Fort William

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3.0 of 5 bubbles1 review
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chris w
7 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2020
We went on the train called the Jacobite, and travelled along the route across the Glenfinnan viaduct as seen in the Harry Potter film. The train ride takes about 2 hours to get to Mallaig and then you stay 2 hours then the 2hr return journey. Its a great nostalgic ride, alongside the lochs, and is reputed to be one of the best train rides you can take. Rainy days does spoil the experience, but nevertheless it was an exciting trip. Unfortunately during covid times no alcohol is served on the train and you cannot take any on either. The memorial book is good value at £1.00.

What may blight your day is the parking dilemma you may face, as the trip is over 6 hours long. The station car park is good for 3 hours only. The Morrisons supermarket next to the station is around 2 hours free, after which you could get a fine, if you have not previously booked a long stay.

What you should note as a first time tourist is there are 3 Car Parks around the station all called An Aird. Each one has a different postcode. Two are Highland Council and the Morrisons long stay is private.
We paid £2.00 for a 9 hour stay and not knowing any different at that time thinking there was just one car park of that name we parked in the An Aird 1 car park next to the supermarket. BIG MISTAKE - we came back to a parking ticket despite paying the £2.00. This was a Council car park, as is An Aird 2.
We were supposed to park in the Morrisons car park despite every sign saying max. 2 hours. Who would expect 3 car parks in the same area, all with the same name, and all three different post codes? NONE of the car parks display a post code for the Phone app user.

If you use a parking APP like "Your parking space" - you do actually park in Morrisons car park - but you have nothing to show in your windsheild only your APP as proof. RINGO is the council phone and park App.

The An Aird Car Park 1 is good value for a long stay at £2.00 but expect a £30 parking fine if you have parked in the wrong car park like we did. Don't expect any sympathy or opportunity to pay correctly, or to challenge or appeal as it is futile. Maybe its because 10,000 fines last Year brings in at least £300,000 in revenue from the victims.

So what was a nice steam train ride which was Covid caring, and exciting, suddenly became a bad day on picking up the car after the trip.
TAKE GREAT CARE PARKING AROUND THE STATION - None of the car park signs are post coded so your parking APP may just confuse the location if pre booking by phone. I shall use CASH after this, and Fort William for me will always be remembered as a Venus fly trap rather than the lovely place it is.
Written October 31, 2020
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Fort William - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)