Apparently, this is a 20 minute read... Cup of tea and biscuit needed then!
View of Ben Nevis from a Crannog Cruise boat on Loch Eil
Hello, I’m not an extensive traveller (too indoorsy busy making music) so “travel blog” style posts will probably be few and far between BUT a few weeks ago I went to Fort William, Scotland which is the main town closest to Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the United Kingdom.
I went to Scotland when I was a wee girl and the only thing I remember is looking skywards out of the back of a mini van and seeing a great big mountain covered in clouds, which might have been Ben Nevis but equally might not have. My only other Scottish memory is of being given £1 notes as change when buying really gross souvenir pebble sweets which completely blew my tiny mind because as a child I rarely had cold hard cash in notes- more the jingly kind.
So, although I have technically been to Scotland before I have very few clear memories of it and I was curious to visit as an adult. This post is about my mini adventure and what you could do with three days in Fort William if mountain hiking and biking are not really your thing.
Here is the rough itinerary of what I planned/got up to:
Day 1: Leave Bristol after lunch on coach
Arrive London Victoria in evening,
Leave for Fort William on the Sleeper train from Euston
Day 2: Arrive in Fort William in morning
Check bags in a locker
Get bus to The Nevis Range resort
Visit Aonach Mor Nevis Range using the Gondola (ski lift)
Short walk to Sgurr Finnisg- aig
Get bus back to Fort William
Had a look around the town and Lock Linnhe
Got picnic dinner
Sat on the Green to eat
Checked into hotel
Enjoyed a quiet evening in
Day 3: Breakfast in the hotel Relaxed morning
Went to The Wild Cat Cafe for lunch
Saw a film at The Highland Cinema
Sat on the Green for a little read Back to the hotel to relax and get ready
Evening boat cruise with Crannog Cruises
Fish and Chips supper
Day 4: Breakfast at the Wildcat
Check out of hotel
Check bags into locker
Jacobite train to Mallaig
Lunch in Mallaig
Train back to Fort William
Picked up portable dinner from Morrisons
Picked up luggage
Boarded Caledonian Sleeper train back to Euston 7pm
Day 5: Arrive at Euston 8am
Shopping in London
Coach back to Bristol by 4pm
Here's a bit more detail about the trip incase it helps you envisage what it was like or helps you plan for a future trip.
Day 1:
I decided to get the Caledonian Sleeper train from London Euston because I thought it would be a nicer way to travel versus flying (which always makes me ill) and driving which would take forever and wipe out a whole day. So. The train… I don’t want to start this journey off with a whinge so I’ll leave my thoughts about the train until later. But I’ll start by generally talking about the experience.
Ok, I live in Bristol (South West UK, nearish to Wales) and got the Megabus from Bristol to Victoria Coach Station (3 hours) around 2pm, walked from the coach station to Victoria Tube (5-10 mins) then got the tube on the Victoria line to Euston (10 mins) to get the train for 9.15pm- as connections go- easy peasy.
In reality our bus was over an hour late so I was really glad I’d left a fair amount of time to get across London. I’m technically a Londoner as I was born in North London and lived there til I was 3, returning when I was 16 for college and Uni. So I’m familiar with the tube and connections but I recommend working it all for peace of mind.
If you don’t know about the CITYMAPPER app then download it because it’s super helpful- including adding in walking times to connect parts of your journey as well as giving you other options like cycling and getting a ride to your destination. I use iOS Maps a lot but it kind of sucks when it comes to more complicated journeys or if you want to know about public transport or cycling for example. So Citymapper your way around- it just works.
When you use the Caledonian Sleeper you get access to the first class lounge at Euston which was quite a nice place to wait, although a lot like an airport lounge. If you’ve ever done a lot of waiting around for buses, trains etc then you’ll know it can be pretty horrible (ok if you’ve got a book/ fully charged phone) but it was nice to have somewhere to go to hang out that was air conditioned (it was boiling in London at the time!) and had decent toilets and even a shower if you needed it. We were also supplied with complimentary snacks and drinks, I mean I say complimentary, we paid a fortune for our tickets so it was part of the thing... The train was delayed and we probably boarded about 9.45pm. Sleeping on a train… hmmm not for the faint hearted I would say but there are definitely worse ways to wake up.
