Here’s a trip report from my recent trip up to north Scotland. I spent five days in the Highlands – the main purpose of the trip was to tick off several of the Highland rail routes that I’ve been wanting to do for years, but I also ended up taking a lot of buses too.
I started in Fort William, arriving by Caledonian Sleeper. I’d departed Preston nearly two hours late, in the middle of the night, and the journey had just got more delayed after that. There were other things which made the experience pretty poor but I’ll save that for the Caledonian Sleeper thread – either way, we were late leaving Edinburgh and I’d already realised I wouldn’t make the 10.30 bus 919 to Inverness, so I attempted to reschedule. Re-booking for a later time that day via the Citylink website was actually pretty easy, with just a £1.50 re-booking fee, and so I booked onto the 11.30. Unfortunately the Sleeper then got stuck at Helensburgh Upper for nearly 45 minutes, delaying it even further and making me worry I would have to re-book my coach again! In the end, we made it into Fort William with 12 minutes to spare. Luckily Fort William bus and rail stations are right next to each other, and I had an easy change onto the 919.
I’m not good at identifying coaches, but whatever the vehicle was it had a full Stagecoach interior with the blue-orange seat moquette. We departed Fort William in drizzly rain with two others onboard and headed up the road to Spean Bridge before turning onto the Great Glen road alongside Loch Lochy. The scenery was incredible, and atmospheric because of the mist, as we twisted past Loch Oich and over the Caledonian Canal. The first place we actually stopped after Spean Bridge was Fort Augustus, which was teeming with tourists despite the weather, and then began our journey down Loch Ness. I’d expected it to be big, but the loch really is enormous, and it goes on for miles. Given the beautiful scenery it was unfortunate that, thanks to having got no sleep at all in the Caledonian Sleeper seated coach, I was struggling to stop myself nodding off!
Loch Ness... somewhere southwest of Invermorriston
We passed Urquhart and Drumnadrochit. At this point I got a text about my next bus, Ember’s E6 to Thurso. It was running at least an hour late, but I was impressed that they thought to tell you that in advance. We arrived in Inverness and I checked the boards and saw there was an X99 leaving in 20 minutes, whereas my Ember would be at least an hour and 15 off. Whatsmore, the tracker on Bustimes suggested the only E6 tracking was still at Helmsdale – so if that was my bus it was going to be much more than an hour off. I went and asked at the Stagecoach booking office if I could book the X99 (for only £2 it seemed worth the expense as at least I’d get moving). Firstly, it was really useful to actually have a staffed information desk, especially for a visitor – Stagecoach in England should take note – but I was also impressed that it seemed I could just cancel the Ember ticket and get a full refund. No complicated online form, or an administration fee, I could just cancel it if I didn’t want it. So I cancelled the E6 and hopped on the X99 instead. It was a massive Plaxton Elite and I like these because the seats feel higher than a usual coach, like a double-decker bus although not quite. Interestingly, we had to wait for a 'little X99' to come in from I think the hospital, which was just a regular bus and looked like it operated as a sort of direct-through-connection to the X99 proper. The X99 coach was packed as we left Inverness, the route clearly being popular. We headed out over the Kessock Bridge, with impressive views back to the city, and then crossed the Black Isle and over another bridge across the Cromarty Firth. After passing Tain, we crossed the Kyle of Sutherland to reach the pretty little town of Dornoch. The coach parked up for a brief wait opposite the tiny Dornoch Cathedral, before continuing north and the sea views began to really open out. Beyond Helmsdale the coastline turned from low sandy shores to high cliffs which the A9 takes a twisting route right over the top of. The best section was around Berriedale, where the road dives down into a narrow coastal gorge then climbs back up again, all the while with stunning views out over the Moray Firth. The driver took these roads at quite a speed too – making the route feel like quite the roller-coaster ride!
The Moray Firth from near Berriedale on the X99
Approaching Thurso - Hoy in the Orkney Isles visible in the distance
We rolled into Wick and then it was a short cross-country dash over the low fields of Caithness to Thurso. Over the final run from Castletown to Thurso there were views out to the Orkneys and I could faintly make out the distinctive Old Man of Hoy sea stack off the island of Hoy. The X99 officially ends at Scrabster but I alighted in the town centre, now in the most northerly point I have ever travelled to by public transport.
The next day I planned to sample the alternative to the X99/E6 – the Far North Line. The journey did not disappoint. The first section across the Flow Country morphs into the sheer remoteness of the top of the Strath of Kildonan (I did wonder if I’d spot any sign of the dispute against the railway as we passed Altnabreac, but it was all quite as we sped through). I alighted at Dunrobin Castle and spent the day there, before taking the train south to Inverness. I loved the Far North Line, and in fact I’d say I possibly preferred it over the West Highland (admittedly I didn’t do all of that route).
