UK — Fort William, Scotland

Back in Fort William

August 2016

When I was a kid, looking at my small plastic map of the UK, Fort William sounded like a great place to visit. A Fort! What could be better? Sadly, for me, Fort William has never lived up to the promise of its name.

When heading to the Highlands of Scotland, you only have two choices: go up the East Coast or the West Coast. As I wanted to go via Glencoe, I decided to go up the West Coast, meaning I had to drive through Fort William.

There is no kind way of saying this, but Fort William is a bit of a dump. Sorry, Fort William.

I first visited the town in 1989 and have been back many times since, and my impression and view of the place have not changed.

My first visit to Fort William was underwhelming. I had spent years looking at my little plastic map and the better maps in my geography classes at school, wondering what Fort William was like. Fort William seemed to be on the top of the UK, with nothing further north on the west coast. (There are towns north of Fort William — they just hadn’t been discovered when I was a kid. OK, they weren’t on my maps at school).

I expected a fort at Fort William. I thought the place would be something exotic, and when I got there, I found a concrete monstrosity of a town (some original buildings left) with no fort. It wasn’t picturesque. It had nothing going for it except the magnificent surrounding countryside.