You can do the Highlands as a pure rail trip and it will be beautiful, and you can do it as a pure road trip and it will be beautiful, and both will leave you short. The trains own the cliff-edge, water’s-edge scenery that no road touches — the West Highland Line out to Mallaig is regularly called the most scenic railway in Britain and it earns that. The car owns the glens, the single-track passing places, and the slow business of getting to a loch nobody else has driven to. This week splits them on purpose.

I ran it in late September, when the bracken had gone copper and the midges had finally given up. Seven days, in and out of Glasgow and Inverness, with the car picked up and dropped where the rails could not reach.

Day 1: Glasgow to Fort William by the West Highland Line

Start with the train, because it sets the bar. The West Highland Line leaves Glasgow Queen Street and runs north for roughly three and three-quarter hours to Fort William, climbing across the empty expanse of Rannoch Moor — a stretch of line so boggy the Victorian engineers floated the track on a raft of brushwood and ash — and stopping at Rannoch and Corrour, the latter the highest mainline station in Britain with no public road to it at all.

Sit on the left going north for the best of Loch Lomond and Loch Long. Arrive in Fort William, the largest town in the West Highlands, sitting at the foot of Ben Nevis under the usual cap of cloud. Stay in town the first night — the Alexandra Hotel or a guesthouse along the loch — and eat well; the seafood this far west is half the reason to be here.

Day 2: The Jacobite to Mallaig and back

This is the set-piece. The Jacobite steam train, run by West Coast Railways, leaves Fort William mid-morning and runs the 41 miles to Mallaig and back behind a steam locomotive. The route crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct — the 21-arch curve made globally famous as the Hogwarts Express line in the Harry Potter films — and the timing is built so the train slows on the viaduct for the photograph everyone is there for.

Mallaig itself is a working fishing port and the ferry terminal for Skye via Armadale. You get a couple of hours: eat fish and chips on the harbour, watch the boats unload, then ride back. Book months ahead in summer — the Jacobite sells out faster than almost any tourist train in Britain — and confirm the 2026 dates, as the season runs only May to October. If it is full, the scheduled ScotRail service covers the same line for a fraction of the price, just without the steam.

Back in Fort William for a second night.

Day 3: Pick up the car — Glencoe

This is where the rails hand off to rubber. Collect a hire car in Fort William and drive south into Glencoe, the most theatrical glen in Scotland: walls of black rock closing in on the A82, the Three Sisters ridge, and the National Trust visitor centre that does not flinch from the 1692 massacre that gives the place its weight. Park at the Three Sisters viewpoint and walk a little way up into the Lost Valley if the weather holds and the river is low enough to cross.

Loop back north and across to the Glenfinnan Monument and viewpoint you saw from the train yesterday — now you can stand on the hillside above the viaduct and watch the afternoon Jacobite cross it from the other side. Night in or near Fort William again, or push on toward Skye to shorten tomorrow.

Day 4: The road to the Isle of Skye

Drive west and north on the A87 to the Skye Bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh — passing Eilean Donan Castle, the much-photographed island fortress at the meeting of three sea lochs, worth the stop and the entry fee. Cross onto Skye and base yourself in Portree, the island’s pastel-harbour capital.

The afternoon is for the Trotternish peninsula loop north of Portree: the Old Man of Storr rock pinnacle (a steep but short walk from the car park), the Kilt Rock sea cliff and waterfall, and the green folds of the Quiraing landslip, one of the strangest landscapes in Britain. None of this is reachable by train; this is the day the car earns its keep.

Day 5: Skye, slowly

Give Skye a full day. The Fairy Pools below the Black Cuillin near Glenbrittle are the classic walk — turquoise rock pools strung up a mountain stream — and they are busy, so go early and wear boots that can ford a stream. The Talisker distillery at Carbost runs tours of Skye’s oldest working whisky distillery; book ahead. End at Neist Point, the westernmost tip, for a lighthouse walk and a sunset over the Minch toward the Outer Hebrides. Second night in Portree.

Day 6: Skye to Inverness via the Kyle country

Drive back over the bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh, drop south of the loch, and take the long way to Inverness through Glen Shiel and along Loch Cluanie — the road shadows the Kyle of Lochalsh railway line, the other great Highland rail route, which runs Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh across the country. If you would rather ride than drive this leg, you can park up and take the train one way; either way the scenery is the prize.

Arrive in Inverness, the capital of the Highlands on the River Ness where it runs out of the loch, and stay in town. Eat on the river, walk up to the castle viewpoint, and rest the driving leg.

Day 7: Loch Ness, Culloden, and out

Last day from Inverness. Drive the north shore of Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle, the ruined stronghold on the water that gives you the best of the loch in a single stop. Then the Culloden battlefield just east of the city — the 1746 site where the last Jacobite rising ended in under an hour, now a sober, well-told visitor centre with the moor walked out in clan grave markers. Drop the car at Inverness, take the train south, and you have done the Highlands the way they should be done: the rails for the impossible scenery, the car for everything in between.

When to go, and the midge problem

The Highlands have a short, glorious window and a famous insect. Late spring (May, early June) and early autumn (September, into October) are the sweet spots: the days are long, the hills are green or turning, and crucially the midges — the tiny biting flies that swarm still, damp summer evenings in their billions — are either not yet out or finally gone. July and August are peak midge season, and on a windless dusk by a loch they can genuinely drive you indoors; carry repellent and hope for a breeze, which keeps them grounded. Winter shrinks the daylight hard (the sun is gone by mid-afternoon in December) and closes the Jacobite and some mountain roads, but it also empties the place and dusts the peaks with snow. The single-track roads on Skye and in the glens demand patience year-round: pull into the passing places marked with white diamonds, let faster locals by, and never park in one.

What it costs, roughly

The Jacobite is the priciest single ticket of the week and the one to book first. Scheduled ScotRail fares on the West Highland and Kyle lines are modest, especially with advance singles bought online. The car is a three-to-four-day hire rather than a full week, which keeps it down, and Highland petrol is dear so plan your fill-ups in the towns rather than chancing the empty stretches. Accommodation on Skye in summer is the other big variable — book Portree early or stay outside it and drive in. Distillery tours, castle entries, and the Culloden centre are small fixed costs against a week that is mostly free road and free view.

Verification

Reported and fact-checked against primary sources (verified 2026-06-05):

Frequently asked questions

Does the Jacobite steam train run all year?
No. The Jacobite, operated by West Coast Railways between Fort William and Mallaig, runs a seasonal schedule. The 2026 season runs roughly 6 May to 31 October, with one train a day in May, September and October and two daily from June through August. Book well ahead — it sells out.
Do I need a car, or can I do the Highlands by train alone?
You can see the headline scenery by rail — the West Highland Line and the Kyle of Lochalsh line are two of Britain's great train journeys. But the glens, Glencoe, the Skye interior, and the smaller lochs need a car. This itinerary uses both deliberately.
Is the West Highland Line the same as the Jacobite?
Not quite. The scheduled ScotRail West Highland Line runs all year, Glasgow to Fort William and on to Mallaig. The Jacobite is a separate seasonal steam service over the same Fort William–Mallaig section, including the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Both cross the viaduct; only the Jacobite does it behind a steam engine.
How far ahead should I book trains and accommodation?
The Jacobite and Skye accommodation in summer should be booked months out. Scheduled ScotRail seats can be reserved closer in but go quickly on the scenic legs. Hire cars out of Inverness or Fort William are best reserved a few weeks ahead in peak season.