The start of the year is a great time to write down your goals and ambitions for the next 12 months, and for hikers, this could involve planning walking expeditions around Scotland to experience before the end of 2022.
Scotland offers a wide range of choices for the avid hiker, whether you want to walk along its rugged coastline, trek over his snow-capped mountains or journey pub to pub through its winding countryside. Here is our pick of the best routes you should give a go this year.
Fisherfield
Fisherfield is one of the country’s lesser-known beauties, nestled between Kinlochewe and Dundonnell in the north-west Highlands.
Trekking to Fisherfield is not an easy feat, as it is the furthest point from a road in mainland UK. However, it is definitely one that should go on every experienced hiker’s bucket list.
Speaking of her adventure trekking through the snowy landscape, Phoebe Smith wrote in The Guardian: “Even in summer, Fisherfield is a daunting prospect. As it is not walked by many, the paths can be hard to find, and an online search demonstrates how many hikers lose their way and require help.”
Despite this, being in the ‘middle of nowhere’ is what makes trekking here so appealing, allowing visitors to see Scotland’s nature in all its glory, from its wintry backdrop to its majestic wildlife.
Ms Smith added the attraction to hike to this faraway destination was all about “the journey it took to get there, one that made us greedy for more exploration in the depths of Fisherfield”.
Cairngorms National Park
You don’t have to go quite as far afield to enjoy Scotland’s beauty, which is why Cairngorms National Park remains one of the most popular areas of the country to explore.
As well as shorter nature trails, it offers some brilliant long-distance routes for the more experienced hiker. The Speyside Way is one of the most well-liked, stretching 65 miles between the Moray coast and the Grampian Mountains, giving ramblers a taste of two types of Scotland’s landscapes.
The Deeside Way is a 41-mile hike from Aberdeen to Ballater, with the trail following the Old Royal Deeside Railway. You will be able to walk through tall forests, past historic castles, and along the River Dee.
Cairngorms National Park also offers hikers the chance to trek 64 miles along the Cateran Trail through Perthshire and the Angus Glens. Alternatively, why not opt for a shorter walk, hiking 24 miles along the Dava Way?
There are so many sights to enjoy in the Cairngorms, including Britain’s only free-roaming reindeer.
West Sands Beach, St Andrews
Fans of the 1981 film Chariots of Fire will be familiar with West Sands Beach in St Andrews. Despite the flick being set in Kent, its most famous scene showing athletes running barefoot along the beach occurred much further north on West Sands Beach.
It is thought the movie was filmed here due to financial reasons, but it has made this area of Scotland immensely popular over the last 40 years, with Dr Tom Rice, a lecturer in film studies, telling the BBC “you do see people trying to recreate [the famous scene] and that always makes me laugh”.
If you fancy ditching your backpack and racing down the sandy beach for your own ‘Chariots of Fire’ moment, you’ll love the walk from the beach to the Bruce embankment, passing the Eden Estuary Nature reserve and on to St Andrews’ Golf Course.
This area of Scotland offers much more than movie accolades, of course, with The Travel noting West Sands was the winner of the 2021 Scotland Beach Awards.
As well as being a “supreme Scottish beach superb for strolls, dog walking, sandcastle building, and paddling on a warm summer’s day”, St Andrews has an interesting history that is worth exploring. Its cultural sites include the third oldest university in the English-speaking world.
Find out more about Scottish hiking tours by taking a look here.