The Magical Highland Tour + optional Jacobite Steam Train Journey
Recommended by 90% of travelers
Edinburgh, Scotland
- 13 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
Follow in the footsteps of the Harry Potter cast—and admire some of the Scottish Highlands’ most attractive scenery—on this full-day coach tour from Edinburgh. You’ll visit a number of filming locations used in all eight movies, including Eilean na Moine island (the site of Dumbledore’s grave) and Loch Shiel (used as a stand-in for Hogwarts Lake). You’ll even go for a ride on the Jacobite Steam Train—better known as the Hogwarts Express.
- Comfortable, round-trip coach transportation from Edinburgh
- Get up close and personal with some of the Highlands’ prettiest scenery
- Climb aboard the Jacobite Steam Train (aka the Hogwarts Express)
- A small packed breakfast is included
What's Included
- Coach Tour
- Jacobite Steam Train, single journey, if selected
- Knowledgeable tour manager on board.
- Exclusions
- Gratuities
- Lunch
- Hotel drop off service
- Bottled waterNo food or drinks and included
- Jacobite steam train unless option selected
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Frankenstein26 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EN, UK
The ORIGINAL Elephant House beside Frankenstein's George IV Bridge at 6am
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Start time.6:00 am
Itinerary
1
Fort William
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Kinloch Rannoch (Pass By)
Glenfinnan Viaduct (Pass By)
2
Mallaig
1 hour 20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Pitlochry
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Children must be 6 years of age to travel
- Tour departs at 6am promptly
- Tour may operate in reverse of the itinerary
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 48 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
The highlands where amazing and the scenery breathtaking, especially for Harry Potter fans. The train ride was an ordinary ride, we expected it to be a bit more magical, however an overall enjoyable day.
Reviews
4.6
based on 196 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
If you have any interest in visiting the highlands, HP connections or not, this is a terrific way to do it. Despite the EARLY start for us night owls this was the absolute highlight of our two weeks in the UK. We had rain, wind and sun and loved it all. The views are absolutely stunning. Muhammad (driver/guide) was full of knowledge, a great communicator, and full of jokes. Train ride was an easy transfer to/from the coach and great fun. We packed ourselves breakfast and lunch which we ate on the coach but also picked up refreshments at some of the stops (coffee, soda) and on the train (scotch, coffee, and an IRN BRU - which our seat mate and the trolly cart staff were thrilled to watch us Americans have one for the first time). Speaking of stops there are enough breaks for photo ops and leg stretching to feel refreshed but we still felt like we made great progress throughout the day that it flew by and we joked maybe we should book again for tomorrow! Book this trip you’ll be glad you did (and hope you get Muhammad!)
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Thank you so much for this wonderful review! We’re absolutely delighted to hear that this tour was the highlight of your two weeks in the UK. It sounds like you embraced the full Scottish experience — rain, wind, sunshine, stunning views, and of course, your first IRN-BRU! 😊
We’re especially pleased to hear that Muhammad made the day so enjoyable with his knowledge, communication, and sense of humour.
It’s fantastic to know that the stops, train journey, and pace of the tour made for such a memorable and enjoyable day. And the fact that you were already joking about booking it again for the next day is the best compliment we could ask for!
Thank you again for recommending us so enthusiastically. We’d love to welcome you back for another Highland adventure.
From start to finish, our tour guide mohammed was fabulous. Great humour, great storytelling, and great music. He did a fabulous job of communication, spotting places and safety . The coach trip was stunning views, air con available and a clean coach. The jacobite train was also lovely, with lovely staff who pointed out harry potter views.. Unfortunately i booked through a company whos instructions etc were a little confusing. In one listing it said i would get a light breakfast and a return train, however when on the tour, it was no breakfast and only a single journey so quite a lot more money than i might have paid. Luckily the tour driver made it worth it!
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Thank you for your detailed review! We’re delighted to hear Mohammed made the day so enjoyable with his humour, storytelling, music, and great attention to safety. Just to clarify, the light breakfast was removed from the tour in 2026, and the Jacobite experience has always included a single train journey from start to finish. We’re sorry for any confusion caused by the third-party listing, but glad Mohammed made the experience worthwhile!