Unflattering Train Yoga pic
Day 2:
Waking up on the train on the second morning of travel- passing through the various Lochs, Glens and Mountains was absolutely glorious. Breathtaking. Just wonderful. I felt really privileged to be able to set my eyes on all the scenery around me and it was a feast for the eyes and the heart let me tell you. I started my day looking out of the window of course and then did some train yoga which was… super hard! But a great challenge.
Loch Long- my mum informs me.
My mum (an intrepid adventurer, mountaineer and repeat visitor to Fort William) had prepared me ahead of my trip by telling me: “Fort William is… ok” by this I think she meant there are some beautiful towns and villages in Scotland and perhaps, Fort William was not one of the most beautiful. However, I found it quite charming. In my limited time there I saw it had a cute town square/ green, enough tourist bustle, busy independent shops, cafe’s and restaurants, good transport links to surrounding areas, a choice of ferry journeys and different accommodation options and cuisines available (including seafood if that's your thing of course).
If we’d stayed longer I definitely would have liked to walk up a little of Ben Nevis, maybe do the canal walk, do more boating, visit the white sand beaches of Morar, don a wetsuit and have a swim... or at least a paddle.
Soon after we arrived at Fort William train station we found the lockers where you could leave your luggage which cost £5 although my mum informs me we could have asked the hotel to store them for free even though we couldn’t check in until 4pm. So we decided to go to The Nevis Range Resort on Aonoch Mor to get a feeling of going up a big mountain without actually having to put in the effort. I know. Terrible! This was not meant to be a backpacking adventuring sort of a break though so there’s that.
We bought some lunch to take with us then got the bus from outside Morrison’s, everything is cashless and contactless (apart from he lockers which demanded coins) and then bought tickets for the Gondola which was quite pricey I thought but you know, worth it.
Gondola Life
Going up you could see all the bike trails on either side- I’m not a mountain biker but it looked fun/terrifying. When we got to the top it was kind of weird- a strange mix of remoteness and the power of nature combined with undeniable signs of humans' influence on the landscape. I'd love to go back when it's snow season and see what it's like. There’s a walk you can do to the left and a walk you can do to the right to get a bit of a view either way and we did the shorter one to the left
On the top of the viewpoint at Finnis Aig Looking towards Fort William and Loch Eil
Looking towards Loch Lochy I think. Forgive me if wrong
We ate our lunch with a view and came down the mountain again for a cold drink in the cafe with some wasps on the side. We got the bus back to Fort William and explored the town a little, got a picnic dinner and relaxed in the hotel room. We stayed in the Premier Inn which frankly was delightful. They are not fancy and not crap, they are normally clean and adequate. Perfectly fine and priced accordingly. What's not to like?
Day 3:
It was so hot. But I started my day with some exercise as I was trying to keep up my routine of exercising 5 days a week no matter where I was.
Everything is do-it-yourself at The Premier Inn- including the exercise classes
So this third day was our relaxed, fun day I suppose, which I quite like to have at least one of when I’m on holiday. I always think it’s nice to have some time where there’s not too much hectic stuff planned. We had a breakfast then went out for an early-ish lunch at The Wild Cat. It’s a vegan joint which I thought was great and wasn’t maybe expecting in such a small place but was great to see- they sell groceries as well.
Just to be clear I’m not fully vegan yet- I am lactose intolerant (milk allergies and dairy intolerance run in my family) so I eat a a lot of vegan food because otherwise I get ill. It’s one of my aims for 2022 to become fully vegan for realsies. Please bear with me as I mourn cheese.
The Caff
The Lunch- The Big bowl I think?
Then we went to The Highland Cinema which is just gorgeous. Totally recommend- it’s new and luxurious, has great snacks and even a restaurant which looked super busy. I hate those huge soulless out of town type cinemas and always try to go to an independent cinema if I can- something I've really missed in lockdown.
We sat on the green after which is really pleasant. Had a little rest back at the hotel (under 5 min walk from the town). Then we were back at it with an evening boat cruise down Loch Eil.
A view of Fort William from the Crannog Cruise.
We didn’t get to eat in the famous Crannog restaurant which by all accounts is amazing- book in advance! We did get some fish and chips from a really busy fish and chip shop on the high street- called Macari’s- pretty good mozzarella sticks too!
