Hello! I am planning an inn to inn hiking trip for next summer in Scotland for my 50th birthday - I had settled on the West Highland Way but am having doubts that it will be the best fit for our group. Going with 8 people, from 15-50, everyone fit and able to do the mileage. My sister, who is coming along, was looking at the website and mentioned if we're going to Scotland it would be great to see little villages, castles, etc and the WHW doesn't look like it has that, more of just wilderness. There are so many inn to inn trips to pick from and I'm not married to the WHW so I started looking around and now I'm overwhelmed by the choices. Has anyone done a trek that is minimum of 4-5 days up to 9 days that is in Scotland (or anywhere in the UK or Ireland) that would pass by/through traditional towns/villages and see ruins and castles that you highly recommend? We are looking at using InnTravel or Contours or Mac's but open to others. TIA!!
Posted by
Hollis, NH, USA
115 posts
The WHW is one of the nine UK long distance walks that we have done, and it's scenery and hiking, rather than castles and ruins. Most of our trips have been booked through Mickledore Travel, with whom we are entirely pleased. I suggest looking through the trips they offer to see if any appeal to your group.
Posted by
1878 posts
I am not familiar with either Contours or Mac's. I recently did a 5 night trip with InnTravel on Lago Maggiore and was quite pleased. They worked with us to tailor our trip for our needs. So I would definitely consider talking to them about your interests. If you aren't too overwhelmed you might also look at HF Holidays, another UK-based hiking company. They do a number of hiking trips throughout the British Isles and you may find something that is more town/village-centric. https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/
Posted by
11 posts
We have done three inn to inn tours with Hillwalk Tours - I highly recommend them! Last year we did the Fife Coast in Scotland and it was WONDERFUL. Loads of little fishing villages to stop in but also coastal walking with a variety of landscapes, incredible views, interesting explorations. There were castles we explored right along the path and doocots (look that one up), caves, historical sites, estuaries, amazing bridges, beaches, and wonderful towns.
Posted by
WI
394 posts
It doesn't sound like the WHW is a fit for what you are looking for. You're right, you will not see much in the way of villages, castles, etc. along the WHW (or at least not the segments we hiked from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William). It has tremendous natural beauty, however, and lovely inns along the way.
I would also mention Hillwalk Tours. We used them and they were great. They have a number of options other than the WHW, but booking a long way ahead of time is probably a good idea (spots in the inns along the WHW for example were filling up 9 months out when we booked).
Posted by
Lake District, England
10693 posts
If you have a look at Mickledore Holidays you will find several other super long distance walking trails in Scotland which come far closer to meeting your criteria. And they don't do one of the other great Scottish trails- the Southern Upland Way- Scotland's coast to coast.
Posted by
Northern Colorado
104 posts
I hiked the WHW this past spring and the scenery is great but not much in the way of castles etc. I also walked the Dingle peninsula in Ireland and that had much more in the way of villages, ruins, etc. Lovely bnbs and scenery. I have used Hillwalks for both of those I believe.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
8056 posts
The OP may be referring to Macs Adventure. If so, we went through it for a Camino de Santiago 5-day hike. We were completely pleased with it. I can’t speak for it with regard to Scotland other than to say it does offer hiking tours there.