Scotland Without a Car? No Problem

Scotland had been on our travel wish list for a long time. The only obstacle was finding suitable flights from Slovenia, which were usually either inconvenient or too expensive. When EasyJet introduced a direct route from Ljubljana, there was nothing left to think about. The tickets were booked. It really was that simple.

Then came the more challenging part: finding a solution and putting together a plan that would actually work.

How do you explore Scotland without a car?

Renting a car was never a serious option for us. Maybe we would have considered it if we had been traveling as a couple, but even then I'm not sure we would have chosen that route. Driving on the left side of the road had never appealed to us. Traveling with our two daughters made the decision even easier.

Since we almost always rely on public transportation when we travel, the choice was quite straightforward. We would explore Scotland by train and bus.

The first step was booking our train tickets from Edinburgh to Inverness. I bought them about two months before departure through the Trainline app and quickly realized that booking early really pays off. Had I waited until just before the trip, the same tickets would have cost several times more.

Another advantage is that you can choose your seats when booking. At that moment, it feels like everything is under control. Or at least that's what I thought. Later we discovered that having reserved seats doesn't always mean you'll actually get to sit in them.

One purchase that proved especially worthwhile was the Family & Friends Railcard. It is valid for two years and gives families significant discounts on train travel. If you're planning several rail journeys around Scotland, it quickly pays for itself.

There are several trains a day between Edinburgh and Inverness, giving you plenty of departure options. That's especially useful if Inverness isn't your final destination. Since we wanted to spend our first night by Loch Ness, we still had about a thirty-minute bus ride ahead of us to the village of Drumnadrochit.

I deliberately didn't buy the bus tickets in advance. The train journey takes almost four hours, and I didn't want to worry about what might happen if our train was delayed. Since buses run frequently, we had no trouble buying our tickets after arriving in Inverness.

In the end, all of our concerns about traveling this way turned out to be unnecessary. Exploring Scotland without a car is not only possible, but surprisingly easy. Instead of concentrating on driving on the left side of the road, I could simply look out of the window and watch the landscape gradually change as the Scottish Highlands unfolded before us.

The train journey wasn't just a way of getting from one place to another. It became an important part of the experience of discovering Scotland.

Departure

The entire planning of our eleven-day trip was shaped by one simple idea: we would not need a car. That is why we chose our accommodation mainly based on its proximity to train and bus stations.

In Edinburgh, we stayed just a five-minute walk from Haymarket Station, one of the city’s main transport hubs. This meant that arriving from the airport, and later leaving for the north, was not particularly complicated.

This day was entirely about moving north. Trains run frequently, but I chose a morning train just before nine. That way, we would not have to get up in the middle of the night, and we would still arrive in Inverness early enough to have a calm look around before continuing by bus towards Loch Ness.

The platform was full of people, but I was not too concerned. We had our tickets, our seats were reserved, and I also knew which carriage we needed to be in.

At first, I had to find somewhere to put our two large backpacks. The few luggage racks were already full, so I tried to squeeze them into the corner near the bicycle storage area.

Meanwhile, I told the girls to find our seats.

Just as I was trying to fit the last backpack into place, they came back.

"Our seats aren't there."

For a moment, I just stood there.

What do you mean they aren't there?

I went to check for myself.

They really weren't.

The carriage was completely full. Finding four empty seats together was out of the question.

Now what?

Just then, a member of the onboard catering team walked past with a trolley of snacks. I asked him what was going on.

He explained that, due to technical problems, they had to replace the scheduled train. Instead of the planned six-carriage train, only a three-carriage train had arrived, so the seat reservations were no longer valid.

In the end, we found four empty seats scattered throughout the carriage and ended up sitting separately, as if we had fallen out with each other.

I should add that the staff later apologized several times for the inconvenience.

Once the initial frustration faded and I saw that the girls were perfectly happy, I relaxed as well. I turned my attention to the view outside the window. Scotland lay ahead.

Unlike the bus, which leaves Edinburgh and heads north almost immediately, although the journey takes a little longer, the railway first curves west before continuing towards the Scottish Highlands.

Heading North

The train quickly gathers speed as it passes the suburbs of Edinburgh, and before long, the city is behind us. A city that had completely won us over in just two and a half days. You can't help wondering what the rest of the journey will bring. If it has started this well, what awaits us in the north?

By the way, Edinburgh didn't show us its most famous side during our visit. In two and a half days, not a single drop of rain fell. We enjoyed sunshine, temperatures of around 15°C, and only a light breeze. For Scotland, the weather was almost unbelievable.

Once the city finally disappears beyond the horizon, the landscape begins to take on that unmistakable Scottish character. Large fields of bright yellow rapeseed stretch between stone walls and isolated farmhouses, creating, together with the lush green meadows, a scene that stays with you from the very first miles of the journey.

Vlak mirno drsi skozi manjše kraje. Tu cerkev, tam graščina, malo naprej osamljena kamnita hiša. Kamen je skoraj povsod glavni gradbeni material in pokrajini daje povsem drugačen videz.

Braveheart

As the train approaches Falkirk, an unusual steel structure briefly appears among the trees on the left. The train passes it in a matter of seconds, but it is almost impossible to miss. It is the Falkirk Wheel, the world's only rotating boat lift, built to connect two canals at different heights.

As you travel north, it almost feels as though you are traveling back through time. Between Falkirk and Stirling, the railway passes places closely connected to the story of William Wallace. Near Stirling, he won his greatest victory, defeating a much larger English army against all odds. Near Falkirk, which we had just passed, he suffered his greatest defeat less than a year later. Yet it did not bring an end to his story. Instead, he became a lasting symbol of Scotland's fight for freedom.

As the train approaches Stirling, the impressive Wallace Monument comes into view on a hilltop. Built nearly six centuries after his death, it still stands today as a tribute to the man whose story was introduced to the world by the film Braveheart.

