Tips
You can get loads of advice from official sites and guides and so forth, as well as the 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here' sign ten yards from the start of the Way, but these are just some things we learnt from the experience of our own disorganised expedition.- Take lots and lots of cash! You won't find any cash machines and not everyone will take Switch or a cheque
- Take suitable clothes for plenty of weather. It does rain a lot in Scotland, but it can also be very cold or very, very sunny. Therefore...
- Take water bottles - enough to do you until the next time you can get a fill-up. (Remember, locals are friendly and helpful, but they may not be in.)
- Don't rely on the official WHW map. Although it is clear, concise and makes planning your route stops easy, it is hopelessly inaccurate if you are trying to follow it in detail. Go on, splash out on the Ordinance Survey maps.
- Don't try camping - there's hardly anywhere you're allowed to put a tent.
- Take midgie repellent! And buy it in Scotland, the strongest you can get. The stuff you get South of the border just can't cope. If possible get Expedition Plus. It was the only thing which could really cope with the Highland Midge.
- Don't make it into a chore! It's a wonderful trip so enjoy it, and cheat a little if you have to. Better to take a bus for a bit than get pneumonia!
(On the subject of cheating, there are people who will send your luggage ahead for you, if you can afford it ((we couldn't or wouldn't)) and they remind you of this at all the hardest bits, like when you've just crawled under a railway line and are facing a 200 ft scramble. Grr.)