HOSTELS IN WEST SCOTLAND, OBAN, FORT WILLIAM, MALLAIG

We want to take you on a whirlwind tour of the beautiful western Highlands and islands. From Glasgow we travel north to Crianlarich, then west to Oban whence you can diverge to Mull, Iona and other islands. Back at Crianlarich we go north to Fort William with Ben Nevis. If you have only 1 to 3 days to spare, those areas have more than enough brilliant scenery to make your trip fully worthwhile.
But that is just the first course! We continue west, through more exquisite mountain and lake scenery with a few white sand beaches thrown in, to Mallaig. From there, you can reach more islands, either on a day trip or to stay awhile. The most rewarding ferry takes you over the sea to the Isle of Skye, which itself has enough fabulous scenery to last a week. We cross back to Kyle of Lochalsh and work our way north to the north coast. If you have a week you could just manage all of this, but it would be a rush.

---

QUICK LOOK-UP TABLE

• North to Crianlarich From verdant to impressive -- a variety of scenery.
• Oban Lively town, sea, views & glorious sunsets
• Mull, Iona & Southern Islands Fantastic scenery of sea, lochs and mountains.
• Glencoe and Rannoch Moor Giant looming mountains and desolate bog.
• Glen Spean Lovely scenery, off the main tourist routes.
• Fort William Base for Ben Nevis, and start of the Great Glen.
• The Road to the Isles Beautiful scenery, enshrined in history and song.
• Isle of SkyeFantastic range of scenery -- and lots of wind and rain
• The Outer Hebrides Another world.
• The Far Northwest Intricate and fantastic landscape.
• The North Coast Bleak and breezy.

OUTLINE OF THE AREA

Go 30 km NW of Glasgow and you get your first view of beautiful Loch Lomond -- soft verdant slopes, a broad lake with wooded islands, and a background of mountains. This gentle beauty develops as you go farther north into a wilder, and eventually weirder, beauty. The far northwest of Scotland is a region of small lakes in a rock-strewn, heather-covered landscape with isolated mountains of all manner of shapes, separated by long fingers of sea. In good weather, the only words are fantastic, amazing and magnificent -- all the way. In poor weather, well at least the waterfalls look good, and you get fine panoramas from the car, bus or train. If the weather is bad, stick it out because when the rain and clouds clear it is brilliant in every sense; and go to the coast where the cloud breaks last longer.

Trains and buses thread the region and offer fantastic views all the way. You may be in a hurry to get to Skye or the Western Isles, and they are well worth it, but if you have a little time, stop over at almost any hostel for 2 or 3 nights and you will have a choice of easy, moderate and strenuous hikes all over the open hillsides.

Transport to the region

Trains are expensive for individual journeys, and therefore for loops, so use a railpass or buy 2-way tickets.

Long-distance buses are cheaper than trains and just as quick, but fewer.

Several backpacker tour companies cover many places in this region.

Trains leave Glasgow (Queen Street station) for Crianlarich several per day. The evening train is useful because you can stay the night at Crianlarich or Tyndrum then take a morning train to points farther. Trains leave Crianlarich for Fort William (2 hours) and Mallaig (a further 1 hour 20 mins), and for Oban (1 hour). On Sundays there are some trains.

Express buses run from Glasgow to Oban (4 per day, 3 on Sunday, 3 hrs), Fort William (4 per day, 3 hrs), and Skye (3 per day, 6 hrs). From Edinburgh there is 1 bus per day to Oban (4 hrs) and Skye (7 hrs).

From Inverness: trains leave at 0855, 1045, 1240 and 1800 for Kyle of Lochalsh. The first two connect with a bus which runs across Skye. For the far northwest, take the train from Inverness (0725, 1129 & 1730) to Lairg (1.5 hrs) or Thurso (3.5 hrs) then a connecting bus. On Sundays there are 2 trains per day from Inverness on each route, but only in summer.

Hostels

We have visited many of the hostels in the region, and their standard ranges from good to outstanding. Nearly all are situated in outstanding locations with good to stunning views and walks from the hostel door.

