West Highland way

A

ainscow73

Well-known member
Starting this on Monday and just wondering has anyone on here done it and have you got any tips. Giving myself 7 days with hopefully a climb up Ben Nevis on the 8th day
 
Not done it yet, but planning to at some point.
There used to be quite a lot of watering holes on the way I believe. Hope they are all still open for you.
Tis the midge season go prepared eg Skin so soft, incognito etc.
 
Done it twice and I'd do it again tomorrow if I could. I think there is a lot of nonsense about the tricky bits, with a good level of fitness, there are no hard bits, even the Devils staircase is just a small hill. Couple of bits alongside Loch Lomond are a bit scramble, a heavy pack makes it a challenge. We did 7 days first time, 6 the second.

You camping or B&B ing? pack as light as you can, it's a long way.

Advice would be plan your food supplies carefully. Balmaha, Bein Glass campsite, Green Wellie Stop at Tyndrum (full of all sorts, for dog food and a towel!) and Kinlochleven. Make sure you have top end waterproofs, midge repellant and preferably a head net, Rannoch Moor is Midge central dawn and dusk at this time of year. Make sure you carry enough water, burns not to be recommended.

Take a camera, some stunning scenery you never get from a car. Take your time, non of your days should be too long, and a lot of the paths are very good, much on General Wade's old military roads. It's way marked all the way, so navigation is straightforward.

Anything specific you need, DM me 👍
 
Tangerinemoss said:
Done it twice and I'd do it again tomorrow if I could. I think there is a lot of nonsense about the tricky bits, with a good level of fitness, there are no hard bits, even the Devils staircase is just a small hill. Couple of bits alongside Loch Lomond are a bit scramble, a heavy pack makes it a challenge. We did 7 days first time, 6 the second.

You camping or B&B ing? pack as light as you can, it's a long way.

Advice would be plan your food supplies carefully. Balmaha, Bein Glass campsite, Green Wellie Stop at Tyndrum (full of all sorts, for dog food and a towel!) and Kinlochleven. Make sure you have top end waterproofs, midge repellant and preferably a head net, Rannoch Moor is Midge central dawn and dusk at this time of year. Make sure you carry enough water, burns not to be recommended.

Take a camera, some stunning scenery you never get from a car. Take your time, non of your days should be too long, and a lot of the paths are very good, much on General Wade's old military roads. It's way marked all the way, so navigation is straightforward.

Anything specific you need, DM me 👍
Click to expand...

Any accommodation you would recommend TM please?
 
Tangerinemoss said:
Done it twice and I'd do it again tomorrow if I could. I think there is a lot of nonsense about the tricky bits, with a good level of fitness, there are no hard bits, even the Devils staircase is just a small hill. Couple of bits alongside Loch Lomond are a bit scramble, a heavy pack makes it a challenge. We did 7 days first time, 6 the second.

You camping or B&B ing? pack as light as you can, it's a long way.

Advice would be plan your food supplies carefully. Balmaha, Bein Glass campsite, Green Wellie Stop at Tyndrum (full of all sorts, for dog food and a towel!) and Kinlochleven. Make sure you have top end waterproofs, midge repellant and preferably a head net, Rannoch Moor is Midge central dawn and dusk at this time of year. Make sure you carry enough water, burns not to be recommended.

Take a camera, some stunning scenery you never get from a car. Take your time, non of your days should be too long, and a lot of the paths are very good, much on General Wade's old military roads. It's way marked all the way, so navigation is straightforward.

Anything specific you need, DM me 👍
Click to expand...
Thanks for that Tangerinemoss. Yes I wasbiriginally going to carry my pack all the way but came off my bike a week ago and still a bit sore so have decided to pay for baggage transfer. I am not going to carry loads of food because as you say there are places to eat along the way but am taking a stove to make brews and will get some food at the green welly at Tyndrum for the trek to bridge of orchy and then onwards to Kinlochleven. I was going to wild camp along the way apart from the restricted area but I have had to book campsites now because I am using the bag transfer. I am now only wild camping at the Inveroran Hotel. Got myself a water filter system so should be ok in that department but hopefully I won't have to use it. Really looking forward to this and if everything goes well I will have a crack at the coast to Coast or the Camino next year. Thanks very much for your advice mate, much appreciated
Tangerinemoss said:
Done it twice and I'd do it again tomorrow if I could. I think there is a lot of nonsense about the tricky bits, with a good level of fitness, there are no hard bits, even the Devils staircase is just a small hill. Couple of bits alongside Loch Lomond are a bit scramble, a heavy pack makes it a challenge. We did 7 days first time, 6 the second.

