Great Glen Way to go
The Caledonian Sleeper passes Loch Alvie in Cairngorms National Park
Spring is the optimum time to explore the Scottish Highlands – a hiatus between blustery winter months and hazy summer days when the Glens are busy with hikers and the billions of hungry midges who come to feed on their fesh. Those south of the border can make a timely escape by boarding the Caledonian Sleeper’s newly revamped overnight service. Passengers fall asleep at Euston, waking hours later to breakfast, watching the snowy Cairngorms slip by while en route to Inverness. From here, set out along the Great Glen Way – the epic long-distance coastto-coast footpath that heads southward to Fort William, but also suits a shorter amble: it’s just a day’s easy walking along heathery slopes and rolling farmland to the shores of Loch Ness.