janellebc

Greetings all,
I am trying to get a feel for where to start with a walking tour/ loop in Scotland. Very preliminary planning at this stage. We hope to visit friends in the UK near Beverley, but maybe start north in Scotland for a few days with a walking view of the area, then catch up with folks in Beverley. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

MissPrism

My husband suggests the West Highland Way
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/west-highland-way.shtml

You can do your own thing or there are firms that offer services like arranging accommodation, taking your luggage on ahead and providing a backup car.

MissPrism

Here is a website with long distance walks
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/long-...e-routes.shtml

You are really spoilt for choice.

TheBigMan

Can you clarify whether you mean long distance walks eg the West Highland Way or shorter day walks from a local base eg the Trossachs from Callander or Aberfoyle.
Also do you mean hill walking or keeping to low level. As stated you are spoilt for choice, the Walkhighlands site is excellent and I use it a lot but it would useful if you could provide more detail.

ESW

How many days are you planning on walking? How far are you wanting to walk each day?

janellebc

As I said, we are very early in the planning....probably 6-8 miles a day or shorter distances if there is more to see, etc. thank you everyone for the info so,far!

ESW

Do you want to be based in one place and do walks from there or are you wanting to do a linear walk with overnight stops in different places?

Have you thought about st Cuthbert's Way which is one of the shorter walks at just over 60 miles but also has shorter walks off it.
http://stcuthbertsway.info/

janellebc

They all look wonderful! I think we are going to try and stay in an area we can hike out from...for day trips. Can't get the spouse revved up for longer walks!
Next very novice question....what is the best time of year/months for decent weather? Thank you all for the great links and ideas.

sheila

June or September- even late May. Just not this year!

ESW

June and September are traditionally the best times, however with our fickle weather, especially over the last few years you can't rely on that. June gives you very long days as the sun doesn't set until 10pm or even later the further west or north you go. One of the advantages of this is that if it is raining earlier in the day you can still get a good walk late afternoon or evening if the weather fairs up. We used to do this regularly when we holidayed in Northmberland and I have fond memories of going out around 3pm when the rain had cleared, having tea in a pub and getting back to our accommodation around 10pm when the sun was still up.

June is also a good time for wild flowers. Don't forget Scottish schools break up at the end of June.

janellebc

Thank you so much! We might be more inclined to Sept. But the long light of June sounds lovely! More research for the trip with your added info

TheBigMan

This is one of my favourite walks.

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/lochl...-cobbler.shtml

It's one of the 'Arrochar Alps'.

Incidentally the mountain you see in the distance in the first picture is Ben Lomond, one of the most popular mountains for walkers and only about 30 miles from Glasgow city centre.

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/lochl...n-lomond.shtml.

Both walks have good paths to the top.

If you want something less high but with great views I can recommend the Ochil Hills, east of Stirling,

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fife-...stirling.shtml

the Pentland Hills to the south of Edinburgh.

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/lothi...nd-hills.shtml

or Tinto Hill in South Lanarkshire

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/glasgow/tinto.shtml

janellebc

Thank you bigman for your suggestions they look lovely! We do indeed have many choices! Now to narrow things down to be functional...that will be the task!