You camping or B&B ing? pack as light as you can, it's a long way.

Advice would be plan your food supplies carefully. Balmaha, Bein Glass campsite, Green Wellie Stop at Tyndrum (full of all sorts, for dog food and a towel!) and Kinlochleven. Make sure you have top end waterproofs, midge repellant and preferably a head net, Rannoch Moor is Midge central dawn and dusk at this time of year. Make sure you carry enough water, burns not to be recommended.

Take a camera, some stunning scenery you never get from a car. Take your time, non of your days should be too long, and a lot of the paths are very good, much on General Wade's old military roads. It's way marked all the way, so navigation is straightforward.

Anything specific you need, DM me 👍
Click to expand...
 
Voice of Reason said:
Any accommodation you would recommend TM please?
Click to expand...
Its a few years since we did it, so check reviews for current.

Drymen, place we stayed in shut, but loads of decent B&B's

Rowardennan Hotel was good, great big bar attached for eats. Friends stayed at the Youth Hostel there, too, was good and ate at the hotel.

Inveranan, the Drovers Hotel, if you can stay in the modern bit across the road from the pub. Pub is something else, 400 years old, good food, odd decor, haunted, rooms in the hotel were awful, probably not refurbished for 50 years!

Tyndrum, hotel we stayed in burnt down, loads of B&B's.

Bridge of Orchy hotel lovely, they have some little cabins out back too, stayed in them and very good, Great food. There were also rooms at the station, on railway carriages.

Kingshouse Hotel used to be the place to stay, but now a 5 star hotel. They do have a good bunkhouse, though. An alternative used by friends are wooden cabins at the Glencoe Ski resort.

Kinlochleven, we stayed at the MacDonald Hotel ( not part of the big chain), used it several times before and after. Decent food, and midge screens on the window.

Fort William, loads of B&Bs and hotels. Stayed at the Premier Inn a couple of times with work, get somewhere in the town, though, because if you book in Glen Nevis, you'll have to walk all the way back as the finish is at the far end of the high street. If you are in the pub in Fort William, strictly no football colours. Grog and Gruel a great place to eat, decent beer.


Seeing that video, colleague of mine ran it in less than 24 hours last year. He is an Ultra marathon nuttier, couldn't remember much about it !
 
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Tangerinemoss said:
Its a few years since we did it, so check reviews for current.

Drymen, place we stayed in shut, but loads of decent B&B's

Rowardennan Hotel was good, great big bar attached for eats. Friends stayed at the Youth Hostel there, too, was good and ate at the hotel.

Inveranan, the Drovers Hotel, if you can stay in the modern bit across the road from the pub. Pub is something else, 400 years old, good food, odd decor, haunted, rooms in the hotel were awful, probably not refurbished for 50 years!

Tyndrum, hotel we stayed in bunt down, loads of B&B's.

Bridger of Orchy hotel lovely, they have some little cabins out back too, stayed in them and very good, Great food. There were also rooms at the station, on railway carriages.

Kingshouse Hotel used to be the place to stay, but now a 5 star hotel. They do have a good bunkhouse, though. An alternative used by friends are wooden cabins at the Glencoe Ski resort.

Kinlochleven, we stayed at the MacDonald Hotel ( not part of the big chain), used it several times before and after. Decent food, and midge screens on the window.

Fort William, loads of B&Bs and hotels. Stayed at the Premier Inn a couple of times with work, get somewhere in the town, though, because if you book in Glen Nevis, you'll have to walk all the way back as the finish is at the far end of the high street. If you are in the pub in Fort William, strictly no football colours. Grog and Gruel a great place to eat, decent beer.


