1. The Cape Wrath Trail
This is the toughest of the bunch on the grounds of a) length (something like 200 miles), b) terrain (it traverses the wildest wildernesses of the north-west Highlands) and c) navigation (there are at least three variants of the route, none of them marked on OS maps or waymarked on the ground, and with limited accommodation options). So why do it? Well, because it starts at the foot of Ben Nevis and just gets wilder and more magnificent with every one of its (roughly) 20 days. Knoydart, Torridon (above), Kintail, Wester Ross, Assynt, Sutherland, Cape Wrath: real wilderness, real endurance, real wow. WALK IT: The most comprehensive guidebook is Cicerone’s Walking the Cape Wrath Trail (www.cicerone.co.uk) which explains all the alternatives in a 14-stage itinerary.