West Highland Way

The West Highland Way is Scotland's most-walked long-distance trail — 154 km from Milngavie on the northern edge of Glasgow to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, opened in 1980 as Scotland's first officially designated Long Distance Route. It traverses the southern Highlands through a chain of named landscapes: Loch Lomond, the Rob Roy country around Crianlarich, Rannoch Moor's bleak expanse, the dramatic Glen Coe, and the Mamores leading to Fort William.

The trail is walked south-to-north so it finishes facing Ben Nevis — the climactic view from Kinlochleven up the Lairig Mòr is the route's signature image. The 36 km along Loch Lomond's east shore is the trail's longest single landscape, with the second half (Rowardennan to Inverarnan) the trickiest underfoot — rocky, rooty, and slow. Rannoch Moor between Tyndrum and Kingshouse is the trail's wildest section, an old drovers' road across open peatland with no shelter for 15 km. Glencoe and the Devil's Staircase climb out of Kingshouse to 550 m, then Kinlochleven and the long final ridge into Fort William. Most walkers take 7 days; fast walkers do it in 5; the Highland Fling ultra runs the whole route in under 24 hours.

The trail is walkable year-round but May to September is the standard season — outside, the moors are wet and the daylight short. The B&B network in every village means tent-free travel for those who want it (£60–100 per night, book ahead in summer); wild camping is restricted on the loch shore east bank between March and September but free elsewhere. Baggage-transfer services (£10–15 per bag per day) run the full length — most walkers use them. The trail is well-marked with the thistle-on-hexagon waymark. Midges in June–August are notorious; pack repellent or a head net for evening camp.