backontrack
Established Member
Recently (over parts of the Bank Holiday Weekend), I've been trying to map out a way of travelling around the rough route of the North Coast 500 solely using public transport. It seemed that nobody had planned something like this before for the NC500, so I wasn't sure whether it would all pan out successfully.
Bus services in areas such as Wester Ross and northwestern Sutherland do exist, firstly. The remote postbuses have been replaced by services run by companies such as Westerbus and The Far North Bus (formerly known as The Durness Bus). These services either run directly from the main towns of Inverness, Dingwall, Gairloch and Ullapool, or connect with train services at Achnasheen and Lairg. However, I couldn't plan with any of the Lairg buses (they went inland and therefore weren't near the coast).
The frequency of these bus services runs according to demand. Some of them run three times per day, while some of them run one bus daily. Some of them only run a single bus per week. The bus to Applecross only runs twice per week - a single bus to Inverness and back on Wednesdays and Saturdays - so I couldn't fit it in to this timetable. Other buses only run during July and August. Similarly, Berriedale is missing - after recent Stagecoach cuts on the X99 route (they took advantage of the railway's abysmal disrupted service by tripling the service to Scrabster, moving the Thurso-Scrabster bus away from the station and taking all the passengers - then cutting the service down to two-per-day once they had kept them), there didn't seem to be any way of getting from Dunbeath to Helmsdale via the coast at the right time.
Anyway, the timetable itself. I have given you three options for the leg of the journey from Wester Ross to Durness - you can explore Coigach, Assynt or head straight to Kinlochbervie for a connecting bus to Durness in order to have more time there. It might be possible to reach Cape Wrath using the third option (jumping out at Keoldale for the ferry across the Kyle, and the minibus on to Cape Wrath), but I haven't checked this.
I have tried my best to get each leg to finish somewhere where there is definitely accommodation. Shieldaig, Ullapool, Lochinver, Baddidarrach (a village contiguous with Lochinver), Durness, Thurso, Wick, Dornoch and Tain should all have accommodation. There may also be other accommodation en-route. There are youth hostels at Torridon, Gairloch Sands, Ullapool, Achmelvich, Durness (close to Smoo Cave), Tongue, Helmsdale and Inverness (there's also one at Applecross). Wild camping is also an option - all you need is a field - though there are campsites at Inverness, Bunchrew, Beauly, Dingwall, Contin, Achnasheen, Strathcarron, Lochcarron, Torridon, Kinlochewe, Gairloch Sands, Poolewe, Laide, Badcaul, Dundonnell, Ullapool, Ardmair, Altandhu, Achmelvich, Clachtoll, Scourie, Kinlochbervie, Durness, Talmine, Tongue, Bettyhill, Melvich, Thurso, Dunnet Head, Huna, John o' Groats, Wick, Oldhall (near Watten on the 82 bus route), Dunbeath, Brora, Pitgrunie (between Poles and Dornoch), Dornoch, Meikle Ferry (at the south end of the Dornoch Firth Bridge), Portmahomack, Evanton, Rosemarkie/Fortrose and Inverness (and, yes, there's also one at Applecross).
I hope you find the attached resource both interesting and useful, with the addendum that you must double-check your schedules before departure. Do this by googling the operators to find their own websites (not all of them have these), or by typing the service into bustimes.org, clicking on the operator link and finding their contact details. (For information about the service to Cape Wrath, visit www.visitcapewrath.com.)
Enjoy!
Bus services in areas such as Wester Ross and northwestern Sutherland do exist, firstly. The remote postbuses have been replaced by services run by companies such as Westerbus and The Far North Bus (formerly known as The Durness Bus). These services either run directly from the main towns of Inverness, Dingwall, Gairloch and Ullapool, or connect with train services at Achnasheen and Lairg. However, I couldn't plan with any of the Lairg buses (they went inland and therefore weren't near the coast).
The frequency of these bus services runs according to demand. Some of them run three times per day, while some of them run one bus daily. Some of them only run a single bus per week. The bus to Applecross only runs twice per week - a single bus to Inverness and back on Wednesdays and Saturdays - so I couldn't fit it in to this timetable. Other buses only run during July and August. Similarly, Berriedale is missing - after recent Stagecoach cuts on the X99 route (they took advantage of the railway's abysmal disrupted service by tripling the service to Scrabster, moving the Thurso-Scrabster bus away from the station and taking all the passengers - then cutting the service down to two-per-day once they had kept them), there didn't seem to be any way of getting from Dunbeath to Helmsdale via the coast at the right time.
Anyway, the timetable itself. I have given you three options for the leg of the journey from Wester Ross to Durness - you can explore Coigach, Assynt or head straight to Kinlochbervie for a connecting bus to Durness in order to have more time there. It might be possible to reach Cape Wrath using the third option (jumping out at Keoldale for the ferry across the Kyle, and the minibus on to Cape Wrath), but I haven't checked this.
I have tried my best to get each leg to finish somewhere where there is definitely accommodation. Shieldaig, Ullapool, Lochinver, Baddidarrach (a village contiguous with Lochinver), Durness, Thurso, Wick, Dornoch and Tain should all have accommodation. There may also be other accommodation en-route. There are youth hostels at Torridon, Gairloch Sands, Ullapool, Achmelvich, Durness (close to Smoo Cave), Tongue, Helmsdale and Inverness (there's also one at Applecross). Wild camping is also an option - all you need is a field - though there are campsites at Inverness, Bunchrew, Beauly, Dingwall, Contin, Achnasheen, Strathcarron, Lochcarron, Torridon, Kinlochewe, Gairloch Sands, Poolewe, Laide, Badcaul, Dundonnell, Ullapool, Ardmair, Altandhu, Achmelvich, Clachtoll, Scourie, Kinlochbervie, Durness, Talmine, Tongue, Bettyhill, Melvich, Thurso, Dunnet Head, Huna, John o' Groats, Wick, Oldhall (near Watten on the 82 bus route), Dunbeath, Brora, Pitgrunie (between Poles and Dornoch), Dornoch, Meikle Ferry (at the south end of the Dornoch Firth Bridge), Portmahomack, Evanton, Rosemarkie/Fortrose and Inverness (and, yes, there's also one at Applecross).
I hope you find the attached resource both interesting and useful, with the addendum that you must double-check your schedules before departure. Do this by googling the operators to find their own websites (not all of them have these), or by typing the service into bustimes.org, clicking on the operator link and finding their contact details. (For information about the service to Cape Wrath, visit www.visitcapewrath.com.)
Enjoy!
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