Canoe & Wild Camp Across Scotland

United Kingdom
5 Days
4B 5L 4D
From£640 GBP

A 5-day epic canoe journey across the Scottish Highlands, through Loch Ness.

Itinerary

Day 1: Neptunes Staircase - Gairlochy

Your guide can collect you at Inverness at 8.30 am or meet you at the start point in Fort William at 10:30 am.

The journey begins on the calm waters of the Caledonian Canal, which is a perfect place to learn basic skills before heading out onto the Lochs. Your wild camp spot this evening will be on the picturesque shores of Loch Lochy.

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Day 2: Gairlochy - Loch Oich

After a hearty breakfast, you'll get back into your canoe and paddle towards South Laggan, which provides a perfect opportunity to grab some refreshments at the Eagle Barge. After lunch, you'll make your way onto Loch Oich - the watershed of The Great Glen.

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Day 3: Loch Oich - Loch Ness

After sunrise, the tranquil paddle along Loch Oich offers you opportunities to explore secluded shores and wooded bays. At the end of the Loch, you'll join the Caledonian Canal towards Fort Augustus, where you can enjoy some food and drink overlooking Loch Ness.

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Day 4: Invermoriston - Drumnadrochit

You'll continue your journey down the famous Loch Ness. With the rolling hills of the Scottish Highlands on either side of you and Urquhart Castle guarding the bays, today is truly one of those spectacular moments.

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Day 5: Drumnadrochit - Inverness

The final day will see you leave Loch Ness for a more relaxing paddle on the canal and on to Inverness, where you will have paddled across Scotland.

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What's Included

Included
  • Highly experienced & qualified guide.
  • On-course transport.
  • Canoes, paddles & buoyancy aids.
  • Waterproof storage, 60ltr barrels per person.
  • Breakfast, lunch, and dinners.
  • Camping stoves, tea, coffee.
  • Inflatable camping mats.
  • Tents (2 or 3 person, solo travellers get their own tent)
  • Safety equipment.
  • Photos from your adventure.
Not Included
  • Sleeping bag.
  • Personal spending money for drinks and snacks.
  • Appropriate clothing.
Have a question?

If you have any questions about this trip or want to speak with an expert, get in touch.

We're ready to help.

Team Images
Team Images
Team Images

Rated 5.0

37 verified reviews

Bryn
Bryn

(Aug 2024)

A fantastic trip, Emy our guide was amazing, gave us total confidence with the plan of action for each day and also how to deal the weather conditions and rough water as they changed. Great food and endless snacks and drinks. A lovely group of positive people which made the trip fun despite the ever changing weather!

Rosanne
Rosanne

(Aug 2024)

Such a fabulous week. From start to finish communication was great; our guide Rory was brilliant … gave us all confidence, patience, and amazing food and snacks all week. His porridge and bacon butties made getting out of a wet tent soooo much easier! Would totally recommend this trip. Thank you to everyone who made it so much fun!

Samantha
Samantha

(Aug 2024)

What a fantastic trip. Learning to handle a canoe in fantastic setting. I'm always happy to wild camp, but along lochs in the Highlands with a guide that makes fabulous food, really knows their stuff and with a good group of people made this special adventure exceptional.

Jo
Jo

(Aug 2024)

This trip totally exceeded my expectations! Despite the rain, every day brought fabulous scenery, great fun, and lots of laughs with my fellow teammates. Food was fantastic and plentiful, the itinerary was relaxed, and our tour leader, Rory, carried out his multiple roles to perfection!

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Jackie
Jackie

(Jun 2024)

Had an awesome experience, first class guide, overall we were lucky with weather and wind direction, so got to solo sail and raft sail the canoes on Loch Ness, which was something I'd never done before. Food each meal time was thoughtfully prepared and plentiful. Our camp spots were simply magical, especially the Faraway Tree beach, where we had an early morning dip in Loch Ness.

FAQs

Before you go

- Waterproofs, top and bottoms - Walking trousers (synthetic materials; jeans or similar are not suitable) - Spare shoes to get wet plus dry shoes for camp - Quality, breathable waterproof jacket and trousers. We recommend Gore-tex or similar - Spare insulating layer - Hat & gloves - Warm socks - Sleeping bag, 3 season - Spare full set of clothes x 2 - Some large zip-lock bags to keep your clothes and equipment organised  - Head torch, plus spare batteries - Water bottle or flask - Foldable camping chair (optional) - Sunglasses and sun cream (you just never know!) Personal medications

Please see 'Inclusions' section above for full list of inclusions and exclusions.

