Book your dream trip:
North Coast 500 and Orkney

⏱️ 13 days | 🗺️ North coast & Orkney | 💶 approx. €3,320 per person

Vermittelt von unserem Partner …

Es handelt sich um eine individuell konzipierte und somit reiseveranstalterunabhängige Reise. Das bietet Dir die Möglichkeit, diese Tour zu verkürzen, verlängern oder zu ergänzen. Die Vermittlung der einzelnen Teilleistungen dieser Reise unterliegen tagesaktuellen Wechselkursen. Darum haben wir uns an dieser Stelle für die Angabe eines Zirkapreises entschieden.

Included services

• Return flight from Germany (or elsewhere in Europe) to Inverness
• 1 checked bag of 23kg per person and one piece of hand luggage
• all taxes
• rental car including unlimited mileage and all insurances
• (rental car service app)
• typical 4-star category B&B accommodation
• double room accommodation, usually with a hot Scottish breakfast
• ferry to Orkney
• accommodation directory (per room)
• Scotland travel guide (per room)
• detailed itinerary (per room)
• comprehensive and informative travel documentation (per room)
• service margin
• insolvency insurance certificate

The whole trip in detail

Day 1: Inverness – Beauly, approx. 20 km

Arrive by air with KLM to Inverness and pick up your rental car. Inverness, the Highlands’ unofficial capital, invites you to shop. Grab a light lunch here, then drive to nearby Culloden Moor, the battlefield of Culloden, where on 16 April 1746 the second Jacobite rising met its bloody and inglorious end.

>>2 nights in a B&B near Beauly<<

Day 2: Loch Ness, approx. 100 km

Before you properly set off on the North Coast 500, it’s a good idea to first explore the legendary Loch Ness. In Drumnadrochit, Urquhart Castle invites a visit, and the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition tells you about the legend of the world-famous lake monster. If you have the time and inclination, take an additional detour to Eilean Donan Castle, filming location of the Hollywood production “Highlander” and probably Scotland’s most photographed castle.

In Fort Augustus, boats from the Caledonian Canal, or Loch Ness, must pass through a five-stage lock to continue their journey. This spectacle always attracts many onlookers. Leave Fort Augustus along the lesser-known but wonderfully scenic east shore of the loch, perhaps taking a short walk to the Falls of Foyers, keeping an eye out for Nessie, and thereby completing a full loop of Loch Ness.

Day 3: Beauly – Strathpeffer – Ullapool – Lochinver, approx. 140 km

If you’re interested, join a tour of the beautifully located Glen Ord Whisky Distillery in Muir of Ord before setting off along the North Coast 500, with your first stop at Strathpeffer. Strathpeffer was, until around 1914, the spa resort of London high society. Everyone who was anyone travelled north by train to take the cure here, or simply to “see and be seen”. To this day, the town still exudes its former charm, and the former premises of the Victorian railway station house beautiful arts and crafts.

Ullapool, founded in 1788 as a herring fishing port, still serves today as a base both for fishing boats and yachts, as well as for the ferries to the Outer Hebrides. Ullapool has kept its idyllic fishing-village character and is also the last larger town before you head into the solitude of the Northern Highlands.

>>2 nights in a B&B in Lochinver<<

Day 4: Exploring Assynt on foot, approx. 70 km

Pack your walking boots and head onto the B869, which loops around the northern shore of the Assynt region. Start with two short walks to the fine sandy beaches of Achmelvich and Clachtoll Beach, step up the pace along the steep cliffs at the northern tip to the Point of Stoer, and enjoy your packed lunch there. Keep your binoculars handy; you might be lucky enough to watch a group of dolphins at play.

Day 5: Lochinver – Durness, approx. 85 km

The west coast of the North Coast 500 is mountainous, rugged landscape and pure solitude, which will capture you today. There are no notable sights to speak of. The one exception is the remains of the easy-to-miss small ruin of Ardvreck Castle. Yet great and tragic tales surround these walls — for example, that of the daughter of clan chief MacLeod. MacLeod’s daughter fell to her death, having thrown herself from the castle’s tower — driven to it by her own father’s heartless betrayal.

Further along, past Scourie, there’s another chance to stretch your legs on a beach walk at Oldshoremore Bay. (If you can’t get enough of dream beaches, consider adding an extra night here to also take a (day) hike to Sandwood Bay, one of Britain’s most beautiful beaches.)

