Day 5-West Highlands/Inverness


Day 5-West Highlands/Inverness 

photo credit: https://travel.usnews.com/Scottish_Highlands_Scotland/Pictures/#gallery

Our EF Itinerary today kept us busy!  Today the group got a chance to see some of the scenery that was used in the Harry Potter films.   Including a train ride on the railway that was used in the movies to take young wizards off to Hogwarts.

Rick Steves talks about how much of the Hogwarts grounds from the HP Films is from the Scottish Highlands:

Scottish Highlands

Many of the movies' exterior shots — especially scenes of the Hogwarts grounds — were filmed in the craggy, cloudy Highlands of Scotland (mostly in the Fort William/Glencoe area).

The Hogwarts Express runs along the actual Jacobite Steam Train line (between Fort William and Mallaig). The movies show the train chugging across the real-life Glenfinnan Viaduct, where, in The Goblet of Fire, the Dementors stall the train and torture Harry. Nearby Loch Shiel and Loch Eilt, as well as Loch Morar (closer to Mallaig), were the stand-ins for the Great Lake in The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire. Steall Falls, at the base of Ben Nevis, is the locale for the Triwizard Tournament in The Goblet of Fire.

Other scenes filmed in the Highlands include a desolate hillside with Hagrid's stone hut in Glencoe, which was the main location for outdoor filming in The Prisoner of Azkaban. Exterior scenes for The Half-Blood Prince were filmed in Glencoe as well as in the small village of Glenfinnan.


Neptune's Staircase

After checking out of our hotel, the first stop of the day was at Neptune's Staircase.  The "staircase" is a series of 8 locks that ships can use to access Loch Linnhe from the Caledonian Canal all the way from the ocean.  Take a look at this time lapse video if you would like to see how much goes into this 90 minute journey just to travel 1/4 mile.

     

  


Fort William

Fort William is a quaint town where our train station was located.   Before our 12:12pm departure on the ScotRail local line from Fort William to Mallaig, we got to spend some free time in the town.  

        

Glenfinnan Viaduct/Train Ride

Traveling across the Glenfinnan Viaduct has been one of the things the entire group was looking forward to!   The 1 hour 38 minute train ride was incredibly beautiful for the entire trip, but everyone was especially excited when the conductor said we were approaching this famous landmark.  Traveling through the highlands on the train was so spellbinding that I decided to be in the moment and enjoy the incredible scenery instead of trying to take pictures that wouldn't do the area justice.  

    


Mallaig

The final stop on our train ride was the oceanside town of Mallaig,  Mallaig is situated on the Atlantic Ocean and provided our only glimpse of the Scottish Isles we will see on our trip.  This harbor town provided me with an opportunity to eat at a real "chippie" (authentic local Scottish Fish and Chips restaurant) called Jaffy's.  We also tried some (fried) Haggis which was not bad.  

    

    

Glenfinnan Monument

After Mallaig, we began our journey to the day's final stop, Inverness/Strathpeffer.  But first, we got to travel by our coach to Glenfinnan Monument where we also got to learn about the history of Bonnie Prince Charlie & the Battle of Culloden.  Plus we got to see the viaduct from below and snap plenty of pictures from that angle!  



   

    


Commandos Memorial/Invermoriston Falls

On the way to Inverness, we made a couple of quick stops to break up the long coach ride.  One to the Commando Veterans Memorial & the other at Invermoriston Falls.  


    

    


    

    

Tonight's Hotel Accommodations are at the Highland Hotel in Strathpeffer! Reminded me of the Shining as soon as we pulled up!

    
    

    

    

Here are some of today's photo highlights! 



        

      

      



       



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