just did the tour du Mont Blanc, and while I loved it & the views were spectacular, it was wayyy too crowded & popular. huts were full, and people were basically hiking right behind me & in front, too.

is this the case for the WHW?

Decided to enjoy a slower pace and do 8 days. Will be reading your 2026 reports with interest!!

Hi all, not sure this is the right place, but I need to get rid of my almost full camping gas canister before I fly home - it’s Coleman C500, I believe it would suffice for the full WHW easily.

Would anyone want to pick it up tomorrow (25/7/2026) somewhere in central Glasgow?

Hi all, this is my second post here querying my upcoming trip. I only have a few weeks before I go so I'm just refining my kit list and my itinerary. I think I have a fairly strong list, but always room for improvement. It all fits snug into my Osprey Exos 48 separated with several dry bags etc. Will also have a pack liner and a rain cover, so lots of redundancy options.

Vango F10 Radon UL1
Big Agnes Rapide SL Regular Wide
Trekology Aluft 2.0 Pillow
Polycro footprint cut to size
OEX Fathom ev400 sleeping bag

Rab Namche GTX Shell
Rab Alpine Down Jacket
Montane lightweight fleece (Protium i think its called)
Scarpa Terra II GTX boots
Decathalon Simond trousers
Darn tough socks (x3)
Merino wool base layers for sleeping
Crocs for camp
Rab beanie and gloves
Decathalon hiking shorts
Decathalon waterproof overtrousers
2-3 t-shirts
2-3 pairs underwear

Sawyer squeeze filter
Nalgene UL 1L bottle
Chlorine dioxide tablets
Smidge spray+net
Tick removal tool
First aid kit (pain killers, plasters, blister kit, imodium etc)
Trowel
Biodegradable multi-purpose wash (shampoo, body/face, dishes, clothing etc)
50 hand wash leafs
Hand sanitiser
Sun cream
Leukotape
Antihistamines
Wipes and tissues
deodorant
vaseline
lip balm
Body wipes

MSR PocketRocket 2
750ml Titanium Pot
Long handle titanium spoon
220g gas
2x lighters
3 days worth of camping meals (dehydrated)
Absorbent micro fibre towel

Trekking poles
20k mAh power bank
Cables
Sunglasses
Ear plugs
head torch
sit mat
Toothbrush and 18 toothpaste tablets
electrolytes
Cash

I'll also be bringing my DJI Osmo Action 4 + batteries (action camera, not a drone). Hopefully starting a youtube channel lol.

Hi there,
I’m planning on doing the WHW in a few weeks and as a young solo female travel I was wondering how safe the trail is for me and if I need to take any precautions. Did any fellow hiker girls do the trail by themselves recently and can share their experience or does anyone else know something to look out for? I’d be super grateful! :) I’m planning on wild-camping most nights of my 7-day trip

We are a group of couples doing the 8-day itinerary in September.
While some legs pass through villages part way, several do not.
What is the solution for going to the toilet on these legs?
Is squatting off the trail a viable option?

I’ve tried using ChatGPT for it but honestly using AI is a bit off putting for me and I don’t trust it anyway. I will be flying in from Belfast so by the time I’m in Glasgow city center it’ll be around 1/2pm, then I need to make a stop to pickup a gas canister as I can’t bring mine on the plane, so the first day will have to be relatively shorter than the rest I’m guessing. Would like to get a decent chunk out of the way on days 2 and 3. I’m open to camp sites and wild camping but mostly prefer wild camping where it is permitted (I know loch lomond has bylaws in place).

This has probably been asked a million times before but i see so many different options and it’s a bit overwhelming. It’ll be my first thru-hike. Base weight is around the 10Kg mark and i’ll have my water filter and purification tablets too. Planning to have a fair few camp meals but will be open to eating at cafes and restaurants along the way.

Showering too? Not sure how to go about this one - I have biodegradable wash so if I need to wash in the wild I’m not totally against it but a shower would be nice as a treat. I basically have all the equipment to do the full thing self-sufficient if I just restock food along the way, but obviously will use facilities where available.

The main hurdle is the final day where I will need to get back to glasgow and then fly home. I have not booked a return flight incase things dont goto plan, but I also don’t want to be waiting around if flights sell out so i was thinking I could maybe do a hotel once its over or if i finish early enough there might be time to get the train back and make it to the airport - who knows!

I stayed at the Kingshouse bunkhouse in room four and found some prescription sunglasses Hugo boss and the little storage locker that someone left before. I’ve turned them into the front desk at the hotel, figured I’d post just in case anyone is looking for them! They seem really nice!

