Scottish Highlands

Day 1: Arrive at Port of Menteith
Day 2: Drymen - Balmaha, 12 mi. (19 km)
Day 3: Balmaha - Rowardennan, 7 mi. (11 km)
Day 4: Rowardennan - Inverarnan, 14 mi. (23 km)
Day 5: Inverarnan - Crianlarich, 7 mi. (11 km)
Day 6: Crianlarich - Bridge of Orchy, 12 mi. (19 km)
Day 7: Bridge of Orchy - Kingshouse, 12 mi. (19 km)
Day 8: Kingshouse - Kinlochleven, 9 mi. (14 km),
Day 9: Kinlochleven - Fort William, 14 mi. (23 km)
Day 10: Depart Fort William

Day 1: Arrive at Port of Menteith
Upon your arrival in Port of Menteith, your host will meet you and run through your itinerary, answering any questions you may have. This tranquil village situated on the Lake of Menteith in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park is the perfect place to start your tour. Spend the evening as you wish - this is your home for the next three nights.

Overnight: Port of Menteith
Accommodation: Lake of Menteith Hotel, once the manse for the church, and now designed in the style of a New England Waterfront Inn. Dining at the Lake focuses on the finest Scottish produce simply prepared and perfectly complimenting the breathtaking surroundings. You will be accommodated in lake view superior rooms, based on availability.

Day 2: Drymen - Balmaha, 12 mi. (19 km)
Instead of starting out at Milngavie in the suburbs of Glasgow where the official West Highland Way begins (that can be organized if you wish to add the extra day), we suggest that you begin at Drymen, 18 miles to the north-west of Glasgow and not far from Loch Lomond. A transfer will be provided after breakfast for a day of uphill and down dale trekking. Start out with a trail through the Garadhban Forest, walking your first military road before the first of many stunning views across Loch Lomond, a National Park, "one of the most beautiful spectacles of nature" in the words of Sir Walter Scott. From the Lowlands, you ascend through the bracken up Conic Hill and into the Highlands, revealing the magnificence of Ben Lomond, Loch Lomond, and the Luss Hills. From Balmaha, ‘the village by the water’, you will be transferred back to Cameron House.

Overnight: Port of Menteith
Accommodation: Lake of Menteith Hotel 

Day 3: Balmaha - Rowardennan, 7 mi. (11 km)
Today you climb up to Craigie Fort, showcasing Loch Lomond, Conic Hill, and the Highland Boundary Fault that marks the shift from Lowland to Highland, and the change in topography and landscape. You skirt the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park with its mature woodlands of pine and oak, home to the red deer, osprey, and golden eagle. While enjoying the magnificent views of Ptarmigan and craggy Ben Lomond, the most southerly of Scotland’s two hundred and eighty-two Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet), your soundtrack will be the music of nature. If the water level is low on Loch Lomond, you can view a crannog, a type of ancient loch dwelling.  You will pass your third night in the comfort of Cameron House.

Overnight: Port of Menteith
Accommodation: Lake of Menteith Hotel 

Day 4: Rowardennan - Inverarnan, 14 mi. (23 km)
Along the next two stretches of the Way, the path is demanding but rewarding. This section takes in the northern, more remote section of Loch Lomond. The sound of cascading water accompanies you as you trek the eastern shore of Loch Lomond with its intense form and color. William Wordsworth described it thus: "a very shower of beauty" You will be passing the hamlet of Inversnaid and entering the lands of the Clan MacGregor. You pass Rob Roy’s Cave, the place where the ‘Scottish Robin Hood’ detained prisoners and hostages in his fight against the Duke of Montrose over land, cattle, and homes. You hike through the woodlands of oak, birch, and pine, home to redstarts and wood warblers. At the end of the day, you will be transferred to Balquhidder for the first of two nights at the tranquil Monachyle Mhor on the shores of Loch Voil.

Overnight: Balquhidder
Accommodation: Monachyle Mhor Hotel, a boutique lochside hotel located at the foot of stunning Scottish mountains. Features an award-winning restaurant.
 

Day 5: Inverarnan - Crianlarich, 7 mi. (11 km)
Today you will trek one of the old military roads built in the eighteenth century by General Wade and Major Caulfield after the Jacobite Rising of 1715, the revolt against the English monarchy. Over one thousand miles were built to provide the English army's access to remote parts of Scotland. You will walk along the banks of the River Falloch, passing the beautiful Falls of Falloch which Dorothy Wordsworth (William Woodsworth's sister) described as follows, 'The noise of waters did not appear to come this way or that, from any particular quarter: it was everywhere, almost, one might say, as if "exhaled" through the whole surface of the green earth.' At times you will cross the imaginary British Watershed where waters falling on the west side drain into the Irish Sea and those on the east side flow into the North Sea. At Crianlarich, the ‘tree by the pass’, under the steady gaze of Ben More, Cruach Ardrain and An Caisteal, you will be transferred to Monachyle Mhor for a second night.

