Anyone Done the West Highland Railway route?

[FocusRS3]

Saw this the other night on TV and it looked a great trip. Thinking if come spring time next year i get some time out to go do it then.
Dont need fancy hotels just basic accommodation whilst enjoying the trip

[anonymous-user]

If that’s the one to Mallaig we’ve been from Fort William and it’s a great line. You can then catch a ferry to Skye.
Unfortunately can’t help you with places to stay as we were on a boating holiday on the Caledonian Canal which is recommended if anyone is in to that.

[FocusRS3]

Faz50 said:

If that’s the one to Mallaig we’ve been from Fort William and it’s a great line. You can then catch a ferry to Skye.
Unfortunately can’t help you with places to stay as we were on a boating holiday on the Caledonian Canal which is recommended if anyone is in to that.

That's the one.

Really fancy doing a trip like this after seeing the Julie Walters programme.

Wrap up warm , get little phone signal and go back to some basics, lovely!

[anonymous-user]

Mallaig is pretty much as you’ve seen it on the Julie Walters program.

There’s loads of stops along the way and some quite remote. It does run through some amazing scenery and with there been virtually no restrictions up there for wild camping then that’s a good way to extend your stay.

You can go further up the coast like they did in the tv show and get a train to Inverness which after seeing her do I think it looks great and I’d like to try that next.

The station at Fort William is easy to get to and is right at the side of a supermarket and plenty more to see or do in that area.

The big plus is the drive up to and around Fort William.

[Gareth1974]

Have done a couple of trips which took in the West Highland Line,

First trip was Edinburgh-Perth-Inverness (overnight stay), then to Kyle of Lochalsh, bus over to Portree on Skye (overnight), next morning, bus to Armadale, boat over to Mallaig, West Highland to Fort William, then got the sleeper train back home. This itinerary allows you to take in the line between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh, which is extremely scenic.

Second trip was Glasgow to Oban (overnight), next day trip to Mull (bus to Tobermory), then late afternoon bus to Fort William (beautiful scenery on this), overnight here, then a return trip to Mallaig, followed by sleeper train home. The train journey from Glasgow to Oban was very nice.

in Fort William, the Travelodge is a perfectly decent place to stay, the Grog and Gruel is good for food and drink.

[FocusRS3]

Gareth1974 said:

Have done a couple of trips which took in the West Highland Line,

First trip was Edinburgh-Perth-Inverness (overnight stay), then to Kyle of Lochalsh, bus over to Portree on Skye (overnight), next morning, bus to Armadale, boat over to Mallaig, West Highland to Fort William, then got the sleeper train back home. This itinerary allows you to take in the line between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh, which is extremely scenic.

Second trip was Glasgow to Oban (overnight), next day trip to Mull (bus to Tobermory), then late afternoon bus to Fort William (beautiful scenery on this), overnight here, then a return trip to Mallaig, followed by sleeper train home. The train journey from Glasgow to Oban was very nice.

in Fort William, the Travelodge is a perfectly decent place to stay, the Grog and Gruel is good for food and drink.

Sounds wonderful . Did you use a car at any point or just bus, ferry and railways?

I prefer the idea of going by train from london and not taking the car or getting a flight to glasgow from london

Edited by FocusRS3 on Monday 4th December 09:53

[Gareth1974]

FocusRS3 said:

Gareth1974 said:

Have done a couple of trips which took in the West Highland Line,

First trip was Edinburgh-Perth-Inverness (overnight stay), then to Kyle of Lochalsh, bus over to Portree on Skye (overnight), next morning, bus to Armadale, boat over to Mallaig, West Highland to Fort William, then got the sleeper train back home. This itinerary allows you to take in the line between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh, which is extremely scenic.

Second trip was Glasgow to Oban (overnight), next day trip to Mull (bus to Tobermory), then late afternoon bus to Fort William (beautiful scenery on this), overnight here, then a return trip to Mallaig, followed by sleeper train home. The train journey from Glasgow to Oban was very nice.

in Fort William, the Travelodge is a perfectly decent place to stay, the Grog and Gruel is good for food and drink.

Sounds wonderful . Did you use a car at any point or just bus, ferry and railways?

I prefer the idea of going by train from london and not taking the car

Public transport all the way, for both trips.

[FocusRS3]

Gareth1974 said:

Public transport all the way, for both trips.

Brilliant.

I think flights can be had very cheaply and presumably Glasgow train station is nearby the airport anyway.

The fun in this trip will be plotting it inexpensively.

[Gareth1974]

FocusRS3 said:

Gareth1974 said:

Public transport all the way, for both trips.

Brilliant.

I think flights can be had very cheaply and presumably Glasgow train station is nearby the airport anyway.

The fun in this trip will be plotting it inexpensively.