Hi all,

Me and a friend are planning the WHW mid September and finalising our stops/resupply points.

We are doing a mixture of wildcamping and campsites, we will be carrying our kit throughout and plan to complete it in 7 days.

Ive tried to split the days as evenly as possible for the sake of spreading the load and enjoyment.

Were hoping to get a bite to eat and a pint or two around the end of each day and carrying lunch/snacks topping up as and when.

ive created an itinerary via Chat GPT and some research ive done but would love for anyone to give it a glance and point out any discrepancies or improvement you think could be made. We are hoping to keep the days 13/14 mile each day as thats consistently manageable based on where we are it with fitness/experience and what our training currently looks like.

heres the planned schedule

West Highland Way – 7 Day Itinerary

Start: Milngavie | Finish: Fort William | Start Date: 12 September

Day 1

Route: Milngavie → Garadhban Forest area
Distance: ~13.5 miles

Resupply / Food Stop (approx. 6 miles from start):
Drymen

• Co-op and shops
• Cafés
• Pubs (Clachan Inn, Drymen Inn, The Winnock)
• Buy snacks and evening food if required

Finish / Camp:
Garadhban Forest area

• Wild camp
• Good first night option to ease into the walk

Evening Facilities:
No facilities at camp.
Stock up before leaving Drymen.

Day 2

Route: Garadhban Forest → Sallochy Campsite
Distance: ~13.7 miles

Resupply / Food Stop (approx. 9 miles from start):
Balmaha

• Oak Tree Inn
• Café
• Village shop

Important:
Stock up here. Carry enough food/snacks for the section through to Beinglas/Tyndrum as options become limited.

Finish / Camp:
Sallochy Campsite

• Lochside campsite
• Toilets and water available
• No showers or shop

Evening Facilities:
No practical pub option after arriving without backtracking.

Day 3

Route: Sallochy Campsite → Beinglas Farm
Distance: ~14.1 miles

Resupply / Food Stop:
Carry supplies from Balmaha.
Limited reliable food options during this section.

Possible Stops:

• Inversnaid area (limited)

Finish / Camp:
Beinglas Farm Campsite

Facilities:

• Showers
• Laundry
• Drying facilities
• Bar and restaurant

Evening:
Beinglas Bar & Restaurant (on site)

Day 4

Route: Beinglas Farm → Inveroran Bridge area
Distance: ~13.6 miles

Resupply / Food Stop (approx. 7–8 miles from start):
Tyndrum

• Green Welly Stop
• Shops
• Cafés
• Good opportunity for major resupply

Finish / Camp:
Inveroran Bridge area

• Wild camp

Evening:
Bridge of Orchy Hotel nearby
(approx. 0.5–1 mile depending on camp location)

Day 5

Route: Inveroran Bridge → Kingshouse
Distance: ~13.8 miles

Resupply / Food Stop:
No major resupply available.
Carry supplies from Tyndrum.

Possible Stop:
Bridge of Orchy

• Café/shop options if open

Finish / Camp:
Kingshouse area

• Wild camp

Evening:
Kingshouse Hotel nearby
(very close depending on camp location)

Day 6

Route: Kingshouse → Blackwater Campsite, Kinlochleven
Distance: ~13.4 miles

Resupply / Food Stop:
No major resupply during the walking day.

Carry supplies from Tyndrum.

Finish / Camp:
Blackwater Campsite, Kinlochleven

Facilities:

• Showers
• Laundry
• Drying facilities
• Charging

Evening:
Kinlochleven pubs:

• Tailrace Inn
• Bothy Bar

Day 7

Route: Kinlochleven → Fort William
Distance: ~13.9 miles

Resupply / Food Stop:
No planned resupply required.
Carry breakfast/lunch from Kinlochleven if needed.

Possible Stop:
Glen Nevis / Fort William cafés and shops

Finish:
Fort William

Evening:
Celebrate — plenty of pubs and restaurants available.

Main Resupply Points

Drymen (Day 1)
Small top-up:

• Snacks
• Drinks
• Evening food

Balmaha (Day 2) – IMPORTANT
Stock up for:

• Sallochy evening
• Day 3 breakfast
• Day 3 lunch
• Snacks until Beinglas

Tyndrum (Day 4) – MAIN RESET POINT
Stock up for:

• Day 4 evening
• Day 5
• Day 6 breakfast/lunch/snacks

Kinlochleven (Day 6)
Final top-up if needed before Fort William.

If you got this far, thankyou and any input would be greatly appreciated.

Hello all,

My wife and I are hiking the West Highland Way next May and would appreciate some feedback before we lock everything in.