Day 4:
This was technically the day we were leaving but not until 7pm on the sleeper train back to Euston so we had time to do something in the day. We went out for breakfast as we didn’t have to check out til 12pm and our next activity was at 12.45 so apart from packing it was fairly relaxed. We left at 12- left our bags in the £5 lockers again then waited in an unnecessary queue (if you are British it must be done) until boarding the steam train.
Upon me saying “ I want to see the Harry Potter Bridge and go on a steam train (because I’m 12)” my mum had instead advised me to get the (normal) train to Mallaig and get off a bit early and then back on again (because apparently you can do that in Scotland) and this way we could see the trains going over the bridge which (she said) feels more impressive than actually going over it. I mean I love trains so I was sold either way although I went with the Jacobite experience in the end.
However, with hindsight I would have/ should have listened to my mother. Although the Jacobite steam train was lovely, it was absolutely rammed and I think unless you have your own compartment in a carriage are you even going to feel like Harry, Ron and Hermione? Also, let’s talk about soot from the steam flying in the windows and getting in your eyes and… everywhere- no one ever talks about this but it’s definitely a thing…
Here’s the beast
It was a super hot day and it was a long time to be sat on the train for hours (to then be sat on the train all night) but unfortunately our trip had already been postponed from June because The Caledonian Sleeper had cancelled the service previously so we’d had no choice about the dates/ times available for transfer the steam train experience.
Seagulls keeping it real
There was a slight thrill when the lady came round asking: ”Anything from the trolley Dears? So I’m glad I did it but if I was on more of a budget/ listened to my mother I’d definitely just get a return to Mallaig and have a bit more flexibility to get on and off. I would have liked to see the monument at Glenfinnan too.
Made it to Mallaig (In the Tea Garden Cafe)
We stopped in Mallaig for some lunch in The Tea Garden Cafe which was probably our nicest meal of the whole trip. Although I have to say generally- food was not a highlight of this trip. I shared some prawns and I’m glad we got to experience some seafood (again, not veegs yet).
The coastline off Mallaig -Have ever seen anything so beautiful?
An island adventure is definitely on the cards in the future. I love the sea and it just looked so exciting and beautiful out there. So we pulled into Fort William again, pleased to be off the hot train, raced around Morrison’s to grab some stuff for dinner/ breakfast to eat on the train, picked up our bags from the lockers, tried to sit in the fancy lounge for customers of the sleeper train but got kicked out because of numbers (12 max) despite wearing masks and there being spaces to sit separately. We boarded the sleeper train again and saw more amazing sights on the way out because it was bit earlier at 7pm…
The Pointy mountain you can see in the distance is Binnein Beag of the Mamores range
...And then arrived in London the following morning where we paid extortionate amounts to store our bags (£25- this hurt after the £5 lockers!) had some time shopping in London, then got the coach back from Victoria to arrive back in Bristol around 4pm. All in all a fun adventure!
The Caledonian Sleeper train:
Hmmm. Would I go on it again? I mean if someone paid for me to go on it, probably, it’s a pretty nice way to get to Scotland for the morning.
But the expectation vs reality was fairly stark. I mean if you consider the cost of a hotel room plus travel (train fares for long distance travel is extortionate and prohibitive in the UK) it’s probably not that much more than you’d pay for a mid range- high end hotel room but the thing is, it’s just not that kind of experience. It could be really nice but they are just missing the mark. In the room I was in- technically someone can book the other bunk (unless you pay to block it out) so you could be sharing this tiny space and bathroom with a stranger which REALLY does not appeal.
I’ve been interrailing so I’m not being ridiculous about the expectations- I’ve shared bathrooms and experienced 6 people in bunks in a room train journeys but that’s kind of part of the fun of travelling like that- the majority of people and in particular- women- are not going to want to be stuck in a tiny space with 1 other stranger the whole time.
Obviously with Covid restrictions it was definitely a worse experience because we were confined to our rooms which essentially meant being confined to your bunk- even walking up and down the worlds narrowest corridor was not really allowed so it wasn’t great… but definitely would be so much worse being stuck in that space with a stranger. Part of the “romance” of train travel is the walking up the carriage to the dinner car or club lounge and being able to socialise and eat and drink there and really you don’t mind the small room before it’s just for changing and sleeping but the lounge was closed because of coronavirus- removing an aspect which would make the experience a lot more enjoyable- ie different spaces to be in, being able to socialise and eat in a less enclosed space.
