Rob
Co-founder
Ran the summer Spine Challenger along the Pennine Way, and raced the Transcontinental and Japanese Odyssey. Plans the stages like a race brief — but for enjoying it.
Adventure · Fastpacking
Less pack.
More trail.
Same bed.
The middle ground between backpacking and trail running. A 25-litre pack, alpine speeds, and — because this is a Big Trail Adventures trip — a small hotel, refuge or guesthouse at the end of every day. All the ground you'd cover with a tent, none of the pitching in the rain — on trails from the Scottish Highlands to the Alps.
Why fastpack
The point is
the ground covered,
not the ounces saved.
Traditional fastpacking is trail running with a bivvy — sleep light, move light, wake up in a slightly damp sleeping bag. Great for the hard core, brutal for the rest of us, and it rules out a hot shower for the entire week.
Our version drops the bivvy and keeps everything else. You carry a genuinely light pack — 4 to 6 kg with water — because you never need a tent, stove, sleeping bag or five days of food. You cover ground at fastpacking pace: 30 to 45 km days, walking the ups, jogging the downs, running the flats. And you sleep in a warm room, eat a hot dinner, and drink a beer.
It's the format most people don't know exists. It works on the Scottish long trails, on the great Alpine circuits, and on the pilgrim routes of southern Europe — anywhere with a bed roughly a marathon apart.
Trails to fastpack
Jump to map
Every trail is walked and re-walked before we open it. We'd rather do four brilliantly than forty badly.
Booking nowScotland
Fife Coastal Path
137 km · 3 days
A three-day fastpack with beach stops and seafood pubs. The gentlest introduction to the format on any UK long trail.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Very runnable
- Ascent
- 1,600 m
- Fastpack days
- 45 km
- Underfoot
- Gentle
Coastal singletrack, sand
Booking nowScotland
West Highland Way
154 km · 3–4 days
The classic UK fastpack. Three big days from Milngavie to Fort William, with hotels booked in Rowardennan, Bridge of Orchy and Kinlochleven.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 3,800 m
- Fastpack days
- 40–50 km
- Underfoot
- Rough
Drove road, rough moor
Booking nowScotland
Wee West Highland Way
80 km · 2 days
A two-day fastpack through the wildest half of the West Highland Way. One bed at Kingshouse, one at the finish.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 2,100 m
- Fastpack days
- 40 km
- Underfoot
- Rough
Moorland track, stone steps
Booking nowScotland
Great Glen Way
127 km · 3 days
Three neat 40-km days with a bed each night. The best of the format — genuinely quick, genuinely comfortable.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Very runnable
- Ascent
- 1,900 m
- Fastpack days
- 42–45 km
- Underfoot
- Gentle
Towpath, forest track
Booking nowScotland
Rob Roy Way
126 km · 3 days
Underrated as a fastpack. Quiet drove roads, forest tracks, and beds in Aberfoyle, Killin and Pitlochry — a proper week of eating and moving.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 2,400 m
- Fastpack days
- 42 km
- Underfoot
- Rolling
Drove road, forest track
Booking nowScotland → England
St Cuthbert's Way
100 km · 2–3 days
Melrose to Lindisfarne in two long days. A pilgrim's fastpack finishing across the tidal sands to Holy Island.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 2,200 m
- Fastpack days
- 50 km
- Underfoot
- Rolling
Field path, tidal sand
Booking nowEngland
Coast to Coast
309 km · 6–7 days
England's iconic crossing in a week. Six or seven long days, three national parks, a bed booked in every village.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 6,800 m
- Fastpack days
- 45–52 km
- Underfoot
- Rough
Fell path, moor, bridleway
Booking nowEngland
Hadrian's Wall Path
135 km · 3 days
Three 45-km days along the wall. Fast underfoot, big views over the whin sill, and a Roman fort every afternoon.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 2,300 m
- Fastpack days
- 45 km
- Underfoot
- Rolling
Grass path, whin sill steps
Booking nowEngland
Cotswold Way
164 km · 3–4 days
The escarpment in a long weekend. Ridge-line running, honey-stone villages for lunch, and a Bath finish.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 3,900 m
- Fastpack days
- 45–55 km
- Underfoot
- Rolling
Escarpment path, field edge
Booking nowEngland
Dales Way
130 km · 3 days
Riverside singletrack in three fast days. Ilkley to Windermere with beds in Kettlewell and Dent.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 2,000 m
- Fastpack days
- 43 km
- Underfoot
- Gentle
Riverside singletrack, pasture
Booking nowEngland
Cumbria Way
116 km · 3 days
The Lake District valley traverse in three days. Long runnable sections between the fells, with beds in Coniston, Rosthwaite and Caldbeck.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 2,900 m
- Fastpack days
- 39 km
- Underfoot
- Rough
Valley path, two passes
Booking nowEngland
The Ridgeway
139 km · 3 days
Chalk downland at fastpacking pace. Open, fast, ancient — three big days from Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Very runnable
- Ascent
- 1,800 m
- Fastpack days
- 46 km
- Underfoot
- Gentle
Chalk byway, downland
Booking nowWales
Anglesey Coastal Path
200 km · 4–5 days
A four-day loop of Ynys Môn. Sea cliffs and beach singletrack, with beds in Beaumaris, Amlwch and Rhosneigr.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 2,600 m
- Fastpack days
- 45–50 km
- Underfoot
- Rolling
Cliff-top path, beaches
Booking nowMallorca, Spain
GR221 Dry Stone Route
138 km · 3–4 days
The Tramuntana at fastpacking pace. Refuges each night, dry-stone mule paths, and a Mediterranean plunge at the finish.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mixed run / hike
- Ascent
- 7,500 m
- Fastpack days
- 35–45 km
- Underfoot
- Mountain
Dry-stone mule path, limestone
Planned by enquiryFrance · Italy · Switzerland
Tour du Mont Blanc
170 km · 5–6 days
The Alpine fastpack. Big cols, glacier views, and a refuge bunk with a three-course dinner at the end of every day.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mixed run / hike
- Ascent
- 10,000 m
- Fastpack days
- 30–40 km
- Underfoot
- Mountain
Alpine path, col crossings
This one isn't bookable online yet — we plan it by hand around your dates, group and pace.
