Morning all. I'm seeking some advice and information to overcome a problem of logistics that we've encountered when trying to plan a walking holiday in Scotland in September of this year. We have accommodation booked that will enable me, my wife and Moss the border collie dog, to walk the Great Glen Way from Fort WIlliam to Inverness (south to north). My wife has done all the planning and booking - bless her - all I have to do is drive us all up there and back .... and, of course, do the actual walk! All well and good. However ....... The original plan was to leave the car at the hotel in Fort William and, six days later, get an early morning bus from Inverness back to Fort William, retrieve the car then commence the long journey home to Devon. Easy enough, right? Wrong! Unlike in England, Scotland's bus operators are a bit precious when it comes to allowing canine passengers! They DO allow dogs but ONLY "assistance" dogs or small dogs in a dog carrier that will go under the passenger's seat. And that's at the driver's discretion! Now, we have thought of the possibility of Moss (the dog) wearing an assistance dog outfit and me wearing dark glasses and shuffling slowly - but that's risky .... and probably illegal. We've checked the possibility of getting a one day, one way car hire for the two hour drive but that doesn't look feasible. We've checked "taxi" services but, frankly, a three figure sum for a 70 mile, two hour ride seems more than little bit rich on the pallette. And the wallet. SO ...... does anyone local to the area know for sure whether or not there is a transport service - public or private - that will get two weary walkers with a dog from Inverness back to Fort William early on a midweek morning in September? At a reasonable cost. It needs to be ROAD transport - the rail connection goes via Glasgow so takes more than 7 hours, immediately following which I'll be undertaking the 12 hour drive home. Yes, I know it doesn't take that long to drive the 540 or so miles, but both wife and dog need comfort breaks more often than do I and the mighty Astra's seats are not exactly opulent luxury! I do find it a little bit odd that Scotland welcomes walkers/hikers/campers with dogs but seems to me to have a bit of a blind spot in this specific scenario. I can't believe that we'll be the first people looking to do this particular journey with a dog .... plus suitcases, etc. There are quite a few 'luggage transfer' services that manage to get luggage between "stages" of the walk but nothing that we can find that will get us all back to our original start point at a reasonable cost and time. We have a fallback plan that we think is do-able but it does leave at least one question ...... is there anywhere in Inverness that I can safely and legally leave the car parked for five days? Preferably with quick, easy access to the bus station! ANY experience, advice or assistance welcomed. Regards, Adie
Hi Ade When we did the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way we used one of the mini bus companies to transport our luggage every day, and we paid them extra for them to take us back to both starting points at the end of the trip, as we didn't want the hassle of taxis/buses. i'd be guessing as to how much they charged as it was about 15 years ago now, but we woudn't have done it if the price was too expensive. Both times we left our car at the car park of the hotels we used for the first day, free of charge
Hi Dougie. Many thanks for that. I'll get SWMBO to check to see if the luggage transfer people can either provide or recommend that service - hadn't thought about that angle. Our fallback plan is currently the favourite ..... i.e. I drop wife and hound at the Fort William hotel; drive up to the Inverness hotel in time to catch the last bus back to Fort William. Makes for a LONG day but is relatively simple. Thanks again - much appreciated.
Hi Dougie. Yes, we did do the Great Glen Way and it was most enjoyable. Well, as enjoyable as ANY long walk can be ......... In the end I stuck to the original plan, i.e., drove up to Fort William & dropped off wife and Mutt; drove on to Inverness and parked up at the hotel we'd booked for our last night; walked into town and got the last bus back to Fort William. It was a VERY long day - luckily I actually like driving long distances ..... odd but true. The walk itself was very enjoyable and the baggage transfer system worked very well indeed. All in all a very succesful trip ...... though the 'non-stop' drive from Inverness back to Devon was tougher on the wife and Mutt than it was on me - she swore it would be "never again". I smiled. We're returning next week (I think - I allow my manager to make all the arrangements and just let me know the day before we're due to leave. Any earlier than that and I forget ...... age is a bitch!) to do two more long distance paths, East Highland Way and Speyside Way consecutively but I think I'll be under strict instructions about how long I'll be allowed to drive without an overnight stop! It also looks like this will be a bit of a repeat of our approach to the WHW - I drive to a trailhead, walk with them for a few miles up the trail; return to the van (we now have a day/camper); drive round to the overnight stopping point, pick up the trail and head down it to meet and return with them. Should be a blast - if the weather's good.
