Scottish Highlands walking tours
| country: | Scotland |
| location: | Scottish Highlands |
| trip type: | Moderate walking holidays |
| departures: | 2010: 9 May, 11 Jul, 12 Sep |
| price: | From £1395 (14 days) excluding flights. Includes all transport, guiding and 13 nights full board accommodation. Excludes final night accommodation if staying in Edinburgh, additional tourist attractions, castle entrance fees etc. Single supplement from £200 |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Scottish Highlands walking tours
Truly discover Scotland with this 14 day moderate walking and hiking tour featuring what we consider to be some of the most scenic and dramatic parts of Scotland! We’ve included as much as possible within this holiday to let you experience the many different landscapes of the Scottish Highlands, but without it being a mad rush!
You’ll experience stunning mountains, deep lochs, beautiful forests, wild coastlines and some of the most remote and rugged parts of Scotland. Highlights include Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, the West Highland Way, Glencoe, an ascent of Ben Nevis, the Isle of Skye, the wilderness of the North West Highlands and finally the majestic mountains of the Cairngorms National Park area.
This walking holiday will not only feature a superb range of mountain and lower level walks but will also include several rest and sightseeing days, giving you the chance to appreciate highlights along the way such as Eilan Donan Castle, Loch Ness, Culloden battlefield and other areas of interest.
The holiday includes 13 nights accommodation and a total of 11 days walking, with several days between for accommodation transfer and a bit of rest and sightseeing. You’ll be seeing a lot of Scotland, but mostly on foot with no real big drives or days travelling on the road! With the exception of the last few days, the journey taken is mostly south to north, following the west coast route all the way and the scenery throughout is spectacular!
The first 2 days and nights are spent in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs area – Scotland’s first National Park, a widespread mosaic of forests, lochs and mountains. We then move further north to Glencoe, which is more rugged and dramatic and from here, you’ll have the chance to ascend Ben Nevis, Scotland and the UK’s highest mountain, as well as explore the glen itself. Four nights are then spent on Skye – the most famous of all Scottish islands!
Although 2 weeks could easily be spent here, we have just 3 days to give you a taste of what this island can offer in all its variety. Crossing back over to the mainland we then head even further north into the wilderness area of Torridon, where we have 2 days walking amongst some of the largest and rugged mountains we know. Our final few days then see us heading east via Inverness and south into the Cairngorms area – Scotland’s second National park and also extremely beautiful. Our last day of travel returns us back to Edinburgh by early afternoon where there may be the option of a final night out with a ceilidh in the city.
You’ll experience stunning mountains, deep lochs, beautiful forests, wild coastlines and some of the most remote and rugged parts of Scotland. Highlights include Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, the West Highland Way, Glencoe, an ascent of Ben Nevis, the Isle of Skye, the wilderness of the North West Highlands and finally the majestic mountains of the Cairngorms National Park area.
This walking holiday will not only feature a superb range of mountain and lower level walks but will also include several rest and sightseeing days, giving you the chance to appreciate highlights along the way such as Eilan Donan Castle, Loch Ness, Culloden battlefield and other areas of interest.
The holiday includes 13 nights accommodation and a total of 11 days walking, with several days between for accommodation transfer and a bit of rest and sightseeing. You’ll be seeing a lot of Scotland, but mostly on foot with no real big drives or days travelling on the road! With the exception of the last few days, the journey taken is mostly south to north, following the west coast route all the way and the scenery throughout is spectacular!
The first 2 days and nights are spent in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs area – Scotland’s first National Park, a widespread mosaic of forests, lochs and mountains. We then move further north to Glencoe, which is more rugged and dramatic and from here, you’ll have the chance to ascend Ben Nevis, Scotland and the UK’s highest mountain, as well as explore the glen itself. Four nights are then spent on Skye – the most famous of all Scottish islands!
