Member Since: 09 Nov 2006
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 1600
I'd agree with the car option - I use the road quite a bit on the way to the ferry. The best bit of the train is watching it from the outside.
Be in Fort William for when it leaves - follow it on the road to Glenfinnan - it stops there for ages to take on water I think. You can get onto the platform and see the engine with the passengers there if you like, then again head up the road to Mallaig, stopping a Morar for a picnic and then watch it come into Ft William.
Then, go on the ferry to Armadale and back (about an hour) and the let Mrs Iguana drive back and you hop on the train.......
2nd Sep 2016 7:58 am
Dexter
Member Since: 21 Sep 2007
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 1394
I like Mallaig, it's a very interesting working fishing harbour / ferry terminal, always plenty going on and lots to see during the 2 hours or so the Jacobite visitors are in town. The circular walk up to the back of the village has some of the best views over Skye and the smaller islands and takes about 40 minutes. The restaurants, pubs, hotels and shops have upped their game noticeably over the last 2 - 3 years, even the West Highland Hotel
Arguably better in the winter when things are a at a different pace .......................... but it is Scotland and the weather can make or break the trip
Of course we are a little biased and it's a shame that the train visitors don't get to visit the miles and miles of white beaches that the area is famous for.
Dex
2nd Sep 2016 8:03 am
galwaygreen
Member Since: 30 Oct 2011
Location: plymouth
Posts: 6525
if you take the car and you've got a bit of time in malliag take the mailboat trip up to knoydart...fantastic....check it out for timings
2nd Sep 2016 2:26 pm
Ali1971
Member Since: 13 Jun 2016
Location: Dalgety Bay
Posts: 817
The train is nice but you also miss out a lot on the road trip. It's a lovely bit of the country !
Nothing like a trip up on the sleeper either - the Fort William portion has a real Agatha Christie feeling to it as you cross Rannoch Moor with your small group of fellow travellers. Current: Discovery 3 06MY (55 reg) HSE Auto Zambezi Silver Allisport Fast Road Intercooler, V8 Brakes, Silicone IC Hoses, EGRs Blanked, Remapped, De-Cat pipe, FBHIC
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2nd Sep 2016 2:45 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73135
Ali1971 wrote:
The train is nice but you also miss out a lot on the road trip. It's a lovely bit of the country !
He could do both.
2nd Sep 2016 2:51 pm
Someone-Gone
Member Since: 21 Dec 2015
Location: Gone
Posts: 5117
I grew up in the area. In my opinion, it's busy I grant you, but it's little better than a hole in the ground.
The road into it, past Arisaig, is uninspired, you've got a few shops, a Jetty, Police Sation etc, go round into the bay and you have a council estate the Gorbals would be proud of and a few private houses.
Go out on a Friday/Saturday nights when the fishing boats are in and boy your eyes will be opened. It's like the Wild West. I've fished drunks out of the harbour, had to step into the roadway to avoid being caught up in the fist fights, it passes for normal behaviour at the weekend, no one bats an eyelid. If you don't go out at night, then you'll be oblivious to this, but it happens. Why else would there be a Sgt , 5 cops and a few Specials out at the one time in a small village of less than 800?
Fort William is much the same, but at least it's got a hospital close by when you get assaulted.
Don't get me wrong, Lochaber has a lot of nice places to see, but Mallaig and Fort William ain't two of them.
2nd Sep 2016 5:36 pm
Beno2
Member Since: 18 Apr 2009
Location: SE
Posts: 996
Angelfire
This is a cracking photo..........
A little cropping and few enhancements it is worthy of a decent frame around it.D3 HSE
2nd Sep 2016 6:19 pm
Ali1971
Member Since: 13 Jun 2016
Location: Dalgety Bay
Posts: 817
Lol you wouldn't believe it ! Another town I thought was ok was Dingwall but apparently that's another fun filled town at the weekends and drugs are rife in the area . Tain is another place associated with the nice golf course etc but it's mental of out on the raz !
2nd Sep 2016 6:22 pm
Someone-Gone
Member Since: 21 Dec 2015
Location: Gone
Posts: 5117
Most of the small villages and towns in the Higlands are the same. They are different places day to night.
Ive been to the Tain Gala a couple of times. it's mobbed by the boys from Sutherland and the ones from Easter Ross, who don't see eye to eye. Drinking is allowed until 3am. They import 20 - 30 Cops to Police it.
Even out with the Gala, Tain has a reputation for the pubs to spill out at 1am and a couple of hundred congregate on the High Street and block the road for a few hours. A few years back a Cop got his throat cut and nearly lost his life.
The Jacobite Uprising is not over yet.A vaccine does not stop you catching a virus, or passing it on, or getting ill from it, really ill. It does reduce the likelyhood of you dying when really, really ill. Stay Alive - KEEP AWAY FROM PEOPLE.
This is a cracking photo..........
A little cropping and few enhancements it is worthy of a decent frame around it.
Thanks, though I'd be interested to know what you can suggest. I do have several other shots of it, including closer ( I was using a 100-400 lens ) - this was at the wide end from memory.Mark.
2006, D3 SE Auto - gone but not forgotten.
2014 BMW 530d M Sport Tourer.
1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500
_________________________________________________
Disco Picture Website Here
I'm all for feed back in a positive way. I did crop the original to remove the digger at the bottom, but kept the top as I liked the hills to add to the scale - but this works well too.Mark.
2006, D3 SE Auto - gone but not forgotten.
2014 BMW 530d M Sport Tourer.
1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500
_________________________________________________
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3rd Sep 2016 6:21 am
Alan B
Member Since: 12 Feb 2013
Location: Fife
Posts: 6528
Iggy, give you dog a good tick treatment before letting it belt about through the highlands, seems that they are rife this year.
Iirc a few years age someone X rayed the viaduct and there was the skeleton of a horse with cart attached. Seems that was how they filled the pillars and the horse fell in.
D3 57 xs Stornaway grey
D2 02 commercial silver gone but a great servant and won't be forgotten
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I like Mallaig, it's a very interesting working fishing harbour / ferry terminal, always plenty going on and lots to see during the 2 hours or so the Jacobite visitors are in town. The circular walk up to the back of the village has some of the best views over Skye and the smaller islands and takes about 40 minutes. The restaurants, pubs, hotels and shops have upped their game noticeably over the last 2 - 3 years, even the West Highland Hotel 
and it's a shame that the train visitors don't get to visit the miles and miles of white beaches that the area is famous for.
Allisport Fast Road Intercooler, V8 Brakes, Silicone IC Hoses, EGRs Blanked, Remapped, De-Cat pipe, FBHIC
)
it's mobbed by the boys from Sutherland and the ones from Easter Ross, who don't see eye to eye. Drinking is allowed until 3am. They import 20 - 30 Cops to Police it.
