please empty your brain below
Go to Oban! And eat at the wonderful Ee Usk fish restaurant on the quay.

I wouldn't bother with the Fortnum's knickerbocker glory: useless service tends to ruin the treat.

misspiggy | 10.02.15 - 12:35 a.m. | #

When you do go on that short trip abroad I think this is the place to eat (Gare de Lyon station) (if you're going via Paris).

OverTheHills | 10.02.15 - 1:59 a.m. | #

I voted for the chopper ride, but I certainly would not complain, if, before June 25 you blogged extensively about rail travel in Scotland. Ironically, I didn't think of this, even though this is what I am planning to do for a couple of weeks, mid-year ... :)

Antipodean | 10.02.15 - 2:57 a.m. | #

if you do the heli ride, make sure you specifically ask to sit in the front, next to the pilot, as the view in the back is crap.

dave | 10.02.15 - 7:04 a.m. | #

I suspect/hope that the sleeper to Fort a William is the sort if trip you'd enjoy. Note that standard class means sharing a cabin, First means you get a cabin to yourself. The train is useful but utilitarian - it's not orient express style luxury. Make sure you wake by about 0630 and go to the lounge car for breakfast. The views across Loch Long, Loch Lomond then Rannoch Moor are stunning.
From Oban, you can take a boat trip to see Jura (see the cottage where George Orwell wrote 1984) and Corrywreckan. Those trips normally start late March, so might need a phone call to see if there's any chance they'll run on your birthday. Ee-Usk is indeed a lovely place for lunch, watch the ferries scuttling to the Hebrides.
(You have no idea how many fights I have had with predictive text feature to stop it changing all those names....)

IslandDweller | 10.02.15 - 7:21 a.m. | #

I'm amazed my suggestions made it as far down the list as they did.

I haven't yet taken the Caledonian Sleeper north of Glasgow, but even that far it's an enjoyable experience. Reading the suggested itineraries here, and remembering Mark Smith's evangelising about the line to Fort William on Seat61 (a wonderful site for both planning and dreaming alike! ) I'm half tempted to plan a visit myself... But probably not in March.

Robert Johnson | Homepage | 10.02.15 - 7:33 a.m. | #

I walked the West Highland Way a few years ago and came home by train from Fort William. It was the most beautiful journey ever, and I wondered why anyone would want to sleep through it! I suppose it's different if you're travelling in the opposite direction, though.

Karen | 10.02.15 - 7:49 a.m. | #

If you go for Le Train Bleu (see above) make sure they have a meal you really like. Like a lot of these places, the fixed or special menu, so you can say you have been and experienced it, really is a bit of a disappointment.

Pedantic of Purley | 10.02.15 - 8:41 a.m. | #

Glad you liked my idea for the Fort William sleeper and your planned itinerary for the trip looks great. Oban is fantastic and I would recommend a day trip on the ferry to Craignure and back if the weather is fine. The distillery is very interesting and the town has good B&Bs.

Ben | 10.02.15 - 9:58 a.m. | #

You may be leaving it a bit late to book for the Highland Sleeper, as booking for early March opened in December. On my last experience of it (on the Inverness run last September)the staff were as wonderful as ever, and the morning views were as stunning as ever, but the rolling stock was lacking a bit of TLC.

Possibly this is because a new operator will take over in April: they have a good reputation for running tourist train services in Australia, but are better known in this country for transporting prisoners!

@Karen
I can assure you that going to bed in Euston and waking up with the Scottish Highlands all around you is far more preferable than the opposite experience! Although on a long summer evening, when the sun doesn't set until several hours after your departure, crossing Rannoch Moor in the gloaming as you tuck into haggis and neeps is a grand end to a walking holiday.

The Scottish (and Cornish) sleepers are far superior to anything on the continent, where most of them don't even provide food.

timbo | 10.02.15 - 10:01 a.m. | #

@ Timbo "they have a good reputation for running tourist train services in Australia" ... do tell who?

Antipodean | 10.02.15 - 10:26 a.m. | #

The other option is to get the train one way and the bus the other between Glasgow and the Highlands as the road and the railway take different but equally stunning and scenic routes.

whiff | 10.02.15 - 12:45 p.m. | #

Antipodean - there's much information here on the sleeper from the ever-wonderful London Reconnections
http://www.londonreconnections.com/2014/caledonian-sleeper-awakes/

Whiff | 10.02.15 - 12:59 p.m. | #

@Antipodean
"do tell who"

I assume from your monicker that you are more familiar with operations Down Under, so may know better than most of us what the service is like on Serco's Great Southern Rail subsidiary (the Indian Pacific, The Ghan, etc), although recent reports suggest they may be planning to demerge.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/10/serco-profits-warning-shares-crash (see antepenultimate paragraph)
I would not wish to suggest that their experience in providing transport suitable for British prisoners has any relevance to providing luxury travel for Australians!

Serco also run the DLR and the Boris Bike scheme

timbo | 10.02.15 - 2:08 p.m. | #

Why not do the London Canal trip and dinner with your Dad and brother and family?

Leuconoe | 10.02.15 - 2:38 p.m. | #

Hey, that's a good idea!

Sarah | Homepage | 10.02.15 - 3:35 p.m. | #

Ooh yes - do go for a Segway ride. I did a Segway tour of Prague a few years ago and it was triffic. Now I want a Segway.

dg writes: Hmmm....

Suse | 10.02.15 - 10:46 p.m. | #

@ Whiff - thank you! I look forward to reading!

@ timbo - I didn't know that! I knew that Serco used to run buses in one of our cities, but their more recent tender was rejected, in favour of three companies operating in different areas. One of these companies was Transfield Services, who also run immigration detention centres!

Antipodean | 11.02.15 - 1:56 a.m. | #

You could spread out the 50 Creme Eggs etc over 50 Days, making it a very looooong birthday celebration.

Leuconoe | 11.02.15 - 1:33 p.m. | #











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