Scotland is as known for its glens as it for its bens. The word glen comes from the Gaelic and means a steep-sided valley – most of them were carved by glaciers during the last Ice Age; the word strath usually denotes a broader, wider valley. We pick out 16 of our favourite Highland glens, whether for their stunning landscapes, flourishing wildlife or wildness and isolation. Glen Clova, Angus Angus is a region where the glens are perhaps better known than the mountains around them. Glen Esk is the longest and a real gem with a great variety of scenery,…

The Munros are the mountains in Scotland over 3000 feet high. First catalogued by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891, the list has been revised ever since to keep up to date with the latest height measurements, and opinions on which summits count as separate mountains and which are just subsidiary tops. Climbing all 282 summits is a long-term objective of many hillwakers. Here’s our favourite 10 Munros – listed alphabetically – but don’t forget Scotland has scores of magnificent mountains which don’t quite make the ‘magic’ height of 3000 feet and most hillwalkers will have their own favorites that are…

The NC500 – the ‘NC’ standing for North Coast – has become a hugely popular road trip around the North Highlands over the last few years. The route – a loop around northern Scotland from Inverness – has achieved wide publicity in recent years, and been acclaimed as offering one of the greatest road trips in the world as more and more people make the journey. There’s no doubt it’s a spectacular drive through some of Scotland’s greatest landscapes… but there is so much to see you really ought to take your time in order to get the most from…

In an allusion to Rome, Edinburgh is said to be built on seven hills – though it’s not hard to come up with a few more if you know the city well. Nonetheless the seven has stuck, and there’s even an annual race – a combination of hill-running, road-running and urban orienteering – to climb them all, with the winners getting round in an amazing 1 hour 40 minutes. For most of the rest of us, it’s enough to climb the hills as a series of walks, all of them being featured on Walkhighlands routes within the city. Castle Rock…

Will this be the year you get out more and really explore Scotland on foot? Here’s our wee promo video to encourage more folk to get their boots on, get fit and healthy and discover the outdoors in 2018; help spread the message by sharing if you wish!

If you are into bagging Munros, there’s nothing more satifying than completing a walk that includes several of the prized 282 summits. Not all Munros are equal, and whilst some solitary Munros involve a great deal of effort, there are many places around Scotland where you can tick off multiple Munros in a single day’s outing. Here’s our picks – including some real epics… The Ring of Steall The Ring of Steall is one of Scotland’s great classic hillwalking days – a horseshoe of narrow ridges that takes in four Munros (though it used to be five before Sgor an…

This is the second part of our pick of walks from the NC500 road-trip route around the North of Scotland. The first half can be read here. Glencanisp circuit, Lochinver The NC500 continues northwards from Ledmore junction, passing the atmospheric ruins of Ardvreck Castle before turning onto the A837 to head for Lochinver. From here the remarkable outline of Suilven dominates the landscape; there’s a great circular walk here starting up the River Inver that gives views not just of Suilven but of Quinag and Canisp too. Handa Island From Lochinver the NC500 takes the switchback B869 road, passing a…

We know that many of you watch the TV series Outlander… so by popular request, our latest pick is of walks in locations featured in the two series of the historical and time-travel drama. Glen Coe The very first scenes of the first episode of Outlander were shot in Glen Coe – one of Scotland’s most iconic locations; the glen features in the credits. The glen has a dark real-life history too, being the setting for the massacre of the MacDonalds in 1692. Glencoe village lies at the foot of the glen, which is justly famed for its superb walking…