Ten forgotten villages worth visiting on the NC500Ten forgotten villages worth visiting on the NC500
Ten forgotten villages worth visiting on the NC500

Ten forgotten villages worth detouring to while on the NC500

The NC500 has become hugely popular in recent years with the Highland tourism trade booming from the traffic.
By Beth Murray
Published 17th Oct 2020, 08:32 BST

The route takes you along the northern coast enjoying some of the most beautiful scenery Scotland has to offer, but the Highlands are vast and there are lots of places to enjoy if

you detour from the usual route.

Here are our top ten villages worth detouring to while on the North Coast 500.

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Lairg is a parish in Sutherland that can be found about 25 minutes inland off the A9, just south of Golspie. Alternatively you can reach it via Bonar Bridge. What makes Lairg unique is its size, it's a fairly large settlement in comparison to other non-coastal Highland villages. Lairg has four roads which meet in the village and was once known as 'the crossroads of the north'. You can get to Lairg by train on the Far North Line which made the north-west of Sutherland must easier to travel to from Inverness.

1. Lairg

Lairg is a parish in Sutherland that can be found about 25 minutes inland off the A9, just south of Golspie. Alternatively you can reach it via Bonar Bridge. What makes Lairg unique is its size, it's a fairly large settlement in comparison to other non-coastal Highland villages. Lairg has four roads which meet in the village and was once known as 'the crossroads of the north'. You can get to Lairg by train on the Far North Line which made the north-west of Sutherland must easier to travel to from Inverness. Photo: JPIMedia

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Nethy Bridge is known as the 'forest village' for its beautiful woodland and extensive wildlife. It's a little village in Strathspey which lies within the historical parish of Abernethy and Kincardine. Nethy isn't quite a considered a secret as it enjoys tourist trade in the summer months, but being just south of Inverness means that people travelling to do the NC500 often forget about this gem.

2. Nethy Bridge

Nethy Bridge is known as the 'forest village' for its beautiful woodland and extensive wildlife. It's a little village in Strathspey which lies within the historical parish of Abernethy and Kincardine. Nethy isn't quite a considered a secret as it enjoys tourist trade in the summer months, but being just south of Inverness means that people travelling to do the NC500 often forget about this gem. Photo: JPIMedia

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Nethy Bridge is known as the 'forest village' for its beautiful woodland and extensive wildlife inhabitants. It's a little village in Strathspey which lies within the historical parish of Abernethy and Kincardine. Nethy isn't quite considered a secret as it enjoys tourist trade in the summer months, but being just south of Inverness means that people travelling to do the NC500 often forget about this gem.

3. Culbokie

Nethy Bridge is known as the 'forest village' for its beautiful woodland and extensive wildlife inhabitants. It's a little village in Strathspey which lies within the historical parish of Abernethy and Kincardine. Nethy isn't quite considered a secret as it enjoys tourist trade in the summer months, but being just south of Inverness means that people travelling to do the NC500 often forget about this gem. Photo: JPIMedia

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Found in the county of Sutherland, Altnaharra is a small hamlet named after the gaelic, Allt Na h-Eirbhe, meaning 'Stream at the boundary wall'. The closest villages to the small region are Lairg and Tongue. Loch's nearby include Loch Naver and Loch Eriboll. Like many of the locations featured on this list, Altnaharra is a great detour from the NC500 because it's inland and offers some spectacular scenery a little different to the coastal scenes the NC500 is famed for.

4. Altnaharra

Found in the county of Sutherland, Altnaharra is a small hamlet named after the gaelic, Allt Na h-Eirbhe, meaning 'Stream at the boundary wall'. The closest villages to the small region are Lairg and Tongue. Loch's nearby include Loch Naver and Loch Eriboll. Like many of the locations featured on this list, Altnaharra is a great detour from the NC500 because it's inland and offers some spectacular scenery a little different to the coastal scenes the NC500 is famed for. Photo: JPIMedia

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