Tag Archives: Amazing Views

NC500, UK, Wild Camping

NC500 2020 Day 6

We left Dunnet Head and headed west, we had booked a visit to the Dunnet Bay Gin Distillery, it was very interesting , you sit in a small boat shed arranged in a semi circle (4 sheds) facing the host, 3 tastings of Gin and Vodka with folklore and distillery facts, worth the £10 each, we booked on line.

We then headed slightly back on our selfs to empty at the Ferry View Nightstop, full waste empty and water top up for £5, well worth it.

Our plan was to head towards Durness and sango sands camping with some tea stops on route.

As we drove through Castletown we noticed a lovely stop on the right just past a ruined building overlooking the bay, great spot for a bit of lunch.

We finally found a spot for their night at Rispond in a set back lay-by, amazing views of the bay with a lot of people camping by the beach.

NC500, UK, Wild Camping

NC500 2020 Day 5

We left Helmsdale harbour and headed north again with a bearing of John o Groats, we stopped at another lovely little harbour called Lybster Harbour.

It’s a long winding road down with plenty of passing places and parking at the bottom even for my 7.1m Motorhome.

As with a lot of these places the cafe, information centres and toilets were all closed so after a walk around the harbour wall we carried on with our journey.

We then carried on, we arrived at a very busy John o groats, we managed to find a place to park and paid the £2 donation for parking (per day) then went for a walk around the shops and take some photos.

All the stickers have been removed from the sign post and a separate board erected just for stickers 🙂

After having some lunch we headed to Dunnet Head for our free night stop. They have stopped parking on the actual car park at Dunnet Head but we managed to get a space just before you enter on the right hand side.

NC500, UK, Wild Camping

NC500 2020 Day 4

We left Fortrose and headed north, we diverted off to the Falls of Shin.

Large car park with plenty of spaces for Motorhome’s, coffee shop and usually a visitor centre open but Covid has currently closed it.

There are a few walks around the woods and one that takes you along the falls, not a great view of the actual water as you walk through, such a shame, but pleasant enough for a wander.

There was a platform for salmon watching, large enough for 6-8 people to watch them jumping up the falls, we watched a couple of small ones but not much activity.

We then headed to Brora Harbour for some lunch, an old fishing hamlet but very pretty and worth a visit.

We then headed on to our stop for the night, Helmsdale, you can park in the harbour if space or the pub allows stopover if you eat in, we were lucky to find a lovely spot overlooking the water and watched a seal 10-15ft in front us pop up every now and again for air, we did the try the fish and chips from the village as they come very highly rated, big portions but Karen said the fish was a little over cooked, the fish cakes however were great and did i mention the portion sizes!

I only ordered singles but for some reason got double of everything.

They do ask if you stop over to put a donation in the RNLI box by the life boats, worth a fiver at the very least!
The best I could get sorry, but it was nice to watch him surface.
Campsite, NC500, UK

NC500 2020 Day 3

We left Loch Lochy heading too Loch Ness, we arrived at Fort Augustus and found a great car park with Motorhome bays that cost us £3.40 for 4 hours.

We had a lovely walk through the village and decided we would take a Loch Ness cruise with CruiseLochNess, it was absolutely brilliant at £15 per adult and dogs were welcome.

After a browse around the shops buying a few souvenirs we headed to Invermoriston Falls. Lovely free car park with a great walk through the woods to the falls themselfs.

We then headed to our overnight stop of Fortrose Bay Campsite, £22 without EHU, £25 with, All emptying facilities with amazing views on the beach over the water.