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Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?


Postby mnakan1 » Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:40 am

Hi everyone!

I'm planning a trip to Scotland in August for a hiking week and I'd really appreciate some suggestions of where best to go. I have spent some time in Loch Lomond before and am keen to see more of the Highlands.

I am thinking about either driving across the Highlands (say up from Edinburgh to Skye) stopping along the way (likely in Airbnbs) and doing circular hikes with the car, or driving somewhere more central and using that as a base for the entire trip.

I've not had any experience North of Loch Lomond so any suggestions about potential routes or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

The trip will be a week long and we'll need to get back down to Edinburgh at the end of it.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby davekeiller » Sun Jun 13, 2021 12:16 pm

Book your accommodation first.

August is peak holiday season and people aren't really going abroad this year = places booked up. I wouldn't bet on being able to get accommodation on Skye in August this year.
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby Mal Grey » Sun Jun 13, 2021 7:57 pm

Hi.

As above, accommodation availability might decide for you! That aside, what level of hillwalking are you looking for, or what experience do you have? That might affect recommendations.
If you go a week, concentrate on one area, don't plan too much of a road trip, or you'll find you've only experienced it through car windows.
You could do worse than simply heading up via Stirling and Calendar into the Trossachs, carrying on up towards Glencoe and Fort William, and back via Laggan/Newtonmore to the A9 then home. It will be busy on the roads and in the villages, but if you're willing to walk a bit from the car, there are always ways to escape the crowds.

Also, midges :shock:
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby Soldier of fortune » Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:23 pm

How about the Adnamurchan peninsula! you could also cross to Tobermory on Mull from Kilchoan and return to Oban on the way home, plenty to do and see.
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby jmarkb » Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:44 am

Accommodation permitting, the Fort William/Spean Bridge area is a good base - there are major roads heading in all 4 directions, and a huge variety of excellent walks within an hour's drive, including the opportunity to escape east in search of better weather, which can be useful!
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby mnakan1 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:56 am

Thanks everyone for the really useful tips! So far it seems there is decent accommodation around Scotland via Airbnb but I agree that's the most important thing so I'll get booking things up!

Hillwalking wise I have some experience but am used to mainly walking in Southern England where the peaks are much smaller. That said always up for a challenge (used to live in the US where I would do appalachian trail etc quite frequently).

Any further tips definitely appreciated, particularly around Fort William and Skye. I think circular walks / peaks are probably best so one can travel by car.
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby jmarkb » Mon Jun 14, 2021 9:13 am

mnakan1 wrote:Any further tips definitely appreciated, particularly around Fort William and Skye. I think circular walks / peaks are probably best so one can travel by car.


Happy to help out, but it will be easier for us to provide useful suggestions once you know where you are staying (and also if you can give us an idea of the length/difficulty of the rounds you are looking for).
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby Mal Grey » Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:09 am

mnakan1 wrote:T

Any further tips definitely appreciated, particularly around Fort William and Skye. I think circular walks / peaks are probably best so one can travel by car.


Personally, I'd probably forget Skye. Accommodation will be hardest there, and it will be very busy, and given you've only a week, getting there will eat into your limited time. However, you could base yourself somewhere like Kyle/Plockton/Lochcarron, have some wonderful walks & hills close by, but still have the opportunity to do a day trip over to Skye if you wanted. If you were in, say, Lochcarron, you have the whole of Applecross, Torridon, Coulin Forest etc, etc with some of the best walking in Britain, at whatever grade you want

In terms of actual walks, maybe ask again once you've narrowed down the area, as pretty much everywhere has some great ones. You might find that the most popular recommendations have stuffed parking areas, but nearby there are extremely nice, but quieter, alternatives.
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby Tringa » Tue Jun 15, 2021 9:45 am

Agree with MalGrey. A week in Scotland when coming from southern England is IMO too short to tour around.

I'm biased towards the Torridon/Gairloch area but for a first visit to the Highlands, Fort William is a good area, though it will be busy(but probably true this year of nearly anywhere).

