At the end of a day on your feet or travelling by pedal power, a place to lay your head is pretty high priority. At Macs Adventure, queries about accommodation are the most frequent of our frequently asked questions. One such question is if we use a particular brand or range of branded hotels. The answer to that is no, and here's why: Most of our walking & cycling holidays are point to point, which means you leave one hotel or guest house in the morning, make your way along the day's trail section under your own steam, and arrive at a new accommodation for the next night (where your bags will be brought by our baggage transfer elves). We want the close of each day's activity to be filled with anticipation of the comforts awaiting, and of course we want you to be received with a warm welcome, so we choose our accommodations carefully. To explain...

Room & Board With Character

We tend to use locally run independent small hotels, guest houses and B&Bs instead of larger "chain" hotels. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that quite simply our walks and cycle rides visit remote locations and often there aren't large hotels around. The second is that part of the beauty of your trip is the uniqueness and individual character of each place you visit. The fireplace at the Drovers on the West Highland Way, and a comfortable bed in Distant Hills, the Great Glen Way. Whilst we are of course careful to select the cleanest and most comfortable room and board available, we will favour somewhere with a warm friendly service and a fantastic breakfast instead of somewhere with designer bedsheets and gold taps.

Local Hospitality

One of the great benefits of independent active travel, is that it is great for local economies, and supporting local family run businesses is just part of that. < A nightcap in your room on St Cuthbert's Way Get to know the characters of the towns and villages along the way, learn some local insights whilst chatting over a coffee with your hosts, and really enjoy the welcoming feeling of staying in a privately run facility.

All You Need to Rest Your Weary Head

Of course comfort is key, and we'll always choose somewhere we know will give you the best possible rest at the end of the day, with a comfy bed, private bathrooms (on the majority of trips), and a hearty breakfast to set you up for the activity ahead. Each will offer different facilities beyond that, and different decor, special details, and other extras, but discovering all of that each day is part of the fun. At the end of the trip, you'll talk about "the place where they welcomed us with those amazing cakes", and "the place where we chatted to the host 'til the wee small hours", and even "the place with those crazy floral carpets" will make you laugh as you reminisce! I speak from experience - my husband and I still talk about Sheila's lemon drizzle cake on the Great Glen Way. Macs Adventure offer a range of self guided walking and cycling holidays in the UK, Europe and around the world. Visit www.macsadventure.com for more information.