Overnight: Balquhidder
Accommodation: Monachyle Mhor Hotel

Day 6: Crianlarich - Bridge of Orchy, 12 mi. (19 km)
A beautiful balcony walk high above the sweeping glens along old military roads, undulating paths, and the River Fillan to the Priory and Holy Pool dedicated to St. Fillan, an Irish monk stretches before you today. The Priory lies near the battlefield of Dalrigh, the King's Field, where Robert the Bruce was defeated in 1306, casting his sword into the Lochan of the Legend of the Last Sword. St. Fillan redeemed himself eight years later by offering Robert the Bruce a portentous sign, the Mayne or arm-bone before his great victory over King Edward II of England at Bannockburn in 1314. Pass through Tyndrum, ‘the house on the ridge’, a cattle drover service station in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and on into a landscape of grass and heather. Tonight, and the next two nights, you will stay at Glencoe House in Glencoe, a beautiful mansion set in private ten-acre gardens.

Overnight: Glencoe
Accommodation: Glencoe House

Day 7: Bridge of Orchy - Kingshouse, 12 mi. (19 km)
You will stride out on one of the most beautiful stretches of the West Highland Way on the Old Glen Coe road across Rannoch Moor, Britain’s highest, with its sparkling black to blue lochs and lochans, a magnificent cloister of mountains in the distance. With views over salmon-filled Loch Tulla, you hike a magical and fantastic upland plateau of sweeping moorlands, rivers, burns, and lochs. At breeding time, you may see the black-throated divers and greenshanks, the dangerous wild bears and brown bears of the past are long gone. The route leads past the historic and legendary King’s House Hotel, today a welcome respite from any Highlands adventure. Tonight you pass your evening in comfort once again at the Glencoe House.

Overnight: Glencoe
Accommodation: Glencoe House, offering elegant accommodation located on 10 acres of private gardens in the heart of Scotland’s Highland. Glencoe House offers a range of food and beverages to suit your mood based on locally sourced ingredients.

Day 8: Kingshouse - Kinlochleven, 9 mi. (14 km)
This morning you ascend the Devil’s Staircase to the highest point on the West Highland Way (1,850 feet or 548 m) to admire the 'glen of weeping', the land that witnessed the Massacre of Glencoe, the slaughter of the MacDonalds by Captain Campbell after professed friendship and a twelve-night stay. Stunning views of one of the most loved of Munro peaks, Buachaille Etive Mòr, ascending in patches of light grey terracotta and black stone. On a clear day, you can see Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles, Carn Mor Dearg. and the Mamores. This evening you will enjoy your last night at the Glencoe House.

Overnight: Glencoe
Accommodation: Glencoe House

Day 9: Kinlochleven - Fort William, 14 mi. (23 km)
On one of the longer stages of this hike, you will walk Lairig Mor a glen with views to the summits of Mam na Gualainn and Beinn na Caillich. Make sure you take plenty of food and provisions as none is available along the way. The route leads past Mamore Lodge once used by Edward VII as a hunting lodge, and Lochan Lùnn Dà-Bhrà where Macbeth King of the Scots 1040 to 1057 once slept on a crannog, one of the 'stone age' platforms. You amble through forests of willow and birch, larch and pine before descending, into the glen and Fort Willliam. Congratulations you have arrived! You will then be transferred to the elegance of the Inverlochy Castle to celebrate your walk through the drama of Scotland's West Highlands.

Overnight: Fort William
Accommodation: Inverlochy Castle, a beautiful 19th-century castle surrounded by the luscious green of the evergreen trees and the sparkling blue from the nearby loch. Dining at 'Albert and Michel Roux Jr at Inverlochy Castle' is a culinary experience to savor, with the legendary father and son taking the helm of the kitchen and offering the finest dishes using local produce.

Day 10: Depart Fort William

If walking the Highlands isn't your flavor, check out our full list of walking tours or view all our featured bicycle tours, specials, and news.

On this lovely ten-day walking holiday you will be accommodated in luxury boutique hotels. Please check each day’s details for the preferred accommodation. Please take note that the hotels listed are based on availability. They are the first choice but occasionally there is a need for a hotel change.