In summary:
Pro’s:
It is nice to have your own bathroom (club rooms)
You have a view out of the window
The shower- when it works is actually pretty good for a train
The towels and toiletries they provided were good quality and a nice touch- ear plugs and a sleep mask included
Cons:
There were not enough places to put your stuff- it all needs to go on the floor which is messy- they needed more pockets/ storage solutions
The bottom bunk was clearly designed to be a sofa that turns into a bed despite being out permanently with a fixed ladder and consequently had a weird bumpy “sofa back” all the way along the bottom bunk- giving you even less space when you are already restricted on one side by the ladder- it must be about trying to make money out of the space but it’s a poor show.
I don’t know who’d want to sleep on the top bunk apart from small children which I’m not even sure it would be safe for- the steps on the ladder to get up were so narrow it seemed dangerous and once you were on it you couldn’t actually sit up but where could you hang out if you cant sit on the bottom bunk because someone else is in it? I’m guessing this is a throw back to when you would have had a turn down service and the sofa would have been turned into a bed and the top bunk pulled out but if I had to have the top bunk I’d definitely want to pay significantly less for the ticket. I must have watched too many Hitchcock/Bond films back in the day. Expectations too high maybe!
There is a sink in the room which is nice but they could do with having a cover or something over it so you can use it as table or some small shelving- the only nooks they’ve got to keep anything are some shallow hooks on the wall opposite the bed, a small place to put your phone/ water/a book by the end of the bed inside the bunk at the bottom and a soap dish of sorts by the sink- there needed to be so many more little places to put things. There is a table that pulls out from underneath the sink and you are supposed to sit on the edge of the bottom bunk to sit at it but it’s not exactly ergonomically designed and not very big. I’m not saying I’ve got all the answers but it was pegged and priced as a luxury experience and it just wasn’t.
Apart from design- food was probably the worst element of the sleeper train travelling experience for me. Purporting a luxury experience then providing people with sachet of nescafe for morning coffee is not good enough! There were no snacks /food supplied in the rooms (you'd at least get some biscuits in a real hotel room) so if you couldn’t afford room service and didn’t bring anything to eat with you you were starving til the morning.
When the morning came we didn’t actually get the breakfast we’d ordered because apparently there had a been a problem with the whole order for the train... but for a service industry- it is not good enough- you need a back up. When I accidentally pressed the call button (you can’t cancel it) it went off for ten minutes before someone answered which is a long time to be stuck in a room with a loud beeping noise you can’t stop. When they eventually answered I asked about food because I thought "why not now I’m here" but they said they had no hot food like macaroni cheese (which was on the menu) -only things like crisps. I just don’t think that’s good enough even with coronavirus. So, for breakfast we were given a Quakers Oat porridge bar and an orange juice, as well as the offensive sachet of nescafe with a cup of hot water. Which is more of an on-the-run breakfast.
To be fair to the train attendant, it wasn’t his fault and he told us to complain because he knew it wasn’t good enough. I didn’t complain initially but when there were a few things that stacked up (the breakfast at both ends- yes we didn’t get our vegan granola at the other end either) how loud the first carriage was (next to the service compartment which had a loud banging sliding door and the never ending call button going off which I could hear through the walls - fyi I wouldn’t mind this room if it was cheaper but it wasn’t) then realising I was thankfully not booked in that room on the way back but then as we boarded being told I had been put back in the noisy first carriage room, not being allowed in the waiting room at Fort William and how the shower and toilet were not working properly on the way there (I just thought that was how it was which was why I didn't complain initially (but worked like a dream on the way back).
When you arrive at Fort William- one of the first things you see is a row of complaint leaflets for the Caledonian Sleeper Train Service which says it all really. When I complained they did act really swiftly and I ended up getting nearly £200 back in compensation for the various things that went wrong- so it’s great they respond so quickly but it would be even better if they made the service as good as it should be because then we could all enjoy the romance of overnight train travel to Scotland- which is what I wanted and despite everything was still magical.
I’d love to visit Inverness and Aberdeen this way one day too- so, sort it out Caledonian!
I hope you've enjoyed this whistle stop tour about visiting Fort William for the non outdoorsy and getting the sleeper train to Scotland!
Going over the Glenfinnan Viaduct (Or "Harry Potter Bridge" for all you Potterheads out there)