Seeing that video, colleague of mine ran it in less than 24 hours last year. He is an Ultra marathon nuttier, couldn't remember much about it !
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Cheers for that. Doing this walk on a budget so campsites all the way. I am at Drymen camping, sallochy camping at Rowardennan, Bienglas at Inveranan, Tyndrum holiday park, then wild camping at either the Inveroran Hotel or Kingshouse, Blackwater at Kinlochleven then 2 nights at Glen nevis campsite. Its cost me about £100 all told for campsites plus £70 for bag transfer plus an extra £25 because my train gets in late and I will miss the 1st drop off. Got my train ticket to Milngavie for £12 and my return from Fort William for £30 so would have been a cheap 8 day holiday if it wasn't for the baggage transfer. I will let you know how I get on and thanks for the advice
 
ainscow73 said:
Cheers for that. Doing this walk on a budget so campsites all the way. I am at Drymen camping, sallochy camping at Rowardennan, Bienglas at Inveranan, Tyndrum holiday park, then wild camping at either the Inveroran Hotel or Kingshouse, Blackwater at Kinlochleven then 2 nights at Glen nevis campsite. Its cost me about £100 all told for campsites plus £70 for bag transfer plus an extra £25 because my train gets in late and I will miss the 1st drop off. Got my train ticket to Milngavie for £12 and my return from Fort William for £30 so would have been a cheap 8 day holiday if it wasn't for the baggage transfer. I will let you know how I get on and thanks for the advice
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Good work doing it for that 👍 The train journey back to Glasgow is amazing, seem to remember its 4 hours or something, up and down glens. Enjoy, I'm sure you will. Think your waterproofs are going to get a workout
 
Tangerinemoss said:
Its a few years since we did it, so check reviews for current.

Drymen, place we stayed in shut, but loads of decent B&B's

Rowardennan Hotel was good, great big bar attached for eats. Friends stayed at the Youth Hostel there, too, was good and ate at the hotel.

Inveranan, the Drovers Hotel, if you can stay in the modern bit across the road from the pub. Pub is something else, 400 years old, good food, odd decor, haunted, rooms in the hotel were awful, probably not refurbished for 50 years!

Tyndrum, hotel we stayed in burnt down, loads of B&B's.

Bridge of Orchy hotel lovely, they have some little cabins out back too, stayed in them and very good, Great food. There were also rooms at the station, on railway carriages.

Kingshouse Hotel used to be the place to stay, but now a 5 star hotel. They do have a good bunkhouse, though. An alternative used by friends are wooden cabins at the Glencoe Ski resort.

Kinlochleven, we stayed at the MacDonald Hotel ( not part of the big chain), used it several times before and after. Decent food, and midge screens on the window.

Fort William, loads of B&Bs and hotels. Stayed at the Premier Inn a couple of times with work, get somewhere in the town, though, because if you book in Glen Nevis, you'll have to walk all the way back as the finish is at the far end of the high street. If you are in the pub in Fort William, strictly no football colours. Grog and Gruel a great place to eat, decent beer.


Seeing that video, colleague of mine ran it in less than 24 hours last year. He is an Ultra marathon nuttier, couldn't remember much about it !
Click to expand...

Brilliant thanks very much for taking the time to do that.
 
ainscow73 said:
Thanks for that Tangerinemoss. Yes I wasbiriginally going to carry my pack all the way but came off my bike a week ago and still a bit sore so have decided to pay for baggage transfer. I am not going to carry loads of food because as you say there are places to eat along the way but am taking a stove to make brews and will get some food at the green welly at Tyndrum for the trek to bridge of orchy and then onwards to Kinlochleven. I was going to wild camp along the way apart from the restricted area but I have had to book campsites now because I am using the bag transfer. I am now only wild camping at the Inveroran Hotel. Got myself a water filter system so should be ok in that department but hopefully I won't have to use it. Really looking forward to this and if everything goes well I will have a crack at the coast to Coast or the Camino next year. Thanks very much for your advice mate, much appreciated
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Good luck, should be a great walk
We are doing the Camino Ingles next month, I'll post some reviews.
 
