There are few golfing odysseys which carry the same call to adventure as an NC500 golf trip.
A 500-mile journey through the wild and remote beauty of Scotland had always featured high on our bucket list. After all, we like to go where the road narrows, where the map thins out, where the courses are not always the most famous, but often the most memorable. So when the opportunity came to explore the most northerly part of the Highlands, it wasn’t one we could resist.
Launched in 2015, the North Coast 500, or NC500, is one of the world’s great road trips. Beginning and ending in Inverness, it forms a loop around the northern tip of Scotland, taking in stops such as Applecross, Durness, Thurso, John O’Groats, Brora and Dornoch along the way. For golfers, it offers an embarrassment of riches with dozens of courses along the route, the mythical Royal Dornoch Golf Club among them. Travelling with my wife, I was to play five NC500 golf courses in as many days through some of the most breathtaking scenery in the Highlands.
What lay ahead was an NC500 golf journey that promised to blend the revered and the remote. The world-class and the wonderfully uncelebrated. For every Royal Dornoch, one of the great courses in the game, there is a Durness, perched on the edge of the map, or Reay, a pure links quietly getting on with things way up on the north coast. This was not going to be a trip built on marquee names alone. It was built on contrast. On movement. On the spaces between the rounds as much as the rounds themselves. It was time to take on the NC500. To wander it.
NC500 Begins: Royal Dornoch & Golspie
There are few better places to begin an NC500 golf trip than Dornoch. It sits just an hour north of Inverness, but it feels a world away. A small Highland town with a quiet confidence about it, where golf is beautifully unavoidable. We stayed two nights at the delightful Links House at Royal Dornoch, which is nothing short of joyous (you can read our review of that stay by clicking here). It’s close enough to the course to make you feel part of it, but with just enough distance to allow you to step back, slow down and take it all in too.
Our first round was at Royal Dornoch itself. And what a way to start. The stunning new clubhouse now stands guard over the 1st tee and the palpable excitement of golfers waiting to begin their round having made the pilgrimage from all corners of the world, is worth soaking up if you visit. It is never anything short of a magical experience to walk and play the Championship Links at Royal Dornoch.
The course unfolds in a way that feels both natural and endlessly engaging, the greens sit proudly above the fairways, the bunkers wait menacingly, in late spring the gorse is in bloom and glows yellow. It is a place where you find yourself looking around and taking in the scenery, as much as you are looking down at your ball. It was another memorable round and we left the course with that rare feeling that comes only from truly special places. It’s magical.
The next morning it was time to visit Golspie Golf Club , a seaside golf course which has a little bit of everything: links, heathland, parkland, all woven together in a way that feels both natural and slightly unexpected. One moment you are playing alongside the sea, the next you are turning inland, climbing gently into the hills and the pines with views that stretch far beyond the fairways. On one side the North Sea is your companion. On the other, Ben Bhraggie provides the backdrop. This mountain is home to the Duke of Sutherland monument, which overlooks Golspie. Locally, it is known as “The Mannie”. It is controversial because it honours George Leveson-Gower, the 1st Duke of Sutherland, who led the brutal, forced 19th century Highland Clearances.
Jeanette in the clubhouse, on the other hand, might be Golspie’s greatest ambassador and may well have a statue of her own in years to come. “First visit?” she asks with a warm smile. “You are in for a real treat! I have had so many Canadians and Americans come straight in after their round asking for a membership form, because they love it here. My only piece of advice here is this: don’t go left. You will either end up in the sea, or maybe like the Americans who hit a passing police car off the 1st tee. That was a funny story! They ended up as members here too!”
Her final line before she dashed off summed it up. “Sea on your left, the hills to your right, and all sorts of nature you don’t see every day, we are so blessed at Golspie. It’s good for the soul.” It certainly is. Golspie and Jeanette were the perfect bridge between Dornoch and what lay ahead on the NC500. By the time we packed the car to leave Dornoch, a familiar feeling had set in.
Heading North: Tain and Kylesku
Leaving Dornoch is never easy. Nor is leaving Links House. And yet how lucky we were to be in a place that makes saying goodbye so hard. We lingered longer than we needed to, walking down to the beach at Dornoch, into the clubhouse for one last coffee, driving slowly down Golf Road, glancing back towards the firth, neither of us quite ready to move on. But that, of course, is the nature of a journey like this. You fall in love with it, one place, one stop, one day at a time until the pull of what lies ahead eventually becomes too strong to ignore. And so it proved.
