Walking holidays in Scotland
Far North West Highlands

Had a fantastic time exploring the hills of Scotland. You’ve left me with added confidence and a vigour to see more: an experience I hope to repeat sooner rather than later. Thank you.

PC, UK, July 05

Our week long walking holiday to the areas of Torridon and Assynt in the far North West Highlands of Scotland features some of the most inspiring mountain and coastal scenery found on Scotland 's mainland, with some classic walking in these truly spectacular wilderness areas.

The first half of this trip is spent in Torridon, an area of bulky red sandstone terraced mountains and beautiful rugged coastline. Located within north-west Scotland, these mountains rise straight from sea level out of a vast expanse of wilderness which offers tremendous scope for both lower level and mountain walking.

There are sea-lochs and freshwater lochs, many fast flowing rivers, waterfalls and high mountain lochans. This is a remote and rugged setting and just being in this area is a humbling experience.

We then move even further north into the areas of Coigach and Assynt - one of the last remaining wilderness areas of Europe. If Torridon was impressive, then this area is truly remarkable - a rugged, rocky foreland sculpted by glaciers, now riddled with lochans and forming the backdrop to a series of distinctive solitary mountains - Cul Mhor, Stac Pollaidh and Suilven to name but a few.

Of slightly smaller stature than the Torridon hills, what these mountains may lose in height, they make up for in character and for years this area has been an inspiration to painters, poets and walkers alike. You will not be disappointed!

Tour Itinerary
This holiday includes 6 days guided walking and 7 nights accommodation: three nights are first spent in Torridon followed by three nights further north in Ullapool. Departure will be from Edinburgh at 1.00 pm on the first Sunday of the holiday, returning around 2pm the following Saturday. The walks described below follow our typical itinerary for the week.

Day 1 (Sunday): Travel to Torridon
Depart Edinburgh early afternoon (1.00 pm) from where we'll travel northwards to your accommodation at Torridon. The journey takes about 5 hours, including time for a short break along the way.

Day 2 (Monday): Coire Mhic Fhearchair
Your first full day's walking in the Torridon area will be spent hiking up into impressive Coire Mhic Fhearchair.

This is one of the finest corries in Scotland, with an amphitheatre surrounded on three sides by the imposing cliffs and buttresses of Ben Eighe - part of the first National Nature Reserve to be designated in Britain. There is a good steady path most of the way and the views across the Torridon wilderness to the surrounding peaks are wide and expansive.

9m/14km, rocky trail, 600m/2000ft, 7 hrs

Day 3 (Tuesday): Ben Damph
Today we will aim for a slightly more challenging hillwalk to Ben Damph, which lies immediately to the south of Loch Torridon and is a superb viewpoint for the neighbouring giants of Ben Alligin, Liathach and Ben Eighe.

A good path leads up by a gorge through beautiful Caledonian pines before opening out to give wonderful views of Loch Torridon, the Applecross coastline and even across to Skye. The final short ridgewalk includes some rougher rocky ground but the views from the summit peak are simply spectacular and wonderfully exhilarating.

900m/3000ft, 7m/11km, mountain path, some rough ground, 7hrs

Day 4 (Wednesday): Letterewe Wilderness
A wonderfully varied circular walk from Kinlochewe into the heart of this beautiful wilderness area. One of the best walks we know of in fact!

This is an area seldom visited by other walkers and despite the generally easy nature of the walk, a real sense of remoteness is felt when the shores of Loch Maree are left far behind.

The walk is non-strenuous but is a long day and involves an interesting mixture of terrain.

14 miles/21km, track, path, some rough ground and river crossing! 9 hours

Day 5 (Thursday): Cul Mor
There are many choices of walks throughout this area, however we shall aim firstly for Cul Mor - a distinctive landmark mountain within the heart of the Inverpolly National Nature Reserve. This fine sandstone massif is capped by two white quartzite peaks and offers a splendid panorama on all sides, including the Coigach hills and the Summer Isles to the south west, Loch Sionascaig and Ernard Bay to the west and the distinctive shapes of Suilven, Canisp and others to the north

849m/2785ft, 7m/11km, good to rough path, some rocky ground, 6-7 hrs

Day 6 (Friday): Stac Pollaidh
Your final day's hillwalking and a suitable finale to the week will be spent on the small mountain of Stac Pollaidh. Despite its relatively remote location, this is one of the most popular mountains in Scotland and is relatively easy to ascend. Its jagged ridge is made up of a spectacular series of towers, pinnacles and ledges - the final remnants of this mountain after the last glaciation. Our route meanders up and round the mountain and we may spend a few hours exploring the various obstacles of the summit ridge. Upon our descent we'll then head slightly further west to the coastal peninsula of Rubha Mor. This rugged coastline contains the beautiful white sand of Achnahaird bay and looks back across to the mountains of Assynt. On a still summer's evening it's just the place to sit and enjoy the peace.

613 m/2011ft, 2m/3km, good path, 4-5 hrs

Day 7 (Saturday): Return to Edinburgh
After breakfast you will travel back to Edinburgh, arriving back to the city at around 2pm.

Accommodation and Meals
Our accommodation for this trip is in small but friendly bed and breakfast houses in the Torridon area and larger guest houses in Ullapool. We only use places we have personally visited and approved. Please note that single rooms are increasingly hard to obtain in this remote area and that en-suite facilities for singles may therefore not always be available.

Evening meals for the whole group are normaly taken at a local inn or restaurant or at the guest house. Guest houses will offer a set menu of first class home cooked food with vegetarian option, restaurants will provide a wider choice of courses. On all our tours we make a special effort to ensure that your evening meals are a highlight of the trip and seafood is a particular speciality in this area. Specific dietary requirements can normally be catered for if we know in advance. Packed lunches are included throughout the week.

Grading of Walks
The walking throughout this tour we class as “Moderate” – suitable for people of reasonable fitness who enjoy walking or the outdoors but who needn’t necessarily have any previous hiking experience. Walks each day are normally between 6-8 hours, with several days involving some mountain ascent in the order of 2000-3000ft and distances covered of between 4-9 miles (10-14km). There is one longer day of 9 hrs walk (14 miles), but also a couple of less strenuous days (please read the detailed itinerary above). You will be on mountain paths throughout the week but some rough or boggy ground and rugged terrain should be expected. As always, your enjoyment of the trip is paramount and if in doubt -  please ask.Read our grading guide here.

You can book your trip online now! If you need more information, please do contact us.