---

NORTH TO CRIANLARICH

Balloch at the foot of Loch Lomond is easy to reach by train every half-hour from Glasgow. An excellent place to stay, if you don't mind a 2-mile walk or can find a bus (5 per day from Glasgow or Balloch), is the giant castle-like hostel with excellent views of the loch:

Halfway up the loch, the longest lake in Britain, is a hostel beautifully situated on the eastern shore:

This is hard to reach, involving a bus (5 per day) up the west shore then a ferry from Inverbeg (may not be running), otherwise you have a long detour and a walk. But it's worth it because you can climb Ben Lomond, one of the easiest and most beautiful mountains in Scotland, in 2 hours from the hostel door.

Inveraray is a small planned town in a delightful situation on a sea loch yet 30 miles from the real sea. It has a fine castle and a steep woodland walk up to an excellent viewpoint. There are buses from Glasgow and Oban, passing the rail station at Tarbert (about 4 per day). It has a pleasant small hostel.

If you really like bus travel, you can go for a further 2hr 40m right the way down the Mull of Kintyre, but there is no known hostel there so make sure you can get back to Inveraray.

Back to the rail line, you continue to Crianlarich, in the heart of the mountains with tall towering peaks, but unfortunately it is often cloudy here. About 12km farther on is Tyndrum, a tourist village with good facilities. There are comfortable hostels in both places. Crianlarich SYHA is right beside the rail station, but is closed in winter months:

Between Crianlarich and Tyndrum is an unusual hostel:

Tyndrum is the smallest place in Britain to have 2 railway stations. Tyndrum's excellent hostel is right by the lower station, and even closer by the West Highland Way, hence its name:

---

OBAN

By train, car or bus, you may now strike west, through further magnificent scenery, to the coastal town of Oban. The SYHA hostel is farthest to walk to, but is a large spacious building with magnificent sea views. Waterfront Lodge is a little nearer, also with fine sea views. The others are among the town streets.

(SYHA Oban Lodge has only large private rooms.)

MULL, IONA & SOUTHERN ISLANDS

There are so many Scottish islands that you might be tempted to do some island hopping. But it often doesn't really work out that way, due to schedules and availability of accommodation. For example, you can travel to island X only on Mon, Wed and Sat, but the hostel has vacancies on Wed and Thu only. You leave island X on Wed but the first ferry to island Y leaves Oban on Fri afternoon. So the best plan is to choose maybe 2 islands that you can explore in detail.We will tell you which islands we know to have a hostel.

Transport

Oban is the best place to get a boat to numerous islands.

MULL

Mull is a large island and deserves several days to itself, but you can see quite a lot in 2 days. It has a limited bus service. Ferries go from Oban to Mull several times a day, and take cars and bikes.

You can stay in tents close to the ferry terminal at Craignure:

On the road to Tobermory, close to the ferry to Lochaline on the mainland peninsula of Morvern, you come to:

Or on to the little town of Tobermory:

On the delightful north coast is a bunkhouse at Dervaig (3 buses per day from Tobermory, not Sun):

IONA

Iona is a tiny island. It's a marvellous place, with fine walks over small hills and to seashores with lots of peaceful corners and amazing views to other islands. It's great to visit for a day, and if you have a car you can park it free at Fionnphort and take the ferry (half-hourly). However it is a long way from any hostels on Mull, and buses are infrequent, so you may prefer to stay overnight. Bring your food and walk a mile from the ferry to the excellent hostel, superbly equipped, at the north end of the island:

Iona is steeped in Christian history, and you may want to go there to join in a Christian spiritual environment, in which case you can stay at:

Kerrera

is a small island just off the coast at Oban, with frequent ferries. You can stay in:

Colonsay

Islay

---

GLENCOE & RANNOCH MOOR

From Crianlarich go north. Don't take a book to read: the scenery is fantastic, sometimes bleak, sometimes wild, sometimes cosy. The train stops at several convenient stations, while the express bus (4 per day incl Sun) will drop you on the main road at the nearest point to the following hostels.

By bus or car, the road takes you first between impressive but austere mountains to Bridge of Orchy. The road then crosses the desolate but weirdly picturesque Rannoch Moor and descends through awe-inspiring Glencoe, a good base for serious mountain walks. At the foot of the glen, buses will drop you at Glencoe village then a 3 km walk brings you to 2 good hostels:

You can deviate here from the main route and go to Kinlochleven, a large village with shops and banks among exquisite scenery and a perfect base for high mountain walks. (Buses 6 per day, and evening, from Glencoe). You can stay at

Continuing on the main road, you come to Onich which has a fine new hostel with local walks nearby:

