Hogwarts Express

Although the title of this post is quite attention-grabbing, it is also a tad misleading since I did not in fact ride on the actual Hogwarts Express. I was however, take a very beautiful and very scenic train ride through the Scottish highlands where parts of Harry Potter were filmed.

The last time I had seen such sweeping mountainscapes was when I went to Ecuador in 2009. Although my day in the highlands started very early, my eyes were glued to the dramatic landscape that was just outside my window. 

My friends and I took a train from Glasgow to Fort William, stopping off in beautiful Fort William for a couple hours before hopping back on the train to depart for Mallaig. 

Fort William

Rolling mountains, and birds flying over a clear undisturbed lake are the images that stick in my head from Fort William. The couple of hours I spent there were very relaxing, it was nice to walk around and breathe in the clean country air. 

{Clear water, clear sky}

{Soaring bird}

{Bird over still water}

Mallaig

I had a few hours in Mallaig which gave me a lot of time to stretch my legs before my long return journey back to Glasgow. Mallaig being far less touristy than Fort William, was very quaint with its colourful scattered houses, active boating culture, and of course rolling hills. It is very much a town that has a close connection with the water. 

{the harbour}

{houses on the hills}

{boat returning to the harbour}

{scattered houses}

{wild and windy sea}

{signs in the UK}

{lucky horseshoe}

Scenes from the Train 

I probably spent about 12 hours on the train that day going from Glasgow to Mallaig, and then back to Glasgow at night. But the surreal scenery kept me awake in the morning and allowed for some pretty dramatic photographs.

{sunrise and sheep}

{a small river}

{daybreak}

{on the train}

{looking out the window}

{ a still deer}

{mountains}