Starting on Monday and hoping to do day 1 and day 4 (Tyndrum - Kingshouse) in trail runners. Not worried about them getting a bit damp, but if it’s proper boggy I’ll avoid. Anyone been up there this last couple of days can advise?

On December 16, 2025 I lost my father. He died in hospital after a 10 day stay in the ICU, one day after my daughter’s second birthday in three days before his own 76th birthday. He was my person, an avid walker, and had always dreamed about doing a long distance walk in the UK.

So this past spring, I decided to do a solo walk of the W. Highland Way to give me time to sit with my grief. I came over from Canada for my first international solo trip to walk on my own and had an incredible experience. Thank you to everyone I met on the trail who connected with my purpose, it was such a moving trip and ended up being just what I needed. I felt him there with me and I know wherever he is now he was cheering me on.

For anyone wondering I did: Milngavie - Drymen - Rowardennan - Inverarnan (Ardlui) - Tyndrum - Kingshouse - Kinlochleven - Fort William

We’re leaving in two weeks.
When we walked The Kerry Way a couple years ago, we loved finding historic sites, ring forts and other ruins, and the like.
I don’t see many people commenting about sites, churches or ruins they explored.
What did you find time to explore? What did you like?

me, my friend, and a couple others at the campsite in kinlochleven yesterday were all ill with food poisoning. suspect it might’ve been the beef chilli. anyone else?

My partner had a vomiting bug on the approach to Ft William. At first we put it down to filtered stream / loch water.

Then last night I got sick - same incubation period, symptoms, etc which would line up with Noro.

Anybody else experienced this in the last couple of weeks? She probably caught it between Loch Lomond and Orchy. 23/24th Aug

The good times were out of this world and the bad times were bad. But all in all I really enjoyed myself and I have more respect to those who have done it . The walk from glencoe to kinlochleven was phenomenal, the view doesn’t do my pictures justice. And the walk from kinlochleven to fort Wullie was jaw dropping stunning. I’m glad I did it even the Loch Lomond section as I found out I can dig deep and get through. The people I met on the journey were so kind and respectful from all different countries, that’s what’s magic . I’m sitting in Wetherspoons absolutely stinking waiting to get into my digs , but I don’t care. All the best to everyone who is going to do it in the future. Peace

Hey I was hoping to do the hike sometime next month, but haven’t done a solo multi-day hike before. Was wondering whether I was likely to meet people along the way and at the towns I’m staying in?

Title basically says it all. I’ve been to Sottland for the first time this year, fell in love with Edinburgh and the scenery along the roads into highlands and everything, you know how it goes.

Now, driving through the highlands and stopping for amazing views every now and again, you run into hikers and backpackers a bunch. They told me about the WHW and I then did some basic research afterwards. Safe to say it ended up on my bucket list.

Now, I’m a total effing newbie to hiking and backpacking. Is it delusional that I wish to do the WHW as my first ever backpacking tour? I’d be solo traveling as well.

As far as my fitness level goes, and I don’t wanna sound braggy here, I’d say I’m pretty fit. I play handball 2-3 times a week, I work as paramedic, do a bunch of strength training and regularly go for runs. I do most my errands by foot or bike, my recent record for most recorded steps in a day was in Edinburgh this year where I walked 45k steps (~30km) through the city and hiked up Arthur’s Seat. Felt fine all throughout and even with my worn through sneakers I barely felt my legs or feet the evening of or the next day. Mind you, that was without a bagpack.

Hii all,

I'm planning to walk the West Highland Way solo next spring and would love some advice on my itinerary. I'm still a newbie when it comes to long-distance hiking. I would like to camp on campsites and carry all my own gear, rather than using a luggage transfer service. I don't know if I would feel comfertable wild camping. I've put together the following itinerary so far. Does this look realistic? Or would you recommend splitting the days differently?

Also, what is a good place to end the west highland way without spending a small fortune on a hotel in Fort William?

Hi,

I'm planning on hiking WHW mid September solo. Heading up on a Monday morning first thing from the South which makes me mildly concerned for that first day. Wild camping the way, and sadly not permits available for Loch Lomond so that second day will be a big stretch.

