100km Canoe Expedition Across Scotland

Canoeing across Scotland was amazing — but even better was the fun group of people I ended up with. Our guide helped keep our group dynamics positive and upbeat, even on challenging days. And she made the best porridge!

This expedition is amazing. Beautiful scenery in a stunning part of Scotland, and impeccable organisation thanks to our guide Katy. She went over and above to make sure we were safe, happy ,well fed, and also well informed by her knowledge of both the area , and canoeing itself. Spent 5 days with an incredible bunch of like minded people who made the physically demanding bits possible by all working as a team. Dont let age be a barrier. At 59, I was the oldest one in the group, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Thanks so much to everyone involved.

Surpassed all expectations (definitely helped by the weather and the winds being on our side!) - a completely wonderful trip. Come prepared to ride the waves through lochs, to haul barrels around locks, and to keep the tent flap closed! Katy was absolutely brilliant - made everyone feel right at home and well-fed. Recommend!

Just got back from our canoeing trip and what a delightful time it was!

Our guide, Katy, was absolutely amazing in every aspect - helpful, knowledgable, skilled, funny, and a fantastic chef! I never camped before and she made sure I had the best first experience. I enjoyed our little chats and laughs immensely.

The views were stunning, the camaraderie between the group members was wholesome, and it was a wonderful escape from everyday life into the beautiful nature of Scottish lochs.

I will definitely book with the company again. Thank you again, Katy!

An amazing week with wonderful people. Beautiful scenery. Lots of fun antics. Amazing weather (for Scotland!). Katie our guide was a delight from start to finish. She was fun, exciting, and made sure everyone got involved (also a fantastic cook!). This trip really was unforgettable and everyone who was part of it was amazing!

Had the most fantastic time! Katy was a wonderful guide, always making sure everyone was able to fully participate and have an amazing time. Challenging few days (especially the portages!) but well worth it! Cannot recommend this trip enough

Okay so Loch Ness isn't the high seas but the vastness of the Loch and the size of some of the waves (on one particularly memorable afternoon) it honestly feels like it! I joined this trip as part of a personal challenge to travel 1000 miles, self-powered in 2025 and it was genuinely one of the best trips I have ever been on! At times serene and peaceful canal paddling and at others adrenalin filled 'sailing' canoeing this adventure had it all. Our guide Katy, tailored the experience to our group and regularly checked in with the group and individually to see if there was anything we needed. We were treated to an array of wildlife from birds of prey (both white tailed & golden eagles and Osprey) to wild goats on the shores of Loch Ness. Well chosen campsites with wild swimming spots added to the experience. The food was soooo much better than I expected, al fresco, 3 course dinner options kept up the energy. Come prepared for midges (spray and nets a must) and any weather (this is Scotland after all). The portages are hard work but with everyone mucking in they soon get done! If you are missing civilisation and home comforts at all you can grab a shower at Fort Augustus, half way through the journey. All in all a top experience that has given me memories for a lifetime!

What an amazing adventure, I've come back with aching arms and a smile on my face! As expected, the scenery was stunning, I loved the contrast between the Lochs and the canal. Wild camping was a real privilege, peaceful and so beautiful. I surprised myself with how well I slept. Everyone pitched in to help each other set the tents up.

Portaging at locks was hard work but perfectly manageable as we all supported each other.

Can't say enough about our guide Elliott from In Your Element, a 5 star guide! Experienced and skilled at his craft, we felt in safe hands even when the weather got a little exciting at times! He shared his knowledge of the area to enhance our trip, shame about his jokes 😂 The food was plentiful and the best camping food I've ever eaten, Brenda's chilli was delicious.

A highlight was canoe sailing on Loch Ness, exhilarating.

Much Better Adventures set us up well for the trip with clear information and a kit list that was spot on. I would recommend wearing comfy wellies with a good grip on them.

What a terrific trip. Great company, wonderful guide, delicious food, amazing scenery and all achieved using one of the greatest ways of travelling - canoes. Paddling across Scotland with half a dozen other paddlers was a real adventure. Just the right challenges, great variety of campsites and a chance to sit round the camp fire each night to talk and laugh. The whole trip was so well organised and our guide Elliott looked after us brilliantly. On the water he would paddle from one canoe to another, getting to know us, encouraging us to chat and all the while making sure we were all happy. He was always thinking ahead too, keeping the plans flexible to suit our trip, resulting in an epic adventure full of great memories. Thank you.

