Pondering a return trip

We did a 4 night self-guided walking tour with HF Holidays based at their house in North Ballachulish (Glencoe). I can't say enough about the location, the staff and the food. It was great. Even though we were self-guided the guides were very generous with their time and advice. Because we had a car we were able to do whatever hike we wanted. The information HF Holidays provides to the self-guided is comprehensive and includes direction to trail heads via public transit. Obviously if you do the guided tour you don't have to worry about transportation. By the way, each day the guided tour has three choices: easy, medium and hard. My understanding is that the easy hike is essentially flat.

You could combine your stay with a 3-4 night stay on Arran. Since we had a car on Arran I can't really comment on the bus system there except to say that we ran into one couple a number of times who were using the bus. So it seems doable.

I have heard nothing but good things about HF Holidays so that's a decent possibiity.

I also agree that Arran would be a good choice. Of all the islands, Arran probably has the best public transportation, and it's easy to make your way around the island without a car. Also Arran has the Coastal Walk that a lot of people do. You wouldn't have time to walk the entire circular route around the island but you could definitely get some of it in.

When I was there, I met a mother and her daughter who were walking the Coastal Route, and using the buses to get from place to place, and were very happy with how easy it was. It's. a lovely island; frequently called "Scotland in miniature", because it has all the attributes of Scotland such as mountains, beaches, castles, ruins, and so on. I really enjoyed my stay there. Brodick would probably be the best choice of places to stay, as most buses go through there, and it's close to many of the sites, including Brodick Castle.

Plus the island is easy to get to by train and ferry. If you're interested, I would start off at these two sites:
https://www.visitarran.com
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/arran/

That’s great information Trotter. I am really liking the prospect of that holiday. I wonder if just going w the guided to help get to the starts seamlessly might be a better option.

We had actually gotten real close to doing a trip to Arran for our last trip. I had accommodations booked and everything, but I messed up my Achilles and was concerned about not being able to get out and walk on paths, etc. We then went to Edinburgh and Glasgow w side trips.

It would be nice to try again! I think I remember Stuart saying that it was a bit crazy to get to Arran with the CalMac ferry terminal situation. Has that been resolved? What are your thoughts about Oban and its surrounds? Maybe doing a day tour to Iona and Staffa with a tour group? Mardee I remember you liked Mull, but that West Coast Tour doesn’t stop there, just drives through.

What would the transfer route be getting to Arran at the end of the walking holiday? I would hate to eat up a whole day traveling there.

For WW2 there is quite a bit at Oban- as well as the War and Peace Museum, there is the various material at Ganavan Sands relating to Coastal Command. Also beside Gate 2 in the departure lounge of the ferry terminal there are two plaques- one is a general plaque to those lost from the companies who made up CalMac- the other to Merchant Seamen from the Firth of Lorn (the Oban area) who served in the Convoys during WW2, because Oban was both a Convoy Port but also a flying boat base/maintenance base and an Air Ferry Unit.
If you go out to Mallaig and go there on the service train (or the bus), not the steam train, you can get off at Arisaig where there are a couple of memorials to those of the SOE and Czech Special Forces who trained in the area (there is a 3rd memorial at nearby Beasdale, but I believe it is now inaccessible). I grant you that Arisaig is better known for it's beaches!
Of course near Fort William and easily accessible by bus is the Commando Memorial.

Continuing the WW2 theme, and this is venturing into unknown land for the forum, in the South of Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway there is the small port of Garlieston- where sections of the Mulberry Harbours were built and trialled. There is interpretative material on site.
Train to Dumfries or Stranraer for bus onward.
Stranraer (or rather Cairnryan, where the ferries now leave from to Belfast and Larne) was a major military harbour in WW2, other parts of the Mulberry Harbours were built there and the Atlantic U boat fleet was brought there after surrender (Operation Deadlight) before being scuttled. I can't find it on my files, but am sure there is interpretation material there at the car park between the two modern ports.

If you go to the Isle of Bute, as well as tourist stuff like Mount Stuart House, there are 3 memorials to the men who trained in the Midget Submarines in WW2. Also on Bute there is the remains of the Ballynakilly Decoy Village (Operation Starfish)- you walk there, although it is not the easiest of walks, requiring reasonable fitness. It was meant to draw German attention away from activities in the Firth of Clyde.

At Dunoon, on Cowal, there is a memorial to the men of the US Navy who served at Gareloch, but it's rather hard to describe the location.

If you do go to Arran then in the Heritage Museum at Brodick there is a plaque to the US Air Force. In the ferry terminal at Brodick there is a memorial to the loss of HMS Dasher in 1943. Every year, on 27 March (the anniversary of her loss) a service sailing of the Brodick ferry pauses at the location of her loss to lay wreaths and a moment's silence.