Our next stop was Tain Golf Club, just across the Dornoch Firth. Although it unquestionably exists in the shadow of its more famous neighbour, what it offers is equally authentic. Designed by Old Tom Morris himself, it carries a quieter charm – a little less polished perhaps, but no less enjoyable. Playing Tain felt like a reminder of what makes golf in this part of the world so special. It’s not just the headline names, but the depth. The variety. Every course has its own story to tell.
The road was calling. We skirted Skibo Castle and headed west as the drama of the North Coast 500 began to reveal itself. The further north and west you travel, the more spectacular the landscape becomes. The roads narrow. Traffic disappears. The scale of everything grows. Lochs appear without warning. Mountains rise and fall in the distance. The horizon seems to stretch just a little further with every mile. After a couple of hours, we were closing in on our next stop, Kylesku. As we approached journey’s end, we caught sight of Eas a’ Chual Aluinn, the tallest waterfall in the UK, but even that was dwarfed by the sheer scale of the surroundings.
Kylesku is one of those places that seems to appear almost without warning, a small Highland settlement held between water, mountains and sky. The famous Kylesku Bridge sweeps elegantly across the narrows of Loch a’ Chàirn Bhàin, its curved concrete span somehow both dramatic and perfectly at home in the landscape. Around it, sea lochs and mountains frame a landscape where the light seems to move constantly across the water. Kylesku is a place which seems to grow in beauty the longer you stay When we arrived, it felt like a road stop. By the time we left, it felt more like one of the defining memories of the trip. That evening, at the charming Kylesku Hotel, we sat at our dinner table, eating the freshest seafood you could wish for, looking out across the loch as the light softened. There wasn’t much conversation. There didn’t need to be. It was one of those rare moments where the place itself does all the talking for you.
As we checked out the next morning, we asked Leigh, the General Manager at the Kylesku Hotel, whether he could ever imagine living anywhere else. “No,” he said with a smile. “You see, all the clichés about living in the Highlands are true. The beauty, the sense of community, the warmth of the people here. It’s all true. And no crime. People really do leave their doors unlocked. It’s that kind of place.” He paused for a moment, then gestured out across the water. “And when you have views like this… why would you go anywhere else?” It was hard to argue with him.
Durness on the Edge of the Map
From Kylesku, we took the road north. In these parts, the Highlands have a fierce, wild beauty: sharp edges, craggy mountains and sudden changes of scale. Many will tell you to expect skies the colour of slate, heavy and grey, but for our NC500 golf trip it was an endless, improbable blue. It was as if, with every mile, we were leaving the rest of the world behind. Soon we were getting fleeting glimpses of the ocean to our west.
Somewhere on the road between Kylesku and Durness, I found myself recalling Robert Burns and his line, “My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.” It is easy to romanticise this part of Scotland, but very hard to resist doing so once you have felt its power for yourself. The Highlands have a way of following you home.
By the time we reached Durness, it felt like we had arrived somewhere few golfers ever quite make it to. The nine-hole course at Durness Golf Club sits high above Balnakeil Bay, with white sand and impossibly clear water stretching out below it. It is one of those places that stops you in your tracks, not because of anything manufactured, but because of how completely natural it all feels. There is no grand arrival. Just a small clubhouse, a handful of cars, and a course that seems to have been discovered rather than designed. We played nine, then played nine more. And somewhere along the way, without really noticing it, the golf took a back seat. The views, the space, the beauty, the sunshine, and the sense of being so far removed from everything else, it all began to take over. It is raw. Unpolished. At times unpredictable. But, make no mistake, Durness Golf Club is also completely unforgettable. It was a real highlight of the trip.
Tongue: A Different Kind of Retreat
From Durness, we turned east along the NC500 towards Tongue. The landscape shifted again here. The drama was still there, but it softened, felt more open, more expansive – greener, gentler. Soon the Kyle of Tongue stretched out alongside us, wide and still, with the majestic peaks of Ben Loyal rising in the distance like something half-imagined. We crossed the bridge over the estuary, which is fed by the Kinloch River to the south, and into the village of Tongue itself. After the raw wonder of Durness, it felt like the perfect place to slow down and take stock.
We settled in at the recently refurbished Tongue Hotel, a warm and quietly welcoming former 19th-century sporting lodge. Our feature king room boasted views across the water and from our free-standing, roll-top bath I could see the ruins of Castle Varrich, after which the restaurant here is named, on the headland opposite. The time to settle was much needed. The pace of the trip. The miles we had covered. The golf we had played. Tongue helped us make sense of it all.
The following morning would bring our final round of this NC500 golf trip.
