22 Terrific Scottish Road Trips You Won’t Want to Miss This Summer
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There’s a scale to Scotland that’s unlike anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Its mountains and lochs dwarf those to the south, its beaches rival the best in the world, and the roads that weave between them are among the most spectacular on the planet.
Take a Caledonian road trip this summer and you’ll always remember the tranquil beauty of the islands and the heroic majesty of the Highlands… although the midges you may wish to forget!
Here are 22 of the finest Detours that Scotland has to offer.
Epic Drives
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The North Coast 500 is Scotland’s best-known piece of motoring marketing. The 500-mile circular route from Inverness was established in 2014 and has attracted hoards of drivers and riders to the Highlands. It may now even be a tad too popular, so if you do decide to take a trip on this Highland highlights run then try to avoid the peak holiday season. Allow five days to have time to soak it all in because there really is a lot to see. “The frequency of the changing landscape, and weather, is what impresses most along the west coast of the NC500,” writes Luke Ponsford. “One moment it feels like I’m taking in the lush coastline of Cornwall with shaggy Highland cattle roaming across my path, the next I’m driving under the umbrella of a Scandinavian treeline. Turn another corner and I’m on the Western Slope of Colorado, all the while being sternly watched over by the monolithic snow-capped mountains of Beinn Alligin, Liathach and Beinn Eighe.”
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250 miles back towards England you’ll find the newly-minted South West Coast 300 route, which begins and ends in Lockerbie and can be tackled in one wonderful weekend. Possibly even faster if you drive like Detour’s Simon Heptinstall who writes: “I pass plenty of proper sights, like a triangular medieval castle, romantic ruins of an abbey and the pastel-painted ‘Artists Town’ of Kirkudbright, but the SWC300 is such a brilliant addictive drive I can’t be bothered to park and look closely. I simply drive non-stop for almost 100 miles to Wigtown.”
Discover the SWC300 in detail.
ISLANDS AND Empty Roads
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If you’re looking for peace and quiet then there’s no better place to find it than on the Isle of Bute. “Latest traffic statistics reveal that the Isle of Bute’s A844 has the least traffic of any major A-road in the UK. On this stunning scenic loop round the island, there’s an average of around three vehicles an hour, or just 77 a day,” reports Simon Heptinstall in our guide to this loop around the island.
Photo Indi Baines
On Raasey you’ll discover one of the most amazing road-building backstories in the land if you drive the 1.75-mile Calum’s Road from Brochel to Arnish. “The eponymous Calum MacLeod was a native of Arnish in northern Raasey,” writes Indi Baines after her visit. “Originally the most populous part of the island, it lacked a road, a probable factor in the township’s decline. In an heroic Hebridean tale of single-minded determination, Calum dispensed with the officialdom that kept ignoring locals’ petitions for connectivity, and almost single-handedly constructed a 1.75-mile stretch of road with little more than a wheelbarrow, pick, shovel and axe, between the mid 1960s and 1970s.”
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Orkney’s treasures include a barren beauty and quite the driving challenge, says Matthew MacConnell in his Detour guide. “It may be arboreally-challenged but Orkney rewards with roads that’ll test your car’s damping and composure; around the next bend will be a cosmic loch of some kind, and if you take any random cut off, you’ll no doubt end up on some narrow neck of land filled with historic treasure troves.”
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Just reaching the Outer Hebrides is no mean feat, requiring a ferry trip from Oban, and numerous other sea crossings to explore the islands. However, says Simon Heptinstall, the rewards is “driving through a unique wild, windy landscape between vast lochs and deserted sandy beaches. These islands are untamed, rarely pretty, but often inspiring.”
Photo Nik Berg
The Isle of Skye is a mere bridge crossing from the mainland and whether you elect to circumnavigate the whole island or seek out out five of its best roads, there’s a full day’s driving to be had. “What the Isle of Skye lacks in size it makes up for in spectacle,” writes Nik Berg.
View all Detour’s Skye Drives.
