Hi there, welcome back to the Scotland series.
I hope these have been of some help so far and thanks for returning!
The most I can hope from these blogs is to help you have the most fantastic experience in Scotland and on the NC500 route. These blogs try to give you the much needed information for your trip without too many of my feelings and thoughts on each experience. Should you be needing more of a push to try these itineraries, the links to each day’s blogs will be linked below.
Day 4 of our trip was heavily altered due to things out of our control. There was a big motorbike crash up in the town Brora, on a bridge no less, and it completely cut us off from reaching the Whaligoe Steps and Wick via the A9. I go into more detail about this detour in my ‘Highlight of the day’ blog which is linked below. As for the Whaligoe Steps, we sadly never reached them, but I’m sure with roads being clear you will find this itinerary well timed and suiting your explorer needs. Enjoy!
Start out from your accommodation in the Inverness area to Tarbat Ness Lighthouse. The drive in is lovely and open and although the car park is rather small, making this your first stop of the day means you shouldn’t have any difficulties in parking. There was a car parking fee, but the machine was broken. Before you head over to the lighthouse itself, it is worth taking the short walk to the cliffs at the end of the car park. There are beautiful views of the cliffs and even a bench from which you can admire the lighthouse. Retrace your steps back to the car park and head up the lighthouse’s drive to give you a gradual introduction to the stripey building from afar. We spent over an hour here as we had a tinker with our drone, but I recommend anywhere between 20-40 minutes should you just be here to look around and stretch your legs.
From here make your way to Dornoch, and if you’re feeling in the mood for something sweet, head to Cocoa Mountain on the high street. Don’t do what we did and sit inside, take your order to go and walk around the village. It really was beautiful and I wish we had done that instead. The shop is nice enough, the hot chocolate is okay, but the patrons had lots of dogs so it was nice to have a ‘ooo and ahhh’ over those furry friendlies. The service is rather slow which is surprising considering this is one of social media’s top highlights of the NC500. We found street parking only 3 minutes from the shops itself which is really useful. This is Scotland remember. London’s speeds are far far away.
From here, follow the ‘what 3 words’ navigation to Dornoch Beaches car park below. We followed the Sat Nav and ended up driving through a golf course. And yes there were signs saying to look out for flying balls! It is said you can see seals at this beach and although we didn’t, we spent an enjoyable hour or so walking in the shallow surf and sand. You can swim here so add time to your schedule and take a load off. You have officially started the NC500! Enjoy it all.
From here we took the journey to Big Burns Falls, which has the tiniest car park signpost you are likely to see. Again, the instructions are below for you, if you notice the Golspie Inn on the approach, turn left immediately after and you are there. Another small car park awaits you, but it is a relatively quiet place and it is not to be missed. Read my blog (linked below) on Day 4 to find out why! The walk itself is really quite humid as you find yourself between wet rocks and foliage for a majority of the time. This isn’t unpleasant and you will see for yourself why. I am so excited for you to do this walk in particular.
From here the plan, I hope for you, works out. Drive up the east coast towards the Whaligoe Steps. There are 365 steps here, so take your time especially on the way up and remember you set your pace. I have put in the nearest navigation instructions I can find. It is likely to be busy but the car park looks big enough for short term visitors. I wish I could give more advice. But life happens in mysterious ways and we could not make it on this trip.
https://frameworktravel.home.blog/2022/10/10/nc500-day-3-itinerary/
Framework Travel 