NC500 Golf: Reay and the Northern Edge
Reay Golf Club sits just outside Thurso, a little further east along the NC500. While it doesn’t boast the visual drama of Durness, the views across Sandside Bay and the fairways which run through rumpled linksland, make it feel and look as though it has always belonged here.
It is often described as a hidden gem, but Reay was better than that. It felt like a reminder of what golf can be when it is left largely alone. The course has history, with roots reaching back to the late 19th century and later input from James Braid, but its real charm is in its honesty. The holes are fun, natural and full of character, the welcome is warm, and the whole experience carries the lovely sense of having found something authentic at the edge of the map.
From Reay, we pushed east towards Dunnet Head, the northernmost point of mainland Britain. Standing at the headland, with the wind coming in off the Pentland Firth and nothing but open water ahead of you all the way to Greenland, is quite something. Our next stop was John O’Groats, one of those places that carries a certain expectation, with a name that has travelled far beyond its geography. But standing there, looking out across the water towards the cliffs of the Orkney Islands, felt like a moment to remember. A marker on the edge of something.
From there we drove to see the stunning Duncansby Stacks and then south towards Wick. The sense of remoteness gradually loosened its grip. At some point along the drive, a sea fret swept in and kept us company all the way down the east coast. One moment the coastline was clear, the next wrapped in mist, our world reduced to a few yards of road and the soft outline of the land and occasionally, the sea beyond it. It felt fitting somehow, as though the Highlands were gently drawing a curtain across this incredible NC500 golf trip, asking us to hold on to what we had seen and cherish it.
As the mist lifted, familiar names began to reappear on road signs: first, Brora, then Golspie and Dornoch. Places that, only days earlier, had marked the beginning of the journey were now signposts on the way home. By the time we reached Inverness, something had shifted. Not dramatically. Not in a way that you could easily explain. But enough to know that the road had given us something much more than just a golf trip.
Why NC500 Golf Stays With You
Somewhere between Dornoch and Durness, between fairways and mountain lochs, it all became about something more. Golf was why we had come, of course, but when I think back to our NC500 golf trip, the overriding memory is of the time, the space and the beauty of it. And the feeling that, for a few days, my wife and I had stepped out of the rhythm of everyday life and into something altogether slower, quieter, more deliberate.
While the rest of the world seemed to be moving at full speed, we were operating at a completely different pace. A day behind. Maybe a week. And we were entirely content with that. The days stretched out. And it was wonderful. There was time to drive without rushing. To stop without reason. To stand, reflect and take it all in, rather than simply moving on to the next thing. The light lingered. The roads, despite their reputation, were straightforward to navigate, with passing places appearing just when you needed them. And around every corner, we felt like there was something worth slowing down for.
The beauty of the Highlands is often talked about, but it is hard to fully grasp until you are there. The beaches along the north-west coast took our breath away: white sand, clear, turquoise water. Vast, empty, untouched spaces. And the scale of it all, particularly in that far north-west corner, was jaw-dropping.
The people stay with you too. At Kylesku, at Tongue, back in Inverness, you hear it in the voices of the locals: contentment, pride in their communities. And then at dinner or breakfast you realise the NC500 draws people from all corners: Australia, America, Canada. We saw cars from the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Belgium. People come from all over the world to the NC500, all looking for something slightly different, but finding a shared sense of place and of time slowing down which belongs to all who make the journey.
And the golf? The golf is exceptional. Royal Dornoch will stay with you for all the reasons you might expect. Durness for reasons you couldn’t quite have imagined beforehand. Reay, Golspie and Tain each added something different, something real. But while the courses on an NC500 golf trip are wonderful, they are only part of what stays with you. What lingers are the moments in between. The drives. The views. The silence. The time you have to breathe, to lift your eyes from life and take it all in. That is what makes an NC500 golf trip so special. Not just where you play, but how it makes you feel while you are there.
Yes, we went for golf. What we found was space, silence, beauty, and a part of Scotland that will forever occupy a special place in our hearts.
*Ben & Claire Smith were guests of Links House at Royal Dornoch and Highland Coast Hotels.
NC500 Golf: Key Facts
Route: The North Coast 500, a 516-mile loop around the North Highlands of Scotland, beginning and ending in Inverness.
Launched: 2015.
Best for: Golfers who want a mix of world-class links, remote hidden gems, Highland scenery, hotels, food, beaches and proper road-trip adventure.
Recommended trip length: Five days works well for a focused NC500 golf trip. Seven to ten days gives more time for extra courses, distilleries, beaches, walks and slower travel.
