West Coast of Scotland Canoe Adventure

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. This typically involves about 6 hours on the water per day. You can expect plenty of rest stops along the way. If you regularly participate in activities like walking, swimming, cycling etc., you will already have a good level of fitness for this trip. Some local canoe lessons before the trip will help, but aren't essential. If you wish to train, swimming and walking are the best activities. Most people have little to no canoe experience, and that's ok. You'll spend time learning the basic skills from your expert guide. To compare this against our Great Glen trip, on this trip, the daily distance is lower, but you could end up paddling into a headwind. But overall this as an easier option to our Great Glen Canoe Across Scotland trip.

Yes, of course you can - lots of guests book solo. Plus, you'll be joining like-minded travellers on this trip.

You don't need to be able to swim as you'll have a life jacket (buoyancy aid/ personal floatation device) on. However, some level of water confidence is essential. While unlikely, it is possible that your canoe could capsize. So you need to be happy spending some time in the water while your guide empties your canoe.

The guides on this trip believe that to give you a quality experience, you need to be comfortable. They work with a number of companies to ensure that the equipment available on the trips is fit for purpose and also the best quality. WE PROVIDE: - Tents: We won't make you share with strangers. If you have booked as a group, you may need to share, but we can usually accommodate needs - Self-inflating, 5cm sleeping mats - Large dry bags - All specialist canoeing equipment such as buoyancy aids. YOU NEED TO BRING: - Sleeping bag: 3 seasons is best - Waterproofs: Good quality Jacket AND trousers. You will need something to hold the rain off all day! - 2 x sets of outdoor clothing to wear on the water: Synthetic walking, cycling, and running are best with a thin fleece. Avoid heavy cotton. - Sun hat and a warm hat/ beanie - Warm jacket/fleece for camp - Shoes for on the water (these will get wet) - Shoes for camp - Toiletries - Torch - Midge net and spray - Sun protection - Personal medication - Camera - water bottle Overall, keep your kit pretty basic. Most people don't change clothes throughout the trip unless they get wet. It is worth investing in quality waterproofs. You will need more than a Pac a Mac as your primary waterproof. If it is a wet week, a spare cheap Pac A Mac works well as a 2nd waterproof. Buy it a size up to go over your existing set up. ** If you have your own buoyancy aid, that’s great. To use it on any of the guided trips, the equipment must be CE marked (EN ISO 12402), under 5 years old, and be fit for use.

There will be a maximum of 12 people per trip. 2 people will share a canoe. There will be 2 guides if the numbers are above 8.

We accept customers from 14 years of age. Anyone under 18 years old needs to be accompanied by their parent/legal guardian.

The nearest airport is Glasgow. You can catch a train from Glasgow to Fort William. From Fort William you will need to catch a taxi to Banavie

It’s highly recommended that you take out personal travel insurance. Travel cover protects you in the case of unforeseen circumstances including cancellations, injuries, equipment loss, flight changes and other events that could negatively impact your trip. We have had guests in the past who were not able to attend due to cancelled trains, vehicle breakdowns, illness, and emergencies at home to name a few, it's best to be covered for these situations. Note that standard insurance often doesn't cover adventure activities. We recommend using specialist adventure travel insurers, like [Rise & Shield](https://riseandshield.com/?ref=mdi5ywe), for your trip. Specialist insurers can cover unique scenarios, like trekking at altitude or emergency evacuation in hard-to-reach places, that ordinary travel insurance doesn’t cover. The Post Office offer also offers UK destination travel insurance. It's your responsibility to carefully check the details of your policy to ensure that you're covered for the specific activities you'll be carrying out.

This trip heads into the wilderness much more than our other trips. We do have a couple of opportunities to use toilets on the trip. But mainly it will be wild toilets. To reduce environmental impact we will carry a camp toilet on the trip.

We will be wild camping in tents in beautiful locations. We provide 2-man tents which you can share, or you can have your own - we don't make anyone share!

We will provide Day 1 Lunch and Tea Day 2-3 Breakfast, Lunch and Tea Day 4 Breakfast (possible pub lunch at the end at your own expense). We also provide snacks, and tea/coffee etc at break times. Feel free to bring your own favourites! There may be some opportunity to eat out at a cafe or restaurant, so bring some spending money The menu usually consists of: Breakfast, Porridge, Granola, fruit. On some mornings we will have bacon/sausage butties Lunch, Sandwiches/wraps etc with a picnic style spread Tea: Carb based meals with meat and veggie/vegan alternative. Expect the likes of Bangers and mash, spaghetti bolognese, Lemon chicken with rice. We can cater for all dietary requirements.

We meet at 10:00am at the Neptunes Staircase Carpark in Banavie.

All 3 nights are spent wild camping. There is an opportunity to swim in the sea and the lochs if you wish to wash! Besides that, we visit the village of Acharacle for supplies and toilets. We will also have a camp toilet on this trip.

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. It is very hard to predict the weather in Scotland and we can experience all weathers and seasons in a day! We suggest bringing a few clothing options so you can be prepared. If we have bad weather we have several options to adapt the itinerary.

The guides supply dry bags and barrels to keep everything nice and dry! Each person will have one large 60-litre drybag for their own personal use. This can easily fit your tent, sleeping bag, and personal possessions.

Sometimes the weather can deem an activity unfeasible for a set period of time. If this is the case, 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

Car: Follow your satnav to the following address – Neptune’s Staircase, Banavie, Fort William, PH33 7NG. There is free car parking available at this point. Bus: There are buses available from both Fort William and Inverness. However, this is a much slower option. Full details can be found on the Scotland Citylink Bus website. Taxi: Taxis are available from Fort William Train Station and cost around £10 to your start location. Train: You can get a train to Fort William and then a taxi to your start location at Neptune’s Staircase. At the end of the trip, we will transport you back to the start location or to Inverness Train Station.

Yes, you can leave any possessions you don't need in the guides' shuttle bus at your own risk. If you do this, these items won't be available every day - just at the beginning and the end of the trip.

Absolutely. We just ask that you give us as much notice as possible of any dietary requirements. You can do this when completing your trip form after booking.