The Road From the Isles of Scotland

The journey from Fort William to Mallaig can be done by car or train and is much feted as one of the world’s most scenic journeys. We did the journey along this famous stretch of road, but backwards from Mallaig to Fort William!

The guide book was informative about the sights along the way and the history of the region.  This is mostly about when Bonnie Prince Charlie was mustering highlanders to fight under his father’s flag.

There are Flora Macdonald bed and breakfasts along the way reminding the casual tourist of her associations with the area too.

What we liked best though was the views of Eigg and Rhum in the distance. We stopped at a beautiful little beach to enjoy them. 

One of the most photographed scenes in Scotland apparently is at the Glenfinnan Viaduct. It is where the steam train carrying Harry Potter and his friends to and from school goes. The guide book said the train obligingly stopped on the viaduct for photographs. The sign on the visitor centre door indicated where to go to for the best views.

Unwittingly, we’d timed our visit perfectly as after a short pit stop and glance at the memorial and the loch there, we headed down the path to bag a place to take a photo of the train as it steamed past.

We decided that one should photograph it from above and the other from below, so I climbed the short distance up and himself retreated back down the path.  I could hear it before I could see it and feeling like the ultimate train spotter (or one of the cast of the Railway Children), I stood and waved and snapped with the camera whilst it rushed by (not stopping as anticipated). 

It blew its whistle and poured smoke out of its chimney and for a brief couple of minutes filled my senses with the sight of it and all its noise and speed and then it was gone. And the hills were quiet again. And I felt as though I’d witnessed something extraordinary!

It is only about 12 miles to Fort William from Glenfinnan so we were soon there.

We had our eye on a restaurant down by the loch called Cannog, a seafood restaurant that was in the Discover Scotland bible. We loved the setting and the food didn’t disappoint either.

Wonderful end to a fun day getting from A to B or was it B to A.

Unsurprisingly, there is a TreasureTrail in Fort William which we thoroughly enjoyed whilst we were there.