Scottish Highlands

Day 1: Arrive at Port of Menteith (Loch Lomond)
Day 2: Glengoyne - Balmaha, 12 mi. (19 km)
Day 3: Balmaha - Rowardennan, 7 mi. (11 km)
Day 4: Rowardennan - Inversnaid, 7 mi. (12 km)
Day 5: Inverarsnaid - Inverarnan, 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 (Loch Lomond)
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: Loch Lomond
Accommodation: Cameron House:  situated on the banks of Loch Lomond, it is the perfect place to experience Scottish hospitality at its best. The restaurants within the resort offer delicious lochside dining at The Boat House Restaurant & Bar, and casual dining at The Clubhouse at Cameron.

Day 2: Glengoyne - 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: Loch Lomond
Accommodation: Cameron House

Day 3: Balmaha - Rowardennan, 7 mi. (11 km)
Today you climb up to Craigie Fort, showcasing Loch Lomond, Conic Hill, 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: Loch Lomond
Accommodation: Cameron House

Day 4: Rowardennan - Inversnaid, 7 mi. (12 km)
The path is demanding but rewarding along the next two stretches of the Way. 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 pass the hamlet of Inversnaid and enter the Clan MacGregor's lands. You pass Rob Roy’s Cave, 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 oak, birch, and pine woodlands, home to redstarts and wood warblers. It is then just a brief transfer to the Forest Hills Hotel and Spa.

Overnight: Loch Ard
Accommodation: Forest Hills Hotel and Spa: surrounded by sparkling lochs, rugged mountains and lush, wooded hills, Forest Hills Hotel & Resort sits in an of area of incredible natural beauty.

Day 5: Inversnaid- Inverarnan, 7 mi. (11 km)
Still walking beside the loch, you are entering the lands of the Clan MacGregor and passing Rob Roy’s Cave, where the ‘Scottish Robin Hood’ detained prisoners and hostages in his fight against the Duke of Montrose over land, cattle, and homes. Walk through oak, birch, and pine woodlands, home to redstarts and wood warblers. You are transferred to your next hotel The Bridge of Orchy, towered over by two Munros rising over 3000 feet.

Overnight: Bridge of Orchy
Accommodation: The Bridge of Orchy Hotel: Surrounded by some of Scotland's finest scenery, including several Munros, lochs and river fishing, skiing, distilleries and breweries and of course the famous bridge itself. 

Day 6: Crianlarich - Bridge of Orchy, 12 mi. (19 km)
You transfer today to Crianlarich where you start your 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. 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. Stay the first of three nights at Glencoe House, a beautiful mansion house set in private ten-acre gardens.

Overnight: Glencoe Glen
Accommodation: Glencoe House: A magnificent magnificent mansion house situated in the famous Glencoe Glen in the Highlands of Scotland. Glencoe House offers a range of food and beverages to suit your mood based on locally sourced ingredients.

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 Glen
Accommodation: Glencoe House

Day 8: Kingshouse - Kinlochleven, 9 mi. (14 km)
Following a morning ascent of the Devil’s Staircase to the highest point on the West Highland Way (1,850 feet or 548 m), you can admire the 'glen of weeping', the land that witnessed the Massacre of Glencoe. This event in history is an interesting read so if you have time, we encourage you to do so. 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 Glen
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
Today is the official end of your hiking holiday in Scotland.

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

On this lovely ten-day walking holiday, you will be accommodated in historic upscale hotels Please check each day’s details for the preferred accommodation. The hotels listed are based on availability and though they are the preferred hotels, occasionally there is a need for a hotel change. Be assured that you will be informed and that any alternative is of equal standard!