NC500 Golf Tour with a Private Chauffeur

The North Coast 500 passes near some of the finest links golf in the world. Royal Dornoch, Brora, Castle Stuart, Nairn — these are courses that serious golfers travel thousands of miles to play. Combine them into a single week-long loop with a private chauffeur and you have one of the best golf trips in Europe. We have been driving golfers around the Highlands for years. This is our guide to doing it properly.

Golf on the NC500: the courses

The NC500 route puts you within reach of at least nine courses worth playing. Royal Dornoch Championship Course is the headline act — a true links course on the Dornoch Firth, routinely ranked in the world top 10. The layout is natural, the turf fast and firm, and the setting is about as far from resort golf as you can get. Brora, 15 minutes further north, is a classic James Braid links with an electric fence around the perimeter to keep the Highland cattle off the greens. Castle Stuart, just outside Inverness, has hosted the Scottish Open and plays along the Moray Firth with views across to the Black Isle. Nairn has championship pedigree and the kind of fast-running fairways that reward ground game. These are genuine links courses — wind, firm turf, pot bunkers, real golf.

Day-by-day golf itinerary

We recommend seven days for the full NC500 golf tour. That gives you five rounds, a rest day on the west coast and enough time to enjoy the scenery between courses. Here is our standard itinerary — we adjust it to suit your dates, fitness and which courses matter most to you.

Day 1: Inverness. Arrive and settle in. If you are keen to play, we can fit in an afternoon round at Castle Stuart or Nairn — both within 20 minutes of the city. Castle Stuart is a strong opener: a modern links in superb condition, with wide fairways that ease you in.

Day 2: Drive north via the A9. Play Royal Dornoch. We head north early and aim for a morning tee time at the Championship Course. The drive is around 90 minutes. Royal Dornoch deserves a full day — the course takes four to four and a half hours, and you will want time in the clubhouse afterwards. Stay in Dornoch. Dinner at Links House or the Eagle Hotel.

Day 3: Play Brora or Royal Dornoch Struie Course. Brora is a 15-minute drive from Dornoch and should not be missed. It is a proper old-school links — no pretensions, wonderful turf, and yes, cattle graze right up to the edges. If you want a second crack at Dornoch, the Struie Course is excellent and far easier to get a time on. Afternoon: Dunrobin Castle is a five-minute drive from Brora and worth an hour. Stay Brora or Golspie.

Day 4: Continue north. Play Reay. Reay is a 9-hole links near Thurso, wild and exposed, sitting right on the north coast. It is not a championship course but it is an experience — raw, windy and utterly remote. After your round, we drive west to Durness. Stop at Smoo Cave and walk some of the north coast beaches. This is the most dramatic stretch of coastline in mainland Britain.

Day 5: Rest and touring day. No golf. We drive the west coast through Assynt, past Suilven and Stac Pollaidh, down through Lochinver and on to Ullapool. This is the scenery day — big mountains, empty single-track roads and the kind of landscape that makes you understand why people come back to the Highlands year after year. Read more in our NC500 private tour guide.

Day 6: Return south. Play Nairn or Fortrose & Rosemarkie. We head back towards Inverness. Nairn is the serious choice — a championship links that has hosted the Walker Cup. Fortrose & Rosemarkie is shorter and more relaxed, with the genuine chance of spotting bottlenose dolphins from the fairways on the Chanonry Point side. Stay in the Inverness area.

Day 7: Final round at Castle Stuart. Departure. If you did not play Castle Stuart on day one, this is your chance. If you did, play it again — it is that good. We drop you at Inverness Airport or your accommodation afterwards.

Why a chauffeur makes golf touring easier

Clubs stay in the vehicle for the entire trip. No boot-swapping at rental car offices, no cramming bags into a hatchback. Your driver handles all the course-to-hotel logistics — drop-off at the pro shop, pick-up after your round, luggage to the next hotel while you play.

After 18 holes and a few drams in the clubhouse, you do not want to be navigating single-track roads in fading light. We handle the driving. You handle the golf.

Our drivers know these courses. They can tell you which to prioritise if weather changes the plan, where the wind is likely to be worst, and which days to push through and which to ease off. That local knowledge is something a hire car cannot offer. See our full golf services for more on what we provide.

Royal Dornoch: the main event

Royal Dornoch Championship Course is the reason most golfers come to the Highlands. It is consistently ranked in the world top 10, and when you stand on the first tee looking out over the Dornoch Firth, you understand why. The course is natural links — no manufactured mounding, no imported sand. The raised greens are firm, fast and demand accuracy. Miss the putting surface and recovery from the run-off areas requires genuine imagination.

The Struie Course, on the same grounds, is a fine links in its own right and much easier to book. Many of our guests play the Championship in the morning and the Struie in the afternoon — a 36-hole Dornoch day that is hard to beat.

Book three to six months ahead for peak season (June to September). Green fees are around £250 for the Championship Course, around £100 for the Struie. The town of Dornoch is compact and has good dinner options: Links House for something more formal, the Eagle Hotel for reliable pub food and a solid whisky selection.

The courses you might not know

Brora. An electric fence runs around the course to keep Highland cattle and sheep off the greens. That tells you everything about the character of this place. It is a proper old-school links designed by James Braid, with natural bunkers, blind shots and greens that roll true. The green fee is a fraction of Dornoch and the experience is every bit as memorable.

Golspie. Five minutes from Brora, overlooked by most visiting golfers. The front nine runs along the shore with wide views up the coast. The back nine climbs into heather and gorse. Green fees are modest and you will likely have the course to yourself.

Fortrose & Rosemarkie. A short links on Chanonry Point, the best place in Britain to see bottlenose dolphins from dry land. The course is not long but the setting is extraordinary. Dolphins surface in the Moray Firth while you line up your putt. Not something you get at every course.

Reay. The most northerly mainland course in Scotland. Nine holes on exposed links ground above Sandside Bay. When the wind blows — and it usually does — this is as raw and honest as golf gets. It is not on most golfers' lists, which is precisely why it is worth the stop.

Booking your NC500 golf tour

We run NC500 golf tours from April through October. Peak season is May to September when the courses are at their best and daylight stretches past 10pm. We handle the driving, suggest the itinerary and can arrange tee times at every course on the route. You bring the clubs and the competitive spirit.

Get in touch to start planning, or read more about our golf transfer services across Scotland. If you are coming from the US, our Texas to Highlands golf guide covers the practical side of flying over for a Scottish golf trip.

Frequently asked questions