The tour guide Brendan was fabulous but no I don’t think the its worth the price the tour bus was great and Brendan was great but for me paid over 200 and most of my time was spent sitting on the bus just not worth the money but to each his own
We wanted the full magical Highland experience, not just the train ride. Unfortunately, aside from the train itself, everything else was disappointing—mainly due to poor organization by the tour provider. The bus arrived late and was overbooked, leaving two passengers without seats. To avoid missing the train, we set off towards Mallaig anyway, with the plan that a larger bus would meet us at our first stop. However, the replacement bus was unsuitable, which meant we had to wait nearly two hours in a small town where most shops were closed—and it was raining—just for the right bus to finally arrive.
As a result, all other scheduled stops were cancelled. We reached Mallaig with so little time to spare that the only option for lunch was grabbing something quickly from the supermarket. On the return journey, our driver tried to make up for it by stopping at one or two places we had missed earlier, but it hardly compensated for the lost experience.
Considering the cost of this trip, it fell far short of our expectations and what was promised. To make matters worse, not even a proper apology was offered, which was truly astonishing. In addition I am pretty sure that the long time our driver was not able to do any stops himself was rather dangerous.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We are truly sorry that your experience did not meet expectations, and we completely understand how disappointing the day must have felt given the delays and disruption.
On the day of your tour, we experienced unforeseen logistical issues with the replacement coach, which unfortunately caused significant delays and the cancellation of several planned stops. We recognise how frustrating this was, and we regret that it impacted the full Highland experience we always aim to deliver.
We also want to reassure you that at no point was passenger safety compromised. Our driver remained fully within his legal driving hours and acted responsibly throughout the day, doing his best under very difficult circumstances.
We are reviewing what happened carefully to ensure this type of situation is avoided in the future. Your comments are valuable in helping us improve, and once again, we sincerely apologise that your day did not live up to the standard you expected or that we strive to provide.
Super fun. Especially if you’re a Harry Potter fan. You see lots of the film locations and we saw the train in famous spots as well as getting to ride it.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for your review! We’re thrilled to hear you had so much fun and enjoyed seeing the famous Harry Potter film locations. Riding the train and spotting all the iconic spots really makes the experience extra magical. We hope to welcome you on another adventure soon!
Need more things to changed, there ii nothimg fancy eith the train, too many hours in the bus,i would not doing this again
Response from Host, May 2023
Thank you for taking the time to review your tour. The Jacobite train is historic and described as the greatest railway journey in the world. The full itinerary of the tour is available online with the total hours visible for all who choose to book.
We truly hope you managed to take some special memories away from this iconic day trip!
The highlands where amazing and the scenery breathtaking, especially for Harry Potter fans. The train ride was an ordinary ride, we expected it to be a bit more magical, however an overall enjoyable day.
Fantastic trip to the Highlands. Especially enjoyed the steam train ride. Would recommend this trip adults and youngster whether you are a Harry Potter fan or not. The sheer beauty of the place is unbelievable. The tour guide was both delightful and knowledgeable. Her comments added to much to the overall to the experience.
Tour guide: probably a nice person. Awful tour guide. Especially for a 'Harry Potter' themed journey. Failed to point out any significant relation between the highlands, train and movie (and/or didn't follow the expected highlighted scenes mentioned on the tour website). An unimpressive "quiz" was conducted, but was quite pointless because the bridal group in the back half of the coach were scathingly obnoxious, rude and so irritating to spend 13 hours with. Nothing the tour guide said could be heard and she ("Bob") did nothing to account for the half of the bus who were trying to listen. Maybe asking them to keep it down a bit would have helped? Also the temperature on the bus was very irregular, freezing most of the time...hot for 2 seconds and then freezing again. Recommend going into it with very low expectations.
Response from Host, Jun 2019
Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback, we appreciate knowing which parts of the tour our passengers enjoyed and knowing which areas have room for improvement.
I am sorry that we did not live up to your expectations and that you did not enjoy our guides particular style but would like to assure you that our guides are frequently monitored with mystery shoppers as we pride ourselves on having excellent drivers & guides who constantly help us achieve our 5 star Visit Scotland award which is reviewed several times per year.
With up to 48 passengers on board, the temperature on the coach can be challenging at times with many people making requests for their own comfort level.
This tour is a fantastic sell out, the train tickets are extremely rare, so I hope you manage to take away some special memories of this unique experience
As a day trip through the Scottish Highlands, the trip was okay. If your purpose is to experience “Harry Potter-ness”, it can be quite disappointing, as none of the filming sites are recognizable from the motorway - the coach does not stop at any of them. The Jacobite steam train is alright in its own right, but missing any of the Harry Potter elements.
The most Harry Potter experience was the gift shop (one shop) in Malaig.
