Trailstrider

Day-by-day trail itinerary

Speyside Way: 7-day itinerary

Two halves that have almost nothing in common. From Buckie the Way runs west on promenade and shore path to Portgordon, the only genuinely exposed walking on the whole trail, then turns inland onto old railway trackbed where the ballast is coarse enough to be felt through a boot, and into a narrow twisting woodland path on bark and sand to Spey Bay. At the shingle bar of the river mouth it swings south and stays with the Spey on riverside and forest tracks into Fochabers, close, low and enclosed. After Fochabers the character changes completely: roughly 10 km of quiet tarred minor road above the east bank, rolling up to about 150 m and back down, with no services at all on it, before the drop to the Spey crossing at Boat o' Brig and the start of the climb into Ben Aigan Forest. The section ends part-way up that climb. Rothes, which names the far end, lies over the hill and is not on the route.

139 km1,618 m ascent7 walking daysScotland

A practical starting point

7 days from Buckie to Newtonmore

Use these daily distances and overnight stops as a starting point, then customise the trip in the planner.

  1. 1
    Day 1: Buckie → Fochabers

    17.4 km · 43 m ascent · 4h11–5h54 (about 4h55, incl. ~49m of stops)

    Via Arradoul, Portgordon, Broadley, Nether Dallachy, Spey Bay, Kingston on Spey, Garmouth, Bogmoor, Upper Dallachy, Mosstodloch
  2. 2
    Day 2: Fochabers → Craigellachie

    20.4 km · 426 m ascent · 5h42–8h02 (about 6h42, incl. ~1h07 of stops)

    Via Rothes
  3. 3
    Day 3: Craigellachie → Ballindalloch

    19.1 km · 210 m ascent · 4h55–6h56 (about 5h47, incl. ~58m of stops)

    Via Aberlour, Edinville, Archiestown, Marypark
  4. 4
    Day 4: Ballindalloch → Grantown-on-Spey

    23.9 km · 474 m ascent · 6h37–9h20 (about 7h47, incl. ~1h18 of stops)

    Via Advie, Cromdale
  5. 5
    Day 5: Grantown-on-Spey → Boat of Garten

    17.2 km · 89 m ascent · 4h14–5h59 (about 4h59, incl. ~50m of stops)

    Via Dulnain Bridge, Nethy Bridge
  6. 6
    Day 6: Boat of Garten → Kincraig

    20.1 km · 143 m ascent · 5h02–7h07 (about 5h56, incl. ~59m of stops)

    Via Aviemore
  7. 7
    Day 7: Kincraig → Newtonmore

    21.3 km · 233 m ascent · 5h31–7h47 (about 6h29, incl. ~1h05 of stops)

    Via Insh, Kingussie

Solve the practical questions

Plan Speyside Way with confidence

Route-specific answers from Trailstrider's researched trail data, with the planner ready when you want to turn them into your own trip.