Our route: Dornoch, Tain, Kylesku, Durness, Tongue, Reay, John O’Groats, Dunnet Head and Inverness.
Courses we played: Royal Dornoch, Tain, Golspie, Durness and Reay.
Golf courses to consider on or near the NC500: Royal Dornoch, Brora, Tain, Golspie, Reay, Durness, Fortrose & Rosemarkie, Wick, Thurso, Gairloch, Ullapool, Bonar Bridge, Muir of Ord, Inverness, The Kings Golf Club Inverness, Strathpeffer Spa, Alness, Aigas, Lochcarron, Isle of Skye, Portmahomack / Tarbat, Helmsdale, Lybster, Invergordon, Muir of Ord, Loch Ness, and Castle Stuart / Cabot Highlands.
Headline course: Royal Dornoch.
Hidden gem: Durness Golf Club.
Most underrated stops: Durness and Reay.
Best views: Balnakeil Bay at Durness, the Kylesku Bridge, the Kyle of Tongue, Dunnet Head, the road through the north-west Highlands, and the coastal stretch around Dornoch, Brora and Golspie.
Hotel stops from our trip” Links House at Royal Dornoch, Kylesku Hotel, Tongue Hotel and Lochardil House in Inverness.
Best time to go: Late spring to early autumn, when the days are longer and the light can be spectacular.
Best advice: Do not overfill the itinerary. The NC500 is not just about how many courses you play, but how much time you give yourself to enjoy everything between them.
Where We Stayed on Our NC500 Golf Trip
Links House at Royal Dornoch
Our base for the first two nights, and a wonderful way to begin the trip. Links House sits just moments from Royal Dornoch Golf Club and combines Highland warmth with understated luxury. It is close enough to feel part of the golf, but calm enough to let you properly slow down.
Read our Links House review here.
Kylesku Hotel
A spectacular loch side stop, enveloped by mountains and close to the iconic Kylesku Bridge, the charming Kylesku Hotel felt like the perfect place to pause, eat exceptional seafood and watch the light soften across the loch. One of the moments of the trip.
Visit Kylesku Hotel
Tongue Hotel
A recently refurbished former 19th-century sporting lodge overlooking the Kyle of Tongue. Warm, relaxed and full of Highland character, it gave us the space to slow down after Durness before heading on to Reay Golf Club (you can read our review of Reay by clicking here) the following morning.
Visit Tongue Hotel
Lochardil House, Inverness
Our final stop after completing the northern loop and returning south through the sea fret. Lochardil House offered a comfortable, quiet landing point in a beautiful part of Inverness.
Visit Lochardil House
Where We Played on Our NC500 Golf Trip
Royal Dornoch Golf Club
The headline act of any NC500 golf trip and one of the great links courses in the world. We began here, and it set the tone beautifully: history, drama, raised greens, strategic bunkering and that unmistakable sense of pilgrimage.
Read our Royal Dornoch guide here.
Tain Golf Club
A quieter but hugely enjoyable Old Tom Morris course just across the Dornoch Firth. Tain offers an authentic Highland links experience and is exactly the kind of course that shows the depth of golf in this part of Scotland.
Visit Tain Golf Club
Golspie Golf Club
One of the most underrated stops on the NC500. Golspie gives you links, heathland and parkland in one round, with the sea on one side and Ben Bhraggie rising on the other. Warm, characterful and full of charm.
Visit Golspie Golf Club
Durness Golf Club
A remote, unforgettable nine-hole links set above Balnakeil Bay. Durness is raw, beautiful and completely unique, with white sand, turquoise water and a sense of space that makes it one of the great hidden gems of Scottish golf.
Read our Durness Golf Club review here.
Reay Golf Club
A true links on the north coast, understated in the best possible way. Reay was the perfect final round of the trip: natural, honest, scenic and quietly full of character.
Read our Reay Golf Club guide here.
NC500 Golf Itinerary: How We Did It
There are countless ways to take on an NC500 golf trip. You could spend two weeks circling the Highlands, playing every course you come across. You could rush it in three days, chasing headline names and ticking boxes along the way. We chose something in between: Five days, five rounds. Enough time to experience the very best of the route, without losing the sense of movement and discovery that makes the North Coast 500 so special.
This is how we did it.
Day 1–2: Dornoch
We based ourselves in Dornoch for two nights, staying at the incredible Links House at Royal Dornoch. It gave us time to settle in, explore the town, and play both Royal Dornoch and Tain without feeling rushed. (For a full review of our stay at Links House at Royal Dornoch click here.)