To be honest, the moments on the bus with Brendan (or Brandon I don't know anymore) were a thousand times more fun than those spent in the Jacobite. An old, stinking train whose smoke suffocates the lungs, we wonder why we pay so much for travel. Listen to me, there is NOTHING reminiscent of Hogwarts Express, no compartment, blue seats, NOT red, some goodies that are found everywhere else, it is NOT worth it. A picture in front of the train or on the Glennfinnan is more than enough. Even the view is spoiled by the dirt of the windows. There is NO effort to immerse yourself in the world of Harry Potter except one or two comments from the controllers to tell you once “watch out Dumbledore’s grave is on the right” that’s the only time I felt the effort. No bierraubere but a hot water chocolate with absolutely infamous glitter, in short it is a disaster. Everyone was half asleep so boring the show was. Plus it lasts two hours. HOWEVER... I have an excellent memory of that day. Brendan our driver was funny, his continuous comments kept us busy throughout the loooong round trip. And thanks to him, I felt the magic working, we saw by bus far more locations of HARRY POTTER than with the train. Brendan is full of cultural references that he is happy to share. You come out rich. So I highly recommend this activity. Especially not for that horrible Jacobite but for the bus trip.
Auto-translated
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re really glad to hear you enjoyed your day overall and that Brendan made the experience special , we’ll be sure to pass along your kind words to him!
We’re sorry to hear that the train journey didn’t meet your expectations. Just to clarify, the Jacobite Steam Train portion of the tour is operated independently by West Coast Railways. As such, feedback specifically about the train experience may be more appropriate to share directly with them, as we have no control over the service or facilities on board.
That said, we truly appreciate your honesty and your recommendation of the tour. We're happy that the magic still came through on the coach portion of the journey, and we'll continue doing our best to deliver a memorable experience.
El paisaje es maravilloso, es muy recomendable ir. El chófer Brendan, fue genial muy amable e informativo. Lo malo de este tour, fue que nosotros lo contratamos en español y no hubo absolutamente nadie de habla hispana que te ofreciera algo de información, es más, cuando me llegó el aviso del punto de recogida, decía "idioma español - escrito" y ni eso tuvimos. Una lastima. Ahora, si tienes pensado ir en vehículo a Inverness evita este tour ya que puedes ver estos paisajes , yendo de Inverness a Glasgow.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Thank you for your feedback and for your kind words about the scenery and our driver Brendan – we're glad to hear you enjoyed those aspects of the tour.
We’re sorry to hear about the confusion regarding the language offering. To clarify, all our tours are conducted in English only. However, we do provide written translations upon request in advance.
Additionally, please note that our tours operate from Edinburgh, so it's a bit unusual to reference travel from Inverness to Glasgow. We understand everyone’s travel plans are different, but we believe our itineraries offer a unique and memorable experience.
We appreciate your comments and will use them to help improve our service.
El tour es 100% recomendable! Vale cada € que cuesta!!! Espectacular día!!! :)
El viaje en tren fue mágico y ver el tren desde fuera tambien y todos los puntos en los que paramos y nos contaba el guía cosas!
Ein unvergessliches Erlebnis mit einer grossartigen Tour-Führerin! Von Anfang bis Ende ein Vergnügen, das man nur weiterempfehlen kann.
Likely to Sell Out
From $81.14
per person-You will not receive a refund if you cancel.
Compare Similar Experiences
Current
Likely to Sell Out
The Magical Highland Tour + optional Jacobite Steam Train Journey
196
13 hours 30 minutes
Free Cancellation
From
$81.14
Customers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought
Explore Similar Things to Do
Attractions in Edinburgh, Scotland
- Gladstone’s Land Tours & Tickets
- Scottish National Portrait Gallery Tours & Tickets
- St. Giles’ Cathedral Tours & Tickets
- Rosslyn Chapel Tours & Tickets
- Stirling Castle Tours & Tickets
- Scott Monument Tours & Tickets
- Melrose Abbey Tours & Tickets
- Linlithgow Palace Tours & Tickets
- Greyfriars Kirk Tours & Tickets
- Georgian House Tours & Tickets
- Portobello Beach Tours & Tickets
- The Canongate Tours & Tickets
- Princes Street Tours & Tickets
- Scottish National Gallery Tours & Tickets
- Calton Hill Tours & Tickets
- Museum of Edinburgh (Huntly House) Tours & Tickets
- St. Andrews Castle Tours & Tickets