Walking Holidays in the UK

The Great Glen is perhaps the most pronounced geological feature in Britain, running North East from Fort William it forms a deep gash across the Scottish Highlands, reaching the North Sea Coast at Inverness. It is the perfect destination for a walking holiday, affording views of the surrounding mountains and lochs without ever climbing significantly. The Great Glen Way follows the great glen in its entirety. A group has recently been formed to bid for World Heritage Status for the Great Glen, a UNESCO designation which recognises areas of outstanding cultural, historical and landscape significance. It is hoped to achieve this status by 2012.

Ashanti is a poverty stricken region of Ghana and the Friend of Ahanti Ghana is small charity dedicated to hleping its development. In summer 2008 a group of walkers undertook the Hadrian's Wall Walk to raise funding for the charity. Mickledore Travel made a donation to the charity and the group successfully complketed their walk, raising over £200 for the charity. Their account can be found here: http://www.friendsofashanti.co.uk/wordpress/?p=32

Labels: clients' experiences, Hadrian's Wall walk, sponsored walk

Our clients’ accounts of their walking holidays are always interesting reading. Stephanie did the North Lakes Traverse , one of our Lake District Walking Holidays during the summer and you can read her impressions of the walk here:

http://sometimessheknits.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html

You will also find many pictures of half knitted socks and all sorts of wool and knitting related posts – including a picture of 2 Lake District sheep – I had no ides knitting was so complicated!

The North Lakes Traverse is one of Mickledore’s own routes, taking in the Lakes of Ullswater, Thirlmere, and Derwentwater before returning to Keswick. This walking holiday normally takes 5 days.

Labels: knitting, lake disctrict, walking holidays

An important section of Hadrian’s Wall is to be the subject of a restoration project over the next few months. A nearby dry stone wall collapsed in the 1980’s meaning a section of wall near Great Chesters Fort has been damaged by sheep, who have been climbing over the wall, causing damage in the process. They have also been feeding on important wild flowers and plants in the Site of Special Scientific interest on the far side. The Roman Wall is now to be repaired over the next few months, and the drystone is to be rebuilt, to keep to sheep out. Hadrian’s Wall remains our most popular walking holiday, and we are pleased to see the work is being carried out outside the peak season, which will allow the workmen to progress unhindered.

Labels: great chesters fort, Hadrian's Wall, walking

The Crianlarich Hotel, at the centre of the village, at the mid point of the West Highland Way ,has changed hands this week. The previous owners, Highland Heritage, used the hotel exclusively for its own coach parties. The new owners intend to widen its appeal to independent travellers, including those taking walking holidays along the West Highland Way. It has several bars and a restaurant as well as 32 rooms. Given the popularity of the route, new accommodation is always welcome. Once it has reopened in March, we will pay a visit.

Labels: accommodation, crianlarich, walking holidays, west highland way

We have been working hard through the autumn preparing for (hopefully) another busy season in 2009. We are already taking a steady stream of bookings for 2009 walking holidays, and have also been checking up on accommodation and recent changes to routes on our established walking holidays, such as Hadrian's Wall Walk and the Coast to Coast path.On top of this we well as researching two new routes to add to our walking holidays in 2009. Both of these routes are in Scotland, and follow on from the success of the West Highland Way and Great Glen Way walking holidays in 2008.

The Rob Roy Way starts in Drymen, one day in on the West Highland Way, and meanders through forests and loch sides, and glens through the heart of the Trossachs. It is a reasonably straightforward walk on the whole, passing through wonderful scenery on generally well made paths. Watch our website for further details soon.

Our second new walking holiday for 2009 is the Speyside Way. From Buckie on the Moray Firth the walk follows the River Spey upstream past many of Scotland’s most famous distilleries, through the historic towns of Dufftown and Grantown on Spey, to finish in the highland resort of Aviemore, at the foot of the Cairngorms. Another fairly gentle walk, the Speyside Way passes through rolling countryside and foothills as it heads inland. Again, more details on the website soon.

Labels: hadrians wall, rob roy way, speyside way, uk, walking holidays