T
he North Coast 500, a loop of about 500 miles from Inverness around the northern Highlands, may only be marking its tenth anniversary this year, but it’s already become the stuff of legend. Eye-popping crowds, imposing campervans, magnificent traffic jams — those superlatives once used to describe the scenery now more commonly used with a side of weary overwhelm to tell tales of overtourism. Who would want to join such a scrum? Fortunately you don’t have to, because after more than a decade of rootling around back roads, clanging on to car ferries and nosing along promising-looking tracks and trails, I’ve found plenty of tucked-away spots across Scotland. These are some of my favourites.
1. The Ardnamurchan peninsula, Argyll and Bute
Ardnamurchan Lighthouse
Before the NC500 brought bucket-list tourism to the Highlands, the entire northwest was like this: deafening silence punctuated by seabird calls, a solitary single-track road slowly egging you on through ancient forest and across salt-sprayed moorland. Driving on to the Ardnamurchan peninsula on Scotland’s west coast, you’ll hug the coast of sinuous Loch Sunart, the Isle of Mull swinging in and out of view as you coil around chunky Ben Hiant and onwards to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse and Corrachadh Mòr, mainland Britain’s westernmost craggy reach. It’s worth pushing northwards to white-sand Sanna Bay for a bracing dip in turquoise waters, then stopping at West Ardnamurchan Community Garden’s honesty shop for salad leaves and homemade sauces. Mingarry Park has contemporary bedrooms with private hot tubs, local venison for dinner and endlessly distracting mountain views.
