Hiking, running and biking the Scottish highlands.

Sometimes, when you love travelling overseas, it can be easy to ignore the amazing natural beauty in your own doorstep.

Neither of us had spent much time in the Scottish highlands and we hadn’t been at all in the last 10 years when I planned a secret birthday surprise weekend for Julie.

I wanted this weekend to be full of the great outdoors and to pack in as many active pursuits as possible, as well as treating ourselves to a bit of luxury at that stunning Inverlochy Castle Hotel. More on this beautiful hotel soon!

Fort William is really your jumping-off point for a lot of things  in the area, although we stayed just outside the main town.

The Nevis Range activity centre is an amazing hub for all your outdoor activities - we did a great 5k trail run on local paths (there is usually an organised park run, but unfortunately it was cancelled the weekend we were there).

Nevis Range where you can hire mountain bikes

Running in Nevis Range. Some of the most amazing scenery.

Shame the park run was not on when we were there!

We hired mountain bikes for a day and with the help of our experience guide, Mark, we spent a very rewarding day learning the basics of mountain biking (as complete beginners) and exploring some of the amazing terrain in the Nevis range which is absolutely stunning. It’s one of Europe’s best spots for the sport hosting a World Cup leg and several enduro style team races including the 10 hour race the weekend we were there. We’d thoroughly recommend the helpful and efficient advance booking service provided by the team at the Nevis range hire shop (just drop them an email at info@westcoastbiking.co.uk).

We also did two lovely walks exploring the area around Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis - we’re preparing for our Kilimanjaro climb later in the year so were happy to get some good distance in (13km the first day and 8km on the Sunday). The walk to the North Face of Ben Nevis takes in the rugged, craggy terrain of the mountain whereas the slightly easier walk out to Steall falls and beyond winds through forests and green meadows.

The Highland vistas really did just keep on giving and the almost wherever you look the scenery is so stunning and varied.

To get there we had considered the sleeper train out of Euston, which I think could be a fantastic experience like something straight out of an Agatha Christie novel, but when we were going in early 2019 they were in the process of updating the carriages. I think this could be amazing once finished and we will definitely try and find time to check them out, but as it was we opted for a short flight into Inverness and stunningly picturesque drive down in a hire car (about 1hr 45 min to Inverlochy).