>>2 nights in a B&B in Durness<<

Day 6: Kyle of Durness or Faraid Head

Leave the car behind today, pack your rucksack with sandwiches, treats and more, and set off on foot — truly the most intense way to let the landscape, quiet and solitude work their magic on you. You have the choice between the longer “Kyle of Durness” loop, taking in Britain’s highest sea cliffs, or heading to “Faraid Head” for the chance to spot seals and adorable puffins (May, June). Fit walkers can, of course, combine both routes = approx. 11 km, approx. 5–7 hours of walking.

Day 7: Durness – Orkney, approx. 180 km

The first highlight of the day awaits not far from Durness: Smoo Cave. Smoo Cave is an idyllic, greenish-shimmering sea and freshwater cave, featuring an underground waterfall and a large chamber that opens onto a bay with a sandy beach. Arriving in Thurso, you’re back in civilisation, and nearby Castle Mey, with its richly flowering gardens, invites a visit and a spot of afternoon tea with fresh scones, jam and clotted cream. Castle Mey was one of the favourite places of the Queen Mother, herself Scottish by birth. In the evening, you cross over to Orkney.

>>4 nights in a B&B on Orkney<<

Day 8: Orkney, first impressions

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast, then take a closer look in the morning at the three Churchill Barriers, built during the Second World War to protect the Scapa Flow naval base, which you already crossed the previous evening. On the way, visit the Italian Chapel and admire the paintings inside. In the afternoon, it’s worth visiting St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, along with the Earl’s Palace & Bishop’s Palace, and topping up your whisky supply at the two distilleries, Highland Park and Scapa.

Day 9: On the trail of the Bronze Age and the ancient Celts

Alongside Stonehenge in southern England and the Calanish Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis, the Ring of Brodgar is considered one of the most impressive relics of pre-Christian civilisations. The Brough of Birsay, an Iron Age village, only reveals its secret at low tide, and the Maeshowe cairn still leaves archaeologists puzzling over whether it’s a Neolithic burial chamber or a religious site of worship. These and many more messages from long-vanished eras will unfold before you today.

Day 10: Scapa Flow, arts and crafts, and pure nature

Anyone travelling around Orkney will inevitably come face to face with its naval history too. At the naval museum in Stromness, you’ll learn everything worth knowing about Scapa Flow, the naturally formed harbour that became Britain’s most important naval base. The Orkney Craft Trail, which spans the whole island, offers arts and crafts such as unusual silver jewellery, stunning photography, and jumpers and home accessories made from sheep’s wool. A walk along the cliffs at Kitchener’s Memorial shouldn’t be missed either — probably the finest spot on Orkney for enjoying its flora and fauna.

Day 11: Orkney – Gills Bay – Golspie, approx. 160 km

Around midday, back on the Scottish mainland, the landscape of the North Coast 500’s east coast shifts from rugged bareness to green rolling hills, with impressive views out over the vast sea to the horizon. Whisky lovers can pay a visit to the Old Pulteney Distillery in Wick and might like to try their hand at filling their own bottle, also known as “bottle your own bottle”. On the way south, near Badbea, you can explore the ruins of a clearance village, getting to know another piece of the puzzle of Scottish history. The Highland Clearances refers to the eviction of the local population by their landlords in favour of introducing sheep farming in the 19th century.

>>1 night in a B&B in Golspie <<

Day 12: Golspie – Flow Country – Tain, approx. 145 km

The imposing Dunrobin Castle, with 189 rooms the largest residential building in the northern Highlands, along with its gardens stretching down to the sea and its own falconry, will be delighted to welcome you this morning. It is the ancestral seat of clan Sutherland and thus of the Earl of Sutherland. For the afternoon, we’d like to recommend a trip to the heart of a new UNESCO World Heritage Site — the Flow Country. This 9,000-year-old peatland, located in the Scottish Highlands, is considered the most outstanding example of an actively developing blanket bog landscape. This ecosystem offers a variety of habitats for a unique array of birdlife and displays a remarkable range of features found nowhere else on Earth.

>> 2 nights in a B&B around Tain/Dingwall <<

Day 13: The Black Isle, approx. 160 km

Despite its name, the Black Isle is neither an island nor black. The colour in the name comes from the fact that it was once covered in dense, dark forests, while the “isle” comes from its location between two large bodies of water, meaning that in earlier times reaching it was almost like visiting an island. We’d like to introduce you to its hidden corners — from the Fyrish Monument, via Hugh Miller, to the Fairy Glen waterfalls.

