Trails › Compare

Compare trails

Which trail suits your trip? Pick a month for typical weather, or your own dates for the forecast, rated at each trail's lowest and highest point. The best match comes first; the table below has the details. For winter trips, start with hiking in Europe in winter.

Best in October

Good no real weather drawbackMixed walkable, with one drawbackPoor a serious drawback, or out of season
How the ratings work
Good
Typical weather suits walking: no snow expected at the high point, not hot low down or cold up high, and under 200 mm of rain in the month.
Mixed
One drawback in a typical year: snow or ice possible up high, a warm or cool month, or a wet one (200 mm or more).
Poor
Snow likely at the high point, heat of 33 °C or more low down, days below 3 °C up high, or outside the published season.

From typical weather: the 1991–2020 averages at the trail's lowest and highest point, corrected for height. A published season (a park that closes, huts that open) overrides the weather. A rating is a planning aid for the area, not a report of the trail: check the official warnings before you go.

  1. 1
    West Highland Way United Kingdom
    Mixed
    1. January: Mixed
    2. February: Mixed
    3. March: Mixed
    4. April: Good
    5. May: Good
    6. June: Good
    7. July: Good
    8. August: Good
    9. September: Good
    10. October: Mixed
    11. November: Mixed
    12. December: Mixed

    Wet: about 248 mm of rain in the month.

    • 4–13 °C(Typical: a night at the high point to a day at the low point)
    • 248 mm rain(Rain in a typical month, at the wetter end)
    • 10 h 34(Daylight in the middle of the month)
    Open the guide

Side by side

Trail
West Highland Way
United Kingdom
At a glance
Weather in October Mixed Wet: about 248 mm of rain in the month.
Typical weather
Temperature, lowest point 13° by day, 7° at night at 6 m
Temperature, highest point 9° by day, 4° at night at 550 m
Rain in a typical month 248 mm
Snow at the high point Typically snow-free (model) High point 550 m
Daylight mid-month 10 h 34 Sunrise 07:46, sunset 18:20
The trail
Kind of trip Point to point in 8 stages
Length 152 km
Total climb +3,471 m
Highest point 550 m
Days to allow 6 walking, 4 fast Suggested for 7 days by kingshouse; shorter trips in the planner
Practical
Places to sleep 10 towns and villages Read 24 September 2026
Official status and season No official status recorded
Rules and permits –
Getting there The start: Milngavie; Along the Way; Ferries on Loch Lomond; The finish: Fort William
Official weather warnings Official weather warnings (Meteoalarm)
Sources Climate: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages; Forecast: Open-Meteo

Where they are

Loading topographic map…

Ratings are planning aids from typical weather or the forecast, not statements about trail conditions. Typical weather: TerraClimate 1991–2020 at each trail's lowest and highest point, corrected for height, with the Pico do Areeiro station on the Madeira peaks. Stays and status come from each guide's dated records.