Your walk from
Crianlarich to
Fort William

At Hiker pace you'll walk around 27 kilometres a day across three days, with the Devil's Staircase climb and a long final stage to Fort William — firm but not extreme. You'll want to be comfortable on your feet for 7–8 hours and able to walk a steady-paced day with a small daypack. If 27km feels heavy, the Explorer pace adds a day and brings the average to 20 kilometres.

May to September is the realistic window. June is often the sweet spot — long days, snow off the Devil's Staircase, midges still mostly absent. July and August are the busiest months and the worst for midges, especially around dawn and dusk on Rannoch Moor. September brings cooler, clearer days and quieter trails. Outside those months expect closed accommodation, snow on the higher ground, and short daylight hours.

Yes. Each morning we move your main bag to the next night's accommodation; you walk with a daypack only. Allowance is one bag per person, up to 20 kilograms. Transfer covers all four overnight stops on the standard Hiker itinerary, including the remote Kingshouse Hotel and Kinlochleven. The only stretches where you carry everything are short — moving between accommodations on rest days, if you've added them.

Mostly family-run B&Bs and traditional Highland inns — the kind of places that have been hosting walkers for decades. The Bridge of Orchy Hotel, Kingshouse Hotel and MacDonald Hotel in Kinlochleven are recurring choices, all with breakfast, drying rooms and en-suite rooms. The route is short enough that we can usually keep you in well-graded inns rather than hostels or bunkhouses, though you can downgrade for budget if preferred.

Yes — solo walkers are common on the West Highland Way. The route is well-signed throughout and you'll never be far from other walkers, especially in summer. We book single rooms with single-occupancy supplements where applicable, hold contact details for each accommodation, and can route you through villages with mobile signal at the right intervals. The Lairig Mor valley is the only stretch where you're likely to walk for an hour without seeing anyone.

Our Hiker package starts from £329 per person, which covers accommodation, breakfasts, daily luggage transfer, and a custom plan with door-to-door travel notes. On top of that, expect to budget £20–£30 a day for lunches and an evening meal at most stops — pubs and inns rather than fine dining. Travel to Crianlarich and back from Fort William is by train (the West Highland Line) and runs roughly £40–£70 each way from Glasgow.