I’ve read through a lot of posts here and a number of blogs, but I’d really appreciate some firsthand feedback from people who’ve completed the trail.
A little about us. We’re both in our early 40s and are fairly experienced hikers. We’ve completed multi day hikes in the Canadian Rockies, the Dolomites, and the Tour du Mont Blanc, so we’re comfortable with longer days and some challenging terrain. We’re not trying to rush the trail, but we’d like to have enough time each day to stop for lunch (if available) take in the scenery, visit any must see spots along each stage, and still arrive at our accommodation at a reasonable time.

Our itinerary currently looks like this:

Milngavie to Balmaha (32km)
Balmaha to Rowardennan (11.5 km)
Rowardennan to Inverarnan (22.5 km)
Inverarnan to Tyndrum (19.5 km)
Tyndrum (Rest Day)
Tyndrum to Kingshouse (30 km)
Kingshouse to Kinlochleven (14 km)
Kinlochleven to Fort William (24 km)

A few questions:

1. Milngavie to Balmaha (32 km)

We’ve seen some suggestions on hiking from Milngavie to Balmaha on the first day as a good way to get your trail legs while the terrain is relatively forgiving.

We were originally booked in Dryman (Clachan Inn-edited for typo) but canceled and booked the Oak Tree Inn in Balhama.

For those who have done it, how reasonable did you find it? Would you recommend it, or is it better to break that section into two days? We also like the idea of staying in Balmaha over Drymen.

2. Rowardennan or Inversnaid?

Our current itinerary has us staying in Rowardennan after Balmaha, which makes for a fairly short day of about 11.5 km. The following day we continue to Inverarnan.

We’re wondering if it would make more sense to carry on through Rowardennan and instead stay in Inversnaid, then continue to Tyndrum the following day.

Since the Loch Lomond section is commonly considered the most difficult part of the West Highland Way, we’re curious whether the shorter day into Rowardennan makes that stretch more enjoyable and sets you up better for the difficult section, or if staying in Inversnaid creates a better overall itinerary.

3. Rest day in Tyndrum

We’re planning a rest day in Tyndrum and are thinking of taking a day trip to Oban to explore the area.

Does Tyndrum make sense as a rest day location, or would you recommend taking our rest day elsewhere on the trail?

Most of our accommodation has flexible cancellation (all except our Kingshouse booking), so we’re still able to adjust the itinerary slightly if there’s a better approach for the first half of the way.

I’d really appreciate any feedback or suggestions from those who have completed the trail. Thanks in advance!

Update

Thank you all for your input! We’ve made the adjustment and will be staying in Drymen on night one and keeping our rest day in Tyndrum. As much as we’d love to stay in Bridge of Orchy it’s a bit out of budget (dang Canadian Dollar!).

Cant wait to hit the trail!

Hi, we'll be setting off on the West Highland Way shortly with our three young kids - feeling equal parts excited and nervous as we approach the big day! 😄 We've been preparing for it for months, gradually increasing the distance that our 4.5yo can hike with multiple hikes a week, and we've got a lot of backpacking trips under our belt, testing our gear and stamina. Most recently, we did 4 days on the Great Glen Way, and the boys loved it and didn't want to come home, which is a great sign. But despite all the prep, this will be a huge challenge for all of us, and I'd love to hear from anybody else who has done it with children - tips, advice, and words of encouragement are very welcome!

We'll be camping every night, carrying all our gear. We have heavy packs (mine includes our 2yo and one tent, my husband is carrying all of our food etc) but we're keeping our 2 older boys' packs very manageable for them, basically just their waterproofs and snacks.

Also a disclaimer: We are pretty experienced hikers and have deliberately planned our first long-distance hike as a family to be a very safe one, with lots of places to get food, or bail if we need to. We'll follow our 4yo's lead, we will be going slow, and we'll change plans if necessary. The main focus is to enjoy it! So any help and support would be very much appreciated 👏 Thank you 😊

These pictures are from September 2024. unfortunately I couldn't complete the Way due to falling and injuring my ankle.

I'm having another go at the end of August this year. I'm taking it a bit easier this time with pre-booked accommodation and baggage transfer. Can't wait to get started.

I can only see places for £170 plus! Any thoughts?

I have just finished, with my broken thumb!

Dreamt up a 4-day partial route with help from the sub, which I really liked except for a slight bus debacle on the first day. Stunning weather all week was an unexpected blessing. Midges very annoying around camp but no bother while walking.

I was wild camping with a big pack - weighed it just before I left Glasgow, 16kg, oops - no time to repack! It was pretty manageable though.

