You can’t go to McScotland in a motorhome and not do the NC500. However, the NC500 isn’t the only motorhome route there. There is also the North East 250 and the South West Coastal 300 to name two. The Visit Scotland website has some great ideas for road trips around this beautiful country.
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What is the NE250?
To be honest we didn’t even realise that there were other motorhome routes than the NC500. It wasn’t until we were actually there that we stumbled across them as we were thinking about where to go after we had been round the NC500.
The NE250 is a circular route located, as the name suggests, in the North East of McScotland. It takes you through the whisky distilleries of Speyside, the spectacular mountain passes of the Cairngorms National Park, the famous castles of Royal Deeside, the Granite City of Aberdeen, the rugged North Sea coastline to the east, and the picturesque seaside villages of the Moray Firth Coast.
The Detail
Distance Covered: 488 miles in 7 days
Expenditure: Fuel £125; LPG £30; Site Fees/Parking £5; Groceries £115; Eating Out £17;
Stopovers: Portgordon; Rosehearty; Peterhead; Kirkhill Forest; Slewdrum Forest; Balleter; Tomintoul; Dufftown;
Where does the NE250 start?
We joined the route at Spey Bay, as that was the nearest place to where we finished the NC500 at Inverness. The recommended starting points are Aberdeen Airport, Ballindalloch and Glenshee. We followed the route clockwise along the Moray Firth and the so called sunshine coast, finishing at Portgordon for our first stopover.
Portgordon is well know as a place to see seals. Sadly there weren’t any there while we were, but there were plenty of cormorants on the harbour wall, as well as a rich diversity of other coastal flora and fauna.
Craigmin Bridge
From there we made our way along the coast, stopping at drybridge to take the short walk to Craigmin Bridge. The bridge has existed in its current state since around 1773 when it was built to carry a carriage drive to Letterfourie House over the steep ravine of the Burn of Letterfourie. It is thought that the upper, two-span tier was built on top of an existing, single-span structure, giving rise to the unusual design. This would likely have been because the a road leading up the ravine from the level of the lower tier, while suitable for foot traffic, would have been too steep for a carriage to manage.
Moray Firth Coast
Next stop Portnockie where we saw bow fiddle rock, so called because it resembles the tip of a fiddle bow. Then continuing along the coast to Cullen, of cullen skink fame where we stopped for a spot of lunch.
There are many lovely small villages along this stretch of coastline, Portsoy, Whiteshills, Banf, MacDuff to name a few. Eventually arriving at Rosehearty where we were made to feel very welcome. We both agreed that it was our favourite stop in McScotland to date. As it was bonfire night, we actually stayed a little out of town, but judging by the tractor loads of firewood their celebrations were going to be spectacular.
Sunshine Coast
Continuing round we came to Peterhead, a major fishing port. Some massive fishing boats, but not much activity the day we were there. Not sure whether that was because it was the weekend or down to the awful weather forecast.
Yes, this time we had taken note of the weather forecast. 60mph winds due overnight so we looked for somewhere to stop inland. Tried Aden Country Park – had to really as our sons name is Aden. Then onto Drinnies wood. Perfect. Remote, isolated and the pine trees meant that there was plenty of shelter from the wind.
Aberdeen to Balleter
Next we visited the extensive sand dunes of Balmedie Beach before arriving at the granite city of Aberdeen where we spent a very pleasant few hours wandering around.
Then Balleter, taking in Lumphanan Castle, the fairytale Craigievar Castle, Tomnarerie Stone circle, the AA phone box at Cambus O May and some scary halloween haylage bales. So much to see!
Balleter itself is a lovely Victorian village situated in the east of the Cairngorn Mountains. It is known for its spring water and is the closest village to Balmoral Castle, which sadly was closed to visitors when we were there.
Cairngorns
Onwards through the stunningly picturesque Cairngorn Mountains, through snowless ski resorts, visiting Braemar, of Highland Games fame, and Tomintoul, the highest village in McScotland before coming to Dufftown and the start of Malt Whisky country. A visit to one of the many distilleries is a must when visiting this area.
And that pretty much brought us back to where we had started the NE250. By now we had one eye one the weather. The first of the winter snows wasn’t too far off, so we decided to start making our way southwards. Meandering our way down through McScotland and down the Eastern side of England which I will talk about in my next post.
I haven’t gone into great detail about anything in particular in this post, so if you would like me to expand on anything please leave a comment and I will endeavor to write another separate post on the topic.
Happy Motorhoming.
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