Scotland's answer to Route 66 hailed as UK's best driving route

The winding circuit that spans vast swathes of the nation’s Highland coastlines has been named the most spectacular drive in the UK.

The North Coast 500, a 516-mile journey across the northernmost stretches of the Scottish mainland, came top of a survey conducted by a US tourism body.

Billed as the Caledonian equivalent of Route 66, the famous US highway that connects Illinois to California, the picturesque route begins at Inverness Castle before heading north on the A862 through Dingwall and on to the Black Isle.

From there, it skirts the coastlines of Sutherland and Caithness before coming down into Wester Ross and the Applecross peninsula before turning inland back towards the capital of the Highlands.

The brainchild of the North Highland Initiative, backed by Prince Charles, the touring route was only officially launched last June.

In that time, however, it has helped raise awareness of the journey, particularly amongst visitors keen to explore Scotland’s wildernesses.

Its latest accolade comes from the Illinois Office of Tourism, which conducted a survey of 2,000 Britons. A fifth of people who responded picked the North Coast 500, pipping the South West Coast Pass route in Cornwall to the top spot.

According to Jim Hinckley, a travel writer and author of The Route 66 Encyclopedia, the two roads in Scotland and the US heartlands share a great deal in common.

“The highway voted as Britain’s favourite on the north coast of Scotland has some real parallels with Route 66,” he said.

“There are tremendous views, but it’s also a living, breathing part of the country’s history – a throwback to how roads used to be.

“So many roads these days are almost generic. Drive the Scottish north coast or Route 66 and you move away from the generic world.

They’ve got colour and a vibrancy, a real sense of excitement.”