Although 2 weeks could easily be spent here, we have just 3 days to give you a taste of what this island can offer in all its variety. Crossing back over to the mainland we then head even further north into the wilderness area of Torridon, where we have 2 days walking amongst some of the largest and rugged mountains we know. Our final few days then see us heading east via Inverness and south into the Cairngorms area – Scotland’s second National park and also extremely beautiful. Our last day of travel returns us back to Edinburgh by early afternoon where there may be the option of a final night out with a ceilidh in the city.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Ben A’an and The Trossachs: Easy first days walking up Ben A'an. This is a fine low 'mini mountain' in the heart of the Trossach hills – often referred to as “Scotland in miniature” due to the numerous lochs across the area and range of small mountains. |
| Day 2: | Ascent of Ben Lomond: Ben Lomond is a relatively high mountain and a long day’s walk, however the views from this summit are spectacular, looking out over Loch Lomond and to the many mountains further north. |
| Day 3: | Hidden Glen of Glencoe: Today we'll transfer to your new accommodation in Glen Coe, but will take time on the way north to appreciate the changing scenery as you move deeper into the Highlands. In the afternoon we will head off for a shorter walk into the "Hidden Glen" of Glencoe. |
| Day 4: | Ben Nevis: Today offers the opportunity for an ascent of Ben Nevis, Scotland and the UK's highest mountain. |
| Day 5: | Transfer to Skye: With time for a little shopping in Fort William and a look around the town, mid morning will see us on our way to Skye |
| Day 6: | Boreraig and Suisnish: Coastal walk in the south west of Skye to the deserted villages of Boreraig and Suisnish – former crofting communities destroyed during the “Highland Clearances” of the mid 1900’s. |
| Day 7: | Coire Lagan: Today’s walk gives you the chance to enter into the heart of the Cuillin mountains. Coire Laggan is one of the many bowl shaped hollows (corries) leading up into the higher peaks and is deserved in its reputation as the most spectacular of them all. |
| Day 8: | The Quirang and Meall na Suiramach: The Quirang is an incredible maze of rock pinnacles and cliffs towards the northern end of the Trotternish peninsula in the north of the Island. |
| Day 9: | Transfer to Torridon Area: An early morning start will return us back over to the mainland and heading further north into the rugged mountains of Torridon and the north-west highlands. En route we will also stop at Eilan Donan Castle. |
| Day 10: | Coire Mhic Fhearchair: Today’s hike in the Torridon area is into the majestic Coire Mhic Fhearchair - one of the finest and most impressive corries in Scotland. |
| Day 11: | Letterewe wilderness: A wonderfully varied circular walk from Kinlochewe into the heart of this wilderness area. One of the best walks we know of in fact! |
| Day 12: | Transfer to Newtonmore: Having reached the far northern extremities of your tour, the gradual journey southwards is begun today. We will be journeying to Newtonmore, but will take time along the way to explore some of Scotland’s history, with visits to Culloden battlefield, the Clava Cairns and of course the obligatory stop at Loch Ness!. |
| Day 13: | Cairngorm Mountain Wander: Today we introduce you to the delights of the Cairngorms with a thoroughly enjoyable walk of hugely varied character into the foothills of the Cairngorm mountains. |
| Day 14: | Transfer to Edinburgh. Final Evening of Tour: After breakfast we depart for Edinburgh, with an optional visit to the Dalwhinnie whisky distillery en-route. We arrive back in Edinburgh early afternoon, giving you some time to spend in the city if you wish. |
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
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All our guides have a minimum of the Summer Mountain Leader Award and have an extensive knowledge of the history, culture and wildlife of the Scottish Highlands. The guides are paid a professional wage and in addition, have their accommodation, food and travel expenses covered.
This two week odyssey around the Highlands and Skye features a variety of rural venues - accommodation is in small family run hotels and guest houses with evening meals in local restaurants and pubs. There are lots of opportunities for interaction with local people as our groups are often invited to locally arranged events and evening entertainment. Group size is limited to a maximum of 8 to minimize our impact out on the hills - transport is provided by our own VW Caravelle which is large enough to comfortably fit 9 people yet small enough not to be an issue on the narrow rural roads in the Highlands. Travel time on transfer days is never more then 3 hours and we always break the journeys with short walks or beach visits. Our guides are either from Edinburgh area or Aviemore, Glencoe, Oban or the Borders. We take guests to local restaurants such as Café Arriba in Portree on Skye, Creelers on Skye – both have a menu dependent on local catch, Rivendell in Shieldaig likewise, The Glen in Newtonmore and Firhall in Grantown on Spey have locally shot pheasants and venison. A big part of our trips is the local history. The highland clearances are a visible backdrop to a lot of the walks, we also tale people to local ceilidhs if on. We have a 'no litter on hill policy' (impromptu beach and mountain path clean ups where possible). We encourage guests to recycle their waste. We buy new bottles at the start of each trip end then refill in the week. Old bottles are turned into white-water rafts for another long term project – bottleraft adventures. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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