Off the beaten track

I love exploring Scotland - it is such an incredibly beautiful country. But my favourite adventures have been on the 'routes less travelled' where the landscape is almost untouched, there's a peaceful feeling of isolation where you really feel like you're "getting away from it all", and each sight is special because you know only a small number of people have seen these awe inspiring places.

I'll never forget the feeling of remoteness when getting off the train at Corrour Station, the UK's highest and most remote train station, and walking towards the banks of Loch Ossian, surrounded by Munros on either side, to stay with Hostelling Scotland.

Hostelling Scotland have a great knack for having hostels in some of the best locations in the country. One of the best examples is the most remote hostel in the UK, found in Glen Affric, described as Scotland's most beautiful glen - that's some feat! It's in a wonderful location and is most commonly used as a stop over whilst walking the Affric Kintail Way or, like I did, to access the extremely remote mountains to the north of the hostel.

The hostels at Glenbrittle (literally the starting point to walk up Scotland's most westerly Munro found in the middle of the awesome Cuillin ridge on Skye) and Torridon (easily my favourite place to visit in Scotland) are also stand outs amongst Hostelling Scotland's locations.

If you don't want to queue to bag a summit or you would like to see a part of Scotland not many people have explored before you, these are the hostels for you.

Ross Cunningham
Mountains Mend Minds