Overall good fun Good guide ,good cook, good fount of open canoe knowledge. I'm also proud to be the father of many midges from this trip

We were debating whether to take this trip independently or opt for a guided package. In the end, we chose a package with MuchBetterAdventures. While the lakes and rivers are accessible to everyone, we hoped the package would offer something extra — and it truly did. The equipment provided was of excellent quality, but above all, it was the guide who made all the difference. We were fortunate to travel with Katy Duncan, a professional guide who was attentive to everyone’s needs. Her experience allowed her to make the right calls depending on the weather each day. She managed to support and supervise us while still respecting everyone’s skill level and our autonomy. In the evenings, she prepared delicious meals that we looked forward to after long days outdoors. Her energy, cheerful spirit, and contagious enthusiasm turned our journey into an unforgettable adventure. We greatly appreciated her deep knowledge of the terrain and the local legends she shared with us. Without hesitation, we would do it all over again—with Katy, a truly exceptional guide.

It was an epic adventure with four in the team plus a guide. A great mix of people coming together to canoe the Great Glen Way. The guide was excellent, assessing the whole teams abilities on the first few days and giving us all the chance to have a great time. The food is great is with three course meals being served of an evening (entirely unexpected) to the highest of standards. As with all watersports the weather plays a part and days were of varying lengths depending on the conditions. This made for some easier and other more strenuous days.

I’ve just spent a few days in the company of 7 wonderful people whom I hadn’t met a week previously. We canoed 100 km across Scotland, from Fort William to Inverness. We had all weather thrown at us, hail, heavy rain, wind and sunshine but the atmosphere was amazing throughout. We had a very capable guide who was prepared for all conditions and eventualities and kept us motivated, mainly by feeding us delicious cooked breakfasts and 3 course dinners at our stunningly beautiful wild camping spots. The canoeing was actually plain sailing (literally when the wind was behind us), even when the waves were 3 ft high on Loch Ness. The portaging at locks was hard work but perfectly manageable as we all pulled together. We saw some lovely wildlife (ospreys, deer, mice, red squirrel, feral goats) and some not so lovely (midges, ticks 😩).

I would give the trip itself, led by Scott from In Your Element, 5 stars no question. However Much Better Adventures lose a star due to their misleading statement that my trip was ‘Guaranteed to run’. I had booked a May departure as that was when I had some free time and I hoped to avoid the midges. I did a lot of preparation for the trip in readiness for my departure date on 15 May and also booked my trains and guest houses for the nights before and after my trip. So I was very cross when just 5 weeks beforehand my trip was cancelled. I was given the option of a refund or booking onto another trip. I was tempted to take the refund as my faith in the company had been destroyed but, having looked forward to the trip for several months, I chose to rebook for June. In fairness, all the additional expenses I incurred were refunded promptly and in full, but this experience would make me more wary of booking a future trip with Much Better Adventures.

Also, I’m not sure how representative the reviews are when there is a £500 prize for the best one of the season and the default star rating is 5! Pretty sure I won’t win a prize with this one!

Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and was very glad I went. I would recommend wearing the most comfortable wellies you can afford and consider taking your own waterproofs and buoyancy aid if you have them. I wished I’d taken a small camping stool or chair (although I would’ve struggled to fit this in the 60 litre barrel provided), a midge net rather than a mosquito net and some anti-histamine cream for all the bites. Also, be warned that the Avon alternative to insect repellent solidifies in cold weather!

I had an amazing time canoeing across Scotland with much better adventures. Our guide Scott was fantastic and cooked some delish meals for us (shout out to Brenda’s chilli) and I was confident in his knowledge and expertise. Would recommend this trip to anyone! Fantastic kit that was well looked after also.

Isla D

Canoe across Scotland, what a wonderful trip, I enjoyed every minute of it. I was glad the good weather for most of May had changed to the more typical changeable weather you normally get, sailing in canoes is great fun especially if you get the waves pushing you along as well. Don’t worry about this, the canoes can be rafted together if the wind picks up, which makes it more enjoyable as you can speak to everybody and it is easier to pass the snack bag round, if you had forgotten to pack you own snacks in the morning.

As well as the fantastic scenery, around the lochs and canals, we were lucky enough to see a variety of wildlife; wild goats, eagles, an osprey landing in its nest, no Nessie but you can’t have everything….

Katy our guide from IYE was brilliant at everything, so cheerful, positive, knowledgeable and what a wonderful cook. Really appreciated the tasty snacks she always had ready when we got out tents up, which kept everyone going until the main meal later which was always delicious.

