West Highland Way Itineraries

By Dave Roberts   

on December 17, 2020   5/5 (1)

Posted in Official West Highland Way Route, West Highland Way Tips

West Highland Way Itineraries

Itineraries for the West Highland Way should be tailored to suit the walker. While we’ve divided the route into 8 sections, that doesn’t mean that you have to walk it in 8 days. You can split the route down easily into 15 sections which have practical start/end points as outlined below with a link to the route on the site for the full information. Below that we’ve divided the West Highland Way into a number of possible itineraries by number of days, which should be used as a guide only!

The sections provided below make the assumption that he walker does not wild camp. Taking up the option of wild camping sections of the West Highland Way allows you the option of breaking down the final three longer legs into shorter ones. If you’re a hardened Youth Hosteller then you’ll need to modify the itineraries to fit into that, or maybe you don’t want to stay at the type of accommodation that section stops at – you may want to camp all the way, or insist on a night at a hotel wherever possible. Ultimately, the itinerary will need to fit into your own plan and budgets.

Note that the time taken is as per Naismith’s Rule – which is based on a speed of 5km an hour and an additional 10 minutes per 100m ascended. It does NOT account for food breaks or any sort of stoppages, so you will need to add a couple of hours to the total for a typical day’s walking.

West Highland Way Distance (Mileage) Chart – Kilometres

West Highland Way Mileage Distance Chart - kilometres

West Highland Route Sections

We will be adding a Distance Chart with time and distance soon.

no.
Stage
Link to Route
Distance (KM)
Running Total (KM)
Alt Gain
running ascent
Time*
Total Time
1
Milngavie (NS 555 745) to Carbeth (NS 534 796)
 Section 1 – Milngavie – Drymen 6.6 6.6 129 129 01:25 01:25
2
Carbeth (NS 534 796) to Dumgoyne (NS 522 835)
 Section 1 – Milngavie – Drymen 4.7 11.3 36 165 00:58 02:23
3
Dumgoyne (NS 522 835) to Drymen (NS 474 885)
 Section 1 – Milngavie – Drymen 8.4 19.7 108 273 01:44 04:07
4
Drymen (NS 474 885) to Balmaha (NS 420 908)
 Section 2 – Drymen to Rowardennan 12 31.7 366 639 02:38 06:45
5
Balmaha (NS 420 908) to Rowardennan (Hotel) (NS 360 983)
 Section 2 – Drymen to Rowardennan 11.4 43.1 272 911 02:27 09:12
6
Rowardennan (Hotel) (NS 360 983) to Inversnaid Hotel (NN 337 089)
 Section 3 Rowardennan – Inverarnan 11.7 54.8 382 1293 02:35 11:48
7
Inversnaid Hotel (NN 337 089) to Inverarnan (Beinglas) (NN 321 186)
 Section 3 Rowardennan – Inverarnan 10.4 65.2 279 1572 02:15 14:03
8
Inverarnan (Beinglas) (NN 321 186) to Crianlarich (NN 384 251)
 Section 4 – Inverarnan – Tyndrum 10.4 75.6 343 1915 02:19 16:22
9
Crianlarich (NN 384 251) to Auchtertyre Campsite (NN 354 290)
 Section 4 – Inverarnan – Tyndrum 6.5 82.1 216 2131 01:26 17:48
10
Auchtertyre Campsite (NN 354 290) to Tyndrum (NN 328 301)
 Section 4 – Inverarnan – Tyndrum 3.6 85.7 74 2205 00:45 18:34
11
Tyndrum (NN 328 301) to Bridge of Orchy (NN 300 394)
 Section 5 – Tyndrum – Bridge of Orchy 10.8 96.5 172 2377 02:16 20:50
12
Bridge of Orchy (NN 300 394) to Inveroran Hotel (NN 274 413)
 Section 6- Bridge of Orchy – King’s House 4 100.5 166 2543 00:54 21:44
13
Inveroran Hotel (NN 274 413) to King’s House Hotel (NN 259 546)
 Section 6- Bridge of Orchy – King’s House 15.6 116.1 325 2868 03:20 25:05
14
King’s House Hotel (NN 259 546) to Kinlochleven (NN 187 620)
 Section 7- King’s House to Kinlochleven 14 130.1 437 3305 03:05 28:10
15
Kinlochleven (NN 187 620) to Fort William (NN 104 741)
 Section 8- Kinlochleven to Fort William 23.5 153.6 713 4018 05:10 33:20

West Highland Way 1 and 2 Day Itinerary

Let’s get this straight. You can see above that the total time for the WHW in hours is a potential 33 hours – without stopping – so anything in this area is the realms of the ultrarunners and challenge walkers. If that’s your thing then you should consider entering the West Highland Way race – which allow you up to 35 hours to complete the West Highland Way. The record for the race, if you’re interested, is 13 hrs 41 mins…

