Driving Scotland's North Coast 500

• Arrive in Inverness via train from either Glasgow, Edinburgh, or London.

• Check in at Ness Walk.

• Receive delivery of your Defender 110 at the hotel.

• If time/energy allow, explore Culloden Battlefield and the Clava Cairns.

• Have dinner on property at Ness Walk.

• Enjoy breakfast at Ness Walk.

• Make your way to the A9 and head north, crossing over the Moray Firth.

• Book a whisky tasting at Glenmorangie Distillery (reservations recommended).

• Eat lunch in Dornoch at Surf & Turf. Best lobster roll of your life, I promise!

• Check out Dornoch town.

• Check in at Dornoch Station and have dinner on property.

• Have breakfast at Dornoch Station.

• Make your way to Dunrobin Castle. The castle gardens are quite special and they have a resident falconer that flies birds daily. Be sure to have road snacks and/or stop for lunch along the way.

• Arrive in John O'Groats, the most northeasterly settlement on mainland Britain.

• Check-in at The John O'Groats Inn and Lodges. If you can, stay in one of the lodges.

• End the night at the John O'Groats Brewery.

• Grab breakfast at Stacks Deli & Coffee House.

• Walk along the coastal cliffs to The Stacks of Duncansby.

• Check out Castle May, the Queen Mother's Scottish home, still frequented by King Charles.

• Make your way to Dunnet Head and the Stevenson Lighthouse, built by the father of Robert Louis Stevenson. It is said that Robert's time spent at this lighthouse influenced his books "Kidnapped" and "Treasure Island."

• Make your way to Tongue and either stay at The Tongue Hotel or the recently opened Lundies House by WildLand.

• Get breakfast at the Alba Bakery / Burrs of Tongue.

• Hike the footpath to the ruins of Castle Varrich, which offers tremendous views of the Kyle of Tongue and the surrounding highlands.

• Head towards Durness and Smoo Cave. On the way, stop at Ceannabeinne Beach and see if the Golden Eagle Zipline is running. Highly recommend this thrill!

• Check out Smoo Cave, the largest sea cave in Britain, which actually looks like something out of the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean."

• Pick up a picnic lunch in Durness at The Durness Village Shop. Take your picnic to Balnakeil Bay. Check out the Balnakeil Craft Village after lunch and maybe grab a hot chocolate at Cocoa Mountain.

• Make your way to Ullapool, specifically to have dinner at the Seafood Shack. You can thank me later.

• After dinner, roll into Gairloch and stay at the Myrtle Bank Hotel, which doesn't look like much, but is the true heart of the town with wonderful proprietors.

We spent a couple of days in Gairloch, hoping to get out on the water to see all the sea life (think harbour porpoise, common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, minke whale, humpback whale, fin whale, basking shark, and nuclear submarines), but the weather had other plans for us. We visited a WWII museum focused on the nuclear submarine activity in the North Sea, which was fascinating.

• Hike from Inverewe Gardens around Loch Kernasary to Poolewe, a truly spectacular Highland hike.

• Enjoy tea at the Bridge Cottage Art Cafe in Poolewe.

• Head back to Gairloch for dinner at the bar in the hotel, where we enjoyed lively conversation with the locals—a trip highlight!

It's a quick two-hour drive back to Inverness from Gairloch. We continued on to Skye. You could head to Skye, or you could explore the Isle of Mull and its distilleries, or make your way back through Beauly and spend time there. Beauly is located near Loch Ness and the ruins of Urquhart Castle, which is always fun.

• If you do stop in Beauly, be sure to visit Campbell's of Beauly, Highland outfitters since 1858.

• Have lunch in Beauly at the Downright Gabbler.

• Return your vehicle in Inverness and catch the train to Edinburgh.