Not wild camped before, so was anxious about that, but did not need to be, the three solo adventurers helped each other put each other tents up, a few of the wild camp spots had nearby Portaloo’s, so the portable toilet was not needed, but still appreciated on the days it was required.

Already thinking of doing the kayak and wild camp in the west coast of Scotland next year.

This trip was a fantastic adventure. It felt wild and unplugged whilst being so well organised and thoughtfully delivered that it was surprisingly comfortable with brilliant food provision.

Our guide Katy was outstanding. She was truly one of the most beautiful people I have ever met and it was a great privilege to have her guiding us through this journey. She made it so special and spending time with her was a highlight I will always treasure and remember. Her competence was exemplary, she handled everything thrown at us with grace, brilliance, a smile that never once failed to bolster spirits and she brought every situation to the highest good of the whole group.

The scenery was wonderful and the journey felt like a huge achievement. We had very varied conditions, from still, sanguine canal stretches to a rough Loch Ness crossing (absolutely fabulous fun - my favourite day). There were some very hard going hours, requiring relentless digging-in paddling, which I would describe as “challenging” difficulty level, though our guide covered this off for anyone struggling by rafting our canoes together thus easing load on those who needed that. These moments balanced well against leisurely paddling periods with no time pressure at all, so overall everything was manageable, plus I think our tougher moments were more difficult than a typical trip. They really did make the experience far richer and more fulfilling for me though.

Katy’s cooking was superb, we had a varied set of dietary needs within the group and all were met without compromise to either nutritional value or flavour. We were fuelled and sustained whilst also relishing the meals. Katy’s energy and enthusiasm for feeding us was deeply appreciated and brought a lot of joy.

Portages were hard work. Heavy lifting and carrying over not always short distances. Katy made them as efficient as possible and worked to every group member’s capability but not all of our group were able to manage them to the same extent. For anyone considering whether health issues may be incompatible with the trip it’s these that I feel could be the limiting factor. Well worth a phone call with In Your Element (who deliver the trip) to chat it over though as we were all accommodated and supported brilliantly with a few “glitchy” bodies amongst us in different ways as well as a spectrum of ages. Though if your expectations are aligned with an expedition I think you’d be absolutely grand.

Useful tips I picked up from older reviews that made a big difference to enjoyment levels for me were:

• wellies (if your feet can get on with them)!! Much nicer to have dry feet, which wellies gave me throughout. Group members without wellies were in wet shoes in the canoes the whole trip. One had waterproof socks which also seemed to work well for them.
• a kayak seat cushion. I have slightly jippy hips/lower back and I think this really helped. Plus it was nice to sit on of an evening on stony loch beach campsites.
• however prepared you think you are for midges, go bigger - the midge net plus smidge was the right combination for our group. One or the other wouldn’t have been enough to keep from being very bothered!
• dry bags for packing clothes and sleeping bag in very helpful just in case a barrel gets wet. Barrels are usually waterproof but if you have dry bags, not worth the risk of a leaky barrel as a wet night clothes of clothes or sleeping bag would be miserable.
• pack for all weathers no matter what the forecast says the week before - it changed every day (May) from morning to evening when we were out and we needed caps, suncream and T-shirts some days and thermals and beanies others.

This was a life-affirming, growth-eliciting, phenomenal experience I am delighted I embarked on. I highly recommend it!

This is a truly amazing adventure and when you complete it, you get a real feeling of accomplishment too. I've never canoed before and this was truly amazing, the guide we had was absolutely brilliant and I can't recommend her enough! The food is well catered for everything (allergies, dietary requirements etc. ) which is amazing. It was an absolute blast and incredible in every way. I'm so glad I took on the adventure and had the experience, if you get the chance and time to do this, it is well worth taking on and the learnings you get from it are amazing too! You can learn so much about yourself and your capabilities too. The scenery is lovely and experiencing it from the water too is amazing.

100km canoe from Inverness to Fort William. Four ‘ladies’ in our 50’s decided months ago to embark on an adventure together. It was physically and mentally challenging at times. The portages are hard work but the team of 8 worked together and breezed through. A head wind for the last 10km was rough but heads down and digging in we made it. The camping was extraordinary, scenery is breathtaking, wildlife and peace, out of this world. The toilet situation, a worry for some, became a running joke, just part of the adventure.

Throughout we were fed and supported by our guide Stewart, can’t thank him enough for taking us on this amazing adventure.