View from Dunrobin Castle
Anyway, next day I was back on the buses. I boarded the 919 again, this time bound for Dochgarroch. It was another Citylink coach with Stagecoach interior (and the same driver as last time so quite possibly the same bus too). It’s not far from Inverness to Dochgarroch but I was pleased to find that there’s a path from the bus stop down to the lock, meaning that passengers heading for the Loch Ness cruise point don’t have to walk along a busy main road. I took a cruise on Loch Ness – simply the best way to see the loch – and three hours later I was back at the same bus stop looking for another 919 down to Urquhart. This one was definitely a different coach, with leather seats, and working WiFi. Urquhart Castle doesn’t look big from the loch, or from the road, but it’s only when you turn into the coach park that you realise just how big the complex is. Understandably, given the number of tourists it receives, it’s got a massive coach park and car park, with a large underground visitor centre and shop/café complex. The ruins themselves are lovely, but really, really busy, even in pouring rain (which was what the weather was doing now). Still, I enjoyed the visit and it’s definitely a ‘must see’ sight if you’re in that area.
Urquhart Castle
I had been planning to get on the 4.50 bus from Urquhart but with the rain pouring down and having seen that the coaches were half-empty, I decided to see if I could get on something earlier. There was a 917, a 919 and an E14 all due within a 15-minute interval and although they were all also running 15 minutes late, it was the 917 that turned up first. These are proper double-decker coaches (Volvo 9700s of some sort) and operate through from Skye. This one also had next-stop announcements, although they were barely audible. Again, I was treated to stunning views out over Loch Ness as we headed back to Inverness.
The next day I was travelling on proper buses (not coaches). I picked up the first bus of the day to Fort George, the 8.30 departure on route 1. This was a smart Yutong with onboard announcements – in fact all of the Inverness local fleet seemed to be Yutongs which must mean that the city’s bus network has gone nearly all electric. You don’t get the grandstand views on route 1 like you do on the 919, but after taking a meandering route out through Culloden there soon began to be wide open views of the inner part of the Moray Firth. We passed the airport railway station, and then the airport (it’s a long way between the two) and finally arrived into the Fort George car park, at the end of the curved bay that runs round from the village of Ardersier.
Ardersier near Fort George
I spent the morning exploring Fort George which is a fascinating place, although I didn't see any dolphins - it's supposed to be an ideal place to see them but that's the second time I've visited and still not seen any! It's also handy to know that you can get a discount if you arrive by bus when you book online on the Historic Scotland website, although nobody asked to see my bus ticket when I arrived so I'm not sure how they even check that. After visiting, I hopped onboard the 1 again, back to Balloch, where I changed for a 1B. These were all Yutongs but I noticed some of them had names (I think I boarded ‘Callum’). From Balloch the 1B heads up a very straight, steep hill up onto the moor behind. You could say this was a journey back in time, because Fort George was built as part of the aftermath of where I was heading next – Culloden. The Culloden Battlefield is located on a low moorland southeast of Inverness. I went for a walk around the battlefield, where the government and Jacobite lines are marked out with giant flags, and then visited the excellent and very informative museum there. Then it was back onto another 1B, and another Yutong, back into Inverness for the final time.
Culloden Battlefield - from the government side, looking towards the Jacobite line
Back in Inverness
My final day didn’t include any buses – but I did manage a heritage railway. I left Inverness early on the train to Aviemore, and there went for a ride on the Strathspey Railway, hauled by a Black Five. That wasn’t the only railway heritage that day, as my journeys on the Highland Main Line were hauled by Intercity 125 sets. After they withdrew these on GWR I’d once assumed I’d never travel behind one again, but that day I picked up three of them (Inverness-Aviemore, Aviemore-Stirling and Stirling-Glasgow). The Highland Main Line is well worth a journey just for the scenery.
So that was five days of buses (and trains) in Scotland and not one connection had let me down, which was pretty impressive given the rural territory I was exploring. I certainly came away impressed by the Scottish public transport system. The £2 fare is ridiculously good value when used on long-distance coaches, so much so that I can't believe it'll be economically sustainable. It also seems paradoxical that the Transport Scotland is subsidising a route like the X99 such that it massively undercuts their own nationalised rail service (a ticket on the Far North Line was £18, so 9x more expensive and that's with a railcard) - but that's probably a debate for elsewhere. Either way, from a tourist's perspective it's great as it makes exploring the Highlands very cheap indeed! The Citylink network of coaches seemed reliable, and all pretty quiet despite the peak season (except the busy X99), whilst Stagecoach Inverness had what seemed to be a reliable, frequent network operated by a modern fleet of Yutongs. The X99 in particular is a spectacular route, especially north of Helmsdale, and a highlight of the trip. One thing I never quite managed was a Citylink 917-Kyle of Lochalsh Line round-trip, so that’s definitely a reason to re-visit the area again and explore some more!
