Whilst out riding near the Kennet and Avon I saw some canoeists and felt that I might like to have a ago at say a Fort William to Inverness route – guided – due to the Loch Ness Monster, and was wandering if there was any recommended companies that might do that sort of thing for a beginner?

You probably want to have a look at this…
http://greatglencanoetrail.info/

http://greatglencanoetrail.info/useful-services/paddling-activity-providers1/guided-trips1/

thanks looks great.

We hired kit from bootsandpaddles. Drove it to the other end and paddled back.

Really enjoyed the trip despite the ferocious headwind (we were committed to the direction we had planned) and some interesting conditions on Loch Ness.

Not a massively difficult trip to do yourself if you have some canoeing and wild camping experience. It is relatively safe and there are plenty of guides around.

Did it with a mate in 2010 and we used Kayak Scotland. Had a fantastic trip. Tbh, I had little sea kayaking experience and my mate had quite a bit more. Loch Ness was bloody windy and I wouldn’t have fancied it without a guide and a big group around. It was interesting to see how silly I’d been when I thought to myself, “jeez, it’s a lake, I mean how rough can a lake get?” Quite rough actually. 🙂

It’s nice…but 30 minutes west its even better. Its the west highland way on the water. Something to tick off if you want a long distance scenically average challenge, full of honeypot tourism. Bet your guide would rather be on Loch Maree, Loch Moidart, Loch Sween, and everywhere in between. They are all perfectly suitable for guided beginners.

We did an awesome trip from Glenfinnan to Loch Moidart down Loch Shiel, don’t know how it would fit in with your itinerary but would strongly recommend it, and its easy to base yourself near Ft William.