West Highland Way – Through the Scottish Highlands

Hiking the West Highland Way Trail

Walking North Through History, Rain, and the Highlands 

The West Highland Way stretches for 154 kilometres from Milngavie, just outside Glasgow, to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis. Following old drovers’ roads, military tracks, and loch-side paths, it traces a route through the Scottish Highlands that is both historic and shaped by the land itself. As Scotland’s first official long-distance trail, it has become one of the most well-known walks in the UK and Europe, drawing hikers north. 

We arrived here already carrying the experience and exhaustion of distance.

After completing Wainwright’s Coast to Coast and finishing the Pennine Way, we had only a little more than two weeks remaining in our UK journey before returning once more to the Atlantic aboard Queen Mary 2. What began as a spontaneous decision to continue north quickly became something more complex - a walk defined not only by the beauty of the Highlands, but by the realities of weather, overcrowding, and the evolving question of what wilderness means in a place so often visited.

There is no denying that the West Highland Way offered moments of remarkable natural beauty; however, these often came alongside stretches where the presence of multitudes of other walkers was constant. There were encounters with new bird species, glimpses of rural life, and long hours of walking along rugged shorelines.  

West Highland Way Details

What begins in the lowlands at Milngavie gradually leads north into the Highlands, ending some 154 kilometres later in Fort William beneath Ben Nevis. Completed over the course of roughly a week.  Early stages follow forest paths and open farmland before reaching the shores of Loch Lomond, where the trail narrows and, at times, becomes a slow and technical trek along the water’s edge. Further north, the landscape opens into wide glens and exposed moorlands. Sections across Rannoch Moor and the approach to Glen Coe bring a sense of scale that is difficult to capture, while climbs such as Conic Hill and the Devil’s Staircase make for more proper challenges.

While often described as accessible, the experience is shaped as much by conditions as by distance. Rain, mud, and changing visibility can transform even straightforward sections into something more demanding, requiring adaptability.

Camping options vary along the trail, from designated sites and small inns to opportunities for more informal overnight stops, each reflecting the balance between structure and freedom that defines hikes in Scotland, which allows respectful wild camping. 

For us, there was also another connection en route. As part of the International Appalachian Trail, this trail linked, in its own way, to earlier journeys across Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Quebec on the Trans Canada Trail - another reminder that paths, once followed long enough, begin to connect across continents.

Our Walking Itinerary and Stages

Our journey along the West Highland Way was both stunning and overwhelming, shaped as much by conditions on the trail as by distance. The following stages reflect our time on the West Highland Way:

Onward to the West Highland Way 

The West Highland Way: Introduction & Orientation

Beginning the West Highland Way: Milngavie to Drymen

Tourism Trials: Drymen to Rowardennan

Challenges Real and Imagined: Rowardennan to Inverarnan

Halfway and Hobbit Huts: Inverarnan to Tyndrum

Stormfronts and Self-Reflection: Tyndrum to Kingshouse

The Devil’s Staircase: Kingshouse to Kinlochleven

Final Day on the West Highland Way: Kinlochleven to Fort William

Reflecting on the West Highland Way

What's Next?   Hiking on along the Great Glen Way 

From Sea to Summit and Back Again

Our journey along the West Highland Way formed part of a much larger adventure through Britain, one that began when we crossed the Atlantic aboard Queen Mary 2 and arrived in Southampton. Before reaching Scotland, we had already completed Wainwright's Coast to Coast across northern England and continued along the Pennine Way. By the time we arrived in Milngavie, we were carrying not only our backpacks but also the accumulated fatigue of weeks spent travelling on foot.

The West Highland Way offered remarkable landscapes, from the shores of Loch Lomond to the exposed expanses of Rannoch Moor and the mountains surrounding Glen Coe. Yet the experience was not always what we had imagined. Persistent rain, demanding terrain, crowded pathways, and the practical realities of travelling through one of Scotland's most popular hiking regions sometimes made it difficult to find the solitude and connection with nature we had hoped for. Even so, there were memorable encounters with birds and wildlife, unexpected moments of beauty, and opportunities to reconsider what wilderness means in a landscape shared by so many visitors.

Reaching Fort William did not bring our Scottish walking adventures to an end. From there, we continued north along the Great Glen Way, following a very different route through the Highlands, beside lochs, canals, forests, and historic communities toward Inverness. Our travels then carried us south again to explore Hadrian's Wall Path, where the remains of the Roman frontier introduced another perspective on Britain's landscapes and history.

Eventually, our journey brought us back to Southampton and a westbound Atlantic crossing aboard Queen Mary 2. After weeks of walking across England and Scotland, returning to the rhythms of life at sea offered another opportunity to reflect on the places we had visited, the challenges we had encountered, and the different ways that travelling slowly can connect landscapes and experiences.

Each trail had added another chapter to a journey that was never simply about completing a particular distance. Together, the walks and ocean crossings reminded us that slow travel does not guarantee comfort, solitude, or ideal conditions. What it offers is time to experience places as they are, to adjust our expectations, and to remain curious about what lies beyond the next bend in the path.

For readers interested in our other long-distance walks, pilgrimages, railway adventures, and ocean voyages, we invite you to explore the wider Come Walk With Us travel collection.

See you on the trail!