Glenfinnan Viaduct/Castle Tioram

The Great Scottish Adventure

Day 7
Glenfinnan Viaduct/Castle Tioram

First stop for the day is the Glenfinnan Viaduct where the Jacobite Steam Train (maybe better known to some of you as the Hogwarts Express from the Harry Potter movies) crosses. We planned to be there an hour before the crossing as there is a bit of a hike up the hillside for the best view.

Upon arriving at the parking lot, we were turned away due to the lot being full and the size of the campervan. Ugh! We had to drive at least a mile further up the hilly road before finding a suitable spot to park. On top of that, it was pouring rain. Now hurried by time to make it for the crossing, we trudged along on the side of the narrow twisting road. Much of it with no sidewalk and the traffic whizzing by spraying us with more water.

In the end, our efforts paid off, and we were able to witness the 30 second spectacle. A lot of effort for such a short payoff, but now we can say we did it and have a great story to tell! It was crazy how many people were there braving out the weather!

The next stop was to be Castle Tioram. That is until Harmony saw signs for the Arisaig Highland Games going on today and not too far from where we were. How cool would it be to watch Highland Games IN the Scottish Highlands! So we mapped out the location in Google maps and made our way as quickly as possible. But when we got there about an hour after start time, it appeared that it had been canceled due to the weather. Bummer!

So we made our way to Castle Tioram on Loch Moidart about an hour away. This turned out to be a terrifying and very stressful ride, as most of the drive was on crazy tight winding single-track roads full of blind corners. But we made it safely and were greeted to another incredible castle.

This one is only accessible by foot at low tide as it sits on a small island that is cut off when the tide comes in. Good planning and a tide table put us there at exactly the right time!

After Tioram, we made our way to Camusdarach Campsite for the night. A cute little camp a 1/4 mile from the ocean. After dinner we took the short walk to the shore and ended up on an overgrown trail bashing through some prickly bramble. The view of the ocean was beautiful though!

Tomorrow we go to the Isle Of Skye! Many adventures to come…