First visit to Scotland - have some questions

Comparing round-trip tickets to London and trains to go to and from Edinburgh and Glasgow, or flights into Edinburgh and out of Glasgow, or any permutation of those. Anyone have experience and care to comment? And where do the more experienced travelers do their flight research? I have been using Google flights, but don't understand why the prices seem to change by the minute.

EDI and GLA are both easy airports to fly in and out of, so if you are starting the tour in Edinburgh and ending in Glasgow, I would certainly try for a multi-city ticket. I would only fly into London if you plan on spending extra days there. You should be able to get decent prices for the Scotland airports. What airport are you flying from?

Most people on this forum use Google flights initially. And prices seem to change by the minute because unfortunately, they actually do. You can set up alerts on Google flights that will alert you when the prices for specific routes go up or down, though,, which is a handy feature.

As Marlee states, I would only fly through London if planning to spend some time in the city, otherwise, look at flying through Amsterdam. It’s a much more pleasant experience than Heathrow. I flew into Edinburgh and out of Glasgow, and it was easy, and cheaper than going through London.

I agree with trying to fly directly to Edinburgh and out of Glasgow. Your flight choices will be way different from mine as I am leaving from the Inland Northwest, but last summer I routed thru Amsterdam (from Seattle) on Delta and in to Aberdeen. I could easily have gone from Amsterdam to Edinburgh or Glasgow, was just headed to Orkney and Aberdeen was a good location for that. It might be worth considering for you. I'd avoid London and the long train ride unless you wanted to spend time in London anyway. Don't go by google flightprices. Get the flight schedule ideas there but book directly with your airline of choice.

I just looked at the itinerary for your trip. It moves pretty fast. Your day to Orkney will be long and lots of ferry/bus time but it will give you a taste of this very cool island. They might have you stopping for lunch at Skara Brae which has a very nice cafeteria area. Food was nice and staff were terrific.

I do recommend a waterproof rain jacket with hood as well as rain pants and waterproof shoes. My day at the Ring of Brodgar and the nearby Stones of Stenness were very wet windy! I carried a small day pack (Sea to Summit Ultra-sil day pack which smushes up into a fist sized ball) into which I put a large compression packing cube with my rain jacket, rain pants, beanie, ball cap (to keep the rain off my glasses) and lightweight glove liners. I also had a puffy vest. It wasn't actually very cold in August but even as cold tolerant as I am I enjoyed the extra layer.

Assuming I’ve found the tour you are doing, it doesn’t sound as if you will be driving from Mallaig to Fort William in the coach. It sounds as if you are leaving Skye via the Bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh and then past Eilean Donan Castle to Spean Bridge for the Commando Monument and then overnight in Ballachullish. You won’t be following much of the route of the West Highland Railway line.

It is an attrzctive railway line (but then so are many in Scotland.... BUT travelling from Glasgow to Mallaig is going to take around five hours just one way (and may involve a couple of changes at Crianlarich and Fort William. I’ll leave isn31c to confirm details...) It will be a very long day from Glasgow with an early start and very late return.

There is a big question mark as to whether the Jacobite train will run this year after it was forced to suspend services due to safety concerns about locks on the coaches. The normal service runs along the same track , is a more frequent service, cheaper and the views from the windows are better.

If we do the train (Glasgow to Ft. William/Mallaig) is it worth it to tag on the Jacobite leg?

Oops, I meant to add this. The Jacobite train may not be running at that time. There are safety issues involved and West Coast Railways has until February 29, when a decision will be handed down as to whether the train will continue. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/12/05/harry-potter-fan-this-could-be-your-last-chance-to-ride-the-iconic-hogwarts-express

That said, the regular trains go along the same route and see the same scenery. So unless it has to be a steam engine, another train might work for your purpose, which is to see the scenery. I have no idea, though, if it is different than the bus trip, although I would imagine it is, just because the bus can't go along the same route (and over the viaduct).

News is awaited (hopefully in about a month's time) on whether or not the Jacobite steam train is running this year- there is a current legal test case concerning safety concerns.

But if you have come from Glasgow on the normal train the last sector of that journey (Fort William to Mallaig) is exactly the same tracks on the service train as it is on the steam train..
Between Tyndrum and Fort William the bus and the train take totally different routes. The rail route is across many miles where it is actually impossible due to ground conditions to lay motor roads.
At Rannoch a very long dead end road from Pitlochry meets the railway, and at Corrour a near 20 mile unmade private estate road from the A9 meets the line. Corrour was the station for a large shooting estate. The shooting lodge and the station are now hotels.
Likewise the terrain of the bus route through Glencoe (as far as Ballachulish) is too difficult for any railway to have ever been built. Ballachulish was the end of a former branch railway from Oban.

When the rail line meets a motor road again it is the Fort William to Dalwhinnie road, which the tour may or may not be travelling. Even there the views of the river gorge are far better from the train than the road. From Thurso to Skye I would guess the bus tour is taking one of the two more northerly routes, rather than the via Dalwhinnie route.

So well worthwhile doing it by road and rail.

It is an attrzctive railway line (but then so are many in Scotland.... BUT travelling from Glasgow to Mallaig is going to take around five hours just one way (and may involve a couple of changes at Crianlarich and Fort William. I’ll leave isn31c to confirm details...)

No, the train is through from Glasgow to Mallaig. It divides at Crianlarich, half the train going to Mallaig, half to Oban. At Fort William the train reverses direction as it is a dead end station. Sometimes it loses another 2 cars at Fort William, with only two going forward to Mallaig.
So at Glasgow if it is a 6 car train, only the back two will normally go all the way to Mallaig.
On the service train you get 2 1/2 hours in Mallaig. There is a one hour wildlife boat tour at Mallaig which specifically connects with the train. The boat has restrooms and a whisky bar (!!)

If you wanted to cover the Mallaig to Fort William Road Shiel Buses run a Monday to Friday bus at 1550 on Monday to Friday. That connects with the above wildlife cruise and is back into Fort William half an hour before the train back to Glasgow leaves.
The bus costs £7.30 each currently. In term time it doubles as a School Bus.

Thank you all, such great advice! I didn't know that there was a question about whether the Jacobite train would still be running, and I was not certain that the regular lines used the same track. All good.
Train question- Yes, it will be a long time on the train - and I love the suggestion of the boat wildlife tour. Should we spend a night in Mallaig or Ft William to break up the train trip?
Flights - have been crunching numbers all day. We fly from Dulles, Washington DC, and I find that flying IAD to EDI, returning GLA to IAD will run me approx $600 more for two tickets than round-trip to London. And will definitely tack on a couple of days to visit London!

When you are running your numbers, also add in the train tickets from London to Edinburgh and Glasgow back to London. I'd want to be in Edinburgh the day before your tour starts in case there are train delays or cancellations or train strikes.

If you have the time yes a night in Mallaig or Fort William would be good. With a choice between them I would go for Mallaig personally.
But you could also opt for Morar, for its wonderful beaches, or Glenfinnan for the Jacobite monument, as overnight stays. Both are stations on the line.
If the steam train runs, then at Glenfinnan next morning the steam train and your train pass each other in the station.