As TAM says, a couple of us did it last year (pre-midge season)... We did it in 5 days (we were going to camp every night, but ended up only camping for a couple, due to weather and I pulled a calf muscle before the trip) - baggage transfer is the best money we spent - worth it's weight in gold ... Tyndrum campsite resembled more of a lake than a campsite on arrival (Those camping got drenched - we managed to upgraded to a lodge for £12 Each - Money well spent).. Wild Camping gets busy in the official spots, as do the camp sites... Some places (pubs) weren't serving food due to staff shortages (even Glencoe shut up shop early).. I'd take some bits to eat just in case - It wasn't uncommon to reach a destination only to find cold food / no food.

Best Places we ate along the way were

1. Inversnaid Bunk House
2. Tyndrum Inn
3. Real Food Cafe (Tyndrum) - Good Breakfast

(didn't bother with Green Welly as we'd been advised against by a local guide)

We also had a great night on the Whiskey in Kinlochleven...


I'm sure you'll have a great time... The weather will probably be better for you than us, but Midgies might be a pain in the arse....

The two most useful things for our trip proved to be...

1. Lightweight Plastic Poncho (About a few quid each).... Far more practical and useful than our expensive goretex jackets for that trip.
2. The phone number for a local travel guide (who helped us shift around accommodation and baggage drop plans on the hoof) - unfortunately I can't remember her details.

Three things I would definitely do next time...

1. Book lodges rather than camp
2. Book Baggage transfer
3. Build at least 1 night where I can get a hot bath

We didn't plan to do any of the three things above, but all happened unplanned during our trip and all made a big difference.
 
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Thanks BFC I am currently in Sallochy campsite in Rowardennan listening to the rain on the canvas quite basic here just a toilet not even any showers but hey ho. I was going to carry my gear but due to having an accident and hurting my ribs opted for the baggage transfer (£70) but had to pay £ 25 for a taxi to drop off at my 1st campsite because I was too late off the train but its probably the decision I made not to carry my gear. Had a lovely day today goong up Connick hill and seeing Loch Lomond for the 1st time and the weather hasn't been too bad. I know what you mean about booking a lodge but as I am travelling alone it can get quite expensive. Its only £9 a night here 👍👍😁. Thanks for all the advice mate and if I ever do it again will definately do a few things differently. I had a Wayfarer chicken korma and rice for my tea cold. 🤣🤣
 
ainscow73 said:
Thanks BFC I am currently in Sallochy campsite in Rowardennan listening to the rain on the canvas quite basic here just a toilet not even any showers but hey ho. I was going to carry my gear but due to having an accident and hurting my ribs opted for the baggage transfer (£70) but had to pay £ 25 for a taxi to drop off at my 1st campsite because I was too late off the train but its probably the decision I made not to carry my gear. Had a lovely day today goong up Connick hill and seeing Loch Lomond for the 1st time and the weather hasn't been too bad. I know what you mean about booking a lodge but as I am travelling alone it can get quite expensive. Its only £9 a night here 👍👍😁. Thanks for all the advice mate and if I ever do it again will definately do a few things differently. I had a Wayfarer chicken korma and rice for my tea cold. 🤣🤣
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The Beinglas campsite was pretty good if I remember rightly, so you should have a decent night tomorrow👍 There's a shop and a bit of a pub on there. ... We stopped off for burger and chips and a pint there on our way through from Inversnaid to Tyndrum.

Think we're likely to give it another go, so will be interested to hear how you go on for the rest of the trip... Keep us posted👍👍
 
ainscow73 said:
Thanks BFC I am currently in Sallochy campsite in Rowardennan listening to the rain on the canvas quite basic here just a toilet not even any showers but hey ho. I was going to carry my gear but due to having an accident and hurting my ribs opted for the baggage transfer (£70) but had to pay £ 25 for a taxi to drop off at my 1st campsite because I was too late off the train but its probably the decision I made not to carry my gear. Had a lovely day today goong up Connick hill and seeing Loch Lomond for the 1st time and the weather hasn't been too bad. I know what you mean about booking a lodge but as I am travelling alone it can get quite expensive. Its only £9 a night here 👍👍😁. Thanks for all the advice mate and if I ever do it again will definately do a few things differently. I had a Wayfarer chicken korma and rice for my tea cold. 🤣🤣
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Proper stuff, good luck, keep us updated
 
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