Intro

The Cape Wrath Trail in Scotland had been on our bucket list for quite some time and was our main goal for this trip.
By the end of April 2026, we finally had the time to tackle this project.
For logistical reasons, we decided to hike the trail from north to south and, if time permitted, to follow it up with the West Highland Way.
The two trails connect well, as the end/start point is in the same town: Fort William

Getting to the starting point wasn’t exactly easy.
We arranged the ferry across the Kyle of Durness directly with the ferry operator.
The bus from the ferry to the cape doesn’t start running until May 1. So we walked the 15–20 km up there.
We set off in thick fog. Unfortunately, we didn’t see much of Cape Wrath—apparently it’s supposed to be beautiful. Hahaha :-)
After that, we had a few days of perfect weather. At times it was almost too warm, with temperatures over 20 degrees.
After the warm days, the weather turned “Scottish.” Changeable with lots of wind, cold temperatures, and rain.

We had a great time in Scotland. The scenery and the solitude on the Cape Wrath Trail were fantastic.
The people are super friendly and were very interested in our trip.

On both trails combined, we walked about 600 km over 3 weeks and hiked through the entire Scottish Highlands.

While on the Cape Wrath Trail, a hiker told us that there’s currently a movie in theaters that tells a story set right along our route: The North
We watched it right after we got back to Switzerland. Great story and beautiful images!

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Cape Wrath Trail

Cape Wrath Trail isn't an easy one. Some parts are pathless and quite boggy.
The difficulty depends heavily on the weather.
River crossings, in particular, can be tricky in heavy rain.
We generally had good weather and never faced a critical situation.

The scenery and the solitude make all the effort worthwhile!

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"We're in the highlands. Where else? 
Darting down the mountainside, the sun is shining.
It's not cold. You've got your sheepskins on and the boots I made for you.
Good night, my bonny Heather."
(Connor MacLeod, Highlander)

West Highland Way

Well, what can you say about the West Highland Way (or as we call it, the “West Highland Highway”)?
Basically, the scenery is beautiful. The trail is just very touristy.
Since we hiked the trail in reverse, we passed hundreds of hikers every day.
Many use luggage transport and stay in hotels, hostels, etc.
We knew the trail was popular, but the amount of hikers still surprised us...

Unfortunately, it wasn’t our thing at all; we were pretty annoyed after a short while.
Even wild camping was difficult, since the spots were often already taken by others...
Sorry to say, but we wouldn’t do the West Highland Way again :-(

If you’re watching the video and wondering where all the hikers we mentioned are...
Yeah, it was really hard to take photos and videos when no one was coming toward us :-)