Fort William

The Great Glen is a long fault line slicing diagonally across the Highlands. Inland along its valley are a string of freshwater lakes: Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness. The southwest end of the valley is flooded by the sea to create a fjord, Loch Linnhe. The glen has always been a natural transport route, which nervous London rulers sought to control by a series of fortresses: Fort George and Inverness Castle at the northeast end, Fort Augustus in the middle, and Fort William at the southwest end. In 1745-46 the Jacobites smashed their way down this line of dominos and besieged Fort William, but it not only stood firm, but launched counter-attacks, a tough Hanoverian thistle in the rebels' backsides.

In the aftermath the kilt was banned and the Highlanders repressed, then the kilt and Highland customs were re-invented for genteel tastes in the late Georgian era as Scottish tourism was born. The town's original settlement and medieval castle were a couple of miles north at Inverlochy, but gravitated south to the new fort and harbour. In 1822 the Caledonian Canal was built through the Great Glen: interminable wars with France made the Channel too dangerous, but rounding Cape Wrath in the far north was also dangerous, hence the need for a navigable short cut. The post-Napoleonic peace made the canal redundant from the outset but it's now used by pleasure craft. The railway arrived in 1894 and tourist traffic boomed.

Tourist information is at Fort William iCentre, 15 High St, open daily 9:30AM-5PM.

By plane:

Inverness Airport (INV IATA) is the closest, but since you need to hire a car anyway it's better to use Glasgow Airport.

Glasgow Airport (GLA IATA) has a better choice of flights and fares. Turn west onto M8 and cross the Erskine Bridge to join A82 northwards past Loch Lomond; maybe 2 hr 30 min to drive.

Oban Airport (OBN IATA) has flights to the Hebrides (effectively a flying school bus) but no connection to the mainland air network.

By train:

Trains from Glasgow Queen Street take four hours via Dumbarton, Helensburgh, Arrochar & Tarbet (for Loch Lomond), Crianlarich (where a portion divides for Oban) and Spean Bridge. There are five daytime trains M-Sa and two on Sunday. They continue west on the scenic West Highland Line to Glenfinnan, Arisaig and Mallaig, for ferries to Skye.

The Caledonian Highland Sleeper runs Su-F from London Euston, departing around 9:30PM to arrive at 10AM. (It divides at Edinburgh for Aberdeen and Inverness.) The southbound train leaves around 8PM (Sunday 7PM) to reach Euston towards 08:00. No trains on Saturday night. Compartments have two berths and are sold like hotel rooms: you pay extra for single occupancy, and you won't be sharing with a stranger. Tickets can be booked at any UK mainline railway station or online: the one-way fare in 2023 is £270 for two adults. You can also just use the sitting saloon, single £75. Pricing is dynamic with weekends costing more, if there are berths available. Booking is open 12 months ahead: you need to print out your e-ticket to present on boarding. You can also use the sleeper as a day-train between Dumbarton and Fort William, but it doesn't pick up in Glasgow.