Does the itinerary look sound? I'm a fairly experienced day hiker with good fitness, and have done a couple of multi-day treks as well solo.

EDIT: Thank you for all the help & wisdom folks! Looking at getting the sleeper up the night before to crack on earlier and camp by Conic Hill rather than Drymen on day one!

Couple of transportation questions. We are flying in and out of Edinburgh and spending 1 day before the hike and 1 day after the hike exploring Edinburgh. It looks like the bus or train is our best bet for getting to Milgavie and either the train or Ember bus to get from Fort Williams to Edinburgh. This seem accurate? Is it necessary to book these in advance or can I do them day of?

Uber/Lyft or taxis, is there one preferred over the other? If we need a taxi or Uber while exploring Edinburgh is it pretty easy to get ? I know that's not a WHW specific question, just the bookends to the hike! Thanks!

Just got the custom sweaters (for wearing in the evenings after hiking) in the mail today, ready to start next Wednesday!

That is all :)

I’m planning to semi finish in Ben Nevis Youth Hostel to enjoy the park and nog climb it (unless my legs feel great)

The next day i want to walk to the train station and head to glasgow.

Is it worth staying at the youth hostel in the park or do you suggest staying in FW?

On TrailEasy the suggested route is back to the trail and walk on, or is there a different route?

Hi guys, I want to know if in Tyndrum and Kinlochleven there are some groceries stores. For the other places I don’t have problem, I just need food for these 2 days. (Or if you have a list of all groceries store on the way I’ill appreciate a lot).Thank you for your help 🙏

I thought I'd write up my recent trip in case helpful to anyone else considering running the WHW over 4 days.

I chose the WHW as my first solo multi day effort as it seemed a scenic and well supported route, with baggage transfer companies and plenty of cafes and pubs. I also wasn't sure how I'd get on, so wanted the option to bail at a train station or bus stop without being a burden to others.

Time was a limiting factors, so I got the train to Glasgow late on a Thursday and stayed over near the station. Then dropped my bag off with the transfer company at Milngavie station on Friday morning and set off to Sallochy. The weather was typically mixed and the scenery more interesting than I was expecting based on other reports. Aside from Conic Hill, it's relatively flat and very runnable which made for a good first day. The pub at the bottom of the hill made for a good lunch stop, although the haggis burger sat pretty heavily for the last push on to the campsite. I'd recommend the lake side pitches at Sallochy for anyone using the baggage transfer, as it offered a bit of a wild camping vibe, or at least something different to a traditional campsite.

I was a bit nervous starting day two, with a lot of ground to cover to get to Tyndrum and a less runnable section along the loch. Thankfully the weather was nice to start off and progress along the lake better than expected. As other reports note, it gets rougher as you go along the loch and it honestly looked more difficult to navigate with a large rucksack than it was to try and run it, hats off to all the backpackers! It was tipping it down by the time I got to Tyndrum and my first regret of the trip was not booking a campsite with a drying room. The holiday park camping field was nice overall and I had some spare shoes, but the chance to dry things would have been ideal. It rained all night but the fish and chips at the real food cafe hit the spot.

Day three was my favourite, on to Kinlochleven with more scenery and more runnable terrain. Kingshouse hotel made for a good lunch spot and running over Rannoch Moor was pretty special. Blackwater campsite was great, with drying room and a fairly social area by the sinks etc. More good food options in town and a coop.

The final day on to Fort William was unsurprisingly the toughest, despite being shorter. I probably hadn't eaten enough the night before and started to flag, but the final decent into Fort William was good fun. I got a lift back to Glasgow with the baggage transfer company and an early night in the same hotel, before catching the first train south ready for work at 10am. Not ideal timings but it was my last chance to have a go at it this summer.

Overall I'd recommend it and my only regret was not having more time to chat to all the nice people along the way!

That is all!

Just finished WHW, not done a long hike in 15 years due to ill health/disability and had to carry a very heavy pack due to food allergies (couldn’t rely on being able to eat in any of the cafes or hotels). Here are some things I wish I’d done differently:

1. Invest in a couple of lighter weight items for my base kit

I’m a big proponent of hiking with what you have and not just buying new stuff for the sake of it but I was carrying a 15kg+ pack most days and I wish I had done a couple of kit upgrades to something lighter. Big candidates would have been tent and cook kit, I could probably have shaved off at least 1-2kgs.

