The Highlands
(3 Nights)

Your journey begins at Edinburgh Waverley, where you step aboard and take in the train's elegant Edwardian style interiors. The Royal Scotsman heads north to Perth, and afternoon tea is served as the train runs on through Dunkeld, Pitlochry and Blair Atholl, where the white walls of Blair Castle look down over the valley.

Beyond Aviemore the landscape becomes properly dramatic as the mountains of the Cairngorms, Britain's largest national park, rise around the line. After dinner, musicians join the train for an evening of Gaelic songs in the Observation Car, and with a local dram in hand it rarely takes long for guests to start chatting like old friends. The train stables overnight before continuing north in the morning.

The train leaves Keith in the morning and runs to Inverness, then turns west onto the line to Kyle of Lochalsh, rightly counted among the most scenic railways in Britain. Lunch is served as the train makes its way through Achnasheen and Achnashellach, with the mountains closing in on either side, before reaching Strathcarron.

There are three ways to spend the afternoon. You can visit Attadale Gardens, set within a 30,000-acre estate on the shore of Loch Carron, where water gardens and woodland paths make for a lovely, unhurried wander. Alternatively, stay with the train to Plockton, a pretty village of whitewashed cottages on a sheltered bay, where wild seals are often seen and the Highland welcome is warm. If you prefer something more active, join a guided wellness hike near Kyle of Lochalsh. Everyone returns to the train at Kyle, where it stables overnight within sight of the Isle of Skye.

An early start sees the train retrace its route towards Inverness and on to Aviemore, where you head out to Rothiemurchus Estate in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park. Choose from traditional country pursuits such as fishing and clay shooting, or try wild swimming or a calming session of forest bathing among the old Caledonian pines. Refreshments follow before you return to the train for lunch.

In the afternoon, enjoy a private tour and tasting at a Speyside distillery, in the heartland of Scotch whisky, or take a gentle bike ride along the River Spey instead. You rejoin the train at Boat of Garten for a celebratory final dinner, and the evening ends with dancing.

Breakfast is served as the train leaves Perth and heads south into the former Kingdom of Fife on its way back to Edinburgh, where the journey ends with fond farewells. In three nights you will have seen the Cairngorms, the Kyle line, Loch Carron and Speyside, a remarkable slice of the Highlands in just four days.

Itineraries and timings shown may be changed for seasonal or operational reasons.