Stunning Beaches to Visit along the NC500 in Scotland

Turquoise blue water and white sandy beaches probably aren’t the first things that come to mind when someone mentions the Scottish Highlands. Most people associate Scotland with things like hiking Munros, furry Highland Coos, and great whiskey.

However, Scotland is home to countless stunning beaches that could easily be mistaken for the Caribbean. Well, apart from the temperatures of course.

Most of these postcard perfect beaches can be found along the North Coast 500 (NC500), one of the most scenic road-trips in the United Kingdom. In this guide, we’ll provide you with a list of some of the best beaches to add to your own NC500 itinerary.

What is the North Coast 500, aka the NC500?

The NC500 is a 516-mile-long route around Scotland’s northernmost region. Although the road connecting the towns and cities along this route isn’t new, the official NC500 was only launched in 2014. Since then it has increased in popularity, so much so that locals have very mixed feelings about the number of tourists driving this route, especially during the summer.

The route passes through six regions of the Scottish Highlands: Inverness-shire, Wester Ross, Easter Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, and the Black Isle.

The scenic NC500 starts and finishes in Inverness, the capital of the Scottish Highlands. From Inverness you can either drive north-east first towards Wick and John o’ Groats or, alternatively, you can also drive west towards Shieldaig and then north towards Ullapool.

A minimum of 5 days is required to drive the NC500. However, we think that you should plan for at least 7 days to have a more enjoyable experience.

You can complete the NC500 in all types of vehicles including your average car, electric car, sports car, vintage car, campervan, motorbike, or even on a bicycle.

Beautiful Beaches to Visit Along the NC500 in Scotland

Below you’ll find some of our favourite beaches that we managed to stop at during our drive along the North Coast 500. Of course, there are way more beaches than we can cover on this list, and we probably would’ve stopped at a few more if the weather had been slightly better, but this is a great place to start your planning process.

We’ve listed the beaches we visited in a clockwise direction, which is the way we decided to drive the epic NC500 route.

Gairloch Beach

Gairloch Beach was the first beach we stopped at along the NC500. It’s located in between Charlestown and Gairloch. It’s a lovely sandy beach surrounded by moorland and mountains. Although we didn’t linger for too long here, you could definitely stay to enjoy the water, or go for a quick stroll.

Parking. For easy beach access, park at Gairloch Beach Car Park just off the A832. If you only want to enjoy the view of the beach, then we recommend parking at the Gairloch Beach Viewpoint and Car Park.

Mellon Udrigle Beach

Located in the Wester Ross region of the Scottish Highlands, Mellon Udrigle Beach is one that should definitely be on your NC500 itinerary. It’s a little off the official NC500 route but its turquoise waters and white sand are worth the slight detour. It was quite windy and moody when we arrived but the colours were still popping, so we can only imagine how stunning this beach looks when the sun is out. Our favourite part was the fact that we could just about see some iconic Scottish mountains in the distance, such as Suilven and Stac Pollaidh.

Directions and parking. At Laide, turn left off the A832 and follow the tiny road to Mellon Udrigle. You can park your vehicle at Mellon Udrigle Beach Car Park.

Achmelvich Bay

Achmelvich was one of our favourite beaches along the NC500. This stunning, sheltered beach has turquoise waters and white sand, with beautiful views of the surrounding area. The sun came out briefly during our visit which made this beach look incredibly beautiful. We recommend doing the short walk up to the viewpoint. In addition, we suggest walking out to the An Farad Bheag headland, where you’ll find a cool landmark called the Hermit’s Castle.

Directions and parking. Turn left off the B869 towards the village of Achmelvich. You can park at Achmelvich Beach Car Park.

Clachtoll Beach

This white sandy beach is located only a short drive north of Achmelvich Beach. The rugged coastal terrain around it makes this beach even more beautiful in our opinion. Here we could also see the impressive Split Rock, a geological formation where you’ll find a huge gap between the sandstone rocks. Even though it was incredibly windy, we were still impressed by the raw natural beauty of this beach.

