Inverness to Fort William – Day 7 - c170 miles

Having said our goodbyes we leave the boat mid-morning and go to the hotel in Fort William by taxi. Looking for something to do we wander to the train station and see there is a train to Mallaig 84 miles away.

So on a whim we catch the train and when we see ourselves going over the Glenfinnan viaduct I realise we are on the Harry Potter line - considered ‘the greatest railway journey in the world’ (according to the tourist board).

Arriving in Mallaig it is very cold, raining hard and blowing a gale – we notice we’re the only ones not in full wet weather walking or cycling gear.

We ‘potter’ around the town and out to the port when the weather eases but rain comes back quickly. We look for a coffee to get out of the rain, killing time before the return journey. The train is packed again but we have seats and are dry and warm at least. We can’t see much of the scenery on the way back due to the foul weather, but it has stopped before we get into the station. We wander back to the hotel for a rest, then out for a meal and an early bed.