NORTH COAST 500 TOUR

We will depart the hotel at around 9.30am. The drive today takes us from the East to the West Coast. On the route, you can visit Strathpeffer which is a former Victorian Spa town with unique alpine European architecture and an optional visit the Museum Café in the old Victorian Railway Station.

The drive then continues to the Corrieshalloch Gorge, the deepest and most impressive gorge in the UK before taking in Loch Ewe which is famous as the WW2 base of the Arctic Convoys. We recommend lunching at The Perfume Café with views of Loch Ewe where you can enjoy a light bite to eat and maybe even their special haggis panini! 

Leaving Loch Ewe, you can then head South to Inverewe Gardens, a 19th-century botanical garden, for a wander around the exotic plants and trees from around the world before continuing your journey to the Rogie Falls, a stunning waterfall on the Black Water River. The final leg of the journey is back to the hotel which completes The Wester Ross Circuit.

This evening, you are welcome to enjoy dinner in the Carnegie Courtyard Brasserie, a short walk from the hotel.

Today we aim to leave the hotel at 09h30 again to begin The Sutherland Circuit

There are two routes you can choose from –

• Sutherland 1 which is a big day of stunning driving of 213 miles and will take about 6 hours.
• Sutherland 2 which is an hour less at 5 hours driving and 175 miles

Circuit 1 takes you all the way up to Duress where you will find the Smoo Cave, one of the largest entrances to any sea cave in the UK. You can then continue your journey from Duress down to the award-winning Kylesku Hotel for lunch and stop for a must-have photograph of driving over the Kylesku Bridge.

After lunch, the final leg of the journey takes you to the Falls of Shin and then back to the hotel where you are free to choose where you dine this evening in the town of Dornoch.

Circuit 2 is a shorter route available if you would like to be back at the hotel slightly earlier and either relax or take part in some clay pigeon shooting at The Highland Shooting Centre. This route has a shorter morning section taking us passed a stunning set of waterways including Loch Shin, Allt Ceann Locha and Loch Stack, this road (the A838) is narrow especially along the Lochs, but it has very low traffic volumes and plenty of passing places and the scenery is nothing short of breathtaking! At the end of the A838 you rejoin the alternative route at Laxford Bridge. This means you will still be able to lunch in Kylesku and visit the Falls of Shin before returning to the hotel.

This morning, after breakfast, aim to leave the hotel again at 09h30 ready for your drive North up to John o’Groats.

The first part of the drive takes you along the West coast to the Dunbeach Castle Gardens when we can arrange a private guided tour for you (Monday to Friday only). Having visited the beautiful gardens, you then continue your journey up to John o’Groats where we recommend you lunch at the Stacks Bistro or the hotel will put a lovely picnic together for you to enjoy underneath the famous road signs at John o’Groats.

Following lunch, you could then visit the stunning Castle of Mey for a wander around the grounds and a number of photo opportunities. Your journey then continues along the North Coast before heading south where you could visit the Forsinard Flows eco-system site. Finally, you then have the option to visit the Timespan Museum (subject to availability) in the coastal town of Helmsdale on the route back to Dornoch.

Having reached the hotel, we will have together at the hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, check out by 11h00 and being our journey home, but not before stopping a the fabulous Greywalls Hotel and Chez Roux on the fairways of Muirfield, the home of golf.

Our route will take us through Braemar to the totally bonkers Fife Arms Hotel for lunch before heading straight to Greywalls for our final night together.