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Honestly I prefer the roads in the winter, very little traffic. It will of course be very cold. But the quality of the air in winter combined with the crystal clear skys.....well its awsome.. get the roof down, crank the heater up to melting mode, turn on the heated seats and just enjoy the views. I am very lucky as i can just jump in the car on a good day and be on the west coast in an hour. It can be very grey and wet in winter sometimes though.

Keyper wrote:

Marlon wrote:See you've got a 'boot bag'. We haven't used ours yet.
Enjoy the trip

Thanks Marlon

My biggest worry is that it flys off on the motorway lol

So you got one in the end. Let us know how it performs.

Andyoldgit. wrote:Honestly I prefer the roads in the winter, very little traffic. It will of course be very cold. But the quality of the air in winter combined with the crystal clear skys.....well its awsome.. get the roof down, crank the heater up to melting mode, turn on the heated seats and just enjoy the views. I am very lucky as i can just jump in the car on a good day and be on the west coast in an hour. It can be very grey and wet in winter sometimes though.

I think Andy meant the condition of the roads. Some of them could be pretty hairy in winter I would have thought.

We did about a quarter of the NC500 last October and I must admit it was the best 3.1/2 days of my life. We are even thinking of moving up there eventually. The scenery is beautiful and didn't see one copper once we got past Inverness.

Achmelvich beach was my highlight and I have it as my desk top on the PC. We are staying at Kylesku next weekend for a week and then back to Applecross the week after with the Supra owners club.

H.

srhutch wrote:

Andyoldgit. wrote:Honestly I prefer the roads in the winter, very little traffic. It will of course be very cold. But the quality of the air in winter combined with the crystal clear skys.....well its awsome.. get the roof down, crank the heater up to melting mode, turn on the heated seats and just enjoy the views. I am very lucky as i can just jump in the car on a good day and be on the west coast in an hour. It can be very grey and wet in winter sometimes though.

I think Andy meant the condition of the roads. Some of them could be pretty hairy in winter I would have thought.

Ah! Sorry.

The roads are pretty good. Its a bit of a myth that Scotland gets covered in snow in winter. For sure if your driving the higher roads then its going to be a problem, The pass over to Applecross would be almost impossible. But generally it just gets very cold, there can be a lot of ice on the roads especially early in the mornings, and not all of the roads are gritted. They just do the main routes. But if your carefull its ok. I dont use my sports cars in winter much, only if the skys are clear and its above freezing. The salt on the roads really eats into the cars. I use my L200 for work in the winter, which isnt bothered by the road conditions lol.

mr wilks wrote: What are your thoughts on doing the 500 that time of year ?

You'll avoid the midges, but flirt with the snow and ice, I would imagine. One could be irritating, whilst the other damn expensive !

I fancy doing Scotland but its two extra days just to get there and back from way down South.

Number5 wrote:

mr wilks wrote: What are your thoughts on doing the 500 that time of year ?

You'll avoid the midges, but flirt with the snow and ice, I would imagine. One could be irritating, whilst the other damn expensive !

I fancy doing Scotland but its two extra days just to get there and back from way down South.

You haven't to look at it like that mr N , focus on the route to the start point & that itself would be worth the journey north & back
Depending on route taken there's the Peak District , the Ribble valley , Bowland Fells , Lakes , Dales , Pennines & that's before you cross the border then you have the Cairngorm,s , Glencoe , The Loch's all before the 500 starts

mr wilks wrote:

Number5 wrote:

mr wilks wrote: What are your thoughts on doing the 500 that time of year ?

You'll avoid the midges, but flirt with the snow and ice, I would imagine. One could be irritating, whilst the other damn expensive !

I fancy doing Scotland but its two extra days just to get there and back from way down South.

You haven't to look at it like that mr N , focus on the route to the start point & that itself would be worth the journey north & back
Depending on route taken there's the Peak District , the Ribble valley , Bowland Fells , Lakes , Dales , Pennines & that's before you cross the border then you have the Cairngorm,s , Glencoe , The Loch's all before the 500 starts

I agree, but taking the scenic route to the boarder, just adds more days to the trip and uses up Annual Leave.. I believe 4-5 days are required for the NC500 without rushing it, so adding 2 days travel each side if that makes it unattractive.

I dont think I could drive the Alpina with my arse on the floor for 9 days solid. The 5 series Yes, but not the Zed !
Its a shame you can no longer put a car on the train in the UK

Number5 wrote:I dont think I could drive the Alpina with my arse on the floor for 9 days solid.

Point taken , not a problem for me since I upgraded to the 89

5 days total is fine Alan. We kicked off at 10ish each day until around six with a few stops each day, and did it in 2.5 days

srhutch wrote:5 days total is fine Alan. We kicked off at 10ish each day until around six with a few stops each day, and did it in 2.5 days

5 days from Sussex ? We'll have to discuss when I next see you and I'll decide if its going to be the next one on my calendar.

mr wilks wrote:
Great insight there Andy , still on my horizon to do but no chance now until at least the Xmas hols or possibly late January .
What are your thoughts on doing the 500 that time of year ?

Me and the misses are planning to do this also next year also. Wonder if there's anyone else and we could have ourselves a Zed convoy.

cerbera wrote:

mr wilks wrote:
Great insight there Andy , still on my horizon to do but no chance now until at least the Xmas hols or possibly late January .
What are your thoughts on doing the 500 that time of year ?

Me and the misses are planning to do this also next year also. Wonder if there's anyone else and we could have ourselves a Zed convoy.

We are finally back at Inverness before taking a trip past Loch Ness tomorrow, tonight though we are going dolphin watching down at Chanonry Point.

It will be tough to take a large bunch of Z4's because a lot of the roads are single pass with limited pass area's, it maybe possible to do it in small groups though

Here is a taster of what you can expect

Smoo Caves

Number5 wrote:

srhutch wrote:5 days total is fine Alan. We kicked off at 10ish each day until around six with a few stops each day, and did it in 2.5 days

5 days from Sussex ? We'll have to discuss when I next see you and I'll decide if its going to be the next one on my calendar.

Indeed. Left Sussex around 6am, got to Inverness around 5pm. Thursday-Saturday the nc500 and returned home on the Sunday arriving around 7pm from memory.