Day 3: Golspie to Kylesku
We began the day at Golspie, one of the most underrated links courses in the Highlands, before heading north and west into the heart of the NC500. The drive to Kylesku is where the landscape begins to open up, roads narrowing as the scenery becomes more dramatic with every mile. We stayed at Kylesku Hotel, right on the water. Just stunning.
Day 4: Durness and Tongue
From Kylesku, we continued north to Durness, where we played one of the most memorable nine-hole courses anywhere in the world. After the round, we explored Balnakeil Beach before heading east to Tongue, where we stayed for the night. Charming. (You can read an in-depth write-up of our visit to Durness Golf Club by clicking here)
Day 5: Reay, John O’Groats and Inverness
Our final day began at Reay Golf Club, a pure links that perfectly captures the spirit of golf in the far north. From there, we pushed on to John O’Groats and Dunnet Head, the true northernmost point of mainland Britain, before turning south and returning to Inverness, collapsing into bed at Lochardil House.
It is a route that balances world-class golf with the kind of moments that make the North Coast 500 unforgettable. Not just the courses you play, but everything in between.
NC500 Golf: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is the NC500 good for golf?
Yes. The NC500 is one of the best golf road trips in Scotland, combining world-class links such as Royal Dornoch with remote, characterful courses including Durness, Reay, Golspie, Tain and Brora. It is not just about famous names, though. The real appeal of NC500 golf is the combination of courses, scenery, hotels, beaches, Highland roads and the sense of adventure between each round.
What are the best golf courses on the NC500?
The best golf courses on the NC500 include Royal Dornoch, Brora, Tain, Golspie, Reay, Durness, Fortrose & Rosemarkie, Wick, Thurso, Gairloch and Ullapool. Royal Dornoch is the standout championship course, while Durness and Reay offer more remote, memorable and adventurous golf experiences. With the NC500 starting and ending in Inverness you could also visit Cabot Highlands and Nairn, just along the coast.
What is the best NC500 golf itinerary?
A strong five-day NC500 golf itinerary could begin with two nights in Dornoch, playing Royal Dornoch and Tain, followed by Golspie and a drive to Kylesku. From there, continue to Durness, stay near Tongue, play Reay, visit John O’Groats and Dunnet Head, then return to Inverness. This balances excellent golf with enough time to enjoy the Highlands.
How many days do you need for an NC500 golf trip?
That completely depends on you. You could do it in one night. But that would be to miss the point. Five days is enough for a memorable NC500 golf trip if you plan carefully, but seven to ten days would allow more time for extra courses, longer lunches, coastal walks, distillery visits and slower travel. The NC500 rewards time, so avoid trying to play too many courses too quickly.
Where should you stay on an NC500 golf trip?
We stayed in some excellent hotels on our NC500 golf trip. We started at Links House at Royal Dornoch, then stayed at the charming Kylesku Hotel, before moving on to the Tongue Hotel and finally Lochardil House in Inverness. This created a natural route from world-class golf in Dornoch to the wilder north-west coast and back to Inverness.
Can you play Royal Dornoch on an NC500 golf trip?
Yes. Royal Dornoch is one of the great highlights of any NC500 golf trip and sits perfectly near the start or end of the route, depending on which direction you travel. It is one of the world’s finest links courses and should be booked well in advance.
Is Durness Golf Club worth including on an NC500 golf trip?
Absolutely. Durness Golf Club was one of the most memorable stops on the NC500. It is a nine-hole links with two sets of tees, set above Balnakeil Bay in the far north-west of Scotland. It is remote, beautiful, unpretentious and widely regarded as one of the world’s great outposts.
What is the most underrated golf course on the NC500?
Durness, Reay and Golspie all have strong claims. Durness is just unique and wonderful. Golspie offers a wonderful mix of links, heathland and parkland. Reay is an understated links on the north coast. Tain was great too. All of them capture the spirit of NC500 golf: authentic, scenic and full of character.
Should you drive the NC500 clockwise or anti-clockwise for golf?
Either direction can work, but for a NC500 golf trip it would be best to decide whether you want to start or finish with Royal Dornoch and go from there. If you start in the west, you could play Ullapool, then on up to Durness, across to Reay and then down to Golspie, Brora, Tain and Royal Dornoch. But equally if you want to start with Royal Dornoch, you could reverse that route.
Are the roads difficult on the NC500?
Some NC500 roads are narrow and require patience, especially in the more remote north-west sections, but they are all absolutely manageable if you take your time. I was actually surprised at how easy they were as all of the single-track stretches have regular passing places and generally we found all drivers courteous. The key is not to rush. The drive is part of the experience.
