Scotland holiday by train

deejayp

Hi,

I am thinking of taking a trip to Scotland in August next year.

Just myself and 2 children (girls aged 11 & 9), where should we visit? Any must see places that people know of?

We are thinking of going by train to Glasgow, then onto Inverness, then onto Edinburgh. We want to see Loch Ness, some castles and Edinburgh zoo. Looking at staying in budget hotels - maybe 3 or 4 nights in each place. Would we be able to get around without a car?

Would this be dooable - looking at going for 2 weeks.

Thank-you in advance.

alty_devid

hey, your planning is perfect. Scotland is very beautiful place.

p00hsticks

Would it perhaps be worth looking at a coach tour ? I've no personal experience but I know my parents went on one that they throughly enjoyed a while back.

discplayer

Easily do-able by train with a little excursion out of Inverness. Have done similar and more.

Inverness is a very useful base town but isn't particularly pretty or interesting in itself.

The trains between Glasgow or Edinburgh and Inverness take a great route. They pass through Stirling which is a nice town.

barbarawright

The train from Glasgow to Mallaig is often said to be the most spectacular in the world. Once in Mallaig you can do day trips to several islands or visit them from longer. Or get the same same train to Oban, which is also very scenic, and go to Mull (Balamory!) and other islands. If you book ahead, long distance trains in Scotland are *incredibly* cheap (Glasgow-Mallaig is 6 hours and costs £30 return) but it takes a little forward planning as they aren't that frequent. But you can certainly get to any reasonably sized town by train. Don't forget that it's a small country so you could stay in Glasgow / Edinburgh and get to the country in about 20 minutes

dawn27

we went to Edinburgh earlier this year, there is loads to do in Edinburgh especially the castle and zoo.
We also got a train one day from waverley station to Stirling and spent a day there walking through the town, visiting the castle which has amazing views by the way. Then had a little lunch before heading back to Edinburgh.
I can also recommend Fort William as a destination you can travel up Ben Nevis by cable car and visit some of the locations used in the harry potter films, there is also a steam train that goes from Fort William to Mallaig, but you will have to prebook as when we tried to book we couldnt as it was booked for days in advance.

googler

Google returns quite a few co's offering excursions to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle from Inverness.

Stirling Castle and Edinburgh Castle are within city centres, so easy to walk to.

googler

As for must-see places, what are your likes and interests?

St Andrews or Gleneagles would be must-sees for some, but do you play golf?

The_ICT_Engineer

In July and August a ferry runs between Mallaig and Kyle of Lochalsh linking the West Highland line with the Kyle of Lochalsh- Inverness Line.

Scottish Citylink route 919 operates six daily return services long the Great Glen between Fort Willain and Inverness

bozscaggs

Lots of very useful information on this site http://www.seat61.com/CaledonianSleepers.htm#.Uio3mha1y2w
I highly recommend the sleeper service and it would be a real adventure for the children . You can book early and get some good value tickets.

http://www.seat61.com/CaledonianSleepers.htm#.Uio4sRa1y2w