Hiking - Scotland? Wales?
 

I’m very late on this but still hoping to pull off a trip to Scotland for some hiking this May.

The company I’ve used in the past to transport luggage says they have nothing coastal available.

they are pushing inland hiking…in Wales

“You best chance of availability at this stage of the year is probably to aim for Wales on an inland route. Coastal routes fill very quickly with general tourism using the accommodation options.Have you considered the Offa's Dyke path at all? It's a beautiful route and can be tackled in smaller sections, rather than taking on the whole 177miles.

maybe I’d love that?

Just before the pandemic I spent a blissful 14 days between Oban/Mull/Iona.

I’ve seen Edinburgh and Glasgow so really want to head to a coast or the Isles - interested in natural areas, something can do as a solo, and some other things of interest (craft, ruins).

thanks in advance for any ideas!

OK -- Not sure but this May could be difficult finding availability with a hiking group/transport company in the most popular areas. There is an extra May Bank Holiday this year so people have been planning extra getaways.

I'd probably either take the Wales suggestion from the company you already know -- or just plan a solo trip to Scotland and do day hikes.

I'd look maybe towards the Borders/very NE Northumberland. There are the Borders hill country, St Abb's Head on the coast, Lindesfarne Island, Bamburgh etc with some rail service and local buses so doable independently. Look up the Berwickshire Coastal Path. Also part of the John Muir Way (say the section from Edinburgh > North Berwick > Dunbar).

There is also a coastal path around Fife with lots of fishing villages

offa's dyke is a good walk

I like Bibo's idea. There is also the Welsh coastal path.
https://www.walescoastpath.gov.uk/pl...-help/?lang=en
For alternatives in Scotland.
more variety. https://www.visitscotland.com/info/t...walking-hiking
A number of those suggestions will not have luggage transfer listed but you can find them with some greater research. Like this ashort "stroll" Home | Arran Coastal Way

When I cycle tour and consider how to move luggage, I just ask the hotel to book a taxi for my gear.

Just an idea

I've walked a bit of the Offa's Dyke Path near the ruins of Tintern Abbey and Chepstow Castle, two must sees. If you visit Chepstow read Life in a Medieval Castle by Joseph and Frances Gies, which brings the history of the castle alive.

Thank you everyone for these thoughtful suggestions! I will persist in trying to get something scheduled rather than give up on Scotland.

Bilbo - any details on what makes it a good walk? Like the luggage idea...

VANAARLE - the coastal paths apparently are very limited in accommodations :(

janis - your suggestion to just do day hikes is kind of where I am so thank you for sharing some endorsements.

Fra - I like that your recommendation comes with a book suggestion as well!

How about hanging out in St. Davids, Wales? We spent four nights there as part of a hiking trip on the Pembrokshire Coast, and loved the town. We could have stayed much longer. It was in June, 2018.

A quick check on booking.com for a week in mid-May turned up several options.

St Davids has easy access to numerous hikes along the coast, to Ramsey Island, the Pentre Ifan standing stones, which are near forest hiking. Plus the small Cathedral and the ruined Bishop's Palace next door are beautiful. Tons of things in the area that we missed out on. We did not have a car while in St. Davids but relied on public transport or taxis to get around. Bus system was good as I recall.

gruezi, we dealt with Wilderness Scotland in 2018 for a week of guided walking in the Cairngorms. They were excellent to work with, and while they focus on guided walking, they also arrange self-guided walks, including custom-tailored routes. You might see if they have anything that meets your needs. https://www.wildernessscotland.com

By coincidence, my wife and I are walking part of Offa's Dyke Path in May. We will be based in Hay-on-Wye and will walk the first day from Llantony Priory back to Hay-on-Wye, and then the next day from Hay-on-Wye north to Kington. https://www.celtictrailswalkingholid...h/#itineraries We chose "The Heights of Offa's Dyke" option. We arranged accommodations, luggage transfers, and transportation to and from trailheads in December, and Celtic Trails seemed to have lots of choices in accommodations, but things have doubtless tightened up, as janisj notes.

As an aside, we have also made arrangements to walk the Cumbria Way after we finish in Hay-on-Wye. We start in Ulverston and finish in Carlisle, passing through Coniston, Langdale, Keswick, and Caldbeck.

Anselm - wow that sounds like a great trip. Unfortunately Celtic Trails (my first choice) is not booking anything for May or early June so I have to make some tough decisions on my plans. I love my job, but not when I can't travel a bit too...

Thank you all for giving me much to think about - possibly I will defer to next summer and make more timely plans.

gruezi, If you want to save this for future ideas, this is the company we went with to Wales in 2018. They made a custom self-guided trip for us, it was really top notch all the way.
https://www.great-british-walks.com/

However, at the time it was called "The Walking Holiday Company" and it was a much smaller outfit, run by three women, who exclusively did Wales trips. Shortly after we finished they merged into this larger company. Hopefully the quality didn't suffer.

Two friends and I did something similar last spring. We spent 4 days in St. David and then a couple of nights in Marloes. We did walks on the coast in either direction and then also used taxis to get further afield and between the two locations. We did find that we had to book taxis ahead - usually you can ask your hotel to recommend some. St. Davids was a great location as it is a little bigger and has several restaurants (we especially loved Grains) and we also went to a choir concert in the cathedral. Marloes is very small but has a great little restaurant called Runwayskiln where we actually ate about 3 times.

We really enjoyed Wales. The scenery was amazing and the people were lovely. We're already talking about returning.

Got a Youtube suggestion on a walk in Scotland. Beautiful scenery.