NC500 Campsites for Motorhomes: A Leg-by-Leg Guide

The NC500 is 516 miles, and where you stop each night does as much for the trip as the driving does. This is the honest list of campsites that work for a four-berth motorhome going anticlockwise from Inverness, up the east coast first: the ones with hook-ups that actually exist, pitches that fit, and more often than not a view worth waking up to. It is not exhaustive. The route starts at the Glasgow depot, where the motorhome lives, so the first morning is the half-day run up to Inverness before the loop begins. For the driving itself, the full route planner and the ten-day itinerary cover it day by day.

From the Glasgow depot up the east coast

The east coast is the gentle opening: wide A-road, easy driving, and a couple of reliable stops before the road turns wild. Grannie's Heilan' Hame at Embo, just north of Dornoch, is the family option, a Parkdean park with hook-up and hardstanding throughout, an indoor pool and food on site, and a beach at the bottom of the field. It fills up in the school holidays, so reserve ahead for July and August. A little further north, Brora has the Caravan Club's Dalchalm site by the dunes, handy for the village, the beach and the golf. We wrote up the Brora campsite and golf club separately if you want the detail.

Caithness: the far north-east corner

Caithness is the quiet top-right of the loop, flatter and emptier than the west, and the two best stops are both Club sites with proper facilities. Dunnet Bay is a Caravan and Motorhome Club site beside a long sandy beach near Dunnet Head, with level grass pitches on 16-amp hook-up, hot showers, laundry and a motorhome service point. Your Atlas hire includes Club membership, so the member rate applies. John o' Groats has a seafront caravan and camping site right at the corner, hook-ups and a shop, with the Duncansby Stacks a short walk away. Both take booking ahead, which is worth doing in the peak weeks.

The north coast and Sutherland

This is the stretch people remember, and the driving turns to single-track with passing places in parts, so take it steady. Sango Sands Oasis at Durness sits on a low cliff above the beach, with hook-up pitches on hardstanding and grass and a bar and restaurant next door; the electric pitches go fast in summer, the grass is more first-come. Round on the Assynt coast, Clachtoll Beach Campsite is an eco-run site a hundred metres from the beach and Split Rock, with serviced pitches, most with sea views, plus hot showers, laundry, dogs welcome and free wifi. Both fill weeks ahead for July and August, so book the hook-up pitches early.

Wester Ross: the west coast run south

Wester Ross is the long west-coast run back, and three sites carry it well. Broomfield Holiday Park sits right in Ullapool on the shore of Loch Broom, walkable to the pubs and the chip shop, with grassy hook-up pitches and a launderette. Sands, three miles past Gairloch, is a big beachside site with around 150 hook-up pitches, a motorhome service point and heated shower blocks, the kind of place that takes a motorhome without fuss. Further south, Torridon has a campsite by the loch under the big hills, with hook-up pitches and Beinn Eighe on the doorstep. Reach this coast by the Shieldaig coast road rather than the Bealach na Bà, which is no place for a motorhome.

Back to the Glasgow depot

From Torridon it is a straightforward couple of hours back to Inverness on the A832 and A835, then the half-day south to the depot. Plenty of people don't need a final-night site and just run home; if you would rather break it, the Black Isle and Inverness have options a short hop off the A9. Either way the motorhome comes back to Glasgow, so there is no one-way drop to arrange.

Do you need to book NC500 campsites in advance?

In peak season, yes, for the popular ones. Sites like Sango Sands and Clachtoll Beach can fill their hook-up and hardstanding pitches weeks, sometimes months, ahead for July and August, so book those as soon as your dates are firm. Outside the school holidays it loosens up, and in spring or autumn you can often turn up on the day. A sensible plan is to book the two or three nights you can't be flexible about and leave the rest open. Before you set off, the preparing for your trip guide covers what to sort before collection day.

Good to know

• Hook-up. Every site here has electric hook-up; expect a small nightly charge on top of the pitch, paid at the site.
• Club membership. Your Atlas hire includes both Club memberships, so Caravan and Motorhome Club sites like Dunnet Bay come at the member rate.
• Dogs. Most sites welcome them, Clachtoll Beach and Sango Sands included. Bring your own bowls and bedding; the whole Atlas fleet takes dogs for a single per-hire cleaning fee.
• Single-track. The north-west has passing places. Take the Shieldaig coast road to Applecross, not the Bealach na Bà.

Pick the legs that suit your pace, book the ones that fill, and leave room for the stop you didn't plan. That is the NC500 done properly.

City guides nearby

For where to stop and what to see in the cities on or near this route, see our city guides: Inverness, Glasgow.

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