The benefits of living in the Highlands of Scotland are too numerous to mention but there is one significant downside and that is heading off on a trip – it’s a long way away no matter where we are headed.

The Long Road South

We can travel by car, which is the easiest option in terms of convenience, drive down the A9 via Perth and onto the M90 to Edinburgh or M9 to Stirling, Glasgow and all points further south. We did this last winter when we drove over to Italy for a tour of some of the ski resorts in the Aosta Valley. It was a great trip which you can read about on here to Courmayeur, Pila, La Thuile and Morzine & Les Gets. It also allowed us time to try some other attractions which you just do not have time for, like walking up to watch the Ice Climbing in Cogne or to take a trip on the Monte Bianco Skyline. Travelling in the VW Transporter gave us the option of taking as much kit as we need to try different winter sports, not just downhill telemark skiing, winter walking, both Classic and Skate Cross Country skiing. It can be quite tiring but the trick is to split the driving into two-hour segments and swap over drivers each stop. It’s also best not to try to cram too much into one day’s driving, treat it like a work day, I still remember those, so have a leisurely breakfast at your hotel and stop for lunch and arrive at your chosen hotel in good time for an aperatif before dinner.

Hit the Rails

Travel Option 2 is to travel by train which for us means driving or catching the bus to Aviemore to connect with Scotrail and LNER to head south. The Aviemore bus leaves very early at 06:21, arriving at 07:05 to catch the 08:32 LNER to Edinburgh or London. We drive the short distance to Aviemore and then take the 08:32 LNER which arrives in Edinburgh at 11:15 and in London at 15:49. We use our Railcards which brings the First Class seats down by a third and travelling in First Class gives us comfortable reserved seats, breakfast on the way down and supper on the way home, along with coffee, teas and drinks. We have checked the price of tickets flying to London and it is easier physically, financially and environmentally to go by train, especially if you use a Railcard. When flying we need to cost in travel to Inverness Airport, parking, flights, possibly adding a hold bag, and travel into central London from either Heathrow Airport or Gatwick or indeed the cost of a hire car from the airport.

Trains and Planes

From Aviemore we can also catch the train to Edinburgh Airport, changing at either Haymarket Station or Edinburgh Gateway which is a couple of stops on the tram short of the airport. At Edinburgh Gateway you will need to take the lift to cross over the railway tracks to change platforms, so not so easy if you have a big ski bag with you along with your suitcase. Though if you have made it this far you will have negotiated various platform changes en-route!

Ski Train?

There is also the whole travel to the Alps by train route but this looks to be really an expensive way to travel though perhaps no more so than flying to either London Heathrow or Gatwick. We would need to either stay overnight at St Pancras in London or travel south on the Caledonian Sleeper, arriving in London with a short change of platforms on arrival at St Pancras. It’s one we may need to investigate for a trip to the Alps.

Flights

Travel Option 3 is to fly, either from Inverness, Edinburgh or Glasgow. If we were to book a ski trip with one of the major tour operators it would mean a three hour drive to either Edinburgh or Glasgow with an expensive hotel stay and parking at one end of the trip due to an early flight or a late return to the airport. From Edinburgh or Glasgow it also means a three hour drive home at the end of the trip and a long day. Some ski resorts are only available with departures from London Gatwick which is another complication as we found out when we headed out to ski in Andorra. Andorra is on our Ikon Ski Pass, we had not skied there, so why not? Our trip included a flight to Heathrow, a bus transfer to Gatwick, an overnight at Gatwick for an early departure and the reverse on the way home, returning to Gatwick with another overnight and an early start to catch the shuttle bus to Heathrow and fly home.

Our next option is to fly with British Airways to Heathrow and on from there but due to the flight times from Inverness with BA it is often difficult to depart and arrive on the same day which means arriving late in the evening at our destination. So again, the need for an expensive overnight at Heathrow. Sometimes the BA website lets us fly down one day, stay overnight and catch our onward flight the following morning as part of the same booking but sometimes not! Flights with BA out of Inverness in the winter are often changed at short notice and can be quite frustrating, on one occasion BA had us flying out of Heathrow 20 minutes before our flight from Inverness landed.

Another option which we have used once so far but will use again is to fly from Inverness with KLM to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and onwards from there. The only downside is that it means an early 06:25 flight out of Inverness which means an overnight stay at the airport in Inverness. The airport hotel is a Marriott Courtyard, newly built and since it’s not at Heathrow is a fair bit cheaper, especially since we are not driving to Edinburgh or Glasgow and staying in a hotel there at around the same price as a Heathrow hotel. We tried this route for the first time on a trip to Tignes, for the Black Shoes Telemark Festival, this winter and it worked a treat, we arrived in Geneva Airport just after lunch at 13:30 which allowed us plenty time to catch a transfer to Tignes and arrive in good time for dinner. Timing coming back worked out well too, arriving back in Inverness at 22:15, so not too late for the short drive home. The flight was quite uneventful, we were offered a coffee or water, though I’m not sure of the sandwich choice which was squeezy cheese and mustard, clearly a Dutch favourite. We struggled to find a good breakfast and supper in Schiphol Airport but just before we left Schiphol on the trip home found the “Irish Bar” offering a full cooked so we will give that a try on our next visit.

A novelty?

We have been offered a promotional visit to Marriott’s Hacienda Son Antem in Mallorca, the price working out at £450, all in for 3 nights accommodation, breakfast and car hire. The hotel has two golf courses, a spa, swimming pools and I’ve found a place that offers a swim and kayak trip visiting some local caves. Flights are extra so I spent a hour or so trying to find the best options flying from Edinburgh, Glasgow or Inverness. The Cheapest was with Ryanair flying out of Prestwick which is about a three and a half hour drive and the flight worked out at about £600 including a hold bag. Seat, boarding, food and everything else were extras as is par for the course with Ryanair. Similar flights with Jet2 were from either Glasgow or Edinburgh Airports but including a hold bag were coming in around £900 – £950, plus an overnight stay and parking at the airport. Flights with KLM, routing from Inverness to Schiphol and on to Palma are £508, overnight at Inverness comes in at £265 including parking and convenience, so a total of £773.