Scotland.

Why walk Scotland

Scotland packs more walking variety into a small country than almost anywhere in Europe — lowland river paths and Highland passes are a couple of hours apart, and the right of responsible access written into Scottish law means you can walk almost anywhere, not just on marked trails. The headline product is the long-distance way. The West Highland Way runs 96 miles from Milngavie on the edge of Glasgow to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, across Rannoch Moor and through Glen Coe; it's the most-walked trail in Britain and the one most operators build a week around. The Great Glen Way follows the geological fault line 79 miles from Fort William to Inverness, along the shore of Loch Ness for much of it.

Beyond the famous two, the Speyside Way threads whisky country from the Cairngorms to the Moray coast, the Rob Roy Way crosses the southern Highlands, and the John Muir Way runs coast-to-coast across the central belt. Macs Adventure, whose home office is in Glasgow, knows these routes better than anyone and runs most of them self-guided.

What the walking is actually like

It spans the full range. At the gentler end, the lowland and coastal ways — the John Muir Way, the southern stages of the Speyside Way — are moderate, well-waymarked, 12-18km days on good paths with inn-to-inn accommodation. The West Highland Way is moderate-to-strenuous: the terrain is rough in places, the Devil's Staircase out of Glen Coe is a real climb, and the standard seven-to-eight-day schedule means consecutive 14-20km days. Most walkers who do a few weekends a year manage it comfortably with a rest day built in.

At the hard end, the Cape Wrath Trail to the far northwest is one of the toughest long-distance routes in Britain — unwaymarked, boggy, with river crossings and long gaps between shelter — and Skye's Cuillin ridge is mountaineering rather than walking. Most packaged island weeks (Skye, Mull, Arran) sit in the moderate band: day walks from a single base, coast and low hill, with the high tops left to those who want them. Bag transfer between hotels is standard on the self-guided weeks, so you walk with a daypack.

When to go, and the midge question

May and September are the sweet spots. May is statistically the driest month in the Highlands, the hills are still snow-streaked and beautiful, and — crucially — the midges have not yet arrived. The Highland midge is a genuine planning factor between roughly mid-June and early September, worst in still, damp, overcast conditions in the west and on the islands; a head net costs a couple of pounds and is worth carrying. September brings the heather into colour and the midges into retreat, with reliable light for photography.

July and August are the warmest and busiest months, fine for walking but at peak midge and peak crowds on the West Highland Way. Winter walking is for the experienced and properly equipped only — the high routes become a mountaineering proposition, daylight is short, and many operators run their packaged weeks April to October. For a single island base, Skye and Mull have the most operator coverage; for the long ways, you're moving point-to-point and won't repeat a night.

Who tends to come, and why

Scotland suits walkers who want genuine wild country without leaving Britain — no flights, no language barrier, and scenery that holds its own against the Alps for drama if not for altitude. The long-distance ways are a popular first multi-day walk for that reason: the infrastructure is good, the navigation is straightforward on the waymarked routes, and there's a pint and a bed at the end of each day. The self-guided format, where the operator books the accommodation and moves the bags, removes most of the logistics that put people off doing it independently. Mixed-ability parties work on the island weeks, where day walks can be long or short from the same base. If you want serious mountain days, the Cuillin and the remote northwest deliver; if you want a steady week with a clear sense of progress, the West Highland Way is the obvious place to start.