The route
This is a suggested first route through the Scottish Highlands, built from the places already in the Old Route Retro atlas. It begins at Inverness, the gateway town of the north, and threads the atlas's Highland places: Loch Ness, the castles of the west, the glens around Glencoe, and the lochs of the south. It is a Highlands route, not the full North Coast 500 — that famous loop starts in the same town and runs far to the north, beyond the pages of the atlas — and every stop below links to its own place page, where the postcards filed for that location are gathered together.
The Scotland route shows the whole country, and holds every design currently filed under it.
Start in Inverness
Inverness is the natural starting point: the largest town of the northern Highlands, and the start and finish of the North Coast 500 loop. From here the atlas's Highlands route heads south and west, into the country of lochs and glens.
South to Loch Ness
Just south of Inverness, Loch Ness is the most famous of the Highland lochs, running long and dark between the hills — the first of the route's great waters.
West: Skye and the castle road
Heading west, the route reaches the castle country of the coast. Eilean Donan stands on its island where three lochs meet, one of the most photographed castles in Scotland, and beyond it Isle of Skye lifts its dark Cuillin ridges above the sea — the western edge of the atlas's Highlands.
South through the glens
Turning south, the route follows the glens back inland. The Glenfinnan Viaduct curves across its valley on the road to Fort William, the town at the foot of Ben Nevis, and beyond it Glencoe opens its great valley under the mountains — the most dramatic of the Highland glens.
The southern edge and the east
At the southern edge of the Highlands, Loch Lomond And The Trossachs marks the change from highland to lowland country, a national park of lochs and forested hills. To the east, the Cairngorms hold a different Highlands — broad plateaus rather than sharp ridges. The lowland cities of the east and south — Edinburgh, St Andrews, Stirling, Perth, Aberdeen, and Dundee — are a different Scotland again, with their own pages in the atlas beyond this route.
Planning the route
This is a suggested route from the Old Route Retro atlas, not an official itinerary, and it is deliberately not the full North Coast 500 loop. Spread over three to five relaxed days it covers the atlas's Highlands comfortably: a day for Inverness and Loch Ness, a day west to Skye, and a day or two for the glens and the southern lochs. Summer brings the crowds to Skye and Glencoe; the shoulder seasons are quieter.
Every stop in this guide is a real page in the atlas. Open the Scotland route to browse every design currently filed under it.
Where does the Scottish Highlands route start?
It starts at Inverness, the gateway town of the northern Highlands — the same town where the North Coast 500 begins and ends. From there the atlas route heads south and west through the lochs and glens.
How long does the route take?
As a suggested route it has no fixed length. Three to five relaxed days cover the atlas's Highlands — a day for Inverness and Loch Ness, a day west to Skye, and a day or two for the glens and the southern lochs. Each place page stands alone, so you can follow any single stop on its own.
Is this the North Coast 500?
No. The North Coast 500 is the famous loop that begins and ends in Inverness and runs far up the northern coast, beyond the pages of the atlas. This is the Old Route Retro Highlands route: a shorter journey through the places the atlas actually files — Loch Ness, Skye, Glencoe, and the southern lochs — with the North Coast 500 kept as the anchor it shares with the route.