Category: Europe
A bank holiday trip to the Scottish Highlands
3rd May 2006 The prospect of fine weather meant that I took myself up to the Scottish Highlands for the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. To make the most of time, albeit at the expense of a sound sleep, I got there thanks to the overnight National Express 336 service to Glasgow and then the 07:00 Scottish Citylink departure to Fort William. Thanks to congestion on the motorways, the National Express service left Manchester an hour late but was only 15 minutes late when it got to Glasgow!
Despite a load of bikers descending on Fort William for the weekend as they traditionally do, I managed to find somewhere to stay on Saturday night. Once I dropped off some of my stuff at the B&B, I caught a train from Fort William to Corrour. From Corrour, I walked along hill tracks skirting Loch Treig and Allt na Lairige all the way to Spean Bridge. Along the way, I got to pass through some pretty wild country, but all was pleasant in the sunshine.
The next day, I left a cloudy Fort William on another Citylink coach and headed towards a sunnier Inverness before stationing myself in Pitlochry for the night after a train journey. My planning hadn't got to booking my Sunday night accommodation on the Saturday and got a surprise when I found Inverness tourist office shut! The Fort William office was also shut, but I already knew about that; Inverness though was unexpected, especially considering its recently gained city status. In the event, a quick call to Visit Scotland wasn't long in sorting things out.
When in Pitlochry, I did consider walking to the top of nearby Ben Vrackie, but I arrived at my hotel at around 18:30, and I usually don't start that kind of expedition at that hour of the evening. In the event, I did take in the fine evening with a short stroll but, the next morning, it was raining lightly, and I didn't feel like carrying a laden rucksack to the top of an 841 metres high mountain, so I began the train journey home. Maybe one for another time then...
