Hey All
I did my first (solo) long distance walk in summer 2018, walking the hadrians wall route from Newcastle to Bowness over 6 days. Really pretty country walk where I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery, and staying in a B&B / Camping Barn / Pub each night was brilliant! The boss has grudgingly given me permission to go for another week long walk in 2019 so Im now trying to choose a walk to plan for. I was wondering if, given my wish list below, anyone had any suggestions for just where I might go?
Id Like to stay in the UK Mainland (train there and back if poss)
Hadrians Wall was brilliant and thoroughly recommended, but I feel like Id like my next walk to be a bit more hilly Id also like to get the walk done in 6 days or less, Id plan on averaging 15-20 miles per day as dictated by accommodation choices. Longer days are fine, especially when finishing in a pub!
I need to find a route where I can stay in a B&B / camping barn etc each night. I dont own a tent
Id like to use a route that has some sort of baggage haul service as I am the worlds laziest man and dont want to carry my spare clothes. I carry a compass/map/gps so if the route isn't super well signposted I
should be ok. I managed Hadrians Wall without getting lost, but I think getting lost on that route may have been impossible?
I was thinking about one of the routes that start / finish in Fort William, looking at the West Highland Way it seems to skip a lot of the beautiful hilltops in favour of sticking to valleys so I could do that route with a couple of hill detours. Walks on Skye / Arran also look amazing. If I went to Arran I could probably get that done in 3 days which should mean that my wife could accompany me and do touristy stuff while Im walking (touristy stuff AND baggage haulage!). Another of the routes that looks really interesting are any of the Snowdonia Way variants, I havent checked out the baggage haulage options but its full of the sort of landscapes that we dont have so much of here in the Midlands.
Only places that I would not want to go are the Brecon Beacons, Malverns, Shropshire Hills and Peak District as I go to these places a lot for day walks and really enjoy them. Apart from Peak district, Kinver Scout was ace but the walk across High Peak along the pennine way into Longdendale I really did not enjoy. Was a very very hot day though.
So thats it really, Im leaning towards WHW just because thats what everyone else does and I will not be short of hills to add in as desired. I just think that with the whole of the UK out there and little walking experience of my own Im probably missing a few good options to consider!