Wanted to share our experience for anyone planning something similar, and to give back to this helpful community :)
We did 4 days on the WHW, Bridge of Orchy to Fort William. We were limited on time and new to multi-day hikes, so this felt like a manageable intro. It was.
Setup:
- Baggage transfer with Baggage Freedom (recommended)
- Camped 1 of 3 nights, lodging the others
- Booked every night in advance, this is required if you want baggage transfer
- Weather couldn't have been better, so we got lucky there.
Day 0: Flew into Glasgow Wednesday afternoon.
Day 1: 08:22 train from Glasgow Queen Street to Bridge of Orchy. Beautiful ride. Arrived 10:45 and dropped our bags right as Baggage Freedom pulled up. I'd emailed them our arrival time and they'd confirmed it was fine, so their timing seems to be genuinely excellent. Hiked to Glencoe Mountain Resort, lovely trail, good dinner.
Day 2: Glencoe MR to Kinlochleven. Amazing vegetarian breakfast at the resort and packed lunches sorted. Stunning hike, but there was a motor race running literally on the trail, so we walked through engine noise all day. Annoying, but we didn't let it spoil things. Hadn't been able to find indoor lodging in Kinlochleven (probably the race), so we camped at Macdonald Hotel & Cabins. Lovely fish & chips there.
Day 3: Kinlochleven to Glen Nevis Youth Hostel. Breakfast was okay, but the eggs benedict was way too raw, nearly none of the whites had set. Packed lunches again. Another absolutely stunning day, and very doable. Lots of motors again sadly during the first half of the day.
Day 4: Glen Nevis YH to Fort William. Short stretch, but we were carrying our own bags this time, which made it feel longer. Had time to explore Fort William, grab souvenirs, and catch our 11:40 train to Glasgow Airport.
Sore feet for sure, and this tastes like more.
All in all, I felt a bit odd at times for walking the same trail but not being on quite the same journey as others, who had more days in their feet than we did. But I was at peace with that, we're all on our own path and everyone we met validated ours too, which was sweet. It also felt good that most other walkers told us we'd picked the nicest sections.
Would I have changed anything?
In hindsight, I kind of wish we'd pushed through on Day 3 all the way to Fort William and lodged there. That would've meant our bags were waiting for us at the end, saving us the 4km with packs on Day 4. I got a bit scared of the longer day (24km), which is why we split it. But that final stretch was so easy, I wouldn't have minded tagging it onto Day 3.
Would highly recommend this version to anyone who wants to touch the WHW but can't do it entirely, for whichever reason :)