Scotland series #3 - Glenfinnan, Mallaig & Jacobite Train ride

Watching rain from hotel window or from a vehicle running through the highlands - the choice is obvious in place like Scotland. Most people prefer bright warm weather for outings and, since my stay was towards end of summer, climate stayed dry for most of my weekend outings. However, the Saturday I booked a tour to highlands, it was pouring heavily and it was absolutely lovely 🥰 .

As much as I like to travel on my own, it is quite difficult to explore Scottish highlands through public transport, especially with time constraint and advance booking requirements for accommodation and few attractions. So I opted for a day tour with local guide and it couldn't have been better. Our guide explained the historical prominence and few contemporary facts of the places we visited and also played songs related to the places (reminded me of a quote that I read on a tee - the biggest drawback of life is that there is no background music 😁).

Every tour from Glasgow started on the banks of Loch Lomand which itself is a highlight. There was a short rest stop at Tarbet. We couldn’t stay out for long as it was raining heavily but the views are most amazing 🤩.

Our first stop is Glencoe - I visited this place before, however, our tour guide was from London with not much knowledge about the history of the place except for the fact that it is a famous tourist destination. This time we got full narration from our local tour guide. It feels like the gloominess of its past still lingers on this valley. 

Next stop is Glenfinnan - the monument stands to commemorate the Jacobite rising and a museum with history of the rebellion and the Bonnie Prince Charlie. We had time only to visit one of those and I opted the museum 🤷🏻‍♀️. Next to the museum, with a short but fairly exhausting hike up a little hill, gave view of Glenfinnan bridge of the train chase scenes in Harry Potter 2nd movie (I lost the pictures of the place 🥺). The Jacobite train rides on the bridge from Fort William to Mallaig and back and we will be taking the return train from Mallaig later. The to and fro train ride along with commute to Fort William is lot cheaper than the tour, however it is almost impossible to get the tickets, hence the tour. 

At Mallaig, we were given some time to go around on our own, grab a bite and find the hidden Harry Potter store. I was directed to a diner known for their pizzas (rightly so) and also have beautiful views of the waterfront. 

Crossing from Mallaig takes to the Skye which is tour for another day 😊. After lunch I tried checking for the store again but could only find a souvenir store next to the station. Running out of time we headed to train station. Our guide gave us our tickets, escorted till the coach and left to bring the vehicle to Fort William where he will pick us up for return journey.

 

The steam engine train ride is the highlight of the trip and most tourists opted for the tour only because they couldn’t get tickets online. Few members in our group did find the HP store and proudly showing us the wands they bought. I could only get a chocolate frog and small wand from the café inside the train 🥲. 

It felt nice to meet fellow Potter fanatics especially an elderly gentleman who was enthusiastically explaining the scenes to his wife who is playfully teasing him and rest of us on our obsession with Harry Potter 😂. When we reached bridge crossing, everyone left their seats and gathered around entrance door for better shots - come to think of it, we spent most time away from our seats for most of the ride 😆.

We alighted at Fort William station and met by our tour guide. One the way back to Glasgow, we stopped at Drover’s Inn for rest stop - it’s haunted fame was told by our guide after we left the place 🤪. 

The place though filled with stuffed bears and other spooky stuff, was a welcoming place particularly after a wet and cold day. 

Though it was bit crowded and we couldn’t get anything from the restaurant ☹️.

The drop off point is same as the starting one - George square, most tours and events in Glasgow starts there. Since I had to go to Airport hotel, our guide offered to drop me off at my hotel and also gave some pointers on places to visit in Glasgow but I couldn’t get to use his advice due to limited time left in my stay 😔. Overall, it was one of my most memorable trips and I recommended it to few of my friends. Definitely opt for local family run tours for best tours in Scotland 🫶🏼.