Scotland's North Coast 500 (plus a little bit more) in May 2017

[threepot]

Great!

[phamyen]

I'm happy about everything you bring it very interesting and helpful, thanks
Moto X3M

[yanky192]

Thanks for your great ride report fantastic pictures and what a presentation very informative .

[TravisGill]

Thanks for putting in the time to share your experience on the Scotland 500. We were there last month but with 5 days of forecast rain we decided to skip the 500 and head east to dryer regions. Your pictures definitely make me want to return someday. Thanks again!

[RandG]

I can't be the only one who hates the explosion of the NC500 It seems Scotland is now the go to destination for tourists, which is all good but as someone who loves the quiet roads and tranquillity of what my country can provide everywhere nowadays there is traffic, I recall the only busy time through Glencoe used to be July and August, it's busy through every month now

[crofty]

I don't think you're the only one by a long way. Many of the locals despise it too, but i guess they don't have a financial stake in it.
I don,t think it is only Scotland that is experiencing mass tourism, it seems to be everywhere.

[simonw]

I had rehearsed a whole load of facetious replies for comedy value (along the lines of "you're right, we need to all give our bikes back and close the forum, and put an end to all this exploring and touring once and for all" or "next year I'm doing Birmingham and the year after we're planning a tour of Liverpool") but decided they wouldn't be taken in the good humour they were intended

I can imagine the locals aren't best pleased at what must be a substantial increase in traffic over the last few years. Some will undoubtedly benefit - the eateries and B&Bs, for example, but many will see little or no benefit. For them it'll just be less peace and quiet and longer journey times. There's no easy answers to this, particularly because as we build on more and more of this tiny little piece of land we call the UK there are fewer and fewer unspoilt areas left to explore. We can at least mitigate it a little by behaving responsibly and courteously when we visit, and I hope that's what we did when we were privileged to ride the NC last year.