So I made a post about this in trv, but I wanted to check with fellow sc/outs about gear and any experience in the Scottish Highlands. Next Spring (late april-may) I'm visiting Scotland for about 4 weeks and I'm doing several hill walks. I plan to hit the West Highland Way, Great Glen Way, and the Skye Trail. I'm taking a breaks in between hikes and would like suggestions about what to do with that time, cool places to check out, or any other travel tips I may not have considered.
Also gear shit because it's good to be properly prepared:
OR Foray jacket
>amazon.com/gp/product/B00HGU1ECA?keywords=outdoor%20research%20foray&qid=1448763595&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
Vasque St Elias boots
>amazon.com/Vasque-St-Elias-Backpacking-Beluga/dp/B00AJHDJFM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448763368&sr=8-1&keywords=vasque+gtx
ALPS Lynx tent + footprint
>amazon.com/gp/product/B00BMKD1DU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
Kelty Redwing 50L backpack
>amazon.com/gp/product/B009R6B3NQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
Obviously I have other gear, but that is the core stuff. I'm going to aim for around 35 pounds with everything in the bag. Any suggestions are appreciated.
>In b4 mora
>>637871
Thanks for the info.
Anyone have info on hillwalking or wild camping?
No one from/been to Scotland?
>>637870
Lowlander here, although I've made a good few trips through the highlands. What areas are you going to and I'll give you some tips?
>>638953
Was planning on doing West Highland Way, take a break, then continue on to Great Glen Way, take another break, then leaning towards Skye Trail. Half wild camping, and probably some hostels, and even a BnB if I feel like spoiling myself.
>>637870
Sup OP, Scotfag here from Angus.
The West Highland Way is good, albeit touristic. I did it back in 2006 and had a great time. It took me 6 days to do it comfortably, not sure how long you are giving it?
I highly recommend you doing the ridge walk along Aonach Eagach (pic related- google it). It's amazing scenery, a little bit dangerous, but you don't need any specialist gear or anything.
Other than hiking, I recommend you visit Edinburgh, best city in the country.
Have a good time in Scotland!
>>639361
Not op, Visited Edinburgh.
Fucking great place. Ever been to Sandy bells?
>>639366
>Ever been to Sandy bells?
Not been, is it a good pub?
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/
Excellent resource.
And I say your list of places to visit goes like;
Skye ( cuillins )
Glen Affric ( a gem )
Some place near Aviemore for dat dere plateau.
Whereever else, Islands or some shit; Mull is nice, also the Small isles, ferries are cheap and fun. Outer Hebrides look nice, but I've never been.
Also if you deecide to 'see' loch ness for whatever reason, I dunno why tourists are so obsessed by this. I advise going down the south/east side, instead of the main road on the north side.
>>639361
That does look gorgeous and I will certainly look into it. I know WHL is touristy but it will be my first time there and it's a good intro walk into the country. I was planning on doing 5-6 days and might do Ben Lomond if time/weather permits. I'm in good shape and will be carrying roughly 15kg bag, I will see Edinburgh for a few reasons. I was also planning on seeing Stirling. What's your opinion on Dundee and Aberdeen?
>>639483
Good tip! That has been my major resource for planning hikes so far.
Definitely spending 2-3 days minimum on Skye. Glen Affric and Aviemore are places I would have to either rent a car or take a bus. And I was really only looking at Skye and Islay in terms of the Islands. Out Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland all seem cool but I need to be realistic about my time and budget. I'm going to see Loch Ness only because it's along the Great Glen Way, and certainly not one of the highlights of things Scotland has to offer.
Aside from that, after I've done the multi day hikes I'm planning, is it cheaper to get a bus pass or just rent a car for a week?
>>637870
Can you tell me about rabbit hunting in scotland?
Spent about 6 months this year in Scotland, here are some tips for you:
Don't miss out on Aonach Eagach, it's great! (Pic related, view from there over to Ben Nevis.)
WHL is a fucking highway, feels like walking down the main shopping street just before Christmas, minus the shops. Too many people! After half a day it was too much and I left it.
Skye trail is ok, some nice parts. Detour to the Cuillins is a must. I spent a night up there on the ridge, but wouldn't recommend that o everybody.
