About Argyll, walking holidays, hiking vacations and walking tours in Scotland

About Argyll walking holidays, hiking vacations and walking tours in Scotland
		Explore the West Highlands and Islands of Scotland on foot, with an experienced and enthusiastic guide who is not only a keen walker but also thoroughly versed in all aspects of these jewels of Scotland.

Walk off the beaten track in
Argyll, on Mull, Islay, Jura, Arran, in Glen Coe, Galloway, Cowal, Kintyre, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.

Hike in a small international group with 4-8 participants and stay in carefully selected and comfortable B&B's or hotels offering a warm welcome and good food.

Introduction

Since 1995, About Argyll specialises in guided and self-guided walking holidays and hiking vacations in the West Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Our holidays are designed for people who like to enjoy historical, natural and geological themes and the pure pleasure of walking. We explore the hills, the lochs, boundless seascapes and islands. During the walks you can enjoy historical, natural or geological themes, the solitude of secret places.

We don't aim to break speed records when we walk, but the going can be rough. Scotland is one of the last places where you don't have to stay on paths and tracks. During our guided holidays we will take full advantage of this and our hikes will be in remote and quiet places undiscovered by most tourists.

Anyone with Highland, especially Argyllshire, ancestry might be particularly interested to see the country to which a part of them belongs. Our walks visit the countryside of, amongst others, the Campbells, MacDonalds, MacDougalls, MacIntyres, MacKinnons, MacLachlans, MacLeans and Stewarts.

Our walking trips and hiking tours are usually 8 days, with 7 nights accommodation and 6 walking days. All our holidays start and end in Glasgow.

We also do private guided itineraries where the whole schedule would be drawn up to suit your particular interests and the time you have available. These can be themed. Examples of special interest private guided itineraries are: Whisky and Walking in Islay, Walking in the footsteps of your ancesters, history, wildlife, geology. Please ask.

guided walking tour highlands scotland

Lunch break along the String of Lorn, Argyll

We offer you:

Confidence that you are going the right way - our well-qualified, well-informed and enthusiastic guides will look after you. They’ll do their best to make your holiday interesting and memorable. Each of them lives in Scotland, knows it well and has some special interest in its environment. They will enjoy sharing this knowledge with you.
All our guides have mountain leadership and first aid qualifications, with experience of leading groups of various ages over all sorts of ground in all weathers and seasons.

Small groups - usually between 4 and 8.

Attractive, well-thought-out walking programme - walks and hikes to remote and quiet places undiscovered by most tourists. You can enjoy historical, natural and geological themes and the pure pleasure of walking.

Carefully selected comfortable accommodation - we book and arrange this for you, taking care to find a B&B, guest house or hotel that is individual in character and offer good food, comfort and friendly welcome.

Road transport in our minibus - we collect you from Glasgow (city or international airport) on your first day and take you back at the end of your holiday. We also provide local transport throughout your week, as needed, evenings included.

Transport by (charter) boats and ferries - as required.

Visits to museums and other places of interest - entrance fees are included where these are an integral part of your programme.

Get-togethers in the evening - in a variety of carefully selected restaurants and pubs to set the scene for the next day's walking. Evening meals are not included in the price, but your guide will take you out for the evening meal. We usually eat in a different place every day, so you will get a good taste of Scottish food.

and most especially
personal care and attention in all that we do for you.

Hiking trip in Cowal, Highlands of Scotland

Loch Eck, Cowal

Walking or hiking?

The word 'hiking' isn't used as much in the UK as it is in North America. In the UK we tend to use 'walking' to cover such a wide range of activities that it can mislead. North American readers should probably think of About Argyll's walks as hikes, but at the gentler end of the range. You'll need though boots with a good tread, that provide adequate ankle support. No boots with smooth soles; no walking shoes, no trainers nor similar very lightweight shoes which won't cope with the rougher or wetter ground and could be dangerous in steeper places.
We offer two grades of walking / hiking:

Walking tours: Our tours are a good introduction to walking in Scotland for people with basic fitness. You will stay and walk in two very different parts of Scotland. The holiday is a combination of walking, and visiting places of interest. Daily distances will never exceed 6 miles (10 km) plus varying amounts of ascent, and we don't expect to walk for longer than 4 hours on any day. Most of the walking will be on paths, tracks or quiet roads, but you will get a chance to experience walking off track. There will be some steep sections, but not hundreds of feet up.
Walking / Hiking holidays: These are designed for people who are fit and used to walking all day. We will walk up to 11 miles (17 km) per day with on average 1000ft/300m ascent. On one day the ascent might be up to 3000ft/900m. There are 1 or 2 easier days. Our routes sometimes traverse pathless glens, climb mountains or thread remote passes. On most days as much of our time is spent off path as on it. Scotland can be very wild and tough going: 10 miles here is often much harder than 10 miles elsewhere. All that said, we don’t want to break any speed records, especially not when going uphill and you’ll have all the rewards of walking in one of the most beautiful and fascinating parts of the Highlands and Islands.

