First Independent Rail Trip - Scotland

[gcmozart]

I have visited Scotland many times in the summer, but always fancied a winter trip. So when circumstances combined to give me a few days free I thought I would take advantage. My plan is

Sleeper to Inverness then return trip to Kyle with a short connection 16 minutes
Then pick up the far north line to wick from dingwall.

Overnight Wick/Thurso - undecided which of the 2 at the moment

Next day first train from Wick/Thurso -> Inverness
Inverness -> Glasgow
Glasgow -> Oban

Overnight Oban

Oban -> Tyndrum
Tyndrum -> Fort william
Fort William -> Mallaig Return
Sleeper from fort William to Euston.

It is a fairly tight schedule and as i have not done anything like this before wondered if there is any advice people could give on the logistics and ticketing. What to do if a connection is missed, I am not sure how/if I would be eligible for refunds if one delay knocked out the whole schedule.

Also wondered if anyone would recommend Thurso or Wick for the overnight stay.

 

[Hadders]

I can't comment on whether Wick or Thurso is best but have you considered the Skye Circular.

Take the train from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh
Bus from Kyle to Armadale
Armadale to Mallaig by ferry (costs about £4 for a foot passenger)
Mallaig to Fort William and south by train.

It's my favourite rail trip. It's possible to leave Inverness on the c.0900 train and arrive Glasgow evening (the 1815 from Mallaig connects into the 1950 sleeper from Fort William - a 'normal' ticket can be used in seated carriage as far as Glasgow Queen Street or Edinburgh)

I've done this trip in winter but do check out the bus times as there have been lots of changes this year. It might be best to stay over on Skye for a night. Also there are only two ferries a day in winter so you might have a long wait at Armadale.

 

[Kite159]

When I was looking into accommodation back in May, Thurso appeared to have more options for hotels/hostels.

Ticket wise, you could probably use a Highlands Rover with an advance from Inverness/Aviemore to Glasgow to plug the gap

 

[45107]

How about
Day 1. Travel to Inverness in daylight. Overnight in Inverness
Day 2. 0700 Inverness-Wick & return. 1754 Inverness-Kyle. Overnight on Skye
Day 3. The tricky bit as the ferries from Armadale are currently at 0925 or 1645. Find a way of getting to Armadale for the 0925 and it is possible to get Oban in with 2122 arrival at Queen Street
Later ferry means overnight stop in Oban (2124 arrival)

 

[Simon11]

I personally wouldn't do as much rail travel as you are proposing. It will get tiring very quickly- I'd stick to either Kyle/ Wick or Oban/ Mallaig and enjoy exploring the towns more (i.e. the pubs).

Especially with it being Winter, you are going to miss so much scenery while on the train as it will be dark. With less travelling, you can ensure you don't miss the scenic parts of the route during light time.

 

[Hadders]

How about
Day 1. Travel to Inverness in daylight. Overnight in Inverness
Day 2. 0700 Inverness-Wick & return. 1754 Inverness-Kyle. Overnight on Skye
Day 3. The tricky bit as the ferries from Armadale are currently at 0925 or 1645. Find a way of getting to Armadale for the 0925 and it is possible to get Oban in with 2122 arrival at Queen Street
Later ferry means overnight stop in Oban (2124 arrival)

You could stay at the Ardvassar Hotel which is a short walk from Armadale ferry terminal. I've not stayed there but I have had lunch there a couple of times and it seemed ok. No ideal on pricing. I'm not sure if there is a bus that would get you from Kyle to Armadale at that time.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

That sounds fantastic! Kyle of Lochalsh is lovely; had my very first battered mars bar there, and my very first haggis pudding. Wonderful place and the station is gorgeous, literally almost a pier, with Skye looming in front. I really hope you enjoy this awesome trip; very jealous of the sleeper trains!

Shame that the SR 158s get boring very quickly though...

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I tell you what if you want accommodation on the Far North Lime, Rogart station is home to one of the coolest hotels -converted train carriage hotels! I saw it on “All The Stations”, it costs £20 something for a room and for a supplement of about a tenner you get the whole carriage to yourself. Though the exterior looks like it would have done in service the interior has been completely converted with a kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms, although you can still see it obviously was once a train.

Here if your interested you can check it out. I love my luxuries - I'm not one who will give up my 5 star hotel stays easily, but this does look good!

http://www.sleeperzzz.com/info.html

 

[takno]

Thurso seemed better than Kyle last I was up there. Oban is fine for hostels. If you decided to do the route from Kyle to Oban via Skye there are reasonable hostels in kyleachin, which is a reasonable walk over the bridge from Kyle (in the light). Also worth considering the bus from Oban - fort William - Inverness if you think you are running things a bit tight.

Overall it should all be good fun, but bear in mind it's dark early in most of Scotland at this time of year, so dragging yourself around scenic railways in the dark might not be much fun. Consider if you want to plan a bit less travel.

If this is your first independent trip you might (and might not) get stressed. When I do I end up doing pointless train trips, but you might not feel like moving. Don't get too stressed about covering everywhere, just make sure you have a clear route to where you are staying every night. If you don't cover everywhere you can always come back!

 

[gcmozart]

Thanks for the replies all.

The Skye circular would be nice to do, but the winter bus, ferry & train timetables do not make it feasible without taking a lot of time out of the schedule & thus sacrificing other things i want to do.

My priorities are
1. Getting a sleeper journey on the old stock
2. Travelling the Kyle line
3. Travelling the WHL particularly South of FTW (did Mallaig -> FTW in the summer)
4. Travelling the Far North Line

So my itinarary covers the first 3 with the compromise on the 4th being about half of the FNL will be in darkness, but I will do Inverness -> Glasgow in daylight which is a bonus

I had another quick look at my route have been able to add in a loop to dundee & edinburgh so travelling the Tay & Firth of Forth crossings, but losing 2 hours in glasgow which i was going to use to travel SPT Subway.

 

[45107]

Having done some of this week, I looked at the idea I posted above (Isle of Skye) but decided that a bit of time visiting places (and pubs) was more important.

Trip to Wick & Thurso on Tuesday, flitting between the two in order to visit the pubs I wanted.
Yesterday travel from Inverness to Glasgow, with a stop at Newtonmore for a beer break (actually a 3 mile walk from Kingussie due to lack of taxi or public transport at the time I was travelling)
Today, Mallaig to visit a Good a Beer Guide pub (that was shut) and now about to depart Fort William on the sleeper.
If all goes to plan, beer in Penzance Wetherspoons at 1530 tomorrow having visited Wick earlier in the week and Fort William today.

In terms of scenery, the far north in my opinion is a bit bland, when compared to the run from Inverness to Perth or the West Highland line.
I have no recollection of the Kyle line as every trip along it has been in darkness - something I need to change at some time.

 

[takno]

In terms of scenery, the far north in my opinion is a bit bland, when compared to the run from Inverness to Perth or the West Highland line.
I have no recollection of the Kyle line as every trip along it has been in darkness - something I need to change at some time.

WHL is stunning, particularly past Fort William. Kyle line is as good or nearly as good. Far North line has some okay bits, but if you were going to pick one to go up in the dark it would be that one

 

[Kite159]

The part of the Far North when it cuts across the Flow Country is quite remote, a beautiful part of the world

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Kyle line not really scenic at all until right near the end when it does impress.