Blogs from Mallaig, Inverness-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Ever since I first watched the Harry Potter movies, I knew I had to ride that marvelous steam train, the Jacobite Express across the Glenfinnan Viaduct. During my current stay in Glasgow, I took the opportunity to investigate this further, but discovered the specific famous train journey only begins and ends in Fort William (2 hours and 107 miles away). This route has been in operation each year since 1984 and covers part of the West Highland line. It’s a massive hit with tourists, effortlessly combining legendary Scottish folklore, luxury travel and fantastic scenery. Described as the greatest railway journey in the world (always subjective and open to interpretation), this 84-mile roundtrip takes you past a list of impressive extremes. Starting near the highest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis, it visits Britain's most westerly mainland railway ... read more

21st Jan 2022 Mallaig to Eigg to Gretna Today was supposed to be a travelling day as Googley Maps said it was 4 hours and 47 minutes to Gretna. We’re only staying in Gretna to break up the journey home and, with the problems with getting to any of the Small Islands, we decided to fill the day by taking the opportunity to get to Eigg. Muck will just have to wait! We had to be at the ferry port by 09:50 and get everything packed up and in the car beforehand too, so we had an early start. It was a bit misty as we left our super home for the last three nights, so we stopped on the way to Mallaig to take some moody loch shots. They’re quite a niche field of photography ... read more

I awoke to the sound of sheep baaing and the rain pattering lightly on the roof of our wooden pod. The blue, low light surrounding us was thick with mist and rain, and it was beautiful in a cold, dark way. We drove to Mallaig to find out what’s going on with ferries and boats. Not much hope with the ferries to any islands as even though one was sailing to Eigg, due to the weather, they couldn’t guarantee getting us back today or tomorrow even. I was disappointed because I really want to see the islands but I don’t fancy being marooned on them in the winter and I hadn’t brought my book. There’s no ferries tomorrow as there’s charter boats instead, the day after there might be a ferry to Eigg, no one knows ... read more

First excursion heading west into some unexplored sea coast areas. We were looking for the sea coast and the small villages there. Things of note... there are no sugar maples here so the colours are very muted, shades of yellows and browns. Also the skies were over cast and very grey. Combine this with all of the exposed rock and photography becomes very challenging. We drove some.... hmmmmm interesting roads (yeah that's the right phrase). The roads are roughly 8 feet wide (less in some points) and certainly not in a straight line. Throw in some hidden driveways, blind hills and switchbacks - makes for some excitement. Finally made it to the end of the road in Mallaig (no really the road ended) and stopped for a seafood lunch (smoked salmon, mussels in white wine sauce ... read more

North from Oban to Mallaig Figures - mom was up before the 7:30am alarm today - the one day that I wanted to sleep in a bit. Plus a tour bus must have been leaving around 6:30 am because doors were slamming up and down the hallway. It was too noisy to sleep anymore, so I’m really tired again. I think I wore the arm brace only about 4 hours. The thing makes my arm ache in a nauseating way. Stinks! We had some breakfast at the hotel before we left. I tried the sausages and boy they were super spicy hot! After that I decided to just stick to the scrambled eggs, potato scones and toast. Castle Stalker We headed north out of Oban up the A828 which is a pretty good road, curvy, but ... read more