North Coast, Scotland (July 2017)

I drove the SW 1/3rd of the “North Coast 500” in Scotland and it was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. Narrow, curvy roads along the coast, beautiful views, delicious food!

I started with a day in windy Ullapool…

And started driving north…

I had lunch in Kylesku:

(I absolutely love raw oysters. Any time I see a menu with fresh, local, raw oysters, they go in my belly.)

On the road again, heading south past Ullapool…

Those last few pictures are from the arrival to Torridon, an epically beautiful stretch of road.

The next day, south from Torridon…

The weather was absolutely gorgeous that day, and it made the water brilliantly blue. Looking across the water at the dramatic cliffs, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

And then I got super lucky, and got within spitting distance of some Highland cattle!

With that very important item checked off on my Scottish Bucket List, onward!

Got to see a shepherd and his 2 border collies herding some sheep:

Next I drove from Applecross to the top of Bealach na Bà pass…

But the real test was going down the other side. Yikes!! Soooo steep and narrow, I was white knuckling it the whole way so I didn’t get very good pictures.

Here’s a video someone else took, going up this pass. It gives you a pretty good idea of what it was like, but not nearly as intense. The video doesn’t convey the steepness, and how close my car was to the razor-thin edge. My heart was pounding.