If you go by train, you cross a stretch of desolate moorland and come to two stations in the middle of nowhere. At the second, Corrour, where there is not even a road, get out and walk a mile to one of the most remote of all hostels (electricity from wind turbine, water pumped from loch, carry in all your food):

---

GLEN SPEAN

The railway continues beside lochs and steep mountainsides into forested valleys, giving access to some lovely walking country with glens large and small, some lochs and backed by tall mountains. This area (Glen Spean) is much quieter and prettier than Fort William, yet if you have transport it is just as accessible to Ben Nevis. It has several very good hostels, two of which are close to rail stations:

The following hostel, located between the other two close to the main road, is excellent but not easy to use without a car:

At the NE end of Glen Spean at Laggan, is a convenient and comfortable bunkhouse: Pottery Bunkhouse .

---

FORT WILLIAM

The town of Fort William has little to commend it, but it has a full range of shops and banks. But it is close to Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis, which you can occasionally see through the clouds, as this is one of the wettest areas of Britain.

The track up Ben Nevis is easy, and well worth the effort if the weather is fine. But it is long, and VERY exposed. Do take proper care, and be prepared to turn back if the weather deteriorates or if there is difficult snow underfoot. You can start the walk from Fort William, or take a bus up Glen Nevis (hourly, summer only) to shorten the route.

There is a whole cluster of hostels within 10 miles of Fort William. The best ones for climbing Ben Nevis are those in Glen Nevis.

There are two hostels on the edge of town, both of which we can recommend:

Also in town are:

Outside the town, close to tracks up Ben Nevis:

Banavie is 5km from Fort William, next to the Caledonian Canal and with fine mountain views. It has a hostel:

Corpach is 7 km west of Fort William, with good views, not close to walks but with frequent buses to Fort William, and on the bus and train route to Mallaig. Here you can stay at:

The SMIDDY Bunkhouse appears to have only private rooms, hence is not cost-effective for solo travellers.

---

THE ROAD TO THE ISLES

This is the route from Fort William to Mallaig and thence to Skye. Whether you travel by train or road, you get a large dose of concentrated scenery.

Halfway to Mallaig, Glenfinnan is both a scenic and a historical gem, a centre for walks, and has an unusual hostel:

Some 13 km off this route, with 2 buses a day from Fort William, is:

Finally you reach Mallaig. From here you can take a ferry to Skye, or jump off to several islands or remote peninsulas. If you need an overnight there is a homely hostel right by the station and pier:

"Island hopping" is not always very practicable due to combining boat schedules with hostel vacancies. You can visit Rum, Eigg and Muck for one day trips, but only on some days of the week. But it is good to spend at least one night on an island, and there are hostels on all of them.

From Mallaig, ferries run once a day to Eigg and Muck. To get to or from Rum, ferries run on some days from Mallaig at different times of day, and on other days from Arisaig which is two stations along the rail line (if the trains connect adequately!) You can leave cars at either location near the ferry free of charge.

Eigg has some fine walks over impressive hills, and you can stay at:

Muck is a small low-lying island closest to the mainland. Ferries go there from Mallaig and Arisaig, on different days. It has a bunkhouse:

Rum is a fairly large island with only 37 inhabitants in one village. Be prepared to do some walking in this wilderness with many fine views. The comfortable hostel in the castle is very good value, but take all your food with you or buy their expensive meals:

The remote Knoydart peninsula is effectively an island, with ferries from Mallaig:

---

ARDNAMURCHAN PENINSULA

Not many tourists come to this area, which lies west of Fort William, south of Mallaig and north of the Isle of Mull. Ardnamurchan used to be a backwater with a few villages and single-track roads. You really need a car to explore this area, but the roads have been greatly improved, yet are still quiet and drving is a delight! It's great for cycling also, as the valleys are at or near sea level and connect with each other, so there are few hills on the main roads. Access is very easy from the Corran Ferry (every half hour) between Glencoe and Fort William, from Mallaig, or by ferry from Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. And the scenery is just as great as in the rest of the Highlands!

Apart from the fine scenery, it includes two features of note: It has the westernmost point on the mainland of Great Britain; and it includes the village of Strontian, with its deserted lead mines where the metal Strontium was first discovered.

Until recently there were no hostels in this stretch of country, and it is therefore pleasing to note a new bunkhouse near Strontian, in the centre of the area. You need a car or bike to adequately reach this lovely spot, but once there, there are some good local walks, and an amazingly beautiful "hidden valley" within 10km.

---