It's possible to get to Inverness or Oban in a day on the train from London, but to get a cheaper fare, you'll need to leave London after the morning peak. You can get the 1030 from Euston and be in Oban for 1943 though, and this includes over 90 minutes in Glasgow in case the train is late.

Glasgow Airport is a bus or taxi ride into the centre, it's been a few years since I've done it, but don't recall this being a difficult journey.

Edited by Gareth1974 on Monday 4th December 12:52

[BristolRich]

Have a look for "All the stations" on Youtube.

Plenty of info to suplement the Julie Walters series and plenty on the Scottish lines, stations with onward island connections. IIRC "Scotland" is around day ~85ish

Edited by BristolRich on Monday 4th December 10:23

[FocusRS3]

Gareth1974 said:

It's possible to get to Inverness or Oban in a day on the train from London, but to get a cheaper fare, you'll need to leave London after the morning peak. You can get the 1030 from Euston and be in Oban for 1943 though, and this includes over 90 minutes in Glasgow in case the train is late.

Glasgow station is a bus or taxi ride into the centre, it's been a few years since I've done it, but don't recall this being a difficult journey.

Tks.

Some flights ive seen, which are obviously very off peak and in January, are less than £50 so if poss id get a flight at that price rather than a very long train journey.

I've no interest in spending much time in Glasgow so getting the bus from the airport would be ideal and get train from there.
Can travel light anyway.

Thinking spring time next year will be ideal

[Gareth1974]

FocusRS3 said:

Thinking spring time next year will be ideal

Try to do it when the steam train is running, (Almost) daily from the end of March.

http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/jacobi...

Even if you're not into steam trains, the coaches used have opening windows, and are better to take photos from.

[FocusRS3]

Gareth1974 said:

Try to do it when the steam train is running, (Almost) daily from the end of March.

http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/jacobi...

Even if you're not into steam trains, the coaches used have opening windows, and are better to take photos from.

Good tip many tks.

Cant see the value of travelling 1st class personally as i'll be in and out of my seat non stop!

[hidetheelephants]

FocusRS3 said:

Gareth1974 said:

Public transport all the way, for both trips.

Brilliant.

I think flights can be had very cheaply and presumably Glasgow train station is nearby the airport anyway.

The fun in this trip will be plotting it inexpensively.

There is a frequent bus service to both the nearest railway station(Paisley Gilmour St) and to Glasgow city centre + Queen St/Central stations. Also depending on what airports are convenient to you flying into Prestwick might be cheap; it has its own railway station and it's about 45 minutes on the train to Glasgow.

[FocusRS3]

hidetheelephants said:

There is a frequent bus service to both the nearest railway station(Paisley Gilmour St) and to Glasgow city centre + Queen St/Central stations. Also depending on what airports are convenient to you flying into Prestwick might be cheap; it has its own railway station and it's about 45 minutes on the train to Glasgow.

Ah now that's not a bad thing to know too many tks

[nigelonich]

FocusRS3 said:

Saw this the other night on TV and it looked a great trip. Thinking if come spring time next year i get some time out to go do it then.
Dont need fancy hotels just basic accommodation whilst enjoying the trip

Start at Glasgow and head to to Fort William on day one as it takes at least 4 hrs for that trip if things are going smoothly. Travelodge and Premier Inn at FW are decent.The FW to Mallaig line is indeed lovely for day two. The Glenfinnan House Hotel is a cracking place for decent food and a beer and there is a station there too rather than staying in FW for two nights which I would wish on you.....

The main road from Fort William to Mallaig is pretty epic too and was used a few times for ECOTY so consider that when you plan your trip as taking the car and parking up at FW miight be a decent option.
N.

[OzzyR1]

Not done the rail journey but thought I'd share a picture of the Jacobite on the Glenfinnan viaduct I took when I did the North-Coast 500 last year.

Stunning part of the world.

[Alpacaman]

I always advise coming up here in May, weather is generally better, days are a reasonable length and not too many midges. The train from Glasgow to Fort William is good as you get further north, I came over Rannoch Moor on it in December watching herds of Red Deer running through the snow. Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness is an amazing journey as well. Skye is slightly more problematic for public transport, buses don't always tie in with ferries etc. also there aren't massive numbers of buses.

[hidetheelephants]

OzzyR1 said:

Not done the rail journey but thought I'd share a picture of the Jacobite on the Glenfinnan viaduct I took when I did the North-Coast 500 last year.

Stunning part of the world.

Unrelated trivia; that's made of concrete, an early example of a then novel material in civil engineering and one that helped 'Concrete Bob' MacAlpine earn his nickname.

[so called]

Many years ago we did a round trip from Inverness.
Train across to Kyle of Lochalsh with ferry to Isle of Skye,
Bus down to another ferry port and across to Mallaig.
The best bit was the train from Mallaig down to Fort William. Beautiful.

Return up to Inverness by coach in the dark.
That was a roller coaster ride.