Long distance
Scotland's great trails
Every major Scottish long-distance walking route reviewed — from the crowd-pleaser West Highland Way to the ferocious Cape Wrath Trail. Distances, difficulty, direction and resupply, done properly.
Scotland is one of the best countries in the world for long-distance walking — 30+ official and unofficial routes of every distance and difficulty, from week-long intros to multi-week wilderness expeditions. Below is every route we've covered in detail, sorted by length.
Each route page gives you: distance, typical days, total ascent, recommended direction, best months, resupply notes and our honest take on what the walk is actually like in practice.
Map of routes
Green markers are start points, orange are finishes. Click any marker for the full route guide.
All routes
Speyside Way
easyFollows the River Spey from the Moray Firth coast into the Cairngorms, passing through the heart of Scotch whisky country.
105 km / 65 mi5 days1100 m ascentBuckie → AviemoreRob Roy Way
moderateLinks Drymen (start of the West Highland Way) with Pitlochry, crossing the heart of the Trossachs and the southern Highlands via Aberfoyle and Callander.
124 km / 77 mi6 days2500 m ascentDrymen → PitlochryGreat Glen Way
easyLow-level coast-to-coast walk along the Great Glen, linking Fort William with Inverness via the shores of Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness.
127 km / 79 mi6 days2000 m ascentFort William → InvernessWest Highland Way
moderateScotland's most famous long-distance trail and the busiest in the UK. Runs from a northern Glasgow suburb to Fort William under the shadow of Ben Nevis, via Loch Lomond, Glen Coe and Rannoch Moor.
154 km / 96 mi7 days3200 m ascentMilngavie → Fort WilliamFife Coastal Path
easyFollows the Fife coastline from the Forth Bridges around the East Neuk to the Tay Estuary. Gentle, coastal and refreshingly people-friendly.
187 km / 117 mi8 days2400 m ascentKincardine → NewburghJohn Muir Way
easyCoast-to-coast route across central Scotland named for John Muir, running from Helensburgh on the Clyde to Dunbar (Muir's birthplace) on the East Lothian coast.
215 km / 134 mi10 days2000 m ascentHelensburgh → DunbarSouthern Upland Way
challengingScotland's only coast-to-coast long-distance trail, crossing the Southern Uplands from the Rhinns of Galloway to Cockburnspath on the Berwickshire coast.
341 km / 212 mi14 days9200 m ascentPortpatrick → CockburnspathCape Wrath Trail
expertNot waymarkedUnofficial but legendary route from Fort William to Cape Wrath, the north-westernmost point on the British mainland. One of the toughest long-distance walks in Europe.
370 km / 230 mi18 days12000 m ascentFort William → Cape Wrath