The Stevenson Way

New in 2012, this long-distance footpath – Scotland’s longest – stretches for a mammoth 230 miles and bills itself as ‘Scotland’s Wilderness Walk’. It doesn’t disappoint. The march, or rather bash, scramble and struggle, takes you from the sandy beach on the Isle of Mull where Robert Louis Stevenson's protagonist, David Balfour, in his adventure novel ‘Kidnapped’, was shipwrecked, all the way across some of the wildest and most wildly beautiful areas of the country to the Kidnapped statue in Edinburgh. You will need a good compass and maps (and have to know how to use them) as well as the right gear to tackle even a section of the Way, but the efforts are more than amply rewarded, as it takes you well off the beaten track (often off any track) and right in amongst all the local wildlife. Note that the organisers also offer guided group trips for those not so keen to head out on their own.