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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby Scottk » Tue Jun 15, 2021 11:03 pm

Hills on the west coast are nearly always harder as you start from sea level. If you stay at Deeside or Aviemore you have the advantage of starting much higher! Aviemore and Braemar this weekend were heaving with people and accommodation was full.
Anyway, that’s another option for you.
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby Caberfeidh » Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:16 am

jmarkb wrote: the Fort William/Spean Bridge area is a good base


I second that - loads of great places to see and stuff to do, with many areas of the highlands an easy drive from the Fort William area. Linnhe Lochside Holiday Park is very good, there are a lot of options for accommodation in the area. https://www.linnhe-lochside-holidays.co.uk/
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby mnakan1 » Thu Jun 17, 2021 9:44 am

jmarkb wrote:
mnakan1 wrote:Any further tips definitely appreciated, particularly around Fort William and Skye. I think circular walks / peaks are probably best so one can travel by car.


Happy to help out, but it will be easier for us to provide useful suggestions once you know where you are staying (and also if you can give us an idea of the length/difficulty of the rounds you are looking for).



So after the very useful tips on this thread and checking in with some Scottish friends, I've booked a place in Fort William and will have a car.

Any specific unmissable sights / hillwalks hugely appreciated! Will probably tackle Ben Nevis but other than that very open to suggestions if anyone has any. Pretty high level of fitness (half-marathon runner), fair amount of hiking experience, and will have a car.

Thanks for the very enthusiastic and helpful group on this forum!!
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby al78 » Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:18 am

mnakan1 wrote:Any specific unmissable sights / hillwalks hugely appreciated! Will probably tackle Ben Nevis but other than that very open to suggestions if anyone has any. Pretty high level of fitness (half-marathon runner), fair amount of hiking experience, and will have a car.


Some suggestions:

Drive to Kinloch Hourn and walk the coastal path to Barrisdale, or climb Buidhe Bheinn or one of the munros along that road.

If you want to climb Ben Nevis, don't follow the heaving masses up the tourist route, but go via Carn Mor Dearg and the arete.
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/carnmordeargarete.shtml

A hike in Glencoe would be a good day. If you have the scrambling experience the Aonach Eagach ridge.

A train to Corrour followed by Leum Uilleim. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/leum-uilleim.shtml

A train to Rannoch and a high loop over Carg Dearg and Sgor Gaibhre

Drive to Morvich and walk to Falls of Glomach.

There are really tons of nice walks/hill climbs you could do within an hours drive of FW.
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby jmarkb » Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:24 am

mnakan1 wrote:Any specific unmissable sights / hillwalks hugely appreciated! Will probably tackle Ben Nevis but other than that very open to suggestions if anyone has any. Pretty high level of fitness (half-marathon runner), fair amount of hiking experience, and will have a car.


Some suggestions for you:

If you are happy with some easy scrambling, you should definitely consider doing the CMD arete circuit rather than the standard Ben Nevis tourist route - https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/carnmordeargarete.shtml
The Mamores are a very fine range of hills - classics rounds are https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/stobban.shtml https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/ringofsteall.shtml (some easy scrambling) and https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/binneinmor.shtml
Likewise the Grey Corries - https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/greycorries.shtml

Heading south, lots of great hills in Glen Coe - https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/buachailleetivebeag.shtml (for a shortish day), https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/buachailleetivemor.shtml, https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/bideannambian.shtml. If you are a competent scrambler, Curved Ridge as a way up Buachaille Etive Mor and the Aonach Eagach traverse https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/aonacheagach.shtml
If you fancy escaping the crowds, try a trip over the Corran Ferry to do Garbh Bheinn - easiest route is this one https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/garbh-bheinn-ardgour.shtml but the full round of Coire an Iubhair is excellent.

Heading east - Creag Meagaidh gives a good day out https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/creagmeagaidh.shtml

Heading north-west there are a lot of options - for example https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/spideanmialach.shtml, https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/kintail/Thesaddle.shtml, or https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/kintail/sgurrnanconbhairean.shtml

Other things to see/do: if you don't do the Ring of Steall, then a visit to Steall Falls is still recommended - https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/steallfalls.shtml, a visit to Glen Roy to see the Parallel Roads, a trip to the beaches around Arisaig https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/camusdarach-beach.shtml or https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/silversandsmorar.shtml.
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Re: Highlands Hiking Road Trip Holiday Suggestions?

Postby mnakan1 » Mon Sep 13, 2021 5:34 pm

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful advice on this forum. I stayed in Fort William for 10 days in August and did a lot of the hikes generously suggested. With the exception of missing the path a couple of times, and always struggling to find somewhere to eat after 9, it was pretty much the perfect holiday!

Thank you very much again to the Walkhighlands community and the previous two posters.

With all best,
Michael
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