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Duration of Ft. William visit

My wife and I will arrive in Ft. William around 4:00 pm May 8 (Tuesday) on the Jacobite Steam Train from Mallaig. We do not have a car. We have lodging in Ft. William for the evening of the 8th. We want to visit Neptune's Staircase (via bus) and the West Highland Museum, not necessarily in that order. The following day we will take a bus or train from Ft. William to Oban. We have lodging in Oban the evening of May 9.

We'd like comments on three options

  1. We could spend some time in Ft. William the morning of the 9th (Commando Memorial, possibly a cruise on Loch Linnhe, possibly a bus to Glen Coe (for a brief stop ) then take a bus to Oban (assuming there is a bus from Glen Coe to Oban) or
  2. We could depart Ft. William early the morning of the 9th and go to Glen Coe (on a bus) and spend the morning and early afternoon there, then on to Oban (if there is a bus) or
  3. We could depart early the morning of the 9th on a bus or train to Oban (if on the train via Crianlarich). We do not know if the train from Ft. William to Crianlarich coincides (or not) with the train from Crianlarich to Oban; we are assuming using the train from Ft. William to Oban might consume most of a day, it it doesn't we'd spend the balance of the day in Oban.

Oh yes, we'll each be accompanied by a mid-size piece of luggage and we will take the train from Oban to Glasgow May 10 to permit us to arrive in Glasgow by 7:00pm. We're aware the train will be on the same route as the day before between Oban and Crianlarich.

on the train to

Posted by
1349 posts

There will be buses ,for certain you could go thru Glencoe and change buses at Tyndrum, you could take the train from Tyndrum to Oban too.
2 stations at Tyndrum, its the lower you would need

While in Fort William, a ride up Glen Nevis is highly recommended and the short walk up the gorge to Steall waterfall is a classic.
There used to be a shuttle bus but a taxi would be easy to arrange

Posted by
1862 posts

I would not miss Glencoe, one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland.

Fort William is a good place for shopping. We did visit Neptune's Staircase - it was an interesting brief stop on the way to somewhere else, but not a "destination," unless you have a strong interest in marine engineering. It smells a lot like the Ballard Locks in Seattle!

There's a fun pub near Ben Nevis, if you can get there by public transportation.