Im hoping to go up to fort william this summer, and i can go from either sheffield of manchester. Does anyone know the best way to get there as i dont have easy use of a car and the trains seem to be expensive and take a stupid amount of time. is there any cheats (e.g. getting the train to an obscure place then biking it the rest of the way )
Thanks

Fort William has a railway station. (Edit – read the question properly !)

You can probably get a coach, or the Haggis Backpackers bus or something.

Or the sleeper train ?

No train tricks I can think of – bus?

trains best option if you’re taking a bike. if you can book in advance, it’ll be a bit cheaper, but if not, it won’t be cheap. But, it’s a spectacular train trip especially as you cross Rannoch Moor where the tracks float on the bog (too deep for piles). Treat the train journey itself as part of the holiday and you’ll enjoy it. Sit on the left side of the coach, window seat, facing the direction of travel.
Or bike from Glasgow, around 110 miles, but that means getting out of Glasgow (big city) and commuter belt cycling. Crianlarich is about halfway and is where the road starts to get scenic, but is still the main route to the north west so can get busy. Some staggering scenery though – google maps, get directions, drop the wee man anywhere on the route.

Bike the West Highland Way. Course you’d have to bike back too I guess. Depends how long you’re going up for.

the trains seem to be expensive and take a stupid amount of time

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that getting a train all the way to FW will be a lot quicker than “getting the train to an obscure place then biking it the rest of the way ”

Boardinbob, It would take longer, but at least it would be biking time not sitting on a train bored time

Hitch hike from Balloch/Loch Lomond Youth Hostel. You will probably get all the way in a oner.

You will not be bored on that train, cracking journey. A nice bottle of something red, and a wee picnic to yourself, make it part of the holiday.

You will not be bored on that train, cracking journey. A nice bottle of something red, and a wee picnic to yourself, make it part of the holiday.

Sold, I was going to drive up some time this year 😀 but this sounds much better.

I have not used trains much, but the mrs just bought some tickets to London, the price of which was eyewatering, however this was much reduced by buying some rail cards.. well worth checking.

There’s not really anywhere else near Fort William that’ll be better for training it (tbh if there was, nobody would ever go to Fort William). Getting to Glasgow then changing is probably simple enough that trainline etc figures it out automatically.

Caledonian Sleeper runs to the fort. And yes it is a brilliant train journey, even if you’re lucky enough to get one of the really crap trains they use on the west coast line. Going across rannoch moor as the sun sets, listening to mogwai- perfect.

Just wait for the advanced fares to appear 12 weeks out from your journey date – then you’ll see them a lot cheaper. Two singles often works out cheaper than a return.

even better stay on the train and go all the way to mallaig then cycle back to fort william it’s a great journey hope you get good weather for it .

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even better stay on the train and go all the way to mallaig then cycle back to fort william it’s a great journey hope you get good weather for it

right – and that road was upgraded just in time for the Skye bridge to be built so it’s in good condition and relatively traffic free. I would.

..except I might get off at Morar and skip that long dull straight out of Mallaig

There’s not really anywhere else near Fort William that’ll be better for training it (tbh if there was, nobody would ever go to Fort William). Getting to Glasgow then changing is probably simple enough that trainline etc figures it out automatically.

Any journey where you have to change trains usually works out cheaper (and sometimes quicker and more direct) when you split the journey by the changes rather than get a through ticket. So look at prices for a ticket to glasgow and another to FW

Fly to Inverness and train/bus it from there?

Train to Crianlarich then ride to Ft bill in two easy days.

You must do the Ciaran (sp ?) circuit once your over the Devil’s Staircase.

You need to book early (the day the tickets get released), and split your booking up

England/Scotland are two different operators so you’ll get stung for using both systems on the one ticket and it’ll be £120 minimum

Last summer i went Leeds > Glasgow, Glasgow > Oban for £25
Imagine Manchester > Glasgow, Glasgow Fort William would be a similar price
(In Glasgow you’ll have to change stations but its a 2 min ride)

Make friends with someone with a car. 🙂

Caledonian Sleeper

You can get this from Preston iirc

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Timetable_Pages_from_Scotrail_Sleeper_product_guide_2012_V3.pdf

Yes you can, best way to get to Fort William

Get on train, drink, go to sleep, wake up…. Ta Da Fort Willam

Fantastic train journey, about 4 hours from Glasgow, I did it last year and biked back down the West Highland Way. Well worth it. 😀

You could get the train to Glasgow and then cycle up the West Highland Way.

Hire car?

As has been said above get the sleeper at Preston , these have guards vans so your bike will be safe and get a seat not a bunk to save some money . Check the train price 12 weeks before when the reservations open . Also pick to travel up during the early part of the week not Frudays or Sundays and you will get a better deal.

I have always considered the journey up through the Highlands to wherever I was headed as part of the adventure. I’ve driven to Fort William countless times but last year taking the train from Glasgow was a revelation. It’s a stunning route to travel – quite different to the road and unlike any rail journey I’ve taken anywhere else – it’s full of tourists and there’s a sort of expectant air in the carriage. Well it seemed that way when I went.

Book well ahead. Last summer I got a ticket from Edinburgh to Kyle for £15. Returned from Inverness for £10.

Train to Newtonmore and ride to Fort William from there? It’d be a nice wee adventure.

Caledonian Sleeper would make most sense, although it’s a few quid.

I have a customer up there and as a part of the project we’re running I was up there once a week for four months.

By car.

From Sheffield.

I can vouch for the fact that it is absolutely f*****g MILES from anywhere. Get the train. Fort Bill from Sheffield is pretty much a 7 hour drive.

I nearly cried once when, three months into said project, as I was leaving Fort William to go home, my boss rang demanding I was in Southampton for the following day. Our relationship has never been the same since….

I have just booked for the World Cup in June, travelling from Preston up to fort William £23 each way, wait till 12 weeks before and get advance tickets, you can request emails when they come out with virgin trains and scotts rail,split your journey, to Glasgow first then Glasgow to fort William , if you are going mid week you can also get upto Glasgow for £1 though megabus on the train