Luggage transfer
Luggage transfer on the West Highland Way
Daily bag transfer covers every standard overnight stop between Milngavie and Fort William, and most walkers on the route use it.
Scottish baggage companies run vans on a fixed daily rotation through the season, roughly March to October. You leave the bag at your accommodation before the cut-off — usually half past eight or nine — with a printed tag showing that night’s address. Drivers work north up the A82 and are often at the next guesthouse before you have finished the day’s walk. Bags sit in a porch, a boot room or a shed until you arrive. Payment is generally made online when you book the whole week rather than stage by stage.
Before or after the walk
Tours and visits in Glasgow
A few well-rated options near West Highland Way, for the rest days either side of the trail. Prices are the provider’s current starting price.
Affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our stage, distance or luggage information. (Civitatis) How the project is funded
The Way feels remote in places and never is, from a driver’s point of view. The A82 shadows the route from Tyndrum to Fort William, the B837 runs down to Rowardennan, a single-track road climbs to Inversnaid from Aberfoyle, and the B863 serves Kinlochleven. The genuinely roadless parts — the east shore of Loch Lomond between Rowardennan and Inverarnan, the crossing of Rannoch Moor, the Devil’s Staircase over to Kinlochleven — are precisely the parts you walk between overnight stops, not the stops themselves. Kingshouse sits on the A82 at the head of Glen Coe.
With the main bag gone, the day pack still needs to be a proper Scottish one. Full waterproofs including trousers, a warm layer, gloves for the Devil’s Staircase in May, food for the Rannoch Moor stage where nothing is open for 20 km, two litres of water and midge repellent from June onwards. That is four or five kilos. What you save is the 12 to 15 kg that a self-supported walker carries, which matters on the Loch Lomond east shore, where the path is a scramble over tree roots and boulders for several hours.
Accommodation on the Way is the constraint, not the transfer. Beds in Rowardennan, Inverarnan, Bridge of Orchy and Kingshouse are limited and go months ahead for May to September, so people book the itinerary first and add the bag service to a confirmed list. Most companies want the full schedule at least a week or two in advance and charge per bag per day. Changes are possible with a phone call the evening before. Campers can often use the same service, but only where the site or hostel agrees to receive and hold a bag.
What it costs
Around £8 to £12 per bag per day is the usual band, which puts a seven-day crossing somewhere near £60 to £90 per person. Most operators cap a bag at about 20 kg and charge separately for a second one. Seasonal price lists are published each spring, so check the current year rather than an old figure.
Which stages work
Drymen, Balmaha, Rowardennan, Inverarnan, Crianlarich, Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy, Inveroran, Kingshouse, Kinlochleven and Fort William are all served. The awkward ones are Inversnaid, at the end of a long single-track road, where drops can be late, and wild camping, which by definition has no address for a bag to arrive at.
Frequently asked
Does bag transfer reach Rowardennan and Kingshouse?
Yes, both. Rowardennan is at the end of the road along the east shore of Loch Lomond, and Kingshouse sits directly on the A82 in Glen Coe. They feel isolated on foot but are straightforward for a van. Inversnaid is the harder one, reached by a long single-track road down from Aberfoyle.
Can I use it if I am camping?
On official campsites and at hostels, usually yes, provided the site agrees to take and store the bag. Several operators list which sites cooperate. Wild camping, which is legal in Scotland under access rights, cannot be supported: there is no address, and leaving a bag unattended by the path is neither permitted nor sensible.
When do I need to book the service?
Once your accommodation is confirmed, which for high summer often means several months out. The bag company needs the full night-by-night list. A week or two of notice is normally enough for the transfer itself in quieter months, but the beds are the bottleneck on this route, not the vans.
What if the weather forces me to stop early?
Ring the operator as soon as you decide. Drivers are on the road through the middle of the day and can sometimes redirect, though the rotation runs one way. If the bag has already gone ahead, buses run along the A82 corridor between most of the overnight stops, so catching up with it is usually straightforward.
Check your route
Each trail guide states plainly how transfer works on that route.