[Closed] West Highland way tips please!

Take a midge net.

Consider a different route, there are better cycling trips in Scotland for three days IMO.
Don't go at the busy season - you will spend your life doing 5mph weaving in and out of muggles.
Camping in lltnp - Lomond side it will be enforced, however you won't be arrested, or if doing things sensitively even moved on, but you will be asked for all your details. FWIW, any site on the Lomond side area will likely have you co-sharing with some interesting neighbours, ant it would be worth either pushing through a big day up to Crianlarich, or staying in B&B or formal campsite at north end of the loch.
There are many shops to re-stock food/cafes or pubs for meals.
Taking camping kit/heavily laden bikes is a balance, as much of the hike a bike / Climbing becomes really challenging.

Wild camping outside the management zones is still allowed and there isn't that much of the WHW that is affected by those.

All the details of what you can and can't do are on the NP website.

Don't camp neat to Loch Lomond, it tends to attract a lot of unpleasant people. Lots of problems with noise and litter, at really busy times it can properly kick off with police making multiple arrests.

Day 1, head to Beinglas campsite at the top of the Loch. I would also recommend going up the road on the west side of the Loch as a lot of the east side is a very hard carry.

Day 2, head to the Kingshouse in Glencoe, you can wild camp behind the pub.

Day 3, a short climb and then a crazy descent into Kinlochleven. Then another climb and finish in Fort William.

go north to south unless you take Matts advice - this way you are riding towards all the walkers so it will be much easier

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Top tip: Apply cream 😐

Smidge.

If you wander off the track in a quiet area, pitch late, start early then you'll be fine.

Alternative routes are available but they're not the WHW.

Go North. Who wants to ride towards Glasgow?

Who wants to ride towards Glasgow?

Anyone who's in England?

Go North. Who wants to ride towards Glasgow?

By that logic.

Who on their right mind would want to go to firtwilliam.

Total dump

I'd go the John muir Way/3 Lochs Way and go the other side of Loch Lomond 100% rideable, more options for wild camping as you are away from the busy zones. You can rejoin Loch lomond and WHW at Loch Sloy. Less pedestrian traffic.

www.threelochsway.co.uk

Go North. Who wants to ride towards Glasgow?

Yep, if you want to ride the WHW then ride south to north and do the hike-a-bike along Loch Lomondside.

Treat it like some sort of Scottish pilgrimage (or penance, if the weather is bad) only the heathens do it backwards and skip the difficult bits! 😀

Having walked and ridden it in it's entirety, and many of the 'sections' on parts of day rides, if I were ever to ride it again (which I won't) -

Do it in 2 days
Get a right early start in Milngavie, ie 6am pedalling
Bed and breakfast in Tyndrum - allows you to travel light
Lightest FS bike you have

You will lose the will to live on Lochlomondside, but as Iain rightly says, it's a rite of passage.

Get a right early start in Milngavie, ie 6am pedalling

+1, the first sections are relatively easy anyway, doing them early is a really nice way to do it. Prepare for owl fly-bys!

Despite what some say, I definitely think its worth doing, and over 3 days.

Milngavie is nothing special, disappointing pubs.

My best bit of advice would be to not fall off coming down Conic Hill. I did it and broke my wrist and took my knee cap out of postion. Still after 2 pins at the bottom of the hill I cycled on to Inversnaid which was a very bad idea.

We stopped at Day 1 Beinglas campsite (quick ride to the Drovers Arms)
Day 2 Glencoe Ski Centre Cabins (awful food on offer) Day 3 Glen Nevis Youth Hostel (much nicer than staying in Fort Bill. And not too far to Ben Nevis Inn (again no nice pubs in Fort Bill)

Lots of pubs on route if you are just taking your time 🙂

Consider a different route, there are better cycling trips in Scotland for three days IMO.

The WHW was easily the best cycle ride I've ever done. I enjoyed it immensely. I recall doing the section past the Glencoe Ski Centre whooping and laughing that I was enjoying it so much. That was after about 12 hours riding.

Having said which, I had loads of personal history on the WHW, which helped make it special, and haven't really done much biking oop north so whatsisname may be right.

Don't go at the busy season - you will spend your life doing 5mph weaving in and out of muggles.

Day 1, head to Beinglas campsite at the top of the Loch.

get the train to crianlarich. Then extend it either north, east or west once you hit fort william.

That seems like quite a day with camping gear.

If it was me, I would use one of the baggage couriers, nice big duffle bag, comfortable clothes for the evening, change of kit and fast and light during the day.

If it was me, I would use one of the baggage couriers, nice big duffle bag, comfortable clothes for the evening, change of kit and fast and light during the day.

Good shout that.

Oh dear, I'd reckon there are a few quite ill-informed writers above. Or victims of a poorly planned trip, perhaps.
I'd strongly suggest that camping it over three days is not a great idea and is a recipe for making a hard ride into a horrible one. The lochside isn't nearly as awful as many folk seem to suggest, when ridden freely with a modest daybag; see above perhaps, for reasons for displeasure/disillusionment..? Skipping the whole of Lomondside means missing out on a great schlep of very good riding on most of the lochside; the tough bit is actually less than 4 miles in total, all after Inversnaid. The wee un-rideable sections before that are all very brief. Taking to the road on the A82 will be genuinely horrible and to be avoided at all costs.
Definitely do it S to N, not the 'wrong' way around, as it finishes with a damp squib in Milngavie at the south end after riding through lowland fields and a big park.. You get the best riding to look forward to when northbound, as the journey progresses and it largely rides better this way around too. The one deviation from the official route that I'd recommend is just after Kinlochleven, when climbing the steep tarmac road to Mamore Lodge is better than pushing up the steep and rocky trail. Right by the lodge, you then join the track that soon becomes the main route through the Lairig Mor.
Pubs in Ft Bill are fine, there are several perfectly reasonable hostelries to choose from in the high street and nearby.
Do not ride it this weekend; the Highland Fling ultra marathon footrace spends Saturday going the 53 miles from Milngavie to Tyndrum, with @1000 runners. Then in June there is the full West Highland Way Race, on the 24 & 25th and by then it's pretty midgey anyway. Best then left until the second half of September, when the wee biters will be done for the year, fully fed on the thousands of walkers who have come their way.
A steel hardtail with a beefy fork is a good choice, as is any reasonable susser. Don't be tempted to try lighter tyres; you'll regret their lack of rock- and water bar- proofness.

In summary, it is usually a very rewarding ride, and while three days is best if you want to enjoy it, it is quite do-able over 2. Go light B&B if you possibly can as lumping a laden bike over the rockiest bits will try your patience for sure. Plus camping is indeed restricted in a few places, as well as leaving you open to potential disturbance. Enjoy.

gobuchul - Member
That seems like quite a day with camping gear.
If it was me, I would use one of the baggage couriers, nice big duffle bag, comfortable clothes for the evening, change of kit and fast and light during the day.