So, in between the vacation activities, there is a fair bit for the WW2 buff to be interested in. I'm only touching on some of the more interesting and accessible stuff.

As regards Arran, currently everything is running smoothly, and more new ships (possibly as many as 3) are due into the fleet this winter.

For the first time in many years the fleet even has a strategic spare vessel this summer to stand in if there are problems anywhere in the big ship network.

Currently the port of Ardrossan is expected to close for rebuilding over the winter- to take at least 18 months. So the expectation is that in 2027 (and probably well into 2028) everything will sail from Troon- train to Troon then shuttle bus to the dock.
Like all things to do with the ferries to Arran that is a moving target!

That darn Scotland!! :-) I just last night decided instead of 2 weeks in Germany for Sept. 2027, I would rather return to Scotland for the third time.

As of now, I’m thinking of basing in Inverness or Edinburg and taking some multi-day Rabbie’s tours. Edinburgh is such a great base, with much to do in between bus tours, so I might just decide to stay there again. One of my rabbie’s tour guides last year said his favorite tour was the 5-day Orkney & Scotland's Northern Coast tour. So, I have my eye on that one has a possibility.

I’m a huge fan of Rabbie’s. In addition to Scotland, I’ve taken tours in the Lake District and Ireland. I recently signed up for their 5-day Wales tour from London for May 2027.

I have been to Scotland in both May and September. May I found to be less expensive and less crowded. Sept. has the purple heather. I had similar weather both months, maybe slightly warmer in Sept. and barley any rain each trip.

I’ll be reading along to see what ideas you get.

Stuart, with so much WWII history there, he should come on this trip, too, but alas, I will be lucky if I can get him on the one with Normandy included! He’s just not a traveler, but our doggo and senior cat are happy to have him with them.

Carrie, I totally agree with you. It’s hard to breakup with this country! lol We’re open to doing more tours, but I need to be conscious of the length with Rabbies. That long day trip we took was wonderful, but it was too long really (our guide even said it should be two days) and we were dragging at the end. I think multi days might be worth a try for us. You’ve got me looking at their site again now! I was thinking with our time constraints, the Outer Hebrides would have to wait for their own separate trip, but maybe with something like that tour, it could work. It’s the deciding what we want to prioritize. Walking or sightseeing? Or can we find a way to balance a bit of both in eight days?

One of the things to bear in mind is that Ember Bus route their Oban and Fort William services via Glasgow Airport so you no longer have to go into Glasgow for connections to the West Highlands, and the Ember Bus stops at Altshellach Road End (the HF house at Ballachulish), so that is as easy as it gets!

The same applies from Edinburgh Airport- there is an Ember Bus service direct from Edinburgh Airport to Altshellach Road End- 3 hour journey via Callander.

Another WW2 connection- the HF house was used as a Military Hospital in WW2.

If we try to build Arran into this we know from last year how to do that from GLA airport via Paisley Gilmour Street. You don't have to climb mountains on Arran- there is also the 8 stage 65 mile Arran Coastal Way- https://www.coastalway.co.uk/

So you could do one or two stages of that.

After a day or two on Arran, then you can leave by way of Lochranza to avoid a backtrack via Glasgow. At Claonaig (on Kintyre) a bus meets certain sailings to take you to Kennacraig Ferry Terminal for Islay.
The same bus also gives connections to Oban from Ardrishaig (the Crinan Canal) or Lochgilphead but they are quite loose connections, currently.
You could spend a couple of days on Islay- doing a distillery or two, and even possibly a day trip to the neighbouring island of Jura on the Jura bus.
Islay has a pretty good island bus service. There are also two car rental companies on the island (who will only rent automatics to Americans!). There are at least two of the taxi companies who will do private day tours bespoked for you.
You will need a car or taxi to get down to the American Monument at the Mull of Oa- https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/site_details.php?SiteID=1144
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/islays-secret-wartime-visitors/

From Islay you can take a direct ferry to Oban on a Wednesday and Saturday.

With the new journeys on West Coast Motors and Ember it is now possible to catch an early bus from Oban to Fort William in time for the Jacobite (or a very early train via Crianlarich, and the day cars of the Caledonian Sleeper), take the Jacobite, then on return to Fort William the Ember to Glasgow Airport for your last night's stay- a grand finale to the holiday.

This isn't just paper theory- I have done all this by the aforementioned public transport so know it also works in practice.