Directions and parking. Clachtoll Beach is located just off the B869 south of Clachtoll. Parking is available here.

Clashnessie Bay

Another beach we briefly stopped at along the B869 was Clashnessie Bay. It’s a small but lovely sandy beach. Our original plan was to hike up to Clashnessie Falls, which is only a short walk from the beach. Of course the Highland weather had other plans for us, so we decided to move on once it started chucking it down.

Parking. We parked around here briefly, since we saw one or two other cars there, but it’s quite a small space and we’re still not sure whether there is an official car park for this beach.

Scourie Beach

Another one of our favourite beaches along the NC500 was Scourie Beach. It’s a secluded, white sandy beach where the water turns different hues of blue. We had the perfect weather conditions there, so we decided to have our picnic outside overlooking the beach. We even saw a few Highland coo’s happily grazing in the fields, which of course made our experience even better.

Directions and parking. The beach is located just off the A894 in the village of Scourie. There’s a small car park here from where you can take a stroll down to the beach.

Balnakeil Beach

The next beach along the NC500 you should definitely stop at is Balnakeil Beach. Backed by sand dunes, this white sand beach is huge. This is where we spotted quite a few cows wandering along the beach. Here you can walk out to Faraid Head if you want, or just check out the ruins of Balnakeil Church and graveyard, which was built in the 1600’s.

Directions and parking. From Durness, turn left onto the road towards Balnakeil. The beach will be further north of the village and well signposted. There’s a small car park here.

Durness Beach / Sango Sands

Of course you also can’t miss a visit to Sango Sands either. It’s a golden sandy beach with rugged cliffs and rock formations around it. Rocky outcrops divide the beach into three different coves. We wish that we’d spent a bit longer here and walked out to some of the viewpoints. However, we were rushing to get to Smoo Caves, which are only a short drive east of the beach.

Parking is available at Durness Village Car Park.

Ceannabeinne Beach

Another sandy beach you’ll pass when driving along the NC500 is Ceannabeinne Beach. Apart from being an absolutely beautiful beach to visit, it’s also home to the UK’s northernmost zipline. It may not be as crazy as zip-lining in Costa Rica, but it’s still a unique thing to do along the NC500 if you’d like to do something a bit more adventurous. Although we didn’t zip-line across the beach, we did stop here for a bit to stretch our legs and enjoy the beautiful views.

Directions and Parking. The beach is located to the east of Sangobeg along the A838. There’s a small lay-by parking area here which can fit a few cars.

Torrisdale Beach

The next golden sandy beach along the NC500 is Torrisdale Beach. Like Balnakeil Beach, it’s another huge stretch of sand. Two rivers empty into the bay: River Naver and River Borgie. This means that accessing the beach requires some walking. We didn’t realise this until we got there, so we just enjoyed getting a little glimpse of it from Bettyhill. However, if you have some time to spare and want to take a break from driving, plan ahead for an approximately 7km roundtrip.

Directions and Parking. You can access the beach from Invernaver, a small village just south of Bettyhill. Parking is available just before the bridge.

Additional NC500 Resources

The NC500 isn’t just about beaches though. Below we’ll link some of our other useful guides, from the best outdoor attractions, to beginner’s guides and driving tips, as well as some official websites you should also use when planning your own NC500 trip.

Final Thoughts on Beaches to Visit Along the NC500 in Scotland

Even though we prefer hiking in the mountains over lying on the beach, we couldn’t miss visiting the beaches along the NC500. When the sun wasn’t shining, we could still see just how lovely the colour of the water was. However, when the sun was indeed shining, the beaches looked like some of the ones we enjoyed during our Caribbean cruise. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t warm enough for us to take a dip, although that didn’t deter some people! We just enjoyed taking strolls along them to stretch our legs after sitting in the car for long periods.

Have you ever driven the NC500 before? If so, which beaches did you stop at and what was your favourite? If not, which ones from our list would you add to your itinerary? Let us know in the comments below.