Glencoe

Glencoe is a collapsed volcanic caldera reworked by ice, which explains the shape - a straight, deep, U-shaped trench with almost no foothills, so the walls rise directly from the road. The Three Sisters, three blunt spurs of Bidean nam Bian, are the view everyone stops for. Opposite them the Aonach Eagach forms one of the narrowest ridge traverses on the British mainland, a scramble with no easy escape once committed. The Lost Valley, hidden behind the middle sister, is reached by a rough hour's climb over boulders into a flat hanging corrie that cannot be seen from below. Buachaille Etive Mor stands at the eastern entrance as a near-perfect pyramid above the moor of Rannoch, and the visitor centre near Glencoe village covers the glen's geology and its long history of settlement.

Highlights

• The Three Sisters - three spurs of Bidean nam Bian above the road.
• The Lost Valley - a hidden hanging corrie reached over boulders.
• Buachaille Etive Mor - the pyramid peak at the head of the glen.
• The Aonach Eagach - a narrow rock ridge along the northern wall.

When to go

May and June give long daylight, drier rock and fewer midges than high summer. October brings colour and the deer rut. Winter turns every route into full mountaineering with ice axe and crampons. Cloud sits on the tops for much of the year, so allow spare days rather than a single fixed one.

Good to know

Rainfall here is high and the glen can be under cloud for a week. Midges from June to August are relentless in still weather. The main viewpoint lay-bys are small and overflow badly in summer, with cars parked dangerously on the A82. Mountain routes are steep, loose and unforgiving, and the Aonach Eagach is not a walk.

Nearby

Fort William and Ben Nevis lie north, and the Rannoch Moor crossing runs east.

Key facts