Harry Potter train ride

[dancemom]

Dd would love this so thinking of buying it for an upcoming birthday. However there seems to be so many conflicting websites and reports on Trip Advisor.

Has anyone done this trip from Glasgow or Edinburgh and made a day of it?

How did you book and were any extras worth it?

TIA

The Jacobite steam train?
I don't think you can do it in a day from Edinburgh or Glasgow. It's 3hr 45min from Glasgow to Fort William (plus another 45min or so from Edinburgh as you'd have to go via Glasgow) so it would be an epically long day but it doesn't look like the first or last train arrive / depart in time.
westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/timetables
You can do the Fort William to Mallaig route on a normal Scotrail train and save a lot of money!

Yes I meant the Jacobite train, thanks for the link

You really do have to stay in Fort William overnight. It is a 2hour trip from FW to Mallaig and 2 hours back with a 1.5 hour stop. Its really not feasible to do it from Glasgow or Edinburgh.

So would I need 2 nights in FW then? Night before and after?

You’d need to check the train times for the dates your planning to travel. I think you should be able to do one night either the night before and the morning train, or afternoon train and that night stay. It’s a long day sitting on a train though! I’d be tempted to stay 2 nights.

We did the Jacobite in 2019. Afternoon train, with afternoon tea, served on the way out. Didn't need a snack in Mallaig!

We were heading for Skye the next day so we "raced" the train and got some good photos of it at various points.

On the outward journey it stops to take on water at Glenfinnan, so you can get out of the train to watch, if that's your thing.

We also did it in 2019 with 2 nights near Fort William. Was a really great weekend, beautiful part of Scotland. We did boat cruise around Mallaig Harbour while the train stopped there and saw seals, dolphins and a whale. Before heading home we drove to Glennfinnan to watch the next day's train go over the viaduct.

DH has taken both of our youngest separately. He overnight trained it up and stayed in FW the night before. They had an amazing time and still talk about it years later.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll definitely have to look into it

You can just go on a standard train from Glasgow to Mallaig. The best part of the trip is before you get to Fort William. That's do-able as a day trip. The 2nd half is the same route as the Harry Potter train, over the viaduct. The full route is famous - one of the top railway journeys in the world.

Friend did this and said it was amazing. I've always wanted to do Edinburgh to Thurso too, that's supposed to be cool.

Agree your need to stay over.

A few years ago I did it on a day trip from Glasgow, using the normal train. It involved an early start from Glasgow though.

There's a HP gift shop on board the Jacobite, if that's important. And you get a wee bit of commentary.

Otherwise, the scenery is the same on the normal train, obviously.

A family member did this trip last year on the Jacobite steam train. It may depend who you book it with. but for her it was a return day trip from Glasgow with a couple of hours in Mallaig for a seal watching boat trip then back to Glasgow on the Jacobite. She completely loved it.

We drove from Glasgow to Fort William. Got the train, upgraded which is a must and had afternoon tea on the train to Mallaig.

Ate a chippy in Mallaig and then train back to FW.

Absolutely brilliant day trip.

The Jacobite steam train just does the part from Fort William to Mallaig. If you drive to Fort William (a nice drive) you're really missing out. The section on the train before you get to Fort William is the best part - very isolated and beautiful.