The Cullin from the railway

A fine, fine day out. We travelled the line from Inverness to the Kyle of Lochalsh, crossing from the east to west coast.

The further west we travelled, the better the weather. By the time we arrived at Kyle the skies were clear with hot sunshine. Those climbing the Cullin today would have had the day of their life.

Those of you who have travelled the line will know how beautiful the journey is. It really is one of the great railway journeys of the world. The last hour into Kyle are the most spectacular, hugging the coast of Loch Carron, a sublime sea loch.

The journey takes 2 and a half hours each way which for £28 return each makes it extremely good value for money. After that length of time we were ready for lunch of excellent haddock and chips, scone and coffee at the adjacent Hector’s Bar.

We walked it off with a short trip up to the Plock of Kyle for the all round spectacular views of Skye, the Cullin, Loch Carron and the Sound of Sleat. Words cannot adequately describe how beautiful it was it all was.

Most of the journey back was as superb as the journey out until just before Garve station when the guard announced that the train was being terminated at the station owing to a technical fault on the train from Inverness.

Our train returned to Kyle with passengers from the failed train while we were taken by bus back to Inverness arriving back only 20 minutes late.

What a day!