Fort William

Fort William stands at the foot of Ben Nevis, on the sea loch of Loch Linnhe at the southern end of the Great Glen, and it is the biggest town in the West Highlands by a wide margin. Its Gaelic name, An Gearasdan, “the garrison”, records its origin as a military fort built to hold down the Jacobite Highlands; the modern town grew up around it as a market centre and now serves the same role for Lochaber’s tourism.

Why base here

Fort William puts Britain’s highest mountain, a gondola-served mountain bike and ski centre, and the West Highland Line’s most photographed viaduct all within a short drive, and it can be reached by train in its own right. The West Highland Line from Glasgow Queen Street reaches Fort William and runs on to Mallaig for the Skye ferry. Fort William also has outdoor shops, a mountain rescue base and guiding companies.

On foot versus by car

Glen Nevis, including the Ben Nevis Mountain Track and the walk to Steall Falls, starts a short drive or taxi ride from the town centre; a car is not essential if you are prepared to walk or use local transport to reach the glen road end. Nevis Range’s gondola and mountain bike park, on Aonach Mòr, and the Glenfinnan Viaduct, 18½ miles west on the A830 by the National Trust for Scotland’s count, or by train on the line to Mallaig, both need a car or a train ticket. Glen Coe is a 20-mile drive south on the A82.

Practicalities

Fort William railway station, which replaced the original at the south end of the town in 1975, has the bus and coach stands beside it on MacFarlane Way. Parking in town is straightforward. In Glen Nevis the visitor centre car park is pay and display, and Highland Council’s Variation Four parking order made the Glen Nevis road end pay and display from 10 July 2026, with no motorhomes overnight. Ben Nevis is a serious undertaking even in summer, and its summit plateau is a winter mountaineering environment, not a walking one, for much of the year.

With children

The Ben Nevis Mountain Track rules itself out for young children: about 1,350 metres of ascent over roughly 17km, on ground that turns to loose rubble well before the top. Steall Falls, in the Nevis Gorge, is gentler in length but not in footing, a rocky path with drops to the river close enough that it rules out pushchairs and needs a firm hand with anyone unsteady, though the falls themselves are visible from the near bank without crossing the wire bridge at the end. The Nevis Range gondola is the better bet for a family day: twelve to fifteen minutes in a six-person cabin up Aonach Mòr, asking nothing of anyone beyond sitting down, with mountain bike trails at the top for teenagers who want more than the view. Glenfinnan, half an hour up the road, adds the Hogwarts Express connection: the viaduct is seen from the National Trust viewpoint above the visitor centre car park, which the Trust puts at a five-minute climb with steps, and the centre’s own exhibition on the 1745 rising gives an indoor option besides.