Day 13: Fort William and train to Mallaig

[Dollymixture]

Today was another early start - we needed to drive from Glasgow to Fort William to catch the 12.12pm train to Mallaig.
I had wanted to book the Jacobite steam train, but they were sold out in standard class and dogs aren’t allowed in first. It also would have been very expensive - I think it was about £300 for all of us.
So instead I booked the normal train via Scotrail - it follows the exact same stretch as the Jacobite and starts and finishes in the same place. It came to just over £50 for the 6 of us, so much more affordable!
I had booked an hour long wildlife cruise at a Mallaig which fit perfectly between our train times, but they cancelled this a couple of weeks ago due to lack of staff

I couldn’t cancel the train tickets so we decided to go anyway.
The railway journey is said to be one of the most scenic in the world, and you get to go over the Glenfinnan viaduct, which is featured in the Harry Potter movies.

We had breakfast in the Travelodge and left Glasgow just before 9am - ahead of schedule for the first time ever! The sat-nav estimated a 2 hour 40 minute journey, so the timing would be perfect if there was no traffic.

We had a lovely drive along Loch Lomond, enjoying the stunning views. It was grey and rainy, so I was glad we didn’t go with my first idea of spending the day in Luss, but it was perfect seeing the views from the car… lots of mist and stormy skies, so very atmospheric. We spotted lots of amazing waterfalls along the way.

We stopped half way at a service station called the Green Welly shop - they had really nice amenities (hand lotion in the bathrooms and everything!)

We bought some coffees and I resisted spending a fortune in the shop and we carried on to Fort William.

We made good progress and arrived in Fort William at 11.40 - a full half hour before our train. We then spent 20 minutes driving round and round the car park trying to find a space, it was absolutely chockablock - and we kept getting beaten to the spots when people left 😬

Eventually we managed to park up - but now it was a mad rush to get to the train station in time for the train. One of the dogs refused to have a wee, even though I knew she needed one, and we didn’t have time to wait for her to get her act together 😂

We got to the platform just on time and discovered an enormous crowd of people waiting to get on the train - and that they only had two carriages instead of the usual four. Not good!
The train arrived and it was a mad rush of people pushing and shoving to get on. We were quite lucky and got seats, but as more and more people got on, there were elderly people standing who couldn’t get a seat. So Sonny and Lila gave up there seats to let an elderly couple sit down, and we took it in turns to sit. It’s such a shame as it was so crowded, it was impossible to relax or see the views out the other side and we were on the wrong side to see the viaduct.

I thought it was going to be an awful journey but then a guy sat nearby showed us a drawing he had just done - he had sketched Lila! It made her day and she was thrilled to bits. Sonny and the guy got chatting - and Sonny showed him some of his sketches and the man let him borrow his brush pens and pad to draw. It was really lovely and changed the whole mood of the journey

We were about 2 minutes away from Mallaig when my dog couldn’t hold it any longer and peed on me 😳😂 One of those moments where if you don’t laugh, you will cry! Luckily as she is only a tiny dog it was only a little puddle 😂

We got off the train and I went and got cleaned up as best I could.

We had a look at the Jacobite train as it was in the station. It was due to leave in a few minutes so we stayed and watched

It was incredible the amount of steam that came from it! When it had gone we looked at each other and we were all covered in little bits of soot!

We had a walk down to the ferry terminal and then got some lunch in a little cafe - which was expensive but very good. The cakes were amazing. Everything is still very Covid restricted here, and the number of people being allowed to enter restaurants and cafes is very limited, only 8 people allowed in the cafe we went to, so as a group of 6 we were pretty lucky to get in!

After lunch we walked to the rocky coast and the kids had a climb on the rocks. It had brightened up a bit and wasn’t raining.

After a quick look in some of the shops, we returned to the station to get back on the train. We were half an hour early hoping to get on the train and get seats as the train stays in Mallaig until the return time at 4.01pm. However they were not letting anyone on so we had a long wait until they opened the doors just before 4pm and then of course there was a huge crowd and big rush.
Only lady told me that she gets this train every day and she had never seen it this busy - I guess we were unlucky that there were only 2 carriages instead of the usual 4.

We managed to get seats and no one was standing nearby so we kept them. We were on the right side of the train this time too, so managed to see the viaduct

The scenery really is incredible - I just couldn’t put my phone down as they views kept getting better and better. The photos here don’t do it justice - it was truly stunning

About halfway through the journey we had an emergency stop - the train driver had to slam on the brake as there was someone in the track! Turned out it was just a hiker who was obviously short of brain cells - the train driver was not impressed when she made her announcement to apologise for the sudden stop! 😂

Once back in Fort William, we drove to the Travelodge to park - it’s down the road form the station. We couldn’t park anywhere close by so had to park in a carpark and take a short walk. I jumped straight in the shower and got changed.

Fort William is so busy! We tried to get dinner at Wetherspoons, Brewers Fayre and several local restaurants to be turned away as there as no chance we were getting a table. Everywhere is packed.
We popped into Morrison’s instead and picked up a load of goodies to have a ‘picnic’ in the hotel instead!

So all in all I think we were a bit unlucky with the train situation - it would have been a much nicer experience if they had the usual capacity. The train drivers kept apologising for the lack so seats and space; so I don’t think it happens often.
Having said that, the train journey is incredibly stunning and I particularly enjoyed the way back when I could see the views

Tomorrow we are going on the Nevis Gondola and then Loch Ness and staying at Inverness!

[P&S]

What a lovely day for scenery for you but not being piddled on

I'm very lucky that I've done the journey on the Jacobite and hubbie spent a lot of time looking out of the window at the doors, he looked like a chimney sweep when he sat down I'm sure we ate in the same cafe

Sometimes the room picnics can be the best

[Pumpkin Pie]

You are packing so much into this trip. It must have taken a lot of planning.

[Dollymixture]

It gave me something to focus on instead of dwelling in our cancelled Florida and a tenerife trips got lots of inspiration from reading old trip reports on here

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

You are packing so much into this trip. It must have taken a lot of planning.

See more...

[JudeB]

What a day you had - certainly one to remember! Terrific scenery.

[Mental Minnie]

More spectacular views today. I can just imaging flying along there on my broomstick. lol You were unlucky with the dog pee. All these things are what makes up the wonderful memories.

[OB1LukeLucas]

Fort William always seems to be crazy busy when we have been there-never caught the train before but I will definitely make the effort to do the journey, we always look at the ‘Harry Potter’ train but have never been organised enough to get it booked up!
The scenery is spectacular and I do enjoy driving around the area when the traffic is not mental. We enjoyed Fort Augustus more last year when we stopped off on our way back from Inverness.