Journeys made to measure
Take the scenic Route this time
Private and small-group journeys on foot, planned by people who have walked them, with every stay, guide and transfer set to your pace.
This season
Dolomites
Hebrides
High Atlas
Western fjords
Patagonia
Kii mountains
We walk every route before you do
Cairnway is a small team of planners and walking guides. We build tailored journeys for two to twelve people, and run a few small-group departures each season on the routes we know best.
The famous viewpoint at the quiet hour, because we time the day around it
Your bag moves on by road while you walk with a light day pack
One planner from the first call until you are home again
A guide who has slept in every hut and guesthouse on the route
Lunch stop, day four
The cairn we are named after
2 to 12
walkers on a tailored journey
Six journeys we know by heart
Each one runs as a private trip on your dates, and a few times a year as a small group of ten at most. Prices are per person and shown as samples.
Just you, or a small group of kindred walkers
The routes are the same. What changes is who sets the dates and who you share the dinner table with.
Private journey
Your dates, your pace, your people
Any start date from spring to late autumn
Two to twelve walkers, friends or family
Rooms, rest days and pace set around you
Small-group departure
A fixed date and ten walkers at most
Set departures, a few times each season
Solo travellers welcome, no single supplement on twin share
A guide and a back-up guide on every walk
A walking year at a glance
Every route has a best season and a shoulder season. We plan the dates around snow on the passes, heat in the valleys and the weeks when the huts are quiet.
Best months
Good, fewer people
Not offered
Journey
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Private journeys can start on any day inside these months.
From a first call to the first footstep
Four steps, one planner and no forms to fill in. Most journeys are ready to book three weeks after we first speak.
01
Week 1
A first conversation
Forty minutes on a call. We ask how you like to walk and sleep, and what a perfect afternoon looks like.
02
Week 2
Two routes on paper
A written outline of two routes that fit, with daily distances, stays and an honest sample price.
03
Weeks 3 to 6
The details, settled
We hold rooms, book guides and transfers, and send a day-by-day plan with a packing list.
04
Departure
Out on the trail
Your guide meets you off the train. The trip desk is a phone call away for the whole journey.
Walk with people who know the ground
Six guides, each tied to one region. They scout the route every spring, know the hut keepers by name and set the pace from the back of the group.
Alps and Dolomites
14 seasons on these trails
Mountain lead
Grew up two valleys from the hut route, trained as a mountain leader and still checks every hut kitchen before the season opens.
Italian, German, English
Favourite stretch: the ridge above the second hut at first light
Western Norway
8 seasons on these waters
Fjord and paddle guide
A qualified sea-kayak leader who plans each paddle around the wind, and cooks a cabin fish soup the group asks about for years.
Norwegian, English
Favourite stretch: the still hour on the fjord before breakfast
Japan, Kii mountains
10 seasons on these paths
Kii trail guide
Lived in a hot-spring village for six years and walks the old roads with the patience of someone who has seen every season on them.
Japanese, English
Favourite stretch: the cedar steps after rain, when the moss turns bright
Per person, all in
Every price on this site includes the eight things on this list.
Prices shown are samples
What every journey includes
Every night's stay
Huts, inns and family guesthouses we have slept in ourselves
A route walked first
Scouted by your guide each spring, with a printed map book for you
Two guides on group trips
A lead and a back-up, so nobody turns back alone
Bags moved for you
Your main bag travels by road between the stays
Breakfasts and dinners
With a packed lunch on the longest walking days
Every transfer
From the nearest station or airport, and back again
A trip desk on call
One number for the whole journey, day and night
Rest days built in
At least one slow morning on every journey over eight days
Not included: flights, travel insurance, drinks and lunches on shorter days.
Start planning
Tell us where you would like to wander
Write to the trip desk with a rough idea of when, who and how far you like to walk. A planner replies within two working days, with questions rather than a sales pitch.
Helpful to mention
Rough dates or the month you have in mind
Who is travelling, and any ages under sixteen
How far you like to walk in a day
A journey on this site that caught your eye
Notes from the trail
Short notes from our guides on huts, weather, food and the small things that make a walking day good.