Ask us about Tour du Mont Blanc →
Planned by enquiryFrance · Spain
Haute Route Pyrenees
220 km · 7–9 days
Wilder and quieter than the Alps. A high traverse of the central Pyrenees, refuge to refuge, at fastpacking pace.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mixed run / hike
- Ascent
- 13,500 m
- Fastpack days
- 25–35 km
- Underfoot
- Mountain
High traverse, scree
This one isn't bookable online yet — we plan it by hand around your dates, group and pace.
Ask us about Haute Route Pyrenees →
Planned by enquirySwedish Lapland
Kungsleden North
110 km · 4–5 days
Boardwalk, tundra and Sami wilderness above the Arctic Circle. Mountain huts every 15–20 km — a fastpacker's dream layout.
Fastpacking profile
- Running feel
- Mostly runnable
- Ascent
- 2,200 m
- Fastpack days
- 25–35 km
- Underfoot
- Rolling
Boardwalk, tundra
This one isn't bookable online yet — we plan it by hand around your dates, group and pace.
Ask us about Kungsleden North →Where to fastpack
Scottish glens.
Alpine cols.
Arctic boardwalks.
LiveComing 2026
Lines follow each trail's waypoints — live trail pages draw the full GPX route. Tap a line to see the trail.
Who plans these
Planned by runners,
not by a booking desk.
Four of us fastpack. That's why the stages land where the beds are roughly a marathon apart, why the ascent is on the itinerary before you ask, and why nobody will suggest you carry a tent you don't need.
Stephen
Guidebook author
Author of the Big Trails series. Has run the Cumbria Way and Dales Way in single efforts, and organises the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon.
Kirsty
Commissioning editor
Came to long trails through ultrarunning: UTMB, Tor des Géants, and the Coast to Coast in under three days. Knows exactly where a 45 km day bites.
Elise
Writer
Ran 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain. Has fastpacked the Tour du Mont Blanc, West Highland Way, Cumbria Way, Haute Route and the Ridgeway.
How to fastpack
Get the pack right,
the rest looks after itself.
Pack
25 litres, no more
A 20–25 litre running-cut pack with soft flasks on the shoulder straps. If you can't fit your kit in it, your kit is too much. Ours: shell, insulator, spare socks, running poles, first aid, phone, wallet, snacks. That's the list.
Feet
Trail shoes, not boots
Waterproof trail shoes with a rock plate and a genuine tread — think Speedgoat, Cascadia, Lone Peak. Boots are overkill and slow. Two pairs of merino socks, rotated. Leukotape on the arch of each foot from day one.
Pace
Walk the ups, run the downs
The fastpacking rhythm. Nobody runs up 300 m of ascent with a pack on and enjoys it. Nobody walks a runnable descent either. Split your day roughly 40% walk, 40% run, 20% eating.
Recovery
The hot bath is the training plan
Long soak, big dinner, real bed — whether that's a Highland inn, an Alpine refuge or a Lapland fjällstuga. This is why the format works: running-pace mileage with backpacking-tier recovery.
From the journal
Notes for fastpackers.
The British Coast
I ran 5,000 miles round Britain with £1,000, a tent and a bottle of aftershave
A decade after running 5,000 miles round the British coast, Wayne still thinks about the night he tried to run to the moon. Guest name: Wayne Russell
23 April 20265 min read
Pennine Way (Winter Spine Race)
Just Keep Moving North
Mel Sykes ran 268 miles along the Pennine Way in January. She ran mostly in the dark, through deep snow, hallucinating tigers. Eighteen months earlier she'd had brain surgery. At Hadrian's Wall, on day three, the sun came out and she knew she was going to finish.
15 May 20266 min read
Canary Islands Island-Hop: Tenerife, La Palma & La Gomera
Three Islands, One Week, No Plan
Janie Oates and three friends ran across three Canary Islands in a week, hopping between them by ferry. No set route, no firm distance, no plan beyond wondering, can we get from here to there in a day?
1 April 20266 min read
The Ridgeway
Two Sticks of Rock
Elise Downing ran the Ridgeway in three days. Two friends tried to walk the same distances. It went about as well as last time.
22 May 20264 min read
Der Traumpfad (Munich to Venice Trail)
Nothing to Pull Your Attention
Hannah Campbell ran 450 kilometres from the Bavarian Alps to the edge of the Dolomites, solo, in two weeks, through two days of rain and nine days of unexpected snow. Perhaps most importantly, she had the best hot chocolate of her life at 3,000 metres.
20 April 20267 min read
Rob Roy Way
The Bakery in Callander
Pawel Cymbalista ran the Rob Roy Way in under twelve hours. He nearly stopped for a pastry.
1 April 20265 min read