ON Stage and Screen
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William Shakespeare is said to have been inspired to set a scene from Macbeth in Birnam Wood by a singular gnarled tree. Samantha Priestley went searching for this legendary oak and discovered a drive of diverse landscapes and roads as twisty as the tree itself. “The mist hangs low over the hills, the snow gathers by the side of the road and in drifts over the fields, and ice whispers under my tyres,” she writes. “But this is a beautiful drive. The Tay Forest appears alpine, and the road begins to snake through the scenery like a dog following its nose.”
Photo Nik Berg
In the Highlands of Scotland you’ll find a multitude of movie locations, from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Harry Potter and The Wickerman. 007 fans will want to seek out the road to Skyfall where “it takes a good 20 minutes or more to travel the (00)7 miles to the end of the road – a small, crowded car park at the very tip of Loch Etive. It’s a beautiful spot to imagine the end credits rolling, but the only way forward from here is to go back, just as Bond himself said.” Outlander enthusiasts can take a Highland fling and follow a 400-mile route that takes in the show’s most famous settings and where “The landscape feels like it’s brimming with spirits,” writes Jade Braham.
Find Scotland’s Cinematic Scenes.
A Royal Route
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The A712 to Newton Stewart was renamed The Queen’s Way in honour of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. Passing through Galloway Forest Park, “the sense of twisting and turning along the tightening valley makes it a total delight to drive,” reports Dan Trent. Its 18 miles are a right royal rollercoaster of a ride and all just 50 miles from the border.
Good Sport
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Jim Clark was Scotland’s first Formula 1 World Champion, but in the borders region where he was born, he’s remembered as much for his role in the farming community as his exploits on track. Follow The Jim Clark Trail and “Not only does it provide a fascinating insight into Scotland’s first Formula 1 World Champion, it will also steer you through the narrow lanes that helped Clark hone his remarkable skills,” notes Nik Berg.
Photo Dan Trent
On the Golfie Trails you’ll find the coming together of two unlikely sports – golf and mountain biking. In the forest above Innerleithen Golf Club are a series of serious mountain bike runs, challenging enough to attract the Enduro World Series, so whether you’ve got a boot full of clubs or a bike on the roof rack, it’s well worth a visit, claims Dan Trent. “It helps that the journey here is always a scenic one, whether you choose to come up the east coast and through Northumberland or follow the M6 over the Lakeland fells and via the gorgeous borders roads from Moffat and into the rolling hills south of the Tweed,” he adds.
Wild Rides
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The A83 ‘Rest and Be Thankful’ is the most treacherous road in Scotland thanks to frequent rock slides which block the route with car-sized boulders. Back in 1913 resident James McDonald described a landslide as "boiling with gyrations and spurts of water" and "indescribable roar - the roar of a mountain in torment". But, reckons, Nik Berg, “If you are willing to run the gauntlet then it is a most excellent drive. You’ll hug the edges of Loch Fyne To Cairndow, craggy peaks getting closer as you go, and it’s a steady and largely-straight climb to the Rest and Be Thankful viewpoint. You carry on past Glen Croe and then drop down to the shores of Loch Goil for a short distance before finishing your route north, winding along the banks of Loch Lomond, taking in the mighty Falls of Fallloch and reaching Crianlarich.
Photo Nik Berg
Bealach na Bà, also known as the Applecross Pass, is a feature on the NC500, linking Tornapress and Applecross. Its 11 miles feature the sort of switchbacks you’d expect to see in the Swiss Alps. “In fact, with inclines of one in five, it’s the steepest in the UK and often referred to as Britain’s Stelvio Pass,” writes Nik Berg.
Photo Will Gray
They call it Raptor Valley. Running alongside the River Findhorn near Inverness is a route where more golden eagles than anywhere else in Scotland can be found. “Driving in on the road, all passenger eyes are to the skies as we search for the valley’s typically elusive prize,” says Will Gray.
Jamie Hearne travels America’s most famous coast road with a little musical inspiration.