4th to 11th September 2026
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| Me and Paul on our last hike together |
A trip Brian is making without Jackie, but with his friend Paul.
Setting off on the train from Alvechurch at 06:10 in the morning, changing trains at Birmingham New Street (where he'll meet up with Paul) and changing stations at Glasgow, we'll arrive in Fort William, Scotland at 16:09, if all runs on time.
From there we'll walk round the corner to the old fort of Fort William making the official start (or end) of the Great Glen Way walk linking Fort William with Inverness on the other side of the country some 80 plus miles away. The route can be done entirely on water, along the Caledonian canal, several lochs including Loch Ness and out to the North Sea, but we're walking along the route at its side.
We're taking 7 days to do it, if we include the walk of about 7km from the railway station to our first nights accommodation, so 6 days of proper walking. Here's a map of the route with our overnight stops marked in red. The blue markers are points on our route. Click the square top right to bring it to full screen and each marker for more detail.
Here's our daily plan with estimated distances which I'll try to update each day with a screenshot of our days route along with actual distances, times and ascent. It'll be interesting to see how our estimates differ with actuals:
Day 1: Arrive Fort William at 16:09. Walk to the old fort marking the route start and walk on to our first nights accommodation in the Snowgoose & Bunkhouse at Corpach. Estimated distance: 7km
Day 2: Walk Corpach to at least Gairlochy. However, our night accommodation is 6km south of this point in Spean Bridge at the Ox Hotel, all off route. If we can get a lift from and to Gairlochy we will, otherwise the days distance will be about 17km
Day 3: Either walk from Spean Bridge or get a lift back to the track at Gairlochy and walk on to Invergarry to Saddle Mountain Hostel, our nights accommodation. Estimated distance 24km
Day 4: Walk about 28km from Invergarry to Lochside Hostel in Altsigh on the banks of Loch Ness
Day 5: Walk 16km to Loch Ness Lodge Hotel in Drumnadrochit, another town on the banks of Loch Ness
Day 6: A shorter days walk of about 13km but with lots of ascent up to Abriachan and our nights stop at a little shepherds hut
Day 7: The final day to Inverness and then a bus back to Fort William for our last nights stay at the Distillery Guest House. The days walk we think is about 19km but we will probably walk on to where the Caledonian canal opens into the North Sea, completing our walk coast to coast
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