bank holidays -
 

We are planning a trip to Scotland in May-June of 2020. Will the Bank Holiday at the end of May impact our time there? Should we plan earlier or later? Thanks

Not much differently than Memorial Day in the USA, which is on the same weekend, BTW. Lots of people travel on that weekend.

Just make sure you book your accommodation well in advance.

Thanks.
The plan is to take a barge cruise the first week (so that would be accommodation booked) then drive around the 500 route for a week or so. Still making plans.

If you are planning on driving the NC 500 it is vital you book your accomoadation and meals asap. There is no winging it on the route - it is incredibly popular and can be very busy. Be prepared some for singletrack roads, reversing a long way, idiots in rental motorhomes which are too big for the the route and they have no idea how to drive them expecting you to vanish into the side of the road whilst there is a pasing bay a few metres behind them or they use the passing bay but barely pull into it. Make sure you don't get in the way of the locals and the buses!
Yes we have driven it, in a Ford transit camper, and tbh I thought there were nicer bits of Scotland to visit. We would set off really early in the morning to avoid as much traffic as we could.

I do plan on booking accommodation soon. Hopefully this coming week.
What do you think are nicer bits to visit? I figure we'll only have 7-8 days and will be starting from Inverness.
thanks!

You can easily do it in that time. Aim to spend more time in the west, but don't rush through the east coast, explore the headlands and the Black Isle too. John O Groats is a drive by.

>>What do you think are nicer bits to visit? <<

IMHO - The NC 500 is a 4 yo old (successful) marketing scheme and is scenic but far from the be all and end all. There are countless other just as scenic, or more so, regions all over Scotland. If I had 3 or 4 weeks in Scotland I might devote 4-ish days to the 500 -- but that is only if I had already visited Mull and/or Skye, or the Aberdeenshire coast, etc. For me the southwest quadrant of the 500 (say Kyleskyu to Plockton) is absolutely terrific. But the Durness/Tongue/Thurso/John 'o Groats leg is a LOT of driving for not that much reward.

They saw how successful the 'Castle Trail', Whisky Trail, etc were so they invented the NC 500 to encourage people to visit the far NW.

Interesting. I must do some research.
thanks

It is a victim of it's own success tbh. We much prefered Caringorm and Ardnamurchan to most of it. Much quiter too. Argyll is another favourite area which is not so touristy, and has stunning lochs.

To follow on from hetismij2's post -- Ardnamurchan, Glencoe, Mull, Glen Etive, parts of Argyll, Skye (though Skye is too popular for its own good) and many other regions are are all as/more scenic as most of the 500 but with a heck of a lot shorter drive.