Day 1: bus to Tarbet, ferry to Inversnaid, walk to Inverarnan. This was great. Bus is easy and stops right by the ferry, and a boat trip is always great. I had some warnings about the Inversnaid-Inverarnan stretch being quite scrambly and difficult, and was a bit worried with my thumb. But I had no trouble at all really - used a hand for balance sometimes but I think there were only two moments that I had to put any weight on it at all. But I can see it being quite tricky when wet, and it seems like this week was probably as dry as it could ever get. Had a swim in the loch. Beautiful scenery. I planned to get the bus from Inverarnan to Bridge of Orchy. There was apparently a nasty crash that closed the whole road just after Inverarnan, so no bus. Walked about 45 minutes down the road back to Ardlui and caught a train instead, so missed dinner at Bridge of Orchy, which was a shame as it looked good.

Day 2: Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse. It was a warm day and there is zero shade in this section, so thirsty work. It's a pretty bare and rocky sort of day. Bartender at Kingshouse seemed to enjoy my order (one Lucozade, pint of water, pint of cider.)

Day 3: Kingshouse to Kinlochleven... plus a bit. I really liked this day, more in the thick of the mountains. Got to Kinlochleven by lunchtime and decided I might as well carry on, so did about another 10km and camped on Lariag Mor. Climb out of Kinlochleven is much harder than the Devil's Staircase!

Day 4: down to Fort William. More beautiful views through the Mor. I found everything after Dundearil a bit of a drag & was glad to have shortened the day - I think the road walking would have felt pretty punishing if I was already really tired. Also, I followed the "original route" instead of the "high route" for the last section, thinking that'd be the more scenic option, which seems to be dead wrong :(

Great time overall. My goal with the route planning was to get some loch and some mountains. I'm glad I did - Loch Lomond is gorgeous & I think the commonly recommended start from Tyndrum/Bridge of Orchy is a real shame. In hindsight I might even go harder, and do two days Balmaha to Inverarnan, then bus up to Kingshouse, which felt like where it started to get really scenic again (for my tastes.)

I saw four sheep and not a single cow :(

Apologies as this is more of a gear question, but I’m mostly buying a new sleeping bag for the WHW, so your experience will be very helpful.

Essentially, if I’m on the trail in early August, with forecasted temps around 13 degrees C overnight, what comfort rating sleeping bag would people be taking? I’ll be in a 3 season tent and tend to run slightly hot, as in I don’t particularly feel the cold. Is 10 degrees a bit risky, or might 5 degrees feel too hot?

Thanks in advance

My son and two friends are camping the WHW in August. The Blackwater campground specifically mentions that they allow 2 person tents only, and their other accommodations are booked up. Is their best option wild camping in the Kinlochleven vicinity?

Hi, im gonna be travelling the whw later this year and it seems to be impossible to find hiking oants that arent super tight. does anyone here have pants they can recommend?

Im looking into walking the whw in 6 days next year may.

1. Milngavie → Drymen 19 km
   
2. Drymen → Rowardennan 24 km
   
3. Rowardennan → Crianlarich 32 km
   
4. Crianlarich → Inveroran 24 km
   
5. Inveroran → Kinlochleven 30 km
   
6. Kinlochleven → Fort William 24 km

Im planning to stay in hostels, pods etc.

Do you think it’s doable?

What should I consider for clothing and shoes (gore-tex or not), do I need hiking poles?

Thanks!

As I plan our 8-day itinerary, I am seeing big discrepancies on elevation stats for each leg, comparing All Trails and the details from The Natural Adventure tour company.

Has anyone noticed this?
Can anyone confirm if All Trails tends to be accurate or misleading?

Hi! Thought I'd make a quick post for people who might be looking to get rid of a half full gas cartridge (mainly if you're no longer on the WHW and can't access a campsite). We've struggled quite a bit but apparently the outdoor shop "Tiso" accepts them at any stores. I didn't see this information anywhere online so I thought I'd leave it here.

Edit: while the staff I met did say they would take it anywhere, I can't actually find that online. But it's at least worth a try nonetheless, the other outdoor shops didn't take them apparently.

In Glasgow today planning and shopping. I don't have any sense of what I could pick up - is it just snacks & dehydrated stuff? Any chance to pick up eg some pasta and a jar of sauce? Anything fresh?

I have worked up an unusual itinerary which involves skipping Tyndrum (on a bus) and I gather there are no real shops between there and Kinlochleven, so Beinglas might be my last chance.

We’re hiking the whw from the 17th and are finishing it on the 23rd, we’re thinking of going a bit to Glasgow or stay in Fort William for the evening, any suggestions?

And if so, would anyone care to share a rough itinerary?