Day 14: Tain/Dingwall – Inverness, approx. 65 km

Return the rental car and fly home.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Simone 
 
20 September 2026
 
 
  
Wir haben unseren Traumurlaub mit Hilfe von Frau Lecon erlebt. Ihre Planung und Organisation entlang unserer Ideen war wunderbar. Wir fühlten uns gut betreut und beraten und werden bestimmt nochmal auf sie zurückkommen. Sehr zu empfehlen!
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Andreas Schmidt 
 
20 August 2026
 
 
  
Schon die dritte Reise mit diesem wundervollen Reisebüro ... und eine schöner als die andere.
Sehr freundlich, tolle Vorschläge und perfekte Durchführung - wunderbare Unterkünfte, super Reiseunterlagen und eine herzliche und rasche Kommunikation.
Ich werde auch meine nächsten Reisen nach Schottland, Irland oder England ausschliesslich hier buchen!
Top-Empfehlung für Individualisten, die Land und Leute kennenlernen wollen!
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Ralf Struckmann 
 
17 August 2026
 
 
  
Super unkompliziert als es mit der Zahlung mit PayPal nicht geklappt hat. Es wurde eine Rechnung ausgestellt, von mir gleich bezahlt und schwups war das Problem vom Tisch. Sehr gute Kommunikation.
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Dorothee 
 
15 August 2026
 
 
  
Wir können Frau Lecon für die Planung und Durchführung einer Schottland-Reise aus vollem Herzen empfehlen. Frau Lecon war von Beginn der Reiseplanung an absolut präsent, offen für unsere Ideen und immer erreichtbar (auch während unserer Reise). Die von ihr empfohlenen Unterkünfte waren nahezu alle ein Volltreffer, die ausgearbeitete Route enthielt viele schöne Impulse. Wir würden hier wieder buchen und Schottland hat drei neue Fans. Herzlichen Dank.
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Burkhard 
 
13 August 2026
 
 
  
Alles Wichtige gut und knapp erklärt, das Buch hat sich im Praxistest absolut bewährt.
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Daniela Reif 
 
18 Juni 2026
 
 
  
Vielen Dank für die tolle Zusammenstellung unserer Reise und die vielen Ideen für Aktivitäten vor Ort. Die Unterkünfte waren sehr gut und wir waren sehr zufrieden. Schon bei unserem ersten Kontakt hat Frau Lecon verstanden auf was wir Wert legen und wie wir unseren Urlaub gestalten wollen - das haben wir so selten erlebt. Auf unsere vielen Rückfragen wurde uns immer umgehend  und detailliert geantwortet.
Wir werden uns gerne wieder melden, wenn die nächste Reise nach Schottland geht.
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Albert Uschold 
 
19 Mai 2026
 
 
  
Wir waren 5 Tage auf isle of skye und hatten Dank deines Buches wunderbare Erlebnisse !
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Heinz Becker 
 
8 März 2026
 
 
  
Sehr korrekt, zuvorkommend und unkompliziert. Vielen Dank
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Berndt Kühnel 
 
19 Februar 2026
 
 
  
Stephan Goldmann hat einen sehr detaillierten Reiseführer mit vielen Bildern über die Orkney Inseln geschrieben. Man spürt so richtig seine Leidenschaft und für diese Gegend, die Landschaft, Kultur und Geschichte, Menschenund Tiere. Ich fühle mich so richtig wohl beim Schmökern und kann gut meine Reise im Herbst vorbereiten. Danke, Stephan!
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 Charlotte Löffelmann 
 
21 Januar 2026
 
 
  
Ein sehr netter Shop, als mein bestellter Reiseführer auf sich warten ließ, war der Anbieter sehr freundlich und entgegenkommend, hätte auch notfalls den Reiseführer nochmals geschickt. Für alle die aus Österreich bestellen, sei gesagt unsere Post ist sehr langsam und man muss seine 10 bis 12 Tage rechnen. Aber der Reiseführer ist es wert! Der beste von den Orkney Inseln, den es auf Deutsch gibt! Danke nochmal fürs schnelle Antworten auf die Mails!
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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