We started in Peebles and ended in Peebles. This makes the total drive longer than the prescribed 500 miles. Our total distance was just shy of 1000 miles making us almost perfectly aligned with the Proclaimers song (500 + 500 more).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We spent 7 nights on our tour. Spending 3 of those nights in formal (paid) campgrounds and the other 4 wild camping. We prefer the wild camping but campgrounds offer convenience and certainty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We rarely could drive the actual speed limit. Consider actually speeds when mapping out your daily route. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speed Limit (mph) vs actual average speeds (mph)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limit: 20, Actual: 20<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limit: 30, Actual: 26<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limit: 40, Actual: 33<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limit: 50, Actual: 38<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limit: 60, Actual: 42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We used a fair amount of fuel. Average price was \u00a31.92 per litre. We averaged about 32 mpg. This results in approximately \u00a3272 ($500 CAD) for total fuel cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But let\u2019s face it, if you have paid for flights, vehicle rental and more, there is no reason to then limit distance or camping based on cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We got most of our food at the Tesco and cooked. That\u2019s just more convenient usually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NC500<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many ways to do this adventure. The route is a suggestion, not a prescription. In hindsight, we would not do it the way we did it. Make sure you know your own goals. Ours were history (castles) and nature. Cities, other than hosting resources and history were not really part of our goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with a week to do the route, we probably would focus solely on the west coast. It\u2019s more crowded, but contains much of the beauty and a bunch of castles. The north coast was mostly single lane roads which did not pose a significant problem as it is less crowded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The downside of doing the west coast first is that you will travel through the Glencoe region fairly early in the trip. It\u2019s amazingly beautiful. If you can find accommodation and like hiking or biking, you could just stay in this area. Note that wild camping is not permitted during the peak season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The NC500 is well worth doing. It\u2019s just beautiful. But when do you go? We chose shoulder season as we prefer to not have to fight for resources with other visitors. We also considered midge season. By going in shoulder season we gave up some green as not all ground cover had awoken yet. We also potentially gave up access to some seasonal businesses and maybe some warmth (average temperature).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We did not visit Applecross nor take the Applecross pass. See below for camper vs car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do feel free to make it your own adventure. Perhaps you want to spend time on the Isle of Skye or in Glencoe or Edinburgh or Glasgow. None of those are on the NC500 but they are very nice. There are plenty of websites, books, YouTube videos with suggested routes. Repeating here, make it your own!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Camper vs Car<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Note you can hike, bike, take a tour bus and or any combination of any of the options. We like the camper option as can travel with our (rented in this case) \u201chouse\u201d and you are never far from a snack nor a washroom. However, the camper can limit your mobility a bit. Parking is harder proportionately with the size of the camper and in some cases may not be possible. I\u2019m unaware of the costs of car travel. There are many lodging places along the route. Mostly concentrated around towns and \/ or attractions. If you book ahead, you lock in your route but guarantee you will have a place to stay. There are a number of public washrooms along the route but we found many of the them closed, usually for maintenance. you may find yourself doing some \u201cextra shopping\u201d or some short hikes to take care of your business. Either way, don\u2019t leave a mess and if using the resources of a business, make a purchase (and also don\u2019t make a mess – I\u2019m looking at you, Gerry!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The camper is bigger and may make some roads a little intimidating. This was one of the reasons we skipped Applecross. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, we vote camper as we do at home, but that\u2019s not necessarily the best answer for you. You should do your math if budget is a factor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are renting, you should consider getting \u201cexcess\u201d coverage from a third party. Our credit cards do not cover deductibles on campers, only cars. You can Google for providers. Oddly, we actually needed said coverage as I backed into a short post and damaged the bumper. We used a company called rentalcover.com. The combination of their fairly easy claim portal and the complete paperwork we got from Zoom Motorhomes meant that our claim was approved and paid within 36 hours. I think the key is getting everything correct and complete on your claim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Where to rent a camper<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many places that offer campers for rent. Where you pick up your camper will dictate parts of your trip. For example, our camper came from Peebles which is about 45 minutes south of Edinburgh. To get to the route \u201cstart\u201d north of Inverness it was about a 2 hour drive. We are very happy with our choice, Zoom Motorhomes. Everything was easy, friendly and efficient. Bonus, they are right around the corner from Tesco and can hook you up with a friendly ride to \/ from Waverley station in Edinburgh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On your last night you will probably have to camp fairly close to your drop off point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Things to bring<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Assume you will get rain at some point. Assume you will get some colder weather. We relied on merino wool base layers and the \u201cit doesn\u2019t smell\u201d feature. I\u2019m going to assume that is true. I overpacked with a puffer jacket, rain coat, rain pants, fleece and windbreaker for outer layers. I could have cut the fleece and windbreaker. Packing cubes make it easy to empty your suitcase and fill up the camper with your stuff. We didn\u2019t need to bring any \u201cliving\u201d supplies as they were all supplied by Zoom (and included in the price). I did bring our blow-up camping pillows and sleeping bag liner but did not need them in our well equipped camper (but did need the pillows in London Hotels).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connectivity and Electronics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We used Saily for UK eSIMs. The advantage of a service like Saily is you are not bound to a specific provider in the country you are visiting. Downside is Saily is a data only service, so if you need a local phone number, look at different options. We always had a signal from whichever provider even in more remote areas. When we needed a local phone number we got it from Lyca. It was \u00a35.00 for 30 GB of data and unlimited calling for 30 days. Just remember to turn off automatic renewal! You may be able to make \u201cwifi\u201d calls through your normal cell phone provider. We could use VoIP.MS with our home number. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We brought our Starlink Mini assuming we would not have service. We never needed it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Download offline maps to you devices before you leave home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Always bring your chargers (most will work with 220 volts with an adapter). Buy your plug adapters before you leave home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bring a power bank. They come in handy. I prefer to have one with MagSafe charging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We brought our dashcam and plugged it in. There were two reasons for this. The first is in case of accident. The second is to capture some of the scenery (admittedly poor quality). Just remember to archive your footage according to your dashcam\u2019s storage. I forgot once and lost a bit of footage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Should you do it<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, I don\u2019t know you (or maybe I do). Where you go, what you like and how you go is all up to you. But, if you want to see spectacular beauty amongst sheep, coos, many distilleries (not our thing), wonderful people the occasional spot of rain, some wind, rivers, lochs, streams, waterfalls, a radioactive beach, a few thousand gift shops and much more, then you should go over and have a wee visit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This post contains some summary information as well as some of our thoughts on the NC500. Don\u2019t take our advice. Your trip is your trip. Your mileage may vary. Don\u2019t over research as surprises only add to the wonder. Summary information We started in Peebles and ended in Peebles. This makes the total drive longer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,33,13,1],"tags":[31,14,35],"class_list":["post-3757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-32","category-uk2026","category-vanlife","category-uncategorized","tag-uk2026","tag-vanlife","tag-rv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/milddogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/img_9252-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Eskg-YB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3757"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3763,"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3757\/revisions\/3763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milddogs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/milddogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/img_9252.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1\")