondly, for those of you wanting to avoid some of the climbing on this route such as 'The Baelach na Ba', but without compromising the overall experience, we have also built in some alternative route options for Day 2 and Day 4 that are equally as stunning - these are outlined in detail within the 'itinerary' tab.

 Route Map


 

 

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