Go to the Cairngorms, my favorite place for /out/ings in Scotland. (Prepare for everything, this year we had some good snowfall in May as a surprise.)
>>639630
Megabus is your friend for cheap bus travil around the uk but it mainly goes between citys.
From there you can use other buses or trains.
http://uk.megabus.com/
As for islands if you can get to Orkeny I recomend it. I lived there for eight years and still want to go back. The cheapest way to get to it is:
http://www.jogferry.co.uk/Ferry.aspx
There is a free bus that takes you from the port on Orkney right to Kirkwall the main town there. Costs £17.00 and you can take a bike for free.
>>639630
>What's your opinion on Dundee and Aberdeen?
I'm from Dundee and lived in Aberdeen for a long time so here is my opinion on both cities: Don't bother going to either!
Dundee has a reputation in Scotland for being one of the poorest shitty cities, and although this isn't true, it's not particularly great. There isn't a whole lot there so not much to do.
Aberdeen is the oil capital of the UK so it's quite expensive there. It's an ok city, built almost entirely from grey granite, but I don't recommend going out of your way to visit. Again there isn't a whole lot to do up there.
If you are looking for town/cities to visit, I'd recommend St Andrews (which is in Fife). It's a nice little historic town and worth a visit if you have time to spare.
As this anon >>640027 eluded to, the Cairngorm Nation Park is lovely. There is a town called Aviemore which is worth staying to visit the surrounding areas including Loch an Eilein (pic related) in Rothiemurchus Estate
>>640027
Definitely looks good and I will try and squeeze that in. WHL probably will be packed since it's so well known and has comfy towns all along the way, but I can't go to Scotland for a month and not do it. Cuillins also looks amazing but I will only go up there if the weather is good. Cairngorms I'm really on the fence. I'm just not sure where to go aside from Aviemore and the distilleries. I'm still planning however.
>>640088
Megabus is a great economical option between a destination or two, thanks! I know Orkney looks great but I don't think I can manage it this trip.
>>640160
Good to know. I was trying to rationalize not going to the east side of Scotland with the exception of Inverness. Also looking towards Aviemore. I will consider St Andrews as well since I always enjoy historic towns.
Does anyone have experience with Islay? I wanted to rent a bicycle and wild camp there for 3-4 days while checking out distilleries. I know there are several places to rent bikes on the island, but only 1 has a website and charges 15 pounds/day. Just wondering if that is standard or if I should keep looking.
>>641248
Sup,
I don't want to influence your plans but just so you know, once you have visited a couple of distillerys, you might not want to visit many more. They all have very similar tours and talk about the same stuff.
I'm really into my whisky and have been to a few distillers across the country but I find the tours are very similar and sometimes even include similar jokes ("hurr we call the whisky that evaporates out of the cask the angels share :DDDD").
>>641299
I'm going to Scotland to see nature and the outdoors, not distilleries. I only plan to visit the distilleries on Islay because they seem like good destinations for biking and I'm not necessarily doing the tours for each of them. I think the only distllery tours I will see on the trip are a handful of personal favorites. I was really more interested to know how to get around the island and how cheaply I could get a bike.
>tfw I used to live in Scotland and never went to the highlands
fml
>>641509
Your loss, but I did something similar. I lived in Fresno for 4 years and didn't go to Yosemite once.
Highlandfag here, born and bread.
Goto Skye.
Goto Knoydart peninsula.
We used to climb munros in adidas sambas and jeans.
Don't be scared.
Have fun.
Take a mobile phone just in case and don't do anything silly.
Enjoy Scotland!
>>642783
Already doing Skye! Knoydart looks isolated and costly. What's so great about it?
>>642982
Late response I know, long day.
TL;DR You can die in Knoydart, Skye is great.
I used to live close to a place called Kinlochourne. It's a sea loch on the edge of Knoydart.
Knoydart is very remote, a guy from my village died out there after falling and hitting his head, usually when folks go missing it's due to unpredictable weather (like deaths on Ben Nevis).
It's really fucking remote, no phone signal in the most part and only accessible by boat or a long walk from Kinlochourne.
Worth it? Oh yes, the views are amazing and the feeling of remoteness is somewhat scary.
The dude above mentioned the 'walk highlands' website, which is 10/10 resource. It really is the only guide you need.
