If train travel to you means paying exorbitant prices for the privilege of being jam-packed alongside commuters, then the idea of a rail holiday might sound like a nightmare.
But Scotland might be the exception to the rule. Its railways snake around some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet. And they are owned by the Scottish government, which has not only introduced new lines, but from today (1 September 2025) has cancelled all peak fares. For good.
As a travel writer – and former contributing editor of International Railway Traveler in the US – I’ve ridden many of the great rail journeys of the world. These include South Africa’s Blue Train, Europe’s Orient Express and Australia’s country-crossing Indian Pacific. But hand-on-tartan-heart: there is no finer place in the world for a rail holiday than Scotland.
Scotland is even more alluring now with those ScotRail peak fares gone. It is no mere PR exercise – these are real, instant savings for all. No rail cards; just cheaper fares. An Anytime Day Return on the Edinburgh-Glasgow route, for example, has plummeted from £32.60 to £16.80, which is a whopping 48 per cent saving. Journeys from the capital to the deeply historic city of Dunfermline have been slashed from £14 to a budget-friendly £8.50. The savings apply to every ScotRail route.
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There is a lot to explore with your much cheaper ticket. I cannot think of a country in the world with as diverse and spectacular a railway network tucked into such an easily-navigable space. There is a real smorgasbord of rail scenery: everything from Highland mountains and ice blue lochs, through to world famous railway bridges and vast viaducts.
Myriad tracks cross the Central Belt – where most Scots live – but the most awe-inspiring ribbons of steel delve deep into the mountainous hinterland of the Highlands, one of Europe’s last great wildernesses.
Scotland’s most scenic route is justifiably ranked as one of the great railway journeys of the world. The West Highland Line sweeps north from Glasgow and soon loses the urban sprawl as it forges deep into a mountainscape of soaring glens, snowcapped mountains and sinewy lochs.
The first part of the line was completed by 1894, but the most spectacular stretch is the West Highland Line Extension which was not finished until 1901. On this part of the journey between the old garrison town of Fort William and the fishing port of Mallaig, myriad tunnels and embankments spice up the journey, with the Glenfinnan Viaduct the highlight. This grand 21 arch span scoops around a deep glen as it passes Loch Sheil in a postcard-perfect scene that was immortalised in the Harry Potter films.
I rate the Skye Railway right up there alongside its more illustrious sibling. This route, completed in 1897, crosses the entire breadth of Scotland as it pushes from the North Sea and the Highland capital of Inverness, over a steep range of mountains in search of the Atlantic coast and its myriad islands. The journey’s end is spectacular as the train draws to a halt with the looming shadow of the Isle of Skye haunting just across the water. Perhaps the most dramatic part of the journey is on the approach to Plockton as the line cuts along a sea loch in a collage of tunnels and sweeping turns.
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Back in the central belt, Scotland is also home to one of the world’s great railway bridges. The Forth Rail Bridge is stunning; a mammoth cantilever structure that traverses the Firth of Forth in a sweep of iron. It was opened way back in 1890 and is a truly colossal structure held together with over 6.5 million rivets. In 2015 its uniqueness and global significance was recognised when it was placed on the Unesco World Heritage list.
ScotRail has shown its ambitions with a range of projects. There is a brand new fleet of trains on the signature Edinburgh to Glasgow route and the Borders Railway opened in 2015, reconnecting Edinburgh to the rolling hills of the Borders for the first time since the 1960. Then in 2024 the £116m Levenmouth Rail Link achieved a similar feat for the old Fife resort of Leven.
Future plans include an extension of the Borders Railway into England. Despite the growing choice further south, my recommended route for first timers is from Edinburgh across that iconic Forth Bridge and up north on the Highland Line to Inverness, which opens up tree-shrouded Perthshire and then cuts deep into the Highland massifs. From Inverness, jump on the Skye Railway to traverse the country with the sort of scenery that made Outlander a global phenomenon.
The Isle of Skye beckons at the end of the platform at Kyle of Lochalsh and from there a deeply scenic ferry ride brings you to the world-famous West Highland Line for the breathtaking, spirit-soaring run back south to Glasgow.
You connect in gorgeously revamped Queen Street Station for a last ride across the brilliant railway engineering that makes the journey to Edinburgh largely a flat one. You’re back where you started with a lifetime of memories seared into your soul of riding the rails in a country where railway travel is a joy rather than a chore.
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