3-Day North Coast 500 Tour from Inverness

We did the one day tour out of Inverness for the 500 (me with my older parents) -didn’t see that as an option to choose on here to review. We had Emily as our tour guide and driver. She was AMAZING! She gave an amazing narration on the whole drive and was super approachable and kind - you can ask her anything. I do a lot of travel for work and like to add on some time to adventure in the new places I am visiting. So I do lots of one day tours. This one was superb. Would highly recommend to anyone. You will learn a lot and can take a break from driving!

If you don't want to, or can't, drive around the NC500 yourself this is a great option. My only regret is that the tour isn't a day longer as it would have been nice to spend a little longer at some of the stops. Our guide Mick was excellent. I even enjoyed our first day, driving up to Ullapool, when the weather was horrendous and the cloud was so low you couldn't see any of the views. On the plus side the heavy rain made the flow of water at Corrieshalloch Gorge and Smoo Cave very impressive. My only warning about the tour would be that for anyone with limited mobility seeing some of the sights may prove difficult, or impossible. Quite often there was a walk along rough paths or steps due to the parking being a little way from the point of interest. This was particularly the case for Smoo Cave and Castle Sinclair/Grinigoe Castle. This was my first Rabbie's tour and I'd happily recommend the company to anyone. I'm now looking at the other multiday tours the company run in Scotland and Ireland!

The Rabbies 3 day tour of the North Coast 500 was enjoyable and our driver, Camille, was fantastic. The scenery on the first day was stunning, good on the 2nd day, and just so so on the 3rd down the east coast. The tiny single track roads made for challenging driving and parking and Camille was a total pro. Clearly she has worked very hard on her driving skills and on the music and information shared during the trip. With a very small group, we could spread out in the 16 person van. With many more participants, the trip would have felt very tight and claustrophobic on small roads. The 4 rating is based primarily on the structure of the trip with days ending at 6pm when all shops were closed. That timing plus locations of B&Bs in particular, outside of the centers of town were less preferable. Our hotel and the onsite restaurant in Ullapool was fine. The lunch stop in Wick was not good (industrial wharf area for a brief lunch stop) and the location of the hotel in Thurso was ok but out from town. Thurso did not seem like a great stop. Entry to a couple of stops was not included in the tour cost, which was surprising. Overall, the trip provided sights as advertised and we are glad we took it, with the suggestions here. It is a lot of driving/sitting on a bus. We might suggest the shorter tour to Applecross and back to Inverness as a better alternative.

Beautiful country, with history & geological knowledge sprinkled in along the tour. Eilidh was a wonderful guide and very sensitive to the varying needs of the travelers in her care. She has a great love for this part of the world and it shows in how much she delights in sharing it. Also a terrific playlist!! Rabbie’s tours are always equal parts beautiful sights and well informed guides! This was my first overnight experience with Rabbie’s and it went very smoothly. I booked the tour thru Viator and am curious about the hotel choices they made on my behalf but overall it was ok. Of the 16 people on the bus we were booked in 3-4 different hotels each night. Some made res on their own, some thru Rabbie’s and others thru agents. The quality of the hotels were not always similar. So if you are picky about your accommodations I’d advise do your own research.

What a wonderful tour! Liam was a terrific driver and guide. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and the towns were picturesque with friendly people and delicious food at every stop. Highly recommend!