Touring Mistiness of Scottish Highlands by Train

We woke up our first morning on the Highlander Pullman train cruise of Scotland still tired from the flight over and the busyness of London. But when we opened the blinds of our compartment, our spirits lifted: The Scottish Highlands were all around us, hardly inhabited and utterly lovely.

Mist clung to the tops of the Cairngorm Mountains as they poured their lacework of rivulets into braes below. Geese flew overhead, and the countryside looked quiet and welcoming in the soft morning light.

At breakfast, an epicure’s delight, we viewed the snow-capped Cairngorms from our private little niche, feeling warm and snug and spoiled. It was panache with privacy, this traveling hotel. And the easy adventure from London to the northernmost region of Scotland is probably one of the best ways to see the Scottish countryside.

The three-day, three-night Highlander is offered by Pullman Rail’s American agent. It’s first class all the way, from the first night’s lodging in London to the train and the cuisine.

So much care is given to ensure smooth operation that Pullman’s general manager, Bernard Staite, and his wife, Dorothy, accompany each trip. Not only did the Staites make sure that everything went off without a hitch, they kept us entranced with anecdotes about the Highlands.

Pullman uses British Rail’s InterCity coaches. In 1985, BritRail spent $573 million for buying new cars, refitting its 1960s vintage fleet and making line improvements. We rode aboard the refurnished coaches, whose shiny teak walls remain original, but whose interiors are now a plum and royal blue and so quiet that you hardly know you’re traveling by rail.

Each of the sleeper compartments has a washbowl; bathrooms are a few steps down the hallway, but there are no showers on board. For the two nights spent on the train, bathing stops are made at hotels. Perhaps to compensate for that slight inconvenience, window seats are guaranteed to all passengers during the day.

That’s where the true delight of these trips lies. You have unrestricted views of numerous castles, ruins and steepled churches, and glide through forests of aspen, birch and larch, sometimes so close that branches brush the train.

Stops in Small Towns

Other areas are pastoral, broken up by ancient rock walls bordering fields of grain. Along the coast we watched full-canvas sailboats running with the wind, and passed fishing boats casting out nets. The train makes many brief stops at small towns, where there’s time for a quick trip to the station’s pub (worth the visit just for the local color) or a look around town.

You’ll also cross territory that made rail travel famous; Britain is, after all, the country that pioneered railways. The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened here in 1825 as the first public passenger railway in the world powered by steam. A century of nationwide development followed, giving British engineers the experience to build reputable railways in India, Malaysia, Canada and Brazil.

The Highlander enters that historic territory from London’s St. Pancras Station, the world’s largest covered railway hub, on a Friday evening. A kilt-clad bagpiper escorts you aboard to the skirl of his pipes, and soon after departure dinner is served.

On our first night out it was game Highland soup, grilled Scotch salmon steak, asparagus tips, whole baked tomato and minted new potatoes. Dessert was strawberry meringue, followed by cheese, salad and biscuits, coffee and mints.

A full wine list is offered, as well as other spirits. Breakfast and lunch are equally elegant, and with advance notice any special menu will be accommodated.

The train covers about 400 miles the first night, so you awaken to the Cairngorms just south of Inverness, capital of the Highlands and gateway to Loch Ness.

In Inverness, the sleeper cars are detached and you’ll ride aboard an observation and lounge car for the day. You cross the Caledonian Canal, a series of locks that permit inland travel for merchant ships, on a heading to John o’Groats, the northernmost village on mainland Britain.

On the way, the Highlander meanders through small towns and tiny fishing villages, skirting firths where arms of the sea extend inland. You’ll stop in Golspie on the North Sea where those who wish to golf may detrain to play a round at royal Dornach, the third-oldest golf course in Scotland.

Cruising the Coast

Passengers who stay aboard continue cruising along Scotland’s coast, then head inland across wild, open moor. At the fishing town of Thurso, you’ll board buses for a drive past the Queen Mother’s Castle of Mey to John o’Groats. From there, on a clear day, you can see north across Pentland Firth to the Orkney Islands.

You’ll head back to Golspie to retrieve the golfers, then return to Inverness, arriving about 9 p.m., after covering a surprisingly relaxing 290 miles. Lodging that night is in the Palace Hotel in the shadow of Inverness Castle.

The next day you’ll travel on Britain’s most scenic railway line to Kyle of Lochalsh, about 70 miles. The route sweeps through some of Europe’s most pristine countryside before arriving in Lochalsh, where you board a ferry for an outing to the Isle of Skye.

At 670 square miles, the volcanic island is the largest of the Inner Hebrides and has for years been shrouded in mystery.

One elderly gentleman on the ferry told us a couple of ghostly Scottish legends while we sailed over. After landfall at Kyleakin, visitors tour Southern Skye, then it’s back to Inverness for the night. The evening is free.

Very early the next morning, the Highlander fires up for a journey northwest and a diversion along a rail line closed to all other passenger service. A real treat, this line descends several miles into a valley of moor, dells and glades, terminating in Dufftown, where you’ll tour the Glenfiddich Distillery, founded in 1887 and one of about a dozen distilleries in the Grampian region.

There you can have a “wee dram or two” of blended or straight Scotch, and buy what you’d like. Glenfiddich’s park-like setting makes an ideal place for stretching your legs, too.

Golfing Detour

After the interlude at Glenfiddich you’ll reboard the Highlander for a trip through the farmlands of the northeast, along Scotland’s west coast, then stop at Dundee.

Golfers may detrain for a three-day, two-night detour to Gleneagles, where they can choose from four 18-hole courses. In 1984, $570-million worth of new golf facilities were added at Gleneagles, the first major golfing alterations since the hotel opened in 1924.

The hotel is surely one of the best-known “19th holes”: In the middle of the Perthshire moor, it was built on a 750-acre estate by the Old Caledonian Railway Co. and has long been considered the best hotel in Britain.

Those who stay aboard the Highlander cross the Tay Bridge to arrive at St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf. There, golfers may disembark to test the sumptuous links of the Old Course, which dates back to the 1400s. Those who choose this golf option will stay at the comfortable Old Course Hotel.

If you continue south, you have the option of a three-hour tour or three-day stay in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city.

For those not staying in Edinburgh, the Highlander continues to York, England’s best-preserved medieval city, with its lighted 13th-Century walls and gates. A three-day tour option of York is also offered.

Our tour was coordinated through Capricorn Tours Inc., the American agent for InterCity/ Pullman Rail. For more information, contact Capricorn Tours Inc., 15 Penn Plaza, 415 7th Ave., New York 10001; phone (800) 233-2585. It also offers two other tours: West Highlander, which tours the western Scottish Highlands, and the Flying Scotsman.

Other Tour Options

The latter, which lasts six days, starts with a day in Shakespeare’s Britain, followed by a day aboard the historic Flying Scotsman locomotive, then a day exploring Robin Hood country by rail, with lunch at the oldest inn (1189) in England; you’ll then link with the Highlander or West Highlander.

The Highlander and West Highlander leave Friday nights from London, returning late Monday. The cost is $599, plus air fare. The Flying Scotsman departs Wednesday mornings, returning late Monday. The cost is $899, plus air fare.

The three-day, two-night Gleneagles golf option is $410 per person, including a first-class, round-trip rail ticket to London. The St. Andrews three-day, two-night golf option is $349, including a round-trip ticket.

The three-day, two-night Edinburgh option is $185 to $200, depending on choice of hotel. The three-day, two-night York option costs $170 to $200, depending on hotel.