The route takes you along the northern coast enjoying some of the most beautiful scenery Scotland has to offer, but the Highlands are vast and there are lots of places to enjoy if
you detour from the usual route.
Here are our top ten villages worth detouring to while on the North Coast 500.
A message from the Editor:
Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.
The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.
Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.
By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.
Joy Yates
Editorial Director
9. Watten
Watten is a small village in Caithness between Wick and Thurso. Loch Watten is the largest body of water in the whole county of Caithness and is famous for its brown trout fishing. The Village is on the Far North Railway line but the train stopped calling at the station in 1960. During world war two a military camp was built here and in early 1943, it became a prisoner of war camp, in the past it has been referred to as 'Britain's most secretive prisoner of war camp." This village won't take you far off the NC500 route but will be worth it for the areas rich history. Photo: JPIMedia
10. Bonar Bridge
Just a 20 minute drive off the NC500 east coast A9 route, Bonar Bridge offers some incredible scenery. The village was just called 'Bonar' until the completion of the bridge across the Kyle of Sutherland in 1812. The original bridge was destroyed in 1892 by a flood but was quickly rebuilt in 1893. The structure you see today was only built in 1973. Photo: JPIMedia