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West Highland WayPlanning2 min read

Where to stay on the West Highland Way, night by night

Seven days, six nights. Drymen, Tyndrum and Kinlochleven have plenty; between Tyndrum and Kinlochleven the map has three hotels and a bunkhouse, and one night has none.

By Tom Spencer ·

The planner's default split for the West Highland Way is seven days, from Milngavie to Fort William, which makes six nights on the way. Most are easy: Drymen, Tyndrum and Kinlochleven each have several places to stay close to the path. The hard part is the stretch north of Tyndrum, across Rannoch Moor, where the map has a hotel and a bunkhouse at Bridge of Orchy, a hotel at Inveroran and one at Kingshouse, and nothing in between.

On every other trail on this site we count two lists: the trail's own accommodation list and OpenStreetMap. Here there is only one. The West Highland Way's official site has a directory, but its terms do not allow it to be reused, so everything below is counted from OpenStreetMap, read 2 October 2026, within 2.5 kilometres of each night's stop. Mappers miss places, so a low count is not the same as none; and nothing here is a booking check. The Management Group says May is the Way's most popular month, which puts pressure on beds.

Nights
6
in the planner's seven-day split
Beds on the map, Tyndrum to Kinlochleven
4
three hotels and a bunkhouse
Night without a room
1
Ba Bridge, on Rannoch Moor

Night by night

In the planner's seven-day split, with a bed and breakfast each night. The hard night is in bold.

  • Night 1, Drymen (12 miles from Milngavie). Seventeen places with rooms on the map, among them the Drymen Inn and the Clachan Inn, and six campsites.
  • Night 2, Rowardennan (14.7 miles). The Rowardennan Hotel, 0.2 km off the path; Rowardennan Lodge Youth Hostel and Ben Lomond Bunkhouse within a kilometre.
  • Night 3, Inverarnan (13.7 miles). Three: the Drovers Inn, the Drovers Lodge and Rose Cottage, with Beinglas Campsite 0.4 km away.
  • Night 4, Tyndrum (12 miles). Fourteen, among them the Tyndrum Inn and six hostels and bunkhouses.
  • Night 5, Ba Bridge (14.2 miles). No room on the map: only campsites. The planner ends the day here to keep the days even: stopping at Bridge of Orchy or Inveroran makes the next day too long, and the Kingshouse Hotel is 30 km from Tyndrum, more than its steady pace allows. Carry a tent; or walk the 19 miles from Tyndrum to Kingshouse in one day; or stop short at Bridge of Orchy (the Bridge of Orchy Hotel and the West Highland Way Sleeper) or Inveroran, and add a day.
  • Night 6, Kinlochleven (13.5 miles). Fourteen, among them the Tailrace Inn and the Highland Getaway Inn, and seven campsites.

Fort William, at the end, has more than sixty on the map.

What to book first

Between Tyndrum and Kinlochleven the map has three hotels, at Bridge of Orchy, Inveroran and Kingshouse, and the bunkhouse at Bridge of Orchy. Whichever of them your plan needs is the night to book first. After them, Inverarnan and Rowardennan, with only a few places each.

The planner shows the beds for any split you choose, and for each night says where the count came from and when it was read. A bed on a map is not a bed booked: ring before you rely on it.

Build your walkWest Highland Way in 7 days95 mi · about 14 miles a dayOpen the planner →

Now make it yours.

The planner splits the West Highland Way into days that fit the time you have, with the trains at each end. Free, no account.

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