Fort William

From Wikitravel

Sitting at the head of Loch Linnhe, Fort William is the major town of the South Western Scottish Highlands, Scotland. The High Street is the heart of the town - here you'll find most of the shops, pubs and restaurants and at its northern end, beyond the bypass, the bus and railway stations.

Table of contents
1 Get in

1.1 By bus
1.2 By train

2 Get around
3 See
4 Do
5 Buy
6 Eat
7 Drink
8 Sleep

8.1 Cheap
8.2 Camp

9 Get out
10 External links

Get in

By bus

Several coaches a day run to and from Glasgow, Oban, Kyle of Lochalsh, the Isle of Skye and Inverness. One a day runs to Mallaig and in summer a couple also go to Kingussie and Aviemore.

Local buses run to Kinlochleven via Glencoe.

By train

Several trains a day run to and from Glasgow via Crianlarich and Loch Lomond on the spectacular West Highland Railway and continue on the even more scenic route to Mallaig.

Get around

The centre of Fort William is small enough to get around on foot.

In summer local buses run to Glen Nevis Youth Hostel.

See

  • Soak in the views along the Loch-side

Do

  • Climb Ben Nevis - the highest mountain in Britain. Be sure to pack your waterproofs and don't be disappointed if you can't see anything from the top - most days it's covered in cloud.
  • In winter, skiing and snowboarding at the nearby Nevis Range [1] (http://www.nevisrange.co.uk/winter/), with a gondala and chairlifts up the hill.
  • In summer there are cross country and downhill mountain bike courses at Nevis Range. The UCI mountain bike World Cup has been hosted here several times. [2] (http://www.fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk/)

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Cheap

  • Bank Street Lodge [3] (http://www.bankstreetlodge.co.uk/) good quality hostel accommodation in the town centre
  • Glen Nevis Youth Hostel [4] (http://www.syha.org.uk/SYHA/web/site/Hostels/GlenNevis.asp). Several kilometres from town, but convenient for Ben Nevis and the West Highland Way.

Camp

  • Glen Nevis campsite [5] (http://www.glen-nevis.co.uk/touring.htm) Maybe not the cheapest, but good facilities in very nice scenery. Be warned that it can have a lot of midgies!

Get out

Fort William is at the end (for most people) of the West Highland Way long-distance footpath from Glasgow.

The scenic Road to the Isles (http://www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/) links Fort William with Mallaig passing Glenfinnan Viaduct.

External links