Going in May, if you were lucky, you might coincide with the annual Paddle Steamer Waverley sailings in the Western Isles- the repositioning one from Glasgow to Oban is especially unique. This is the 2026 timetable- https://waverleyexcursions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Oban-and-Inner-Hebrides-Brochure_2026.pdf

As you can see she does an annual Fort William and Oban direct to Iona sailing most years- another treat.

The timetable is always quite late to be issued so that would be pot luck.

We are thinking about not muddling the waters too much by trying to add a visit to one of the isles and believe that we would like to concentrate just on returning to the Highlands. I think the 4 night, 5 day walk with HF Holidays would be great, so that part of the visit is mostly settled. The destination for other 4 days are where we are focusing on now. We could either put this part at the beginning or end of the trip, but would need to return to either Glasgow or Edinburgh the night before flying home.

When we were on the long excursion with Rabbies last year and drove back to Glasgow, we really loved the scenery and landscape as we drove back and saw the edge of Cairngorms NP. . We were just on the fringe, but the hills were so lovely. We stopped briefly in Pitlochry, which was a bit too touristy for me, but really liked the area around it. So, what would be a spot for four days that would give us an opportunity to see this area? Inverness? I read Rabbies has several one day trips from there and it would be convenient without a car. I also was interested by Aviemore as it seems situated deeper into the Cairngorms.

I was thinking if we stayed in this area first then we could take the Citylink 919 to Fort William which I read is the nearest train station to the HF Holidays house to start the holiday walk part.

So, what are your suggestions about the base for that part of our return trip? The only real hangup I have about Inverness is reading the mixed opinions of its attractiveness as a base bc it’s a city. But I guess it’s a trade off for the convenience if one doesn’t have a car. Would Aviemore be a better option? Any other town?
I read that Rick likes Ballater but I assume that is only doable with a car to get around.

Thanks to all for your help! At least we are fairly settled on the one part of the journey now! Lol

The only real hangup I have about Inverness is reading the mixed
opinions of its attractiveness as a base bc it’s a city.

This was a big one for me too. I wondered what I would do there in between Rabbie's tours, so I've settled on Edinburgh again since I know there's plenty to keep me busy.

The trade-off, of course, is spending more time on the bus to get up north. But after taking many tours with Rabbie's, I've found that I really don't mind the extra time. The scenery is gorgeous, and the guides are entertaining telling stories and playing local music along the way.

Mustlovedogs, if memory serves HF Holidays provides transportation to and from Alltshellach for their tours. I don't remember the specifics but I believe Glasgow (maybe the train station?) was one of the pick-up points.

Ballater is easy to do without a car- hourly Stagecoach bus from Aberdeen, which continues to Crathie and Braemar (hourly on Sunday), also Ember Bus twice daily which continues to Dundee via Glenshee- so Dundee is a very viable day trip from Ballater. The Ember buses (both the Dundee and the Inverness one also serve Aberdeen Airport.

You can also walk or cycle the 41 mile Deeside Way from Braemar to Aberdeen, on the former Railway line- https://www.cyclegrampian.co.uk/trail/deeside.html

Ember also run hourly from Inverness to Aberdeen (as well as the train) roughly every 90 minutes, almost 24 hours a day.

Carrie, Edinburgh is magical; I can see why you are returning! Depending on the cost of flights, we may fly into/ out of there. I certainly wouldn’t mind returning, even for a bit of a day/ night.

Trotter, they do offer a Glasgow pickup for that tour, at 3:15 pm from the bus station and 3:45 pm from the airport. I was thinking, though, that it may be better for us to not start the walking holiday right after we arrive, have the first couple of days getting over any jet lag, and begin at another location. I assume I could get some sort of transportation from the Fort William train station to their house if we arrived there from points east.

Stuart, I will look into those Ember and Stagecoach bus routes to/from and see where they go. Is it conceivable to think we could base at Ballater and reliably get to Inverness early to join a one day Rabbies tour?

Aviemore or that area would be a prefect base for your interests re hiking and especially as that kind of scenery appealed to you.

It’s nowhere near as charming a town as Braemar or Ballater but it offers, to me, the easiest access to the finest mountain scenery in Cairngorm NP and the extensive trail network is second to none in the country.
You have easy flat walks to, for example, the Green Lochan (Lochan Uaine), uphill hikes on truly excellent paths (like stone staircases, beautifully done) up to Cairngorm summit itself.The latter offers outstanding views of the great `sub Arctic terrain of the Cairngorms, gorgeous country and also the superb cliff scenery of the Northern Corries.
Check walkhighlands excellent website for walking details.
In May there may well still be snow on the Cairngorm biggies so September is ideal and it will bring the heather in bloom as well as a golden quality to the hills themselves.

