Scotland August 2025

[Alex Mihai]

Good evening,

I got some family friends who want to go on a trip in Scotland at the end of August this year and they mentioned neither of the two drivers is fond of driving on the left. As such they'd rather travel by train.

I know some general information about sightseeing and rail travel in Scotland, but I thought I could get some more insights and ideas from the forum.

The trip will be either 1 or 2 weeks long, with the latter being the most probable option in the end. They are a family of 5: 4 adults and 1 child aged 12.

• Best (value-for-money) ticketing option: I did some research and it seems the Family & Friends railcard might be the best option. My questions here are: how easy is it to get this railcard (as a non-UK citizen, EU-based) and is this indeed the best option for their use case?
• General areas and places to visit: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Loch Ness the West Highlands. Are there any other areas or places you would recommend for them to visit? For Loch Ness in particular (and any other sightseeing spots away from a train station), are there any busses they could use? In this case I'm thinking Inverness would be the closes train station.
• Scenic train journeys: I know myself about the West Highland Line, both towards Fort William and from there onwards to Mallaig, which other journeys would you recommend? Is the Far North line also good?
• Any other recommendations and tips are more than welcome!

Thank you!

 

[milooo]

Hello. Form what I can see they want to to a bit of sightseeing and a scenic train trip. If they want they can get a bus to the Loch Ness trail, which I'm guessing will be a quite good idea for loch Ness. Of course I can suggest Ben Nevis, but that is more on the fort William side. May I ask if they have any particular interests?
And how are they getting to the UK, eg plane, Eurostar, ferry

 

[milooo]

Another good suggestion would be bennachie, which is a lot less extreme. And whilst a rsilcard would provide discounts, imo It would not be worth it as they last for a year.. unless they are planning a lot of train travel,

 

[Farigiraf]

I did some research and it seems the Family & Friends railcard might be the best option. My questions here are: how easy is it to get this railcard (as a non-UK citizen, EU-based) and is this indeed the best option for their use case?

The process of purchasing a railcard is the practically the same for UK and non-UK residents. As long as they have some form of identification to show when registering the railcard, it'll be fine.
The F&F Railcard website has some (limited) information on this.
The railcard would most likely pay for itself from savings within a day.

It might be worth considering purchasing one of the rover tickets for Central Scotland and/or the Highlands. Railcard discounts are available on most of these tickets.

are there any busses they could use? In this case I'm thinking Inverness would be the closes train station.

There are multiple buses connecting Loch Ness with Inverness, although still not very frequently. These are the 919 (Scottish Citylink) and 16 (Highland Council Buses).
Fort William is also served by the 919, if that's more convenient.

which other journeys would you recommend? Is the Far North line also good?

Typically the West Highland services are more overcrowded, but the scenery is definitely worth it. Alternatives are the Kyle of Lochalsh line and the Far North Line, which tend to be less busy.
Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh is 2h 30min, however other than the amazing scenery on the rail line, there is not much to do in Kyle for the approximately 2 hours between trains, unless it is included as part of a trip to the isle of Skye.
The Far North Line is great too, but the most scenic parts are more spread out. With the route taking 4-5 hours end to end (and only 4 departures per day), there are limited options for exploration/sightseeing outside the train.

 

[Alex Mihai]

Hello. Form what I can see they want to to a bit of sightseeing and a scenic train trip. If they want they can get a bus to the Loch Ness trail, which I'm guessing will be a quite good idea for loch Ness. Of course I can suggest Ben Nevis, but that is more on the fort William side. May I ask if they have any particular interests?
And how are they getting to the UK, eg plane, Eurostar, ferry

They don't have any particular interests, they just want to visit as much as possible (although without constantly being on the move, so they could spend at least 2-3 days in the places with more to see). They will be landing in Glasgow most probably.

There are multiple buses connecting Loch Ness with Inverness, although still not very frequently. These are the 919 (Scottish Citylink) and 16 (Highland Council Buses).
Fort William is also served by the 919, if that's more convenient.

Typically the West Highland services are more overcrowded, but the scenery is definitely worth it. Alternatives are the Kyle of Lochalsh line and the Far North Line, which tend to be less busy.
Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh is 2h 30min, however other than the amazing scenery on the rail line, there is not much to do in Kyle for the approximately 2 hours between trains, unless it is included as part of a trip to the isle of Skye.
The Far North Line is great too, but the most scenic parts are more spread out. With the route taking 4-5 hours end to end (and only 4 departures per day), there are limited options for exploration/sightseeing outside the train.

Taking into account both of your comments, would it make more sense for them to take the train only as far as Fort William (and maybe onward to Mallaig) and take the 919 from there to Loch Ness? I'm thinking in terms of not being always on a train, so basically not travelling further than this by train.

