Great Glen Way (7th ed): Walk or cycle the Great Glen Way

This guidebook (fully updated in 2024) contains all you need to plan and enjoy a holiday walking or cycling along Scotland's historic Great Glen (77 miles/124 km). The Way runs between Fort William and Inverness, passing beside Scotland's highest mountain, along its historic Caledonian Canal and alongside beautiful lochs, including Loch Ness with its famous monster legend and Urquhart Castle. This seventh edition covers all route options including the newly opened Abriachan section of High Route as well as details of the route changes that apply during 2024 and 2025 because of the closure of Loch Oichside and the High Route beyond Fort Augustus. Here is all you need to plan and enjoy the Great Glen Way – on foot or on a bike: detailed mapping on 13 pages at 1:38,000 with relief contours and colouring hill and mountain side-trips including Ben Nevis background on canal heritage, clan history and wildlife detailed description for each section with points of interest and mileage references summaries showing distance, terrain, food/drink stops and altitude profile planning information for walkers and cyclists, with travel to/from the route town plans of Fort William and Inverness in full colour, with 100+ photos rucksack-friendly and on rainproof paper throughout.

About the Author :
Jacquetta Megarry took up long-distance walking and high-altitude trekking in 1999, and founded Rucksack Readers to deliver walking guidebooks in a rainproof, rucksack-friendly format. Sandra Bardwell lives at Drumnadrochit in the Great Glen and walks the Great Glen Way frequently. In recent years she has written guidebooks for Lonely Planet, Rucksack Readers and Sunflower Books.

Review :
The sixth edition of this excellent guide is one of a range of books produced by Rucksack Readers in their very distinctive and highly practical style. … They are tough, spiral-bound, lightweight, and, perhaps most important of all to anyone venturing into the outdoors in Scotland, printed on waterproof paper. This volume differs from previous Rucksack Readers we’ve seen in being rather slimmer and with the spiral binding down the side rather than across the top. In our view both these changes make it even more usable. Clear maps and detailed instructions ensure the walker has everything they need in once place and at their fingertips. At the back of the book is a reference section with a range of helpful contacts and sources of additional information. Combine the quality of the content with beautiful presentation and good colour photography throughout and the end result is a book that’s a pleasure to use – or just to browse – and an essential companion for anyone wanting to tackle the Great Glen Way. We used your book a lot, it was very useful, and as the Danish booking company had equipped us with the 4th edition we could really compare. It so great you have done the text about the gradients much more distinct in the 5th edition … We used that a lot, and of course it was great that the High Routes were described as well. We only did the one between Fort Augustus and Invermoriston in high wind, rain like almost snow, but it was absolutely worth it. … We did also like background, the historical and the nature part of your book. I used it as bedtime reading, and it is great to get the knowledge about the area in which you’re walking. I will recommend your books whenever I’ll get a chance to talk about walking in Scotland, and I’m sure when doing my next walk somewhere in Scotland I’ll purchase your book about the walk. "Robust, waterproof, comprehensive and enjoyable, this Rucksack Reader is the "everything you could possibly want to know" guide to the Great Glen Way ... It provides route information and overview maps - plus detailed maps of the route through Fort William and Inverness. Nicely illustrated throughout, it also provides a wealth of background on the geography and history of the Great Glen, and on its wildlife and mountains. Whether you're looking for an easier alternative to the West Highland Way, or a serious extension to it, this book is an essential companion." Reviewed by Undiscovered Scotland "In Inverness I bought a copy of the best guide to the Inverness-Fort William leg of the drive ... It might seem eccentric to recommend a rucksackers' guide to motorists, but Megarry's little book is extremely well presented. It contains a fold-out map and a wealth of information about the Great Glen Way, its national history and what to do and watch out for, especially around Loch Ness." Reviewed in the Financial Times Supplement "This is a well-constructed and carefully thought-out guide which is enough to whet a walker's appetite for the long-distance route and entertaining enough to get some Invernessians out of town to see an oft-forgotten part of the local countryside. ...[It] takes in the majesty of Loch Ness, the engineering feat of the Caledonian Canal and the rich and varied natural history of the fault line." Reviewed by the Inverness Courier