We were trundling through the Scottish Highlands — along the banks of shimmering lochs, through ancient mountains and over achingly bleak and beautiful moors — when I turned to my wife and said the following words: “I think this is the most beautiful train line I’ve ever been on.”
“You’ve been on it before,” she helpfully pointed out, which didn’t make it any less true. The iconic West Highlands Line leaves Glasgow behind and delves deep into the west coast, trundling along the Clyde to Helensburgh, and then north via Garelochhead and Loch Long towards either Oban or Mallaig.
Not long after you make it out of Scotland’s biggest city, the rolling, wind turbine-crested hills begin to grow larger and larger as the Highlands approach.
The train line carries you north along the west coast, through the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. A track split takes place at Crianlarich, carrying you either past Loch Awe to Oban, or high up to Rannoch Moor.
The railway line crosses the moorland for 23 miles and rises to over 400 metres, providing unparalleled views of one of the last remaining wildernesses in Europe: a vast stretch of blanket bog, lochans, rivers, and rocky outcrops where curlews, grouse, roe, and red deer run free.
The Moor became a point of near-national obsession during the Victorian era, The Mirror reports, when fear and slight revulsion about its untamed and intimidating nature morphed into passion. Amongst the early visitors were the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, who visited in 1803 and tentatively described the place as “desolate and extensive wild”.
Just seven years later, Sir Walter Scott published his poem, The Lady of the Lake, which featured Loch Katrine in the Trossachs, south of Rannoch Moor, and catapulted it to celebrity. The poem inspired tourists to flock to the area to see how “Summer dawn’s reflected hue to purple changed Loch Katrine blue” for themselves.
On my way up to the Highlands and then down again a few days later, we were treated to both sides of the place. During our night ride, the glens and Munros pressed against the train window, making our little lit-up box on wheels feel very small as it trundled on. During the bright, sunny trip home, the vistas that present themselves — the sparkling lochs beneath sheer mountains, topped with verdant green — feel more like Switzerland or Austria than Bonny Old.
Inarguably, the most famous spot on the line is the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which featured in the Harry Potter films as the route of the Hogwarts Express. You’ll roll over this on the way to Mallaig, the end station on the 164-mile line.
I’d suggest skipping an afternoon at the viaduct. When I went, a steady sheet of drizzle was falling over the crowd of Potter fans, most of whom seemed a little underwhelmed by the entertainment on offer: two pipers mournfully piping and some railway infrastructure. Add to that the fact that the locals of the 100-person village are sick to death of the masses and the decision to stay away seems an easy one.
Mallaig is a much better bet, home to excellent whale-watching tours that deliver regular sightings of the cheerful minke pod that live in the area. Corrour, which is the highest altitude railway station in the UK and attracts Trainspotting fans thanks to its use as a location in the film, is equally pretty and fascinating.
In 2009, Wanderlust magazine readers voted the West Highland Line in Scotland as the top railway journey in the world. Similarly, travel tour operators, Mickledore, are fans: “The West Highland Line is more than a train ride — it’s a living canvas of Scotland. Mountains, moors, lochs, wildlife, and history unfold before you. It captures the essence of the Highlands like nothing else – and it earned its title as the most scenic journey for good reason.”