I'm also looking at the Highland Rover Travel Pass, which includes 4 unlimited travel days on both the Glasgow – Oban/FortWilliam/Mallaig route, as well for bus: Scottish Citylink/West Coast Motors on the route: Oban/Fort William – Inverness which would be a pretty good use case for them. It also includes the following other routes just in case: Inverness – Kyle of Lochalsh and Inverness – Wick/Thurso. At a price of £99 pp would you say this is even better?

 

[Farigiraf]

Taking into account both of your comments, would it make more sense for them to take the train only as far as Fort William (and maybe onward to Mallaig) and take the 919 from there to Loch Ness? I'm thinking in terms of not being always on a train, so basically not travelling further than this by train.

That sounds like a good plan. From Fort William they could take the 919 to Fort Augustus or Drumnadrochit, the two main towns on Loch Ness, enjoy the area, then when they are ready to continue on to Inverness, catch another 919.
For this particular section, the Highland Rover is good value, as it is valid on the train between Glasgow and Fort William (and Mallaig), as well as the 919 bus, and trains from Inverness to Aviemore, Aberdeen, Wick and Kyle of Lochalsh. It's a great value ticket considering the distance it covers, and can be discounted using railcards. For 4 adults and 1 child with a family & friends railcard it's £280 for 4 days.

Some extra info about the 919: It's typically operated using a coach, so it should be a bit more bearable for 1+ hour journeys like this. Seat reservations are available (but optional) if they want to guarantee a seat.

 

[Alex Mihai]

That sounds like a good plan. From Fort William they could take the 919 to Fort Augustus or Drumnadrochit, the two main towns on Loch Ness, enjoy the area, then when they are ready to continue on to Inverness, catch another 919.
For this particular section, the Highland Rover is good value, as it is valid on the train between Glasgow and Fort William (and Mallaig), as well as the 919 bus, and trains from Inverness to Aviemore, Aberdeen, Wick and Kyle of Lochalsh. It's a great value ticket considering the distance it covers, and can be discounted using railcards. For 4 adults and 1 child with a family & friends railcard it's £280 for 4 days.

Some extra info about the 919: It's typically operated using a coach, so it should be a bit more bearable for 1+ hour journeys like this. Seat reservations are available (but optional) if they want to guarantee a seat.

Thank you for the additional info. Would you recommend they take the Jacobite on the FW-Mallaig portion and return or would a normal train suffice (covered by the Rover)?

 

[Farigiraf]

Would you recommend they take the Jacobite on the FW-Mallaig portion and return or would a normal train suffice (covered by the Rover)?

It's a matter of preference, as well as timings.
If they like steam trains or Harry Potter then definitely, however if the focus is on the route itself and/or the places, then a regular ScotRail service should be fine.
Mallaig and Glenfinnan are picturesque places but regarding tourism there's frankly not much to do, so just make the trip more interesting, the Jacobite is still worth considering.
Additionally, there's only 3 ScotRail services daily which do Fort William to Mallaig and return. There are two extra Jacobite services at 10:15 and 12:50, so if that suits their plans better than the ScotRail services (which depart Fort William at 08:15, 12:18 and 16:19), it's worth it.

 

[milooo]

It's a matter of preference, as well as timings.
If they like steam trains or Harry Potter then definitely, however if the focus is on the route itself and/or the places, then a regular ScotRail service should be fine.
Mallaig and Glenfinnan are picturesque places but regarding tourism there's frankly not much to do, so just make the trip more interesting, the Jacobite is still worth considering.
Additionally, there's only 3 ScotRail services daily which do Fort William to Mallaig and return. There are two extra Jacobite services at 10:15 and 12:50, so if that suits their plans better than the ScotRail services (which depart Fort William at 08:15, 12:18 and 16:19), it's worth it.

Yea from what I can tell the Jacobite is quite overrated...

 

[milooo]

They don't have any particular interests, they just want to visit as much as possible (although without constantly being on the move, so they could spend at least 2-3 days in the places with more to see). They will be landing in Glasgow most probably.


Taking into account both of your comments, would it make more sense for them to take the train only as far as Fort William (and maybe onward to Mallaig) and take the 919 from there to Loch Ness? I'm thinking in terms of not being always on a train, so basically not travelling further than this by train.

I'm also looking at the Highland Rover Travel Pass, which includes 4 unlimited travel days on both the Glasgow – Oban/FortWilliam/Mallaig route, as well for bus: Scottish Citylink/West Coast Motors on the route: Oban/Fort William – Inverness which would be a pretty good use case for them. It also includes the following other routes just in case: Inverness – Kyle of Lochalsh and Inverness – Wick/Thurso. At a price of £99 pp would you say this is even better?

Yea I have used the rovers in the past. Imo they are worth it if you do a lot of train travel