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General
Information
Duration:
8 days (7 nights)
Season:
April to October.
Starting
point: Fort William
End
of tour: Inverness
Breakfast:
in the UK will generally consist of sausage, bacon, eggs etc, cereals and
fruit will also be available. It is important for you to tell us if you
have any dietary requirements when you book your holiday so that we can
inform everyone that you are staying with.
Baths:
it is not normal for your room to have a bath, the main reason being that
it takes up a lot of space, some hotels/guesthouses may have a separate
room in the house where a bath is available to guests, but in the main it
is showers.
Single
Supplements:
are payable on most of our tours. The single supplement guarantees the
privacy of your own room, however, rooms can at times be small and in some
places may not enjoy the same facilities as double/twin rooms.
Luggage:
When staying in hotels, sometimes your luggage will have been taken to
you room awaiting your arrival. However don’t be surprised if your
luggage is waiting for you to take it up to your room.
Getting
to the Start
Most
convenient major city and international airport: Glasgow
(Glasgow international and Prestwick airport). It is only about ½ an hour
to the center from Glasgow International by airport bus approx (£3.50).
Prestwick is 45 mins from the airport to Glasgow Central by train. Bus to
Fort William (about 4 times a day from Buchanan St. Station). Approx
journey time 3 hours. Or take train from Glasgow Central to Fort William.
Approx journey time 3h 40mn.
If
you fly into Inverness airport on Easyjet, depending on timings, you could
get a City Link coach from the city back to Fort
William. The last coach to
Fort William from the city is
at approx 17:35.
Outward
journey from London to start point: From Southern Britain We would
advise you to fly: e.g BMI up to Glasgow Int. from Heathrow, Or Easy Jet
from Gatwick or Luton to
Inverness, and then Citylink coach.
You
can of course take the train from London Kings Cross to Fort William
(approx journey time 10 hours) and there is also an overnight
sleeper service from London Euston to Fort Williams (approx journey time
12 hours).
Inward
journey to Glasgow at end of tour: Train to Glasgow from Inverness
approx 3 hours 30 mins – 4 hours, then allow 45 mins from Glasgow to
airport.
Inward
journey to London at end of tour: Ideally
fly Easyjet back to Gatwick or Luton
from Inverness. There
are also British Airways services.
There
is a direct train to London Kings Cross (approx journey time 8 hours).
There is also an overnight sleeper service (approx journey time 11 hours).
National
Rail website is www.nationalrail.co.uk
if you want to look at the journey involved.
Your Accommodation
Please
Note: the places described below may vary especially in the larger
towns where we may not be able to book our usual places for your dates.
q
Night 1: We use a selection of Bed &
breakfast/guesthouses in Fort William all offering ensuite facilities.
This town can and does get busy hence the reason for a need to use
differnet accommodation. There are plenty of places to eat in Fort
William.
q
Night 2: We stay overnight in a comfortable, family
run guesthouse, set in its own spacious grounds, and located on the
outskirts of the picturesque Highland village of Spean Bridge.
q
Night 3: Our
3 star Scottish Tourist Board hotel tonight is a fully modernized coaching
inn from the Victorian era. There has been an inn on this site for
hundreds of years. The out buildings which stand near the hotel date back
to the 18th Century when the hotel was run by friends of Robert
Burns, the famous poet. The menus are based on the finest of Scottish
produce – beef, lamb, venison, game fish and seafood.
q
Night 4: Tonight our guesthouse will be one of the
many Victorian establishments in the attractive small town of
Fort Augustus.
q
Night 5: Our guesthouse was purpose built in 1995 to
provide a family home and bed & breakfast accommodation. Each bedroom
is well furnished and has a spacious ensuite bathroom or shower room with
toilet and wash hand basin. You can relax in the evening in a large lounge
with open fire and TV. The breakfast room enjoys great views of Sron Na
Muic.
q
Night 6: Your accommodation tonight was once the
village church, it became redundant about 14 yrs ago and is now the home
of Ross & Fiona Urquhart, who have transformed it into one of the most
unique Bed and Breakfasts in Scotland.
q
Night 7:
Built in 1890 our 3 star (Scottish Tourist Board) hotel in Inverness is situated in a beautiful, tranquil
location on the River Ness right in the heart of Inverness. It is just a
few minutes walk from the town center, railway station, Eden Court Theatre
and other attractions.
PLEASE
NOTE: It is generally normal practice when staying in hotels that you
check-in on or after 2pm and checkout by 10am the following morning.
