Early start for Milngavie railway station and quiet day enjoying the scenery as Scottish Rail carried me to Inverness then down to Kyle of Lochalsh

The train leaves Inverness to glide along the southern bank of the Beauly Firth, through Dingwall and on to Garve, where, co-incidentally, a bit over a week later we caught the train back to Inverness.– keep an eye out for Ben Wyvis just after Dingwall, a huge isolated mountain to the north.

From there the line crosses the wild Highland mountainscape between Lochs Luichart and Carron. Look out for the Torridon Peaks on the western side: you can’t miss the great hulk of rock in the distance. (26th, we slept beneath these peaks.)

At the other end of Loch Carron you’ll find Plockton. which we choss not to two days later. Stop off to explore the pretty town – complete with palm trees – then spot the locations used for BBC series Hamish Macbeth, and The Wicker Man.

And on the last stretch towards Kyle of Lochalsh, the views of Skye are spectacular.

Slideshow of train journey