The groups

group enjoying the evening meal in Cowal

Our groups are made up of individuals who, whatever their background, share a common love of walking in Scotland and a joy in discovery of people and places, of history, wildlife and all the other aspects of life in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Wherever we're from, we're all curious to find out what's around the next corner.

In recent years, our walkers come from the USA, Canada, mainland Europe, Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. This international mixture has made for a thoroughly enjoyable atmosphere which has been shared equally by those who come on their own, and those who book with their partner or friends. We know that several new and lasting friendships have come about through walking with 'About Argyll'. Why not come and join us this year?

Think you're too old? too young? As far as we're concerned sufficient fitness is what matters, along with willingness to walk in rough countryside, not age for its own sake. Our oldest walker so far has been 82 - a very fit 82, admittedly. Our youngest visitor has been 16 (a caveat here - our programmes aren't designed with under 18s in mind). Main age groups that we see? 30s / 40s / 50s / 60s.

Who are we?

About Argyll walking holidays is based in the southwest Highlands of Scotland and it is run by Frieda Bos in cooperation with a team of well-qualified, well-informed and enthusiastic guides. Our aim is to run high-quality, small-scale, essentially personal hiking vacations. We view our clients as friends who are entitled to a professional service. We organise our walking holidays with freshness and enthusiasm so that you can get the most out of visiting this beautiful land.

We have been operating since 1995. Many of our clients have returned for a second, third or even fourth time.

Your guides:

Stewart Richardson Stewart lives in East Kilbride and has been walking in the Scottish hills for most of his life. He has travelled in Europe and has visited Antarctica and Africa. He is an active mountaineer and has an interest in wildlife and the history of the Scottish highlands. When he is not climbing mountains he loves photographing them. Stewart worked as a freelance outdoor instructor teaching navigation and climbing before joining About Argyll.
	John Fisher John is the founder of About Argyll Walking Holidays and he worked for nearly 20 years at an outdoor centre in Argyll, teaching environmental studies and mountaineering. He has also worked as a quality manager for a training company and for a mental health charity. He thinks of himself as a "jack of all trades", with interests across geology, landscape, wildlife, and local history and culture. Interests that he very much enjoys sharing. John speaks English and French.
Alastair Ewen Having been brought up in Shetland and Orkney, Alastair has a passion for Scotland's islands. He's travelled and led guided tours to the west coast of Scotland for many years. He has a thorough knowledge of the natural and cultural history of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland.
	Lesley Bryce Lesley has a background in languages and sales and has travelled widely both for business and pleasure. She has been active in the Scottish hills for over 20 years - she has a sound knowledge of Scotland's mountainous regions and is passionate about walking in Scotland and the outdoors. She is particularly interested in the protection and preservation of wildlife and in managing our impact on the wild places we visit. Lesley speaks English and German.
Nigel Scriven Nigel has lived in Argyll most of his life. He has a degree in ecology, which led to a teaching career in environmental and outdoor education in Argyll. He now works part-time for a number of Scottish outdoor and environmental organisations, leading fieldtrips and doing environmental surveys throughout Argyll. Nigel has founded the Cowal Natural History Society, he is Chairman of Argyll Bird Club, and Treasurer of the Sanda Island Bird Observatory, making annual visits to Sanda to ring seabirds. In between all these jobs he goes hill walking in Scotland, Europe and further afield. He enjoys sharing his knowledge with other people.
All our guides are qualified mountain leaders.
	Frieda Bos Frieda organises bookings and will be your first point of contact to make sure all your questions are answered promptly. She also takes people to and from Glasgow and moves the minibus during some weeks. Frieda is Dutch and has lived in Scotland for eight years. She is still working on improving her English, so, please forgive her if the English in the correspondence you receive from her is not perfect.

Comments from our clients in 2009

Kathy Trussler, Scotland:
"I enjoyed the relaxation, laughed a lot, the good cosmopolitan company
and I didn't have to make any decisions.
It is a fabulous feeling, being out of doors all the time and walking through history."

Rosemary Howie, Canada:
"The holiday was well organised. I felt safe at all times. We loved it so much we will return next year!"

Karin Erkamp, The Netherlands:
"I had the best time on Mull!
Great organisation, great guide, beautiful scenery, good company!
I am sure I will be back on one of your other walking holidays! I fell in love with Scotland!"

Cherry Hollingworth, England:
"I particularly liked this aspect of your walks with the history, geology
and other information added in rather than just walking from A to B."

Peter Collinge & Carol Thiel, USA:
"We loved getting a taste of Scotland; the difficulty level of the walks was about right for us;
our guide was fun and informative; and the trip was a good value for the price."

Jane Edlington, Australia:
"What more could you ask for:
lovely countryside, great company, great food, lots of fun
and a Scottish guide that makes every day an adventure."