Walking the West Highland Way

Kira:Our first stop, right on Loch Lomond. This campsite offered an indoor area that was warm, and had showers/toilets indoors. There were newspapers for wet shoes, a microwave, sinks, a big table and lockers inside. Also quite a few people left cooking gas in the hut for people to use. There's also a small shop at the entrance. Site was flat and tent pegs went in easily. Due to the hut it's a nice place to meet other hikers so use that opportunity, you might find someone to walk with or someone who you'll meet again at every campsite. This site seemed to only be used by 5 day hikers so it was quite empty and we were easily the youngest(19&20) and the only girls but in Summer this would be fuller I expect.

Kira:Our second stop, just past the end of Loch Lomond in Inverarnan. There were quite a lot of people here already so we got a very slightly slanted site. Still easy to pitch the tent despite a few roots. There's a small indoor area to cook but it's cold and the stove costs a bit. There is also a small restaurant and nice toilets though to warm up a bit. From reviews I've heard it gets a bit swampy in rain and is full of midges, but as the weather was nice and we hiked in early April we avoided both, so I can't confirm either. We also had breakfast at the restaurant before setting out which was a nich break between all the dehydrated camping meals.

Kira:On the third night my recommendation is to wild camp near Bridge of Orchy. There is a hotel and a hostel but that was over our budget and one wikd camp during the walk seemed like a nice adventure. I think we saw some glamping pods online but you'd need to book those well in advance and we weren't sure how far we'd actually go each day so we let that be but might be an option for others. A camping cooker and warm food will make this a lot more enjoyable though.

Kira:On the last day we decided to stay in a hostel as we wanted to actually finish the hike on day 5 and weren't too keen on walking back to the campsite. If you aren't an experienced trekker and decide to hike the WHW in 5 days you'll probably have plenty of blisters and be quite tired by the time you get to Fort William and will be quite happy to stay somewhere indoors, especially if like us you camped and got most of your energy from slightly crunchy dehydrated pasta cooked on a gas stove😂. For the hostel we booked in advance, you'll need to, especially during Summer. We also stayed 2 nights as we were hiking on afterwards and I can absolutely recommend spending a full day in this beautiful town.

Kira:There are two options for day 4 in Kinlochleven, I'd recommend draging yourself through the town and staying here to shorten day 5 the slightest bit. This site is right on the route and in the morning you can start straight up the hill.

Kira:This is option 2 in Kinlochleven and the one we ended up staying at. It was nice and quiet but lacked an indoor area apart from the toilet/shower part. There were plenty of sockets to charge phones and the pods they have looked nice, I'd just recommend the other campsite due to it's location, as the next morning we walked past it and wished we had walked a tiny bit further in the evening. Not to say this wasn't a good place to stay at all.

Kira:This is your other option for Fort William but it is slightly out of town so you'll either not quite finish the WHW or have to walk back after crossing the finish line. Walking past it looked very nice though.