Amazing trip, we were so lucky with the weather, blue skies all the way. Our guide Stew was lovely and delivered some amazing food that also took into account my diet (for medical needs). The experience was magical. At times there was physical effort to portage equipment and canoes across the lock systems, so would definitely recommend a level of fitness to be able to do it.

Having done some kayaking before, we were very keen to try this iconic trip across Scotland. We went in May, with Elliott as our guide and it was everything we hoped for (and more). The scenery was spectacular and whilst Loch Ness was the highlight (including a compulsory swim!) the other two lochs and the man-made canal were also beautiful. We were extremely lucky with the weather which was perfect. One afternoon on Loch Ness we had to paddle against head winds for two to three hours, not enough to take away the enjoyment but enough to let you know not to take anything for granted. A particular highlight was the opportunity to try some canoe sailing when the wind was behind us: absolutely fantastic! We camped alongside the lochs each night in some amazing locations and whilst carrying all of your kit might appear daunting, MBA/IYE had thought of everything. That included three course meals every evening plus a cooked breakfast and sandwich lunch. At the end of a hard day's paddling, not having to worry about food was a real treat - and everything Elliott made was amazing. Over 5 days, you do have time to relax and enjoy the company of your fellow travellers. Once again we were lucky and everyone got on well. However the star of the show was definitely our guide Elliott, who was endlessly knowledgeable, entertaining and never lost his sense of humour. We had various skill levels in the group and in a very gentle way, Elliott found a way to help us all improve as the week went on. Our first trip into the highlands was memorable in many ways. We will certainly be back and are already planning our next MBA adventure. We have no hesitation in giving the trip 5 stars but that does not really tell the whole story.

I had a really great experience on this trip. The MBA franchise partner In Your Element was really well organised and the guide Stew was excellent - good customer service, friendly, funny, knowledgeable and experienced. The group was full of down to earth people wanting to have fun. We were very lucky with the weather, which helped a lot. Recommended.

An incredible adventure and unique way to experience the Great Glen Way. Our guide, Stew, was very authentic and made it a great experience. The food was also surprisingly good.

Absolutely fantastic trip from start to finish. Great organisation, amazing guide Alfie, incredible route and fabulous food. We have had the best time. Huge thanks to Alfie, who looked after us so well both on and off the water. His cooking skills are 10*. The weather was incredible, the lochs & canals interesting and beautiful. If you are looking for an adventure, don't hesitate to book, you will have the best time 😄

I absolutely loved the 5 days canoeing, and wild camping and stunning scenery - how lucky we were with the weather, no rain and lots of warm sunshine. Alfie, our guide, was very professional and knowledgeable, and an excellent cook! A fun group to be with and I loved the whole experience so much that I’ve already booked a multi activity holiday in North Spain in September - I only got home today!

This trip was the break for everyday life I needed! A challenging adventure which never felt too uncomfortable or unachievable. The guides Andy and Lukas were knowledgeable and supportive, sharing local stories and canoeing tips. The food surpassed my expectations with three course meals on an evening, breakfast rolls and build your own wraps for lunch. I really felt like our guide Andy enjoyed experimenting with cooking for the group and took dietary requirements seriously and I felt well catered for as a vegetarian. Beautiful scenery and we saw osprey and white-tailed eagles which was amazing! Would highly recommend!

Knowledgeable guide, great scenery. Elliott made a safe and fun environment for all.

What a trip it was I met seven strangers in the Tesco car park in Inverness we all jumped into the mini bus and off. We went what a wonderful group of people. They turned out to be our guide a young man called Callum. What a lovely capable young man he is the trip was relaxed and great fun from the start. We were truly blessed with beautiful weather. The whole trip was well organised from start to finish the wild camping and communal cooking was great fun it really was a lovely adventure. Regards Ray

Well organised, food was great, elliot is a top guide and bloke!

What a fantastic epic adventure/challenge. Who knew you could sail a canoe and who knew you could eat so well, 3 course dinners and wine whilst wild camping! Not me! Not a wild camper only been in a canoe once but boy this adventure did not disappoint. Our guide Luke was amazing, so knowledgeable about Scotland and the Great Glen. Our group was fantastic. Despite my friend and I being the oldest by many years, we all got along great and had an absolute blast. Go do this folks you will not regret it! Awesome trip, awesome time, awesome people. thank you MBA.

Cant believe we have canoed coast to coast. Scenery, wildlife, canoeing, company exhilarating. Weather gods were kind to us. Portages were challenging. Good job we worked as a team! Our leader was amazing. Seemed to know and be ready for anything. And helped us (fit) oldies complete the expedition happily (see photo) Thanks all.