Day trips from Fort William?

[Anand25]

Hi, can I ask for advice on planning a trip to Fort William?

We’re booked on the overnight sleeper Friday night from London arriving on Saturday morning, then have Sat, Sun, Monday in Fort William, before taking the train down to Edinburgh on Tuesday (I understand the FW to Glasgow route is pretty scenic)

We are not planning to rent a car (could do in theory) so thinking about reasonable day trips/outings by train or bus (by reasonable I think an hour/hour and a half is a must!)

This is early March 🥶 (maybe not the best choice but it’s a birthday trip!)

I was thinking Loch Ness, Ben Nevis distillery (would have to be the Monday)… any other recommendations/must sees? Happy to spend one of the days pottering in FW too, is there much to do in town?

We will go to Pitlochry over the summer (with a car) so thinking of keeping it fairly local to FW…

Interests: views, eating/drinking, whiskey … a bit of a walk would be nice but nothing too dramatic (we are 50s and I’m a bit lazy 😁)

I have tried Trip Advisor/travel sites but some of those suggest eg Mull as a day trip and that just seems a long long day!

Thanks so much for any advice and suggestions!

There is a West Coast Motors bus to Oban but it's not until 12.30 and latest return is at 15.58, that gives you only two hours in Oban.
I'd rent a car at least for a day or two, then drive through Glencoe and Rannoch Moor.

@CrystalSingerFan did you read the bit about them being a bit lazy?? In early March Ben Nevis is definitely a technical walk. More than likely to be snow on the top and if the mist comes down you need to be able to navigate with a map and compass. The limited hours of daylight at that time of year will also be a challenge for some walkers.

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions… they are so helpful!

I realise March isn’t ideal timing for a Highlands trip 😂 The dates are driven by wanting to take the Caledonian sleeper for a big birthday

With all these great suggestions I’m thinking it might be nice to see say Oban this time around and plan a future (summer) trip to Inverness, the islands, the ferry from Maillag to the pub 😁, Eleanor castle and so on!

Am now very excited about the trip, planning to hire a car unless weather awful, and with these suggestions we have lots of options both in good & less good weather!

The comments on stricter drink driving rules, daylight hours (think should be light til 6ish) and weather have all been very useful, thank you

Amazing - I'm sure you'll have a blast @Anand25 ! If go ahead with the car option to Oban, I'd highly recommend a circular route to/from Oban from Connel. There's the main (sea) road down from Connel and also the inland road - think glens, highland cows, standing stones. Dunstaffnage castle on the main route down. Have fun!

@ShopMyWardrobe25 : this is brilliant, thank you for this suggestion

I think we can do:

1 - Road to the islands 1 date (coastal drive & glenfinnian viaduct)
2 - Oban - the circular route
3 - Nessie, Glencoe & Ben Nevis distillery 1 day

This seems quite a full itinerary but with so many helpful suggestions from the many posters to this thread I think we can pick some highlights if energy is lacking

Thanks so much to all for the comments and suggestions

Thinking about it I don't think there were many options to hire a car - I think we only found one in FW and none in Oban? I can't remember exactly. I would look into this straightaway and book well in advance as you might miss out leaving it last minute.

Had a quick look and there is a few more than I remember. We might have left it quite late and only had one option - even then they squeezed us for more money as they said they only had the more expensive cars to hire.

@Anand25 the circular route takes you back via Glencoe.

Thank you - this is half a day saved then 😀

@KarlaKK : thanks, agree, I have found 2 car hire places in FW so will be getting on with it (even though it’s not exactly peak season)

Sorry if I wasn't clear about the circular route - it adds about 30 mins. Only from Connel to Oban. Even with my bad navigation, no where near Glencoe!

(I'm clearly over invested in your holiday @Anand25 - while I should be doing housework!)

We did Oban in March a few years ago OP, with a day trip up to Fort William as well - it was a brilliant break! One of the locals told us if you don’t like the west he you only have to wait 5 minutes and it’ll have blown over! We had a fantastic trip, so don’t worry about it being the ‘wrong’ time of year! There are some nice restaurants and a good distillery in Oban. We also did a wildlife tour on Mull which was amazing, but not sure you’ll have time to squeeze that in!

Oh, you mean the backroad @ShopMyWardrobe25 I thought you meant going inland at Connel and going via Rannoch and Glencoe.

I didn't think there were many. Glad I remembered it.

Yes - although, on checking I did get the wrong road! It's the one from Taynuilt to Oban (me and navigation!!!!). Would likely add 1.5 hours on but I'd highly recommend it @Anand25 - even in misty / wet conditions, I feel it is very atmospheric and stunning.

That's the Glen Lonan road, that really is beautiful. I don't think it would take that long by car, I can cycle it in less than that unless there's an accident closing the main road, then it's total chaos usually.
Can I also recommend stopping at Connel Bridge (there's a carpark at the Northern end) and have a look at the Falls of Lora and across Loch Etive. That close to the equinox there's a good chance the kayakers are there.