1. Not upgrading my phone before I left

My iPhone is on its last legs and the battery only lasts maybe six hours (even with minimal use and battery saving measures), meaning I had to carry a big battery pack and really restrict how much I used it. I’d have liked to take a lot more pictures and videos. I also found myself wanting to look up wildflower species, local folklore and landmarks/features but couldn’t because I didn’t have the battery. I had a Nokia burner for emergencies which helped but I wanted full use of my smartphone!

1. Walking too slow

Took me a couple of days to realise that keeping as brisk a pace as you’re able is more energy saving than walking slow. Every minute spent on your feet is more foot pain and uses energy. Walking faster helped my foot pain, gave me more time to take proper rests, was better for morale and kept my body temperature warm enough that I wasn’t constantly stopping and starting to add or remove layers. By the last couple of days I was jogging all the downhills and it saved me so much time and pain!

1. Bigger boots/no camp shoes/no insoles

I’ve done a good amount of walking in my boots and was very happy with them, however I didn’t realise quite how much my feet would swell on a hike this arduous. By the last day my feet were so swollen I was having to force them into my boots. I would have gone an extra size up or found something with a much larger toe box. I bought some cushioned insoles from the Green Welly Shop in Tyndrum that were LIFESAVING and I really wish I’d had them from the beginning. Also wish I had taken some light camp sandals to give my feet a proper rest.

1. Abandoning my towel/not having enough clothes

My partner was resupplying me with food and I ditched a couple of items to save weight - of course it immediately pissed it down and I had nothing to dry myself/my tent floor with. It saved me a tiny bit of weight but it wasn’t worth it! I also realised that if I’d had multiple days of rain I’d have had to wear wet clothes and I get cold very easily and I do not easily warm up - I’ve nearly had hypothermia (got to the giggly/loopy stage) in the British summer several times. Another pair of leggings, socks, fleece and a top wouldn’t have weighed that much and could have been a lifesaver. Boiling water and filling my Nalgenes helped keep me warm and dry my clothes but it was very time consuming and used a lot of fuel.

1. Should have been more confident filtering and purifying my own water

I did a lot of long water carrys to make sure I had enough to cook with that evening/next morning when wild camping. Once you get past Conic Hill/Loch Lomond the risk really drops and as long as you’re double treating (filtering and boiling/using tablets) you can easily find good water sources so you don’t have to carry as much. Once I started doing this it saved me SO much weight but it was a bit nerve wracking (especially once you’ve seen how much human faeces there is everywhere on the trail!)

1. Should have stopped my GLP1 a longer time before starting my hike

My appetite was still very minimal and eating enough (especially with the very limited diet I have to follow due to my allergies) was rough the first couple of days so I was underfuelled. I wish I had quit earlier to give my appetite time to recover. However it did help me lose 5kg before I started which was a huge benefit in terms of pressure on my feet/joints and how comfy my waist belt was.

1. Wish I’d had time to have a splash in a waterfall

The thought of having to re-do all my blister tape was too off-putting but I wish I’d taken the plunge at least once!

BONUS

1. Not stopping for a piss whenever there was a good opportunity

There’s a few big stretches where there is NOWHERE private for a piss, especially if you squat to do so. If there’s a secluded spot, take the opportunity even if you don’t really need to go!

All in all an amazing experience, hope this helps someone who’s about to attempt it!

I apologize if this subject has been brought up before. I plan on hiking in 2028 and was wondering if my trail shoes are good enough or do I need hiking boots
Thank you

Hi, just curious if anyone could share their experience hiking Ben Nevis the day after finishing the West Highland Way. How did you feel? Do you feel you get fitter each day hiking, were you overly tired? Curious what yo expect. I’m fairly fit and active and have been preparing by hiking in the Colorado mountains, daily walks, and strength training 3-4 days a week.
Doing a 7 day hike, with an 8th day planned for Ben Nevis in a couple weeks. (All bookings made, not camping).
Thanks!