As the tower slowly disappears around the bend, the railway line finally turns north.

Into the Scottish Highlands

The landscape begins to change. Gentle hills gradually give way to higher ground, small lochs start appearing beside the railway, and near Perth the train crosses its first major river, a quiet sign that the Scottish Highlands are just ahead.

Many passengers got off here, so at last we were able to sit together.

If there is one thing this railway has in abundance, it is sheep. Wherever you look, they are there. Meadow after meadow, flock after flock. White, black, adults, lambs. They are almost impossible to count. Even where it seems there is nothing but grass, another flock is usually grazing in the distance.

Beyond Perth, the railway begins its climb into the Scottish Highlands. Forests gradually give way to the open moorlands of the Cairngorms National Park. The landscape becomes increasingly vast, the trees begin to disappear, streams run alongside the tracks, and rounded peaks rise in the distance, with patches of snow still visible even in late April.

By this point, it already feels as though you are high in the mountains. Then, in a split second, a sign flashes past the window. Highest Point on Rail Network. Out of the corner of your eye, you just manage to catch the number above it.

453 metres.

I have to admit, I expected it to be much higher. But that is exactly the charm of the Scottish Highlands. They do not impress with their elevation, but with their endless sense of openness and wilderness. It feels as though you are travelling far into the north.

By then, you are no longer thinking about how many miles remain before Inverness. You simply sit by the window and enjoy the view. It was moments like these that convinced me we had made the right decision to travel by train.

Inverness

During the final part of the journey, the landscape changes once again. As the train descends, it crosses numerous bridges spanning rivers and streams, each offering beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. In the distance, wind turbines slowly turn, while the bright yellow rapeseed fields of the south give way to dense yellow gorse, a familiar feature of this part of Scotland.

We stepped off the train just after noon. The platform was busy, which came as no surprise. Inverness is the main transport hub of the Scottish Highlands and the starting point for exploring the northern part of the country. From here, routes branch off towards Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye, the North Coast, and many other remote corners of the Highlands.

Our first stop was the bus station, located right next to the railway station. We bought our tickets, left our backpacks in the luggage lockers, and headed into the city.

Just a few minutes later, as you step out of a narrow street onto the banks of the River Ness, one of Inverness's finest views opens up before you. On the opposite bank stands a row of stone buildings, while on this side the slender spire of the Gothic cathedral rises above the river. Behind you, perched on a hill, stands Inverness Castle.

It feels as though someone had set out to capture everything you imagine Scotland to be within just a few hundred metres.

Just below the castle, we found a restaurant for lunch before crossing the bridge to the other side of the river. The River Ness is neither blue nor green, but a light brownish orange. As I later discovered, its distinctive colour comes from the many peat bogs in its upper catchment, which naturally tint the water.

As we walked back across the bridge, a strong wind suddenly picked up. At that very moment, a street musician began playing Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind. Coincidence or not, the song could not have matched the moment more perfectly. The wind carried the melody along the river as we slowly made our way past a traditional Scottish cemetery and back towards the bus station.

One final journey still lay ahead, taking us to the place said to be home to Scotland's most famous legend.

Drumnadrochit (Dram-na-DRO-hit)

While waiting for the right bus, I spent the time practising the pronunciation of the village that was our destination for the day: Drumnadrochit. Somehow, the combination of letters ch almost guarantees that you'll pronounce it incorrectly the first time. ch vedno pripravi do tega, da ime izgovoriš narobe.

Before we set off, the driver introduced himself over the loudspeaker and gave everyone a warm welcome. After sharing a few practical announcements, he reminded passengers that drinking alcohol and smoking were not allowed on the bus. Then, with a smile, he added that if anyone happened to need the toilet or suddenly felt like a cigarette along the way, they should just let him know and he would make a short stop.

It was obvious that he genuinely enjoyed his job. And this wasn't a tourist coach, but an ordinary scheduled bus service.

That alone puts you in a good mood from the very beginning of the journey. In fact, throughout this trip we met more smiling, relaxed, and genuinely friendly people than anywhere else we had travelled. And they were all at work. There is a difference between the kind of friendliness a job requires and the kind that comes naturally. Here in Scotland, we encountered the latter again and again.

Just a few minutes after leaving Inverness, Scotland's most famous loch comes into view on the left: Loch Ness. Stretching for almost 37 kilometres, it is one of the country's largest lochs. Its great depth and dark, peat-stained water give it an atmosphere of mystery that never quite disappears.

The bus covered the miles quickly. For most of the journey, the trees hide the loch from view, but every now and then they part just enough to reveal a glimpse of the legendary Loch Ness, said to conceal the prehistoric creature affectionately known as Nessie somewhere in its deep waters.

Just before reaching Drumnadrochit, the ruins of Urquhart Castle come into view on a rocky headland. This is the very castle that appears in almost every documentary whenever the mysteries of Loch Ness are explored.

At the End of the Village

The bus stop is at one end of the village, while our accommodation was almost at the other, so we still had a short walk ahead of us. But it was anything but boring.

Within a few minutes, we caught our first glimpse of the famous Highland cattle. With their long horns and shaggy fringes covering their eyes, they looked as though they were badly in need of a haircut.

A little farther on, we passed a field where people were playing hockey, and another where a game of bowls was underway. Both on grass, of course.

At last, we arrived. A cosy family apartment with bunk beds was waiting for us, just the right size for the next two nights.

For a while, we considered walking down to the loch. Then we noticed a small stream flowing right beside the house. The sun was still pleasantly warm, and a few wooden benches stood along the water's edge.

Our plan for an evening walk was forgotten in an instant. I went to buy two Cokes and two beers.

There would be plenty of time for the loch tomorrow.