First time Long Distance Walker - Want to do Great Glen Way

[sayainprince]

Hey All,

I've been a lurker on this site for quite some time and have finally decided on my first long distance solo walk.

I'm looking to do great glen way during the first week of May 2019 and I just need some advice on how to get started.

Essentially, I'm wondering what is the best route to take in regards to accommodations. Is it better camp at campsites/wilderness or is it easier/better to stay at hotels/B&B's along the way.

I would be new to camping as well, if that is the preferred method.

I would like to do 1 stage a day and take my time.

Thanks All,
Sim

[Arthurs Eat]

I suppose doing the walk North to South you would bandit from the generally better link to Inverness, ie airport, train, roads etc. That said Fort William is only a couple of hours drive and you can get the train which is a spectacular journey in itself. You have to decide how many days you want to take. I did a leisurely five days both times I have done the GGW. I'm not sure about baggage transfers though.

[davekeiller]

If you look at the description on this site, then you start and end each day in a village, so it's possible to use B&B's or bunkhouses.
Whether you want to use indoor accommodation or camp is up to you, and how much of a challenge you want to make it. Wild camping is likely unnecessary, as you are close enough to civilisation to find organised campsites which will also have the bonus of toilets and showers.
Bear in mind that if you follow the route south to north, the final 2 days are the longest, whereas if you go the other way then you get the long days done first and have shorter days to finish.

[Sunset tripper]

If your camping your pack is going to be heavier but it does give you more flexibility regarding where you stop. No camping and lighter pack means it's going to be easier but you would have to book your accomodation for each day well in advance.
I've only done the full length on the bike, and it's a good route and very few folk on it then, though it was in March at least 10 years ago. Doing it in May I would say is a good choice.I would recommend North to south for the same reason as Dave. After the first couple of days it will be a lot easier. The last section from Gairlochy to Fort William is along a towpath and completely flat.
All the best.

[al78]

If it were me I would use B&B accommodation, but choose your time period carefully. The optimal way to do it would be to start from one end or another, then find a B&B when you feel like stopping for the night, but that carries the risk of not finding a vacancy. You'd have more chance of finding vacancies en-route if you avoid bank holiday weekends or any special events up there which are likely to attract a lot of people. If you want to sacrifice flexibility for increased accommodation security, estimate how far you would like to walk in a day, and book several B&Bs at intervals along the route well before you want to start. You might consider booking more than one night at any B&B to gvie yourself a chance to do a bit of local exploration.

[sayainprince]

If it were me I would use B&B accommodation, but choose your time period carefully. The optimal way to do it would be to start from one end or another, then find a B&B when you feel like stopping for the night, but that carries the risk of not finding a vacancy. You'd have more chance of finding vacancies en-route if you avoid bank holiday weekends or any special events up there which are likely to attract a lot of people. If you want to sacrifice flexibility for increased accommodation security, estimate how far you would like to walk in a day, and book several B&Bs at intervals along the route well before you want to start. You might consider booking more than one night at any B&B to gvie yourself a chance to do a bit of local exploration.

I'm thinking of booking them in advance but its hard to know which place is right considering I don't know the area at all...Is it safe to say that any B&B I book in advance in each village will be easy to get to off of great glen way?

[Giant Stoneater]

Have a wee look at this.

http://greatglencanoetrail.info/plan-a-paddle/facilities/informal-camping/

[Arthurs Eat]

If it were me I would use B&B accommodation, but choose your time period carefully. The optimal way to do it would be to start from one end or another, then find a B&B when you feel like stopping for the night, but that carries the risk of not finding a vacancy. You'd have more chance of finding vacancies en-route if you avoid bank holiday weekends or any special events up there which are likely to attract a lot of people. If you want to sacrifice flexibility for increased accommodation security, estimate how far you would like to walk in a day, and book several B&Bs at intervals along the route well before you want to start. You might consider booking more than one night at any B&B to gvie yourself a chance to do a bit of local exploration.

I'm thinking of booking them in advance but its hard to know which place is right considering I don't know the area at all...Is it safe to say that any B&B I book in advance in each village will be easy to get to off of great glen way?

Buy yourself a Harvey's map. They have lots of useful information including route planner which after you decide how far you want to walk each day, will give ideas of where to stop off. You could do that without the map though.

[abbruce]

There are plenty companies who will book all your B&B as well as baggage transfer.

We did GGW last year over 5 days & used these guys https://www.easyways.com/walking-holidays/great-glen-way/

[al78]

If it were me I would use B&B accommodation, but choose your time period carefully. The optimal way to do it would be to start from one end or another, then find a B&B when you feel like stopping for the night, but that carries the risk of not finding a vacancy. You'd have more chance of finding vacancies en-route if you avoid bank holiday weekends or any special events up there which are likely to attract a lot of people. If you want to sacrifice flexibility for increased accommodation security, estimate how far you would like to walk in a day, and book several B&Bs at intervals along the route well before you want to start. You might consider booking more than one night at any B&B to gvie yourself a chance to do a bit of local exploration.

I'm thinking of booking them in advance but its hard to know which place is right considering I don't know the area at all...Is it safe to say that any B&B I book in advance in each village will be easy to get to off of great glen way?

Yes. The Great Glen has a major road running along it. Any B&B along the route will be accessible to motorists from that main road, so if you are walking you will have no problem. If you want the freedom to choose accommodation yourself, I would use Google to search for B&Bs along the route, for example in Laggan, Invergarry, Fort Augustus, Drumandrochit should have a few places. The alternative is to use a walking company that offers self guided walks and will book accommodation for you, which will be a bit more expensive but will relieve you of some organisation.

[sayainprince]

Thank you all for the wonderful links and the helpful comments! Im going to look through and see if I can start booking by B&Bs