The Highlands/Glasgow

[almamatters]

Looking to surprise a friend for their birthday by taking them away, looking at the above areas....can you "holiday" in the highlands? I know nothing about Scotland.

They want to go to Fort William and ride the Harry Potter steam train, but they also mentioned wanting to go to Glasgow so I'm totally confused!

Any nice hotel suggestions that way make the decision for me? Not got an unlimited budget, but not looking for the cheapest either!

Well I'd suggest either one or the other. I wouldn't do both in one weekend.

I'm happy to choose one, but like I say, I know nothing about Scotland...don't even know what "the highlands" is?! Help!

The highlands is a region within Scotland similar to what the lakes is in the north of England. Fort William is beautiful. You will get got b&bs there and I think there is a premier inn or a travelodge. Lots of walks to be had.

Glasgow, big city, lots of good places to eat, shop and stay. Fort William is a bit of a let down on the shopping front though.

I live in Glasgow, and would say that there is lots more to do than the highlands, although the highlands are absolutely stunning, you'd maybe need more than a weekend so see much?

If you are set on the highlands, Fort William, Oban or Inverness would be good bases- Inverness is pretty big so that might be an option?

Glasgow has loads to do, theatres, pubs, restaurants, great shopping. It's also not far from Loch Lomond so you could visit there and soak up some of the scenery and roaming in the gloaming stuffing you had time?

glitterkitten is that an autocorrect fail or should I know what gloaming stuffing is? Lol never been set on a weekend, it can be a bit longer, I don't mind! It's so hard trying to plan a surprise when not only is trip planning and decision making not my forte but I know nothing about Scotland.

Shopping/bars and theatres are unimportant as we practically live in London...so looking for some culture/tradition! Is there any "classic"/tourist things to do in Glasgow ignoring all the shopping etc? I'd really love a nice hotel, something that makes you go "wow" rather than a budget b&b! The only thing I had in mind was the steam train, but it won't the end of the world if we don't do that...so I'd love to hear any "must dos/sees/visits"

Argh I'm so confused!!

If someone could just plan my trip that would be fab

I should also state, that whilst it is going to be long and horrible, the plan is to drive for ease whilst there, so we will have a car if that makes a difference! Thank you for replies!

Fort william is awful -its up the west coast from Glasgow-would take 2-3 hours to drive there. The West highland railway line goes from fort william to Mallaig , and from mallaig you can take the ferry to skye. Skye is a beautiful island but is quite big so again it can take a couple of hours to get from the south to the north of the island which is more scenic IMO. Just north of Fort William is Glencoe -passing through the great glen and some fabulous mountain scenery . So if you are going up as far as Fort William I definately wouldnt stay there but go a bit further up -dont know any great hotels but there are usually lovely cottages to stay in

I'd agree I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time in FW.

Where are you coming from, are you flying or driving?
You can catch a train from Glasgow up to FW, it goes by Loch Lomond and through Glencoe, some lovely scenery once you're outside the city then take the train up to mallaig, that is a beautiful train journey, really spectacular.

If you're driving there is loads more to see.

Realistically, you could do an overnight in Glasgow, pick up the train in the morning to FW then get the Jacobite express maybe the next day from there. That would be a good trip. It takes just under 4 hours by train from glasgow to FW and about 1.5 hours from FW to mallaig.

What about Loch Lomond? The Cameron house has the wow factor? Also has the Carrick nearby which does amazing spa treatments and lunch. X

Sorry just seen you're driving!

You can do the same route, depending on how much time you've allocated, you could pick a couple of stop overs? If it were me I would ditch the car in FW or Glasgow and take the steam train, it's an iconic journey and one you won't forget.

Lots of great hotels in Glasgow, depends on your budget. The Blythswood hotel is lovely and right in the city, has an excellent spa. One Devonshire is in the west end so not in the city centre but a lovely hotel with fine restaurant and in a nice location.
Brilliant selection of restaurants in the city too.
Glasgow is a good fun city, lots of interesting tourist stuff. I would sort out date, hotel then repost for some ideas of what to do when there.

Yes cameron house is very nice. You can get a sea plane from there which flies up to the highlands, weather dependant.

Sea plane www.lochlomondseaplanes.com

The only good thing about fort William is the cable car nearby up to the bottom part of Ben Nevis! Other than that, it is tiny and has nothing in it really. I thought Inverness was a waste of time as well. I spent a long time at "the Harry potter bridge". You can walk quite a long way up and get some fantastic pictures. I didn't get the train because I decided I couldn't afford it. I hired a car for 2 days for the cost of one steam train trip! But I Lund still like to do it, if someone else pays! I got the sleeper into Edinburgh then the train straight to Inverness where I picked up the hire car. I drove down to near fort William and stayed in the flying goose hostel. This was my base for the next couple of days while I explored the area. I reversed this and spent a couple of days in Edinburgh before going back to London on a normal train.

I loved it and would go back in a heartbeat!

We've just done a bit of a road trip.

We had a day / night in Glasgow (just an ordinary hotel) and drove to Loch Lomond - hired a speed boat and mooched in Luss - was fab. Drove from there to Fort William - complete let down - we sat in a restaurant with the most amazing view, but FW itself is horrid (just one pretty nasty pedestrianized street with nothing going for it - other than quite a nice sweet shop). Having said that the drive to FW was amazing, just stunning going through the mountain ranges. Can't comment on any of the train trips but you won't be disappointed if you do it by car.

We then drove from there to Aviemore - stayed in one of the Woodland Lodges on the Macdonald village

www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/macdonald-aviemore-resort/luxury-woodland-lodges-4star/?gclid=CKanx5-E98ACFabMtAodCz0Asg

which we absolutely loved. Aviemore and the surrounding area is amazing, lots to do, lovely atmosphere. The lodge was one of the nicest places we've stayed in as a family - 3 big bedrooms (all ensuite), log burner in the lounge. Really nice. Very peaceful, relaxing.

We then came back sort of down the east coast and stayed in Edinburgh. Again we were in basic hotels but Edinburgh is lovely and plenty to explore.

As others have said, a weekend is not really enough time to "do" Glasgow and the HIghlands. You'd need to pick one or the other or have more time.