Scotlandmac, I was just reading about Aviemore. It looks like a great option. It would be close enough, too, to take a bus into Inverness for when we wanted to take a day Rabbies tour, which I think would be nice ( given it’s not as long and in the van oriented as the other one we did!)

Do you have any suggestions for accommodation recommendations there?

Regarding September vs. May, we went in early September last year. We had great weather, except for the day we went on the Rabbies tour. It poured for most of the trip out of Glasgow. I like the thought of the fall for its colors, and also it will give my kids a bit more time to save in between trips (we are going to England this September for ten days). However, I read April/ May are better months for walking in The Highlands bc of the midges/tick not being in full force yet. Is that accurate?

No, you can't do the 145 mile bus journey in from Ballater in time. You could do the 105 miles from Aberdeen, but really wouldn't want to be up early enough.
Even by car it's 2 hours from Ballater to Inverness via Tomintoul.

From Aviemore to Inverness you would want to be on the 0634 Ember (the 0350 from Glasgow), there is a Stagecoach bus at 0726, due 0827, but that is tight because it is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the Bus and Rail Station to the Episcopal Cathedral where all tour buses leave from.
The early Commuter train has been withdrawn, so the first rail arrival at Inverness from Aviemore is now at 0952- the sleeper is set down only

Yes, that is cutting it a bit too tight I think. The one day Rabbies tour I was looking at to Culloden, Glen Affric and The Clava Cairns leaves from the bus stop beside the Cathedral at 0900. I guess we could pre- book a taxi for that if it’s not crazy expensive? We’d need to get back, too afterwards (I always forget about the return Lol)

30 miles by taxi- £69- so £23 each, each way- https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/4217/taxi-tariff-2025-26

Thank you for figuring that taxi cost out for me Stuart. I did a bit of research yesterday afternoon- unfortunately it has been so intolerable outside with heat indexes of 108 degrees! that staying in is the only option.

I looked at the map of the area and the bus routes you suggested. Also did quite a bit of reading on this area of the Highlands we haven’t even seen yet. Cairngorms National Park and its surrounds has plenty enough to do for us just staying around there! The hikes on walkhighlands look incredible. I have always thought it would be amazing to wander around Balmoral (watching footage and reading of Queen Elizabeth II enjoying the area has always stuck with me) Maybe time it in September to be able to see the Braemar Gathering? In fact, it looks as if we can get by bus to many of the stops that are included in the Rabbies tour. Maybe not all in one day, and it’s a trade off on that, but ….

I am really leaning into drawing even closer and vacation/spend our entire initial 5 -6 days’ time exploring this area and then going back to Edinburgh before our flight home. We didn’t get to go to Stirling Castle last trip, and would like to see that possibly.

So, where to head to as the base for this Cairngorms adventure? We really have no problem riding the buses and maybe booking a short trip with a taxi here and there if absolutely necessary. There is Aviemore that scotlandmac suggested. Grantown-on-Spey, Nethy Bridge I also read people really love. If anyone has recommendations for the accommodations for a stay like this, a B & B or moderately priced hotel for 3 adults, I would appreciate hearing about them! Thanks so much for the advice as I work through planning this next trip!

For me, personally, my first choice in the Cairngorms would always be the Nethybridge Hotel- https://strathmorehotels-nethybridge.com/

The bus service into Aviemore and in the other direction Inverness is pretty good. From Aviemore on down to Newtonmore and Kingussie.

Also in season Nethy Bridge has the 37a direct to Elgin (for the Cathedral), past quite a few distilleries. It's up against stiff competition, but could be said to be one of Scotland's great unknown scenic routes, especially as it is rostered for double deckers.

The other thing to be aware of is that Fort George now has an hourly bus from Inverness- no more hoofing it from Ardersier.

Buy a Zone 4 Stagecoach Zone 4 Seven Day Megarider for £46.90 and it will cover all of that plus as far north as Helmsdale on the way to Thurso/Wick (subject to available services) and to Drumnadrochit on Loch Ness. Helmsdale is really pushing it, but Dornoch (with it's Cathedral, etc) is within reason as a day trip.

That ticket also gets you to my preferred hotel for Inverness- the Ben Wyvis at Strathpeffer. From there you can even day trip to Ullapool and Lochinver.

The bus from Nethy Bridge also gets you to Boat of Garten for the Strathspey Railway steam trains. I don't know of anywhere to stay in BoG personally, but it would be my second choice village.

A quirky fact- the Nethybridge Hotel is the only hotel I've stayed at to have it's own fire station (for the whole village). It is now in a formal closure process, sadly.