Travel from London to Highlands (or similar)

Komubcha

I'm hoping to go somewhere in Scotland for some hiking and camping. Dalwhinnie seems to be a good place to head for, but I'm open to suggestions.

I want to hike then camp, hike again and camp for a second night, then head back, and my preference is Scotland since the plan is wild camping which isn't very practical in England. Plus I just want to see something different.

The schedule would probably be something like this:

Day 1: Overnight travel (bus or train) to Edinburgh or Glasgow
Day 2: Arrive in Edinburgh/Glasgow in the morning. Travel to Dalwhinnie, hike and camp.
Day 3: More hiking and camping.
Day 4: Hike back to a station or bus stop that will get us back to Edinburgh/Glasgow, then get an overnight bus/train back to London.
Day 5: Arrive back in London in the morning.

So far the best option I've found is probably Megabus from London to Glasgow (£24 for a return) then a train from Glasgow to Dalwhinnie (for around £11 for a return).

Since there's a lot of flexibility here (destination, travel methods, where to go via, etc.) I'm hoping there's a cheaper option. I know this is pretty cheap as it is but I'm not sure I can justify £35 each for a camping trip right now (and I'm not sure the person I want to go with will want to pay that either).

Any suggestions to cut down the price a bit more?

pinkteapot

Check out the WalkHighlands website and forum. Very helpful people there (I got a lot of advice when I was going walking in the Cairngorms). They'll be able to help with the best places to go and there are lots of recommended routes for walking.

If you're going between now and the end of August, don't forget your midge repellant!

jammy_dodger

what about walking speyside way ?

you could book an advance sleeper ticket to inverness then get local bus to aviemore where walk starts its 65 miles

i have just done it myself walking aviemore to buckie on the coast, loads of wild camp oportunities and great scenery. less mmidges too here on east coast

i did it in 2 and half days 2 nights camping but it can be done over longer think the recommended is 5 days

Komubcha

Pinkteapot, thanks for the recommendation. I have looked at that site a bit and will probably do more research into that soon, but first I have to make sure I can get there. I don't want to get too carried away with planning a trip if it's not possible.

Jammy dodger, thanks too for the suggestion. I had a quick look on Google Maps. How wild is the route? It looks like there's a lot of civilization along the way. I was envisaging something where we'd see almost no one else where we go.

pogofish

Get the the train from London to Inverness and get out at Rannoch Station - You are right in middle of all the wilderness you could possibly hope for!

Komubcha

That looks like a possibility. Any suggestions on how to get there for less than £35 each though?

pogofish

Book a ticket? - I get fares from £23 upwards on NRE.

Probably means traveling at very unsocial hours/mid week but if you are flexible

Komubcha

I'm getting £148.30...