Guesthouses/bed & breakfast establishments are normally check-in on or
after 4pm and checkout by 10am. |
Outline
Itinerary
q
Day 1 Arrival in Fort William:
There are only traces left of the original fort built to keep
the dreaded Highlanders at bay. Today the town is the “Chamonix” of
Scotland with a proliferation of outdoor shops, cafes, bookshops and bars
to entertain you if you get in early enough. If you have an extra night
here and you are an experienced hill walker, you could go and climb Ben
Nevis, or you could take a boat trip to “Seal Island” to sea the Grey
Seals loitering around.
q
Day 2 Fort William to Gairlochy: Today’s walk is
very easy and is only 10.5 miles/17km which will give you the opportunity
to do several side trips. The first one being Old Inverlochy Castle which
is one of Scotlands earliest stone castles, built in 1260.
Continue on with your walk before taking a short diversion to
Corpach sea loch, with its lock-keepers’ cottages and pepper-pot
lighthouse. You then head up
to the Tow path of the Caledonian Canal following it past “ Neptune’s
staircase” (a flight of 8 locks) to the small village of Gairlochy 10.5
miles/17 km. It is likely that you will be staying
at Spean Bridge which
is another 3.5 miles
hilly walk. If this is the case, normally the guest house will be able to collect
and transfer you if you don’t want to walk.
q
Day 3 Gairlochy to South Laggan:
12 miles/ 20km A mainly easy walk today, but it does have two
short steep ascents. You will be walking on a mixture of tarmac, forest
paths and tracks, mostly shared with the Great Glen Cycle Route. Two miles
after the start of your walk, you
could take a side tip to Clan Cameron Museum and Cia-aig waterfall before
rejoining the Way at Clunes, but note that the museum is only opening the
afternoons. From Clunes all
the way to Kilfinnan, you walk on forest tracks, you will get splendid
views of Loch Lochy with the mountains behind. Arrive at South Laggan
Locks. 12 miles/19km. Usually you will stay at Invergarry and your
accommodation can normally collect you if you phone
from the public call box there.
q
Day 4 South Laggan to Fort Augustus:
An easy walk today 10.5 miles/17kms.
The terrain is a
mixture of tarmac, railway track bed, old military road, then a canal
towpath. You will enter the
Leiterfearn nature reserve, enjoying the wonderful ash, birch, elm and
hazel woodland. If you have time you could walk up Meall a’Cholumain
from Fort Augustus which is a great viewpoint. F. Augustus was largely
built in 1729 as the hub of General Wades military road building programme
to calm the highlanders after Culloden and there are 5 Locks at the center
of town on the Caledonian Canal and several museums. There are some great
restaurants here and you might get in with enough time for a short cruise
on Loch Ness.
q
Day 5 Fort Augustus to Invermoriston: A harder day
today 8 miles/13km with steeper ascents. You will climb through a forest
of birch and pine, beside a stream and uphill to a forest track. You should get some dramatic views of Loch Ness at intervals
through the woods. Walk through the village of Invermoriston with its
little bridge built by Thomas Telford. The Invermoriston Hotel is a great
place to eat and has around 200 species of malt
whisky. They also have great beer from The Skye Brewery. There are
nice leafy walks down by the river.
q
Day 6 Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit: A moderate day
of walking today with some steep sections. 14 miles/22km. There is quite a
bit of undulation today, but hopefully you’ll be used to the walking
now! For strong walkers in good weather you could ascend Meall
Fuar-Mhonaidh from where you may get views from Ben Nevis all the way to
Inverness. You can take excursions to Urquhart Castle approx
(£6 entry) with commanding views over Lochness, café and an
interpretational centre. You
end up at Drumnadrochit, an attractive
‘Green Village’ which has
a Loch ness Monster visitor’s center…or two!
q
Day 7 Drumnadrochit to Inverness: Today would
normally be a long day :18 mile/29km, which is a bit beyond the scope of
the tour especially if you want to see something of Inverness. So the tour
is shortened by an optional taxi
transfer taking you from the town to near to Loch Laide, famous for its
very clean water. Descend then to Blackford and the Great Glen once again
meeting the Caledonian Canal before reaching Inverness, a beautiful city
of past and modern, although mostly Victorian.
q
Day 8 End of tour: After breakfast depart from
Inverness. Or why not spend a day here visiting the Neo Gothic St.
Andrew’s Cathedral and the Castle, the museum and art galleries at this
Scotland’s Northern Capital. We would recommend that you visit
Fort George, the Clava Stones and Culloden which are all nearby.
Included
Bed
and breakfast on all days throughout your itinerary.
Ensuite facilities where available.
Luggage transfers from Inn to Inn.
Full route notes and map package.
Extending
Your Tour
Extra
nights are available anywhere along the route.
Suggested
city-breaks in the same region: Edinburgh.
Escorted Departures 2008
EWGL03
Sat 3 May - Sat 10 May
EWGL20
Sat 20 September - Sat 27 September
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