West Highland Way 3 Day Itinerary

We think this is somewhat in the realms of the challenge walker – and would need days of around 50km in order to complete it in that time. One way of doing so – would be :

Day 1 –  Milngavie (NS 555 745) to  Inversnaid Hotel (NN 337 089) – 55km / 1300m ascent

Day 2 –  Inversnaid Hotel (NN 337 089) to Inveroran Hotel (NN 274 413) – 46km / 1250m ascent

Day 3 –  Inveroran Hotel (NN 274 413) to Fort William (NN 104 741) – 53.1km / 1475m ascent

West Highland Way 4 Day Itinerary

You’re getting more into ‘fit walker’ territorry, but still looking at tough 40km days. Here’s one suggested itinerary that attempts to get the easier walking out of the way, allowing a little more time for the tougher days including an ‘easy’ 30km section!

Day 1 – Milngavie (NS 555 745) to Rowardennan (Hotel) (NS 360 983) – 43km / 910m ascent

Day 2 –  Rowardennan (Hotel) (NS 360 983) to Tyndrum (NN 328 301) –  42.6 / 1300m ascent

Day 3 – Tyndrum (NN 328 301) to King’s House Hotel (NN 259 546) –  30km / 660m ascent

Day 4 – King’s House Hotel (NN 259 546) to Fort William (NN 104 741) – 37.5km / 1150m ascent

West Highland Way 5 Day Itinerary

The 5 day itinerary tries to keep the final tougher days as short as possible.

Day 1 – Milngavie (NS 555 745) to Balmaha (NS 420 908) – 32km / 640m ascent

Day 2 –  Balmaha (NS 420 908) to Inverarnan (Beinglas) (NN 321 186) – 33.5km / 930m ascent

Day 3 – Inverarnan (Beinglas) (NN 321 186) to Inveroran Hotel (NN 274 413) –  35.5km / 970m ascent

Day 4 – Inveroran Hotel (NN 274 413) to Kinlochleven (NN 187 620) – 29.6km / 760m ascent

Day 5 – Kinlochleven (NN 187 620) to Fort William (NN 104 741) – 23.5km / 713m ascent

West Highland Way 6 Day Itinerary

This is a variation on the 5 day itinerary, with the final sections being difficult to change without resorting to wild camping. This is a realistic proposition for the time-strapped and fit hill walker.

Day 1 – Milngavie (NS 555 745) to Balmaha (NS 420 908) – 32km / 640m ascent

Day 2 –  Balmaha (NS 420 908) to  Inversnaid Hotel (NN 337 089) – 23km / 650m ascent

Day 3 –  Inversnaid Hotel (NN 337 089) to Crianlarich (NN 384 251) – 21km / 620m ascent

Day 4 – Crianlarich (NN 384 251) to Inveroran Hotel (NN 274 413) – 25km / 630m ascent

Day 5 – Inveroran Hotel (NN 274 413) to Kinlochleven (NN 187 620) – 29.6km / 760m ascent

Day 6 – Kinlochleven (NN 187 620) to Fort William (NN 104 741) – 23.5km / 713m ascent

West Highland Way 7 Day Itinerary

The standard 8 day itinerary (next) can easily be reduced by one day if you’re willing to push hard on one day. You can extend the first day to Balmaha, and then from Balmaha to Inverarnan on the next day. You can also split the Inveraran – Tyndrum day between the previous and next legs and overnight in Crianlarich.

A third option is to add section 5 onto either the previous or following day, making a tough 30km day.

West Highland Way 8 Day Itinerary

This is the standard itinerary as suggested by our route structure:

Section 1 – Milngavie – Drymen – 19km / 270m ascent

Section 2 – Drymen to Rowardennan– 23km / 640m ascent

Section 3 Rowardennan – Inverarnan  – 22km / 660m ascent

Section 4 – Inverarnan – Tyndrum – 19km / 630m ascent

Section 5 – Tyndrum – Bridge of Orchy  – 11km / 172m ascent

Section 6- Bridge of Orchy – King’s House – 19.5km / 490m ascent

Section 7- King’s House to Kinlochleven – 14km / 440m ascent

Section 8- Kinlochleven to Fort William – 23km / 720m ascent

West Highland Way 9 Day Itinerary

Your best bet for a 9 day itinerary is to eke an extra day out of the 8 Day Itinerary. You could do so by having a shorter first day, finishing perhaps at Dumgoyne for a 12km first day, then Dumgoyne to Balmaha for a second day of 20km and then on to Rowardennan for another short leg of around 12km.

You could also split the 3rd 4th and 5th sections into 4 days by ending the 3rd day at Inversnaid Hotel (NN 337 089), then on to Crianlarich  for the 4th day, and the 5th day on to Tyndrum.

West Highland Way 10 Day Itinerary

This is the longest Itinerary we’ve worked out and one option is to split the route by using both the suggested options for the 9 day Itinerary above.

 

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Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

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