West Highland Railway
From Wikitravel
Contents
This article is an itinerary.
The West Highland Railway is a scenic railway in Scotland running from Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig, with a branch to Oban, claimed by many to be the most scenic rail journey in the world.
[edit] Understand
This is a modern, working railway which runs from Glasgow to the Highlands through some spectacular scenery, passing the Loch Long and Loch Lomond, to Crianlarich where trains are split for the branch to Oban. The route continues aross Rannoch Moor to Fort William, then along a later exension to the port of Mallaig.
[edit] Prepare
Timetables and fare information are available on the ScotRail website [1]
[edit] Get in
It all begins at Glasgow's Queen Street station. If arriving from other cities by rail you may find yourself at Glasgow Central instead - it's a short walk between the two.
If embarking at one of the unmanned stations along the route you can buy your ticket on the train.
[edit] Go
The full route takes around 5 hours. From Glasgow you travel along the north bank of the River Clyde to the resort town of Helensburgh, then up the Holy Loch past the Faslane nuclear submarine base and along the side of Loch Long. Next is Loch Lomond, to Crianlarich where the train is split in two. Both sections continue along different lines to the village of Tyndrum, which bizarrely has two railway stations, Tyndrum Upper and Tyndrum Lower, each serving a different branch of the railway due to the geography of the glen here. The Oban branch continues via Dalmally and Loch Awe to Connel Ferry and finally turns south to Oban. The Fort William branch heads over Rannoch Moor, a large upland wilderness, with a stop at Corrour, Britain's most remote railway halt, nine miles from the nearest road and serving just the deerstalking Corrour Estate and the Loch Ossian Youth Hostel. Loch Treig is next, then back to civilisation and roads with the A86 at Glen Spean, finally skirting south into Fort William. The Mallaig Extension Line heads west via Glenfinnan to hit the coast at Arisaig, passing Morar then terminating at Mallaig where passengers can cross the road to the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry terminal for the isles.
[edit] Get out
Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, full of architecture, museums, and culture.
Oban is a port for ferry services to many of the Inner Hebrides.
Fort William is a great base for hiking, situated at the foot of Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis.
Mallaig is a port for ferry services including Skye and the Small Isles.
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