Hiking the West Highland Way - Making arrangements myself or use a company?

What company did you consider that wants $3500 for this as a self-guided trip? I looked at one company we used for a self-guided trip in Wales and England, this is Celtic Trails, and they charge around £2000 for two people for the 9 day/8 night self guided trip, That would be $2600 in USD at todays rate.

There are the usual baggage storage companies such as Stasher who will store your bags for multiple days at around £5 or less per day.

In Fort William Stasher use the Premier Inn, and there are multiple options in Glasgow (Milngavie is only a short suburban train ride out of the centre of Glasgow), or even a bus ride. Some of those buses extend into the Trossachs and even Stirling as a potential side trip before or after- but that is a different thread.

For whatever reason you just don't hear of people walking the WHW backwards from Fort William to Milngavie- that may be due to the terrain, or more likely you would be walking against the prevailing weather.

Presumably you will be returning to Glasgow afterwards. There is no obvious reason (unless already booked) why you couldn't stay in Glasgow the first night, then bus (43 minute ride, or 1 hour ride on the all stops citybus #15) or train (24 minutes, 2 to 4 trains per hour) to Milngavie for an immediate start. There is a start point at the railway station entrance, but the official start (with it's ceremonial sign) is a short way away- the Glasgow to the Trossachs and Stirling bus #X10/X10A stops right beside that sign. I saw that a month or so ago when on the X10.

If you stayed at a PI in Glasgow which Stasher use anyway, then problem solved- caught two birds with one stone so to speak.

You could even stay in Stirling and use the X10/X10A southbound through the Trossachs to Milngavie- unusual but easy to do. Use Stasher at the Stirling PI.

You could arrange the hotels and B and Bs yourself. You say. Have you tried that? Because if even one is not available then your entire schedule has to be moved to find availability to suit that night, but then on the other nights what was available is now now longer. Then another shift in schedule,
Or perhaps you end the hike in a place that is another 3-5 miles walk after you have already walked 10-15 miles. Then same back to the trail point to begin the next day.
I say this from experience on three walks we have taken. Hadrians Wall, Menalon trail, and Wild Western way. Two of which we took with companies and have ended up staying in rather remote and singular lodging. Maybe the only lodging around on/ near the trail.
I am a trip planner and after having tried the method of saving money and DIY, I believe you get a lot from a company. You get the trip first and foremost. As in would have it to the dates you want. And you get the trail, maps, GPS, descriptions. And of course the lodging and the luggage transfer. If you stash your luggage for the entire trip in one place you cannot access for things needed on your overnights. Like clean clothes. Or something you thought you did or did not need.
The trip you found seems excessive in price. For 8 nights hotel I would roughly figure that at least $100 night. Then luggage transfers maybe $15 day per bag, then any transfers that the company would include such as to and from starting or end points, plus maps, GPS, etc.
I think you could arrange it yourself but it will be a lot of work and time to do so. I think you should try it and see for yourself whether or not it is worth it. From my calculations on our recent Ireland walk, I believe the cost of a company is approximately 30% higher than on your own, if you can do it on your own. For me I have decided that that 30% premium is worth it to NOT have to go through the measures needed to DIY.
Addendum. I just googled Macs Adventures west highland way and it came up 9 days, 8 nights at £1035 pp.

I know it’s not the same country, but we just walked the last part of the Camino and used a company. Yes, we could do it in our own, but didn’t want to for all the reasons mentioned in the above posts. We paid $1,200 for 8 nights, 6 days walking per person.

Good morning Alison,

I’m so glad I came across your post because I just booked a long distance walk for my daughter and myself with a company out of Edinburgh called Absolute Escapes. I too toiled with the idea of making the arrangements myself or hiring a walking holiday company, but after pro and conning everything (arranging everything myself sounded utterly exhausting), it just made sense to pay the cash ( I’ll scrimp and save elsewhere) and hire the people that do this for a living. Like I said, I booked with an outfit called Absolute Escapes and they were phenomenal! After emailing back and forth several times with questions about what I was looking for in a walk, we determined that The Cleveland Way in the N. York Moors would be a great option. After I committed to The Cleveland Way, the travel specialist I worked with (the awesome Kate B.) created an itinerary and is in the process of making all the accommodation and transportation arrangements along with all the guides, maps and food and drink spots along the route. Anyway, hope this helps and have a great walk!

Mìcheal

Hi Alison -

It’s a conundrum isn’t it? I’ve long thought that the post epidemic development of staycations would mean the more popular routes would have all the best accommodation snaffled in advance by the big tour companies. In reality, I’ve no real idea if that is indeed the case, and the return to foreign travel may have seen more of a return to the previous norm.

That said, my feeling is that if you are booking in an area where you are not familiar with the available accommodation it might be best to turn it over to a company that guarantees you at least a minimum level of accommodation, even though standards may vary from place to place. So when I was booking our trip across Devon a few years back, it not being my neck of the woods, I was very happy to turn the bookings over to the marvellous Encounter Walking Holidays, including baggage transfer, the full works, much to my wife and friends’ surprise and thereby putting a large dent in my reputation as ‘hard man of the hills’.

Conversely, when booking the Pennine Way a couple of years later which is in an area I’m extremely familiar with, I did it all myself, confident I knew what I was getting and where, although it wasn’t, as it transpired, totally incident-free. But there were no major alarms or disasters. I did cost up having our baggage shipped to each location on a daily basis, but decided that the cost, if not prohibitive, would have paid for another holiday, so ultimately relied on the kindness of friends to replenish our kit halfway along the route, which I realise is not possible for the vast majority.

I would therefore, in your case, definitely store my main bags using the methods outlined by other posters and carry just what I needed to complete the trail. One set of walking clothes and one set of ‘best’ clothes would be the norm with a pair of shorts (maybe), extra socks (definitely) plus extra layers and head to toe waterproofs, and minimal first aid and ‘ablutions’ kits. And the dry bag of phone chargers, cables, power packs etc. I’m sure you’ll be able to find suggested kit lists online (You Tube is bound to have several).

I too googled Macs Adventures and found their costs to be far cheaper than what you have found so far. I also searched ‘west highland way best travel companies’ and that threw up several more as alternatives. It might be sensible for you to add ‘U.K.’ to your search description as well and book through a U.K. based company.

Finally, there’s nothing to stop you walking north to south (other than the prevailing weather is likely to be in your face), but I can’t think why you’d want to. It really is better walking Milngavie to Fort William. Don’t forget that it’s possible to get back from Fort William to Glasgow in a couple of hours if you hit the connections right. It’s one of the most convenient (and occasionally disappointing) aspects of British walking - it could take you days to walk to a destination and just a few hours to return to your starting point!

Hope you have a great trip - it really is an excellent walk!

Ian