Hiking

The West Highland Way is a long distance walk that runs through the Scottish Highlands, from Milngavie (just north of Glasgow) to Fort William and takes just over a week. The route is 151km/ 96 miles long and offers a variety of landscapes including lakes, mountains and moors. Although long, it's not a hugely difficult walk and there are no technical sections so its achievable for most walkers. It's well marked out as well so perfect for when I distract my Dad from his navigation with my incessant chatter.

I started writing this post prior to my recent glacier hiking trip to the Alps whilst I was packing, and I'm so glad that I didn't finish it as I got my packing COMPLETELY WRONG. I packed far too much, missed off a couple of essential items and made my bag too heavy for lugging up mountains. If you're off on a glacier hiking trip, here's what you need to pack.

I've just returned from the Alps on a version of what is known as the Spaghetti Tour. It’s named as such because although it starts and ends in Switzerland, most nights are spent in Italy eating generous portions of, you guessed it, spaghetti (actually just general pasta, we didn’t have any spaghetti). So I’m sharing 10 things I learnt on the Spaghetti Tour, from how to safely walk on glaciers to several toilet related learnings.

Mountain huts are a completely unique experience. Usually they are simply a necessity - if you want to hike, climb or ski in remote areas there might not be any other kind of accommodation available, but you don't want to miss out on these incredible locations. They're not to everyone's taste, but they do have their benefits - you just need to know what to expect and have a few tricks up your sleeve to make them more enjoyable!

I'd never been to Snowdonia before, but with just a few weeks until I'd be hiking the Spaghetti Tour in the Alps, it was time to get some practice in. Snowdon was a bucket list UK hike, so my dad and I set off to Wales with the hope of taking the Crib Goch route up Snowdon. Based on the weather forecast and previous luck in the weather department, we didn't have high hopes for being able to take the Crib Goch ridge, but miraculously we were blessed with clear enough skies! It was a fantastic experience, and if you're thinking of climbing Snowdon, I would highly recommend take the Crib Goch route.

Walking holidays are only enjoyable if a) you're fit enough (it's no fun if you're struggling up hills and longing for the end of the day so that you can rest your legs) and b) you have the right kit. The right kit will literally mean the difference between a multi-day hike being a challenge or a holiday. Here are my hiking essentials.

I'm going to start this post of with a bold statement: the GR20 is the best hike I've done. I've loved the Spaghetti Tour in the Italian Alps, Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn, Hardrians Wall, the Coast to Coast, the West Highland Way, but the GR20 is the one that really takes my breath away whenever I think about it. It's absolutely not an easy walk, in fact it's the most difficult one I've done, but this post will tell you what to expect on the GR20 with the hope that you give it a go yourself.

nce a year my dad and I make time for a hiking holiday together. Sometimes this is in the UK (Hadrian's Wall, The West Highland Way and Coast to Coast have been our favourites) and sometimes we venture further afield. Recently, we completed a 'best of' version of the Mont Blanc to Matterhorn trek where we enjoyed some quality daddy-daughter time.