You don't need any paddling experience to enjoy this adventure - the guides are great at making it enjoyable for all abilities. You'll need a moderate level of fitness, as you'll paddle around 15-20km per day, which will involve about 6 hours on the water per day. There are some portages that will require a bit of team effort to get the boats around the canal locks. We have trollies to help with these sections. You can expect plenty of rest stops along the way.  Most people have little to no canoe experience, and that's ok. You'll spend time learning the basic skills from your expert guide. 

You don't need to be able to swim as you will have a life jacket (buoyancy aid/ personal floatation device) on, but some level of water confidence is essential. Whilst unlikely, it is possible that your canoe could capsize, so you need to be happy spending sometime in the water, whilst your guide empties your canoe.

Winter season (Nov – Mar) Winter in Scotland can be extremely cold. In Scotland, temperatures can go as low as -15 degrees Celsius. Shoulder (Apr– May & Oct) Temperatures in Scotland can vary at this time of year. Lows of 2 degrees Celsius and highs of 15 degrees Celsius. There can be some chances of rain, with May turning very green. High Season (Jun – Sep) June to Sept can be warm, with daytime temperatures ranging from 10 – 25 degrees Celsius. There can be some rain. The weather in the mountains can be quite unpredictable and weather situations can change very quickly. Therefore, it is necessary to always be prepared for such a change.

Absolutely - try and give the guide as much notice as possible of any dietary requirements. You can do this when completing your participation form after booking. 

On your trip

If you book solo we will provide a tent to have your own sleeping space. If you book as part of a group/pair then we would provide either 2 or 3 man tents to share

There are several designated "Wild Camping" locations along the way where you'll camp.

There will be a maximum of 8 clients, with 2 people sharing a canoe. There is no minimum group size (all trips are guaranteed to run).

Day 1: Lunch, Dinner. Day 2 - 4: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  Day 5: Breakfast and Lunch.

The total distance is 100km. Each day you will paddle for up to 6 hours at a moderate pace, with plenty of breaks along the way.

The guides supply dry bags and barrels to keep everything nice and dry! Each person will have one large 60-litre barrel for their own personal use.

Sometimes the weather can deem an activity unfeasible for a set period of time. If this is the case, then your guide will offer an appropriate alternative. Examples are as follows: - The itinerary in reverse. The trip is much more enjoyable when you are not battling against the wind.  - Canoe a different section of water. - Hike the Great Glen trails. 

You can park at Your Parking Space at the pickup point. This isn't as secure but very convenient. https://www.yourparkingspace.co.uk/inverness/iv2 For secure parking, there is Rose Street Inverness Parking. Note that this has a height limit of 2.2 metres.

Other FAQs

Start: There are 2 options on day 1 of the itinerary: - 08:30 at Inshes Retail Park in Inverness. From here, Our 9 seater minibus will transport you to Fort William. - 10:30 at Banavie Locks Car Park in Fort William. Also the official start of your canoe journey. End: Your trip will end in Inverness roughly at 2 pm. Please note, we don't return to Fort William at the end of the trip. This is why we advise you meet us in Inverness on the first day to leave your transport at the end of the trip.

Yes absolutely! It's a great way to meet like-minded people.  Around 40% of booking are solo travellers.

The minimum for this adventure is 18, or 14 if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Anyone under the age of 18, must be sharing a canoe with their parent or guardian.

There will be times that you'll pass by shops throughout the trip How much money you take, depends on your spending habits. 

The Premier Inn Inverness East Hotel is within walking distance of the trip meet-up point in Inverness. It's a short drive to the Inverness airport.

We aim to be at the end of the trip for around 14.00. We then shuttle people to their vehicles if left in Inverness or to the train or bus station.

Your head guide is Stephen

All trips on Skyhook are run by small, hand-picked local guiding companies. For this trip your guides run Scottish Rock & Water, based in Newtonmore.

By booking through Skyhook you'll be joining a small-group trip. This can make it nice and sociable (you'll be added to a group chat after booking), and guarantees great value for money!

Stephen