The North Coast 500 or Ring Road N1 in Iceland

[timoteigirl]

Anyone done this and has any tips? Or anything that I should consider? How much is the minimum expense?

Am trying to decide between this and Ring Road N1 in Iceland.

Dubbed Scotland’s answer to Route 66, the North Coast 500 traces the coast of the North Highlands, taking in vast lochs, enchanting castles, white sand beaches and dramatic cliffs. The 500-mile (805km) route starts and ends at Inverness, the capital of the Highlands.

What time of year? How long have you got?

The 500 is stunning. Just when you think you’ve seen the most spectacular view, up pops another.

Summer or spring is easiest to get time off but can try to negotiate. How long do I need minimum?

with how long to take, it’s how long is a piece of string really! I live on the nc500 and I’ve seen people rush and do it in a week and not really see much and some take weeks. I’d have a look and see what things along the route are a must see for you, then work from that to work out how long and accommodation stops.

We took a week to go round the NC500 in May in 2021.
The west coast was stunning, breathtaking.
A lot of the very north was also lovely. Some parts of the east were also very nice, some parts less so, such as Wick. Thurso wasn't as bad, but not great. Cromarty was really nice though.

If I were to do it again we'd stay much more to the west and do the east with fewer stops.

Thanks for all the messages. Did you book all the accommodation in advance or once you stopped? Or had a caravan / motorhome? Thinking of budgets as well.

Read that for Iceland they recommend a 4 x 4 but surely only during winter?

If you're worried about cost at all stick with the Scottish trip. Iceland is £££ but very beautiful.

If you go in summer I’d recommend booking at least some of your camping spots in advance if you take a motorhome or accommodation.

thanks - any websites you used for planning? Maybe do Scotland first and then Iceland later.....

We do this often, always have beutvwe have motorhome! We love Scotland in fact in waiting for my youngest to finish secondary school so we can move right to the top in the middle of nowhere! I would book in advance and depending if you want to rush around or not I would say 2 weeks and then you can stay over at places a couple of days rather than one night! Please please visit cocoa mountain the hot chocolate is the best you will ever get!

We drove a rental,car, having flown up to Inverness,
All of our accommodation was booked, especially as we were travelling over May half term. Most of the places we stayed were fully booked by the time we went, and already limited when we started booking a few months before.

We stayed in hotels around the NC500.
We didn't want to hire a motorhome - some of the roads aren't really designed for them and there is at least one route that cannot take a motorhome/caravan over.
And camping isn't for me.

We found that the accommodation was somewhat limited in some areas so we planned everything well in advance.

We did the ring road around Iceland over 8 days in September. Staying in a mix of self catering chalets and cheap(ish) hotels which I had booked in advance on booking.com. We hired a 4x4 but you didn't really need it... it just meant we could do a little more exploring.

It was one of our favourite holidays and I would absolutely recommend it. However, we have just bought a camper van are are planning the NC500 next so interested to read other comments.

The NC500 is a beautiful area but it’s been totally ruined IMO by droves of tourists in hire cars and camper vans. It used to feel remote and now it feels like it’s been invaded by folk ticking a box.