Whether you have no car, are trying to minimise your impact on the environment, or are just looking to save the stress of driving and instead enjoy the comfort of relaxing on a train rather than face driving home with tired legs, Scotland’s railways can help you reach some truly superb walks in comfort. In this article sponsored by ScotRail, we choose ten great walks you can reach by train, scattered all around the country.
Birnam Hill (Dunkeld / Birnam)
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This superb circular walk climbs up over beautifully-wooded Birnam Hill. It offers superb views over the surrounding countryside on the ascent and then over Dunkeld from a crag on the way down. Nearby Birnam Wood is famed from Macbeth. The walk up is reasonably well graded, but the descent is quite steep in parts.
Get on track
Dunkeld and Birnam Station is perfectly placed for this route. Trains to here are very convenient for those living in Perth, but there are also direct trains from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Inverness. To join the route after leaving the train, turn left out of the station, follow the path down the steps, then go left along the tarmac lane to pass under the railway. You then take the next left again onto a track – joining the circular route at the final stage.
Coire Làir & Easan Dorcha circuit (Achnashellach)
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This wonderful circuit follows clear and well-constructed paths through unsurpassed Highland landscapes – passing a tiny bothy visited by Robert de Niro and others during the filming of Stardust. Beautiful Scots Pine woodland and waterfalls on the Easan Dorcha make for the perfect lunch spot. The final section of the walk has fine views down Lochcarron and across the sea.
Get on track
The walk begins right at Achnashellach station on the stunning Kyle of Lochalsh line, so it couldn’t be more convenient. The station is easily reached by services from Inverness.
John Muir Way – North Berwick to Dunbar
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The John Muir Way – from Helensburgh on the west coast, right to Dunbar on the North Sea – is one of Scotland’s official long distance routes, and is especially convenient for rail travellers, with many stations all along the way enabling linear walks. We’ve picked out this final stage, from the charming holiday town of North Berwick to the finish at Dunbar. It crosses farmland in the shadow of North Berwick Law, visits a fairytale mill featured in Outlander, and then skirts the vast saltmarshes of the River Tyne estuary before entering Dunbar via a dramatic clifftop footpath to finish at John Muir’s birthplace – now an excellent museum in the centre of Dunbar.
Get on track
North Berwick is the terminus of a branch line from Edinburgh; the return to Scotland’s capital can then be made from Dunbar station on the main east coast line. Using the train enables you to conveniently do the walk as a linear route without any need to return to a car.
Seaton Cliffs and Auchmithie (Arbroath)
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This classic coastal walk explores the dramatic red cliffs which extend north from Arbroath and have a wealth of sandstone formations. The walk continues as far as Auchmithie – where there is a popular restaurant; the return is by the same outward coastal route or you could shorten the walk by taking a bus back to Arbroath.
Get on track
The walk is easily reached from Arbroath Station, which has regular direct trains from Dundee and Aberdeen. To reach the start of the description of the walk, on leaving the station head for the High Street, then follow Hill Street and Hill Road and finally King’s Drive along the bottom of Victoria Park. The walk itself begins from the far end.
Forth Bridges (Dalmeny / North Queensferry stations)
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Scotland’s railways don’t get any more iconic than the spectacular Forth Bridge, carrying the mainline railway across the Firth of Forth. It was joined by the road bridge in 1964 – now only used by buses, taxis, cyclists and walkers – and then the striking Queensferry Crossing completed in 2017. This walk – which crosses the footway on the road bridge – offers great views of the Forth as well as the bridges.
Get on track
The route is linear and starts and finishes at the rail stations on either side of the Firth, beginning from Dalmeny and ending at North Queensferry, so using the train to reach the start too is the logical choice. There are regular services from Edinburgh and many towns in both Lothian and Fife.
Duncolm and the Slacks (Kilpatrick)
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The steep grassy dome of Duncolm rises above the moors as the highest point of the Kilpatrick Hills. Although close to Glasgow it feels like a wild place; the return via the Slacks follows a balcony path which has superb views over the city.
Get on track
Trains from Glasgow Queen Street to Kilpatrick Station, which is very convenient for the start of the walk. To join the route, turn right out of the station along Station Road, pass under the railway, then take the steps up on your right to reach the parking area where the walk begins.
Glen Tilt (Blair Atholl)
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This classic circular walk explores both flanks of Glen Tilt, which is deservedly regarded as one of Scotland’s most beautiful glens, running into the remote Atholl Estate from Bridge of Atholl. The route is well waymarked and follows clear paths, tracks and minor roads throughout.
Get on track
Take the train to Blair Atholl station (direct from Perth and Inverness, also Glasgow and Edinburgh). From the station, head to the main road and turn right along it. The walk starts from the Old Bridge of Tilt, which is signed down the minor road just after the bridge over the river; you can avoid the tarmac by taking a riverside path on the left before reaching the bridge.
Loch Ossian (Corrour)
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Remote Loch Ossian has no access by public road – so a journey on the celebrated West Highland Line becomes a necessity. There are three Munros and a Corbett accessible from here, but it’s not just for hill-baggers as the circuit of the loch makes for a fine walk in itself.
Get on track
The walk begins from Corrour Station – made famous by the “It’s shite being Scottish” speech delivered by Euan MacGregor in a scene in the film Trainspotting. You can’t drive here even if you wanted to – but why would you, given it’s part of the famously scenic West Highland Line between Glasgow and Fort William / Mallaig.
Beinn Dòrain & Beinn an Dòthaidh (Bridge of Orchy)
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There are quite a few Munros in the Highlands that can be accessed by train, whether the remote hills of Corrour and Ben Alder, or dramatic peaks like Ben Cruachan. This pair of Munros is ideally accessed from Bridge of Orchy station; it includes Beinn Dòrain, a dramatic conical mountain that was celebrated in one of the best known Gaelic poems. Its neighbour Beinn an Dòthaidh offers unforgettable views over Rannoch Moor.
Get on track
The walk begins very conveniently right from Bridge of Orchy station on the West Highland line; trains begin from Glasgow Queen Street.
Brora to Golspie
Walk the walk
Using the train enables some great linear walks, free of the need to return to your starting point by car. This superb coastal walk in Sutherland is packed with interest including tiny harbours, sandy beaches, a well-preserved iron-age broch and Dunrobin Castle, the grandest house in the Highlands. It was home to the Dukes of Sutherland, the first of whom was notorious for his role in some of the cruelest Highland Clearances.
Get on track
Both Brora at the start and Golspie at the end of the walk are on the North Highlands rail line between Inverness and Wick / Thurso, so using the train to get here in comfort is the logical choice.