Hostels

Just catching up on all of the bookings. Clyde, Have you booked the Oban Backpackers hostel?
It's all looking good.

Inverness and the sleeper

I found Struy Guest House, Inverness, but not sure who wants it. It's very cheap - beds at £16  and a room for 4 for £64.

Also, out of my depth with regard to sleeper. Is 07:55 on the Saturday morning? Is there another overnight? I can see no Advance tickets at all and not sure how to break the journey up! 

Martin, you don't want to stay at Inverness? What time is that sleeper that you are boarding?

Secret Scotland, Sleeping Elephants and the Jacobite (Hogworts Express)!

By strange coincidence I caught an interesting travel program  on Channel 5 called 'Secret Scotland'. the episode shown on friday evening featured Ben Nevis, Loch Ness and the 'Hogworts Express' sorry ' The Jacobite

Lovely shots of the train on the Glenifinan Viaduct, of the foot plate and the 1st class carriage, Peter take note. Nice piece on Nessy of course as well as dolphins on the loch! Did anyone else know that they described the view of Ben Nevis from the farshore of Loch Liney as a sleeping elephant!

You can catch up on the program 'Loch Ness' featuring the diminutive comedian Susan Calman on channel5.com or My5. I am sure it will appear as a repeat somewhere in the schedule over the next week!

Latest thoughts on Scottish Trip

After spending some time on trains yesterday I had made some notes in a clear area of the Metro free paper, having not thought to bring anything more suitable. To my chagrin, on arriving home, I realised I had given the paper to a young mother and her 5 month old daughter so that she could use the table in the carriage to change her (after I had got off so no nasty sights/smells for me). We were on an old HST which has very few loos with changing facilities. A quick recheck suggests that Shawn's suggested hostels are good and cheaper than SYHA so I would be happy to go with them. The Jacobite steam train to Mallaig runs on 14th May, departing at 10:30 and arriving back at 16:00 - there is a 2 hoursish stop there to service the loco (it cannot be turned as there is no longer a turntable). The return fare is £37 standard or £60 first class. I don't think you get served with goodies in the 1st class. I would quite like to do this trip so, with a late afternoon return to FW we would need 2 nights there which would imply a Friday evening arrival into Inverness. The London sleeper train certainly runs on Friday nights or there is an 07:55 INV to Kings Cross via the East Coast route on Saturday morning. There is an SYHA hostel there as well as other private ones.

UPDATE

Yes the Jacobite does run on 14/05 but those who choose this option will be catching the 15/05 departure (same times). With thanks to Clyde for the correction.

A Google problem

I have discovered that, although I am the Blog Administrator, I cannot publish comments - any I write and click "publish" vanish into the ether. Obviously others among you have no such difficulty so maybe it is my Mac. So I am going to have to start a new post every time I have anything to add.

To follow up posts and comments:

I had only checked that there were SYHA hostels at each stop over but am happy to look at those offered by Shawn and compare prices, facilities etc. English YHA are offering 10% discounts on all bookings, including groups, for both accommodation and pre booked meals so worth a thought.

When train tickets are available for the relevant week, consideration should be given to booking separate tickets for each leg ie to Crewe, Crewe to Glasgow(Central) and Glasgow (Queen Street) to Oban. This could reduce the price to around £30 each way. I haven't taken my big bike on a Pendolino for a long time and am unsure of the cycle capacity but I am confident that Scotrail services offer 6 spaces - you do have to hang them upside down by the back wheel and booking is essential on the Highlands services due to demand.

I would be interested in a ride on the Jacobite but it would probably impinge on our overnight arrangements (and I would have to pay cos it's not run by National Rail).

Maps arrived planning can be begin!

Day planner with  Route Description 

 I have found hostels in Oban, Fort William and Fort Augustus that meet our budget and numbers. There seems to be limited availability of budget accommodation so I think it might be as well to book as soon as we can book rail tickets in a couple of weeks. FYI information and perusal

Monday 13/05/19   OBAN ; backpackers hostel

Tuesday 14/05/19   FORT William: Chase the Wild Goose Hostel

W'nesday 15/05/19 FORT William: As above ie 2 nights for train or hike/mountain climbing! on this rest day!

Thursday 16/05/19  Fort Augustus: Morags Hostel  ,FA

Friday    17/05/2019  Inverness SYH? or other suitable as people may well be travelling home overnight or next day might need to be flexible for now.

Any comments and alternative suggestions are welcome.

Scotland here we come.

At our recent meeting at the Brunswick attended by Maldwyn, Shawn, Clyde, Martin and Peter we discussed 2 possible routes in Scotland and one in Cornwall. Of these, the route on NCN78 from Oban to Inverness gained most favour but we did consider giving some thought to NCN7 from Dumbarton to Inverness.
The NCN78 route would involve travel to Oban (possible in 1 day from our location) and then the next day heading north. There seems to be a couple of options;
Oban to Fort William, FW to Fort Augustus and then the third day to Inverness. Distances are 80, 55 and 55 kms (approx)
An alternative which avoids the first long day is to stop at Glencoe YH the first night, then Invergarry and finally Inverness. This does mean a slight diversion away from NCN78 at the end of day 1 and then back at the start of day 2 but does balance the distances. Seeing Shawn's plan makes this even more of an advantage as we could meet up at Glencoe.
A quick check of possible train fares revealed (surprisingly) that if booked well in advance Monday travel is no more expensive than Tuesday so I would suggest that we get to Oban in the evening of Monday 13th May which implies Glencoe on 14th, Invergarry the 15th and overnight in Inverness on Thursday 16th. For those, like me, who fancy a fourth day doing a tour of the Black Isle (neither black nor an Isle) there would be a second night at Inverness SYH and travel home on Saturday (or the Friday night sleeper).
It is not long to go until we are less than 90 days from our trip at which point trains can be booked. I suggest that consideration is given to breaking the journey down to 3 legs; the first to Crewe, then CRE to Glasgow Central and finally Glasgow Queen Street to Oban. GLC and GLQ are less than a mile apart. Doing it this way takes advantage of Virgin trains cheap fares and then of Scotrail's generally more reasonable charges.

Found my way here again!

Hi anyone who has relocated the blog.

I am excited about our planned trip to the great glencoe and beyond. I would appreciate if Peter you could place an outline of our proposed Oban to Inverness Sojourn with examples of SYH on route that we are to stay at with dates and locations. My idea is that I will start off from Glasgow and cycle all the way to Glencoe on route 78 (The Caledonian way) and intercept you all there for the leg to Inverness.

I  can then work back from the point at which I intercept you to plan my train and overnight stay in Glasgie!

Still game!

S