Travel

Hi

I am planning on doing the WHW in April / May.  Can u give me some accomodation tips?  Iv'e never attempted it before, planning on staying in hostels and completing in 5 days.

Cheers

I did it 18 months ago and did a mixture of bunkhouses and camping.

 I stayed in:

Balmaha - can't remember name unfortunately - a recently converted house, where the 'full breakfast' was DIY - just materials supplied - at cafe rates- but we didn't know till we got there Recommended if nowhere else!

Inversnaid.

Excellent.  They pick you up from the path if you want (hostel is  about a km up a steep road)

Really good reasonably priced food - limited menu (but I like that - saves time dithering)

Bridge of Orchy Hotel Bunkhouse

Good food and drink in hotel.  Bunkhouse pricing a little weird   - 3 bunk rooms (at £15 a bunk then)and we had to pay for all 3  although there was only 2 of us.  Not sure how that works out if you are solo!

We camped at Blackwater Hostel in Kinlochleven .Midgetastic.   The folk who stayed there seemed happy enough with it.  The Macdonald hotel had better 'walkers' food than the Tailrace IM0(I visited again a week later)

If you want to treat yourself on the last night try Bob and Chris's B&B in Kinlochleven.  I've never done the WHW but have stayed here many times and have never failed to be disappointed.  Not sure what they charge now but it was £25 when we first started going there, might be £30 now, but they don't charge single supplements .  Note while the twin room is not en-suite there is a bathroom outside for your sole use.

Also agree about the Macdonald Hotel having better food than the Tailrace

When I did it many years ago I used the Youth Hostels at Rowardennan and Crainlarich. The rest of the time I camped.

Slainte

Lindsay

Thanks everybody, I very much appreciate your help.  Really looking forward to the WHW challenge.

Cheers

You can get a lot of info on accommodation as well as route from this website. Even though it may be early in the season the WHW does get busy so do advise booking in advance where possible.

If you want to take the hassle out of it altogether for a fee Easybreaks will sort out your digs and can even do luggage transfer for the real easy option

It's been 10 yrs since I did it but I know some of the accommodation  still don't serve breakfast before 830 ie The Drovers & The Kingshouse

I walked it last Autumn the softy way, mainly staying in hotels and B&Bs.  Book as early as you can as the WHW is hugely popular.

There are some stops where there is a very limited choice of accommodation:

Kingshouse - there is only the Kingshouse Hotel

Rowardennan - the Youth Hostel and the Rowardennan Hotel.  The latter is pricey for what it is but they know that the only alternative is the YH.  I plumped for the YH to save cash and it was truly dire - the room was a triangular cell with a broken radiator and a bed that would have violated the Geneva convention.  The food was dreadful as well.

Don't rule out the option of having your luggage transported by van.  It means that you only have to carry a daypack and this can make things much more enjoyable.  The WHW is c95 miles long so, although your target of completion of 5 days looks reasonable in simple terms (i.e. less than 20 miles per day on average) it won't work out that way in reality.  In fact, looking at this website, a 5-day intinerary might look like this:

Milngavie - Balmaha (20 miles)

Balmaha - Inverarnan (21 miles)

Inverarnan - Bridge of Orchy (19 miles)

Bridge of Orchy - Kingshouse (12 miles - easy day)

Kingshouse - Fort William (25 miles - tough day)

Most people seem to take 3 days to get to Inverarnan and, according to the landlady at my B&B there, that is the point at which people either give up or decide to get their bags transported as the previous day is a tough, up and down slog through forest with no views so don't worry if you get disheartened at that point.

However, the walk gets a heck of a lot better from there.  In fact, if you're not the box-ticking type, start from Crianlarich.  It's easy to get there from Glasgow by bus or train and Crianlarich - Fort William is easily the best part of the Way.