Skye is superb, Its a fucking excellent place, Sligachan is where you want to go. There is a rustic campsite there too, nice and cheap.
You don't need to spend loads on good gear, just be sensible dude, good gear is nice but my comment about jeans and trainers was genuine. A good head on your shoulders is all you need.
I live in London now, which is a drag, I spent most of my life in the West Highlands. Take advantage of your opportunity and do some research, there are some truly great places to visit on just Skye alone.
I actually have a hard on for Skye.
>>643301
I'm sure people do die there, and it does look remote. My major concern there is my limited time in Scotland. It does look nice but I will most likely have to pass. Skye is the place I'm looking forward to and I'm not sure how much time to allot to the island.
Right now my tentative schedule is
1) Arrive in Glasgow, spend the day, sleep and head out for West Highland Way (5-6 days).
2) Bus from Ft William to Kennacraig, then rent a bike and spend 4-5 days on Islay
3) Bus up to Skye and do Skye trail (5 days + ?)
4) Bus to Ft William, then do Great Glen trail, or Glen Affric (4-5 days)
5) Remaining 10-12 days spent in East Caingorms/Aviemore/Distilleries, Stirling, St Andrews, Edinburgh.
I may shift more time to the earlier stuff, but still researching and so far the walkhighlands has been the best resource. Thanks for the info! I wish I had the time/money to spend more time there but I'm lucky to get about 5 weeks already.
If you're set on doing the WHW and you're on a time constraint may I suggest skipping the first section from Milngavie - Murdoch Park and the area just beyond (to Drymen) is an awful awful section of the WHW. Nothing much to see, trail is a mix or road-side and actual road, and when I did ti was very grim.
Remember as well there is a seasonal ban on camping on the east coast of Lomond, so if you're coming out after April (April - Nov IIRC) you can't wild camp till approx 7 mi beyond Rowardennan.
IMO you'd be better off starting it at Balmaha or Rowardennan (about half way up Loch Lomond) - You can get a bus to these spots.
>>643532
>Skye is the place I'm looking forward to
I know that other anon has a boner for Skye but it's actually not that great and you will probably be disappointed. It's basically a bleak boring island where it will most likely be rainy and windy with nothing much to do. The western highlands are far nicer.
>>643832
To each their own dude, travelfag listen to this dude also, I guess the BIG caveat with Skye is that if you hit it at the wrong time, you could leave with this opinion. Get it right though, and it's great.
Could you hire a car for number 4 & 5 on your list? City link do a good job of connecting the Highlands but by fuck it's a very slow way to travel with limited times etc.
What the anon said about skipping part of the WHW is also good advice, I'm planning on doing it on the MTB at some stage and have it on good authority to skip some parts.
Some say doing it in reverse is a good way of experiencing it too.
Fort William is a dump, there really is fuck all there, I worked there for 8 years. It's good for Macdonalds and that's about it. Tourist trap.
>>643910
>I guess the BIG caveat with Skye is that if you hit it at the wrong time, you could leave with this opinion
I've been to Skye a number of times in both good and bad weather and my opinion is no different, it's really nothing special.
>>643755
I wont have bragging rights for having done the entire walk then! And I was considering just wild camping on a more isolated part of the south.
>>643832
That's the risk you run in a maritime environment.
I might hire a care for 4 and 5 if my German friend joins me for a few days.
I assumed Ft William didnt have much but it just happens to be the point between two walks.
Have you applied for your knife licence if you plan to bring one? Can take a while to process.
>>644260
Not sure if rusemaster, but either way I'm not bringing a knife.
Still looking for info.
>>637870
One recommendation for travelling out in the highlands. In the summer to the end of autumn watch out for the waves of midges. Woke up one day put on my favourite black hoody and in the pocket was a sludge made out of thousands of dead midges from the night before. So aye, stay away from non-running water.
>>645736
Will I run into a smidge of midge in May?
>>645736
Yeah just a smidge, not as much as around that time, but still bring a lot of repellent just in case.
>>646382
EDIT (Wrong post to reply to)
Yeah just a smidge, not as much as around that time, but still bring a lot of repellent just in case.
Cheapest flight to UK from near SF would be Glasgow/Edinburgh/London?
