Exploring the Scottish Highlands by Car

Why the Highlands Rewards the Slow Driver

The Scottish Highlands are not a place to be ticked off at speed. Distances that look trivial on a map — forty miles here, sixty there — can easily swallow a morning once you factor in single-track sections, sheep on the road, and the fact that you will want to stop every ten minutes for another view. As a rough guide, plan on an average of thirty miles per hour on west-coast roads, and rather less if you are heading over a mountain pass.

The reward for that patience is a landscape that shifts constantly: birchwoods and sea lochs, then bare moorland, then granite peaks with snow on them well into spring. Driving yourself means you decide when to pull over, which is the whole point.

Building a Route That Breathes

A five-day loop from Inverness is a good first taste of the north and west. It gives you big scenery without endless time behind the wheel.

• Day one: Inverness to Torridon via Achnasheen and Kinlochewe — around 75 miles, but allow half a day for the viewpoints at Glen Docherty and the Beinn Eighe reserve.
• Day two: Torridon to Applecross over the Bealach na Bà, then on to Kyle of Lochalsh. The pass climbs to 2,054 feet on hairpins, so avoid it in a large motorhome or towing a caravan.
• Day three: A circuit of Skye, using the bridge at Kyle. The Trotternish peninsula and the Quiraing deserve a full day on their own.
• Day four: Skye to Glencoe, breaking the journey at Glenfinnan and the Commando Memorial near Spean Bridge.
• Day five: Glencoe south through Appin and Kilchurn, finishing in Perthshire.

If you have more time, the classic coastal route around the far north and down the west coast is superb, but give it at least a week. Rushing it defeats the purpose.

Single-Track Roads Without the Stress

Single-track roads with passing places are the thing most visitors worry about, and they are genuinely easy once you understand the etiquette. Passing places are marked with a black-and-white sign, and you pull into the one on your left. If the nearest one is on your right, pull over to the left and let the oncoming vehicle use it. Never park in a passing place — they are also how faster traffic behind you gets past, so pull in and wave them through. A brief flash of the indicators or a raised hand acknowledges the courtesy.

On steeper narrow sections, give way to vehicles coming uphill, and always to anything larger than you. Keep your speed down: you will meet a campervan or a logging lorry around a blind bend sooner or later. Passing places also make excellent spots to stop for photographs, provided you leave the road clear.

Making Time for Wildlife

The best wildlife encounters happen when you are not hurrying. Red deer graze close to the road at Torridon and Glencoe, particularly around dawn and dusk in October, when the rut is on — drive slowly and watch for them stepping out. Golden eagles patrol the Applecross peninsula and the glens around Loch Maree; scan the ridges from a lay-by rather than the driver's seat.

• Chanonry Point on the Moray Firth is one of the best places in Britain to watch bottlenose dolphins from shore, best in the two hours either side of a rising tide.
• Glen Affric holds one of the largest remnants of ancient Caledonian pinewood, with red squirrels and crested tits.
• Loch Garten near Aviemore is a long-standing osprey viewpoint in summer.
• West-coast inlets at quiet moments will often turn up an otter or a grey seal if you sit still for twenty minutes.

Castles, Glens and Stops Worth the Detour

Castles come thick and fast in the north. Urquhart, on the shores of Loch Ness, is the most famous and gets busy, so arrive early. Eilean Donan, near Kyle of Lochalsh, is the postcard image of the Highlands and sits right beside the road. Kilchurn, on Loch Awe, is best photographed from the lay-by on the far shore. Cawdor and Dunrobin are both worth an afternoon if your route swings east.

Glencoe needs no introduction, but do not simply drive through. Stop at the viewpoint and again at the far end, where the road opens towards Loch Leven. The glen is at its most atmospheric in low cloud, which it gets plenty of.

Practical Essentials Before You Set Off

Fill the tank whenever you can. Fuel stops are widely spaced in the far north and west — Inverness, Ullapool, Fort William and Kyle of Lochalsh are the main ones — and some rural stations keep short hours or close on Sundays. If you drive an electric car, plan charging points in advance, as coverage thins considerably beyond Inverness.

Check the weather forecast and road conditions before setting out; the high passes can close in winter, and snow gates at Drumochter and Glencoe are not unusual between November and March. Daylight varies enormously, from around six and a half hours in December to nearly eighteen in June, so plan your driving accordingly.

Carry midge repellent from May to September, especially on the west coast, and keep windows shut when parked near still water at dusk. Mobile signal comes and goes, so download offline maps before you leave. And pack layers — a warm, dry day in the glens can turn into a cold, wet one within an hour.