Me and a friend are going up to Scotland in a few weeks and are thinking of doing Buachille Etive Mor and Aonach Eagach, does anyone know if it is possible to get there from Fort William by public transport.
There are buses from Fort William and Glasgow that run through Glencoe, but if you want the bus to stop at the point where you want to access your walks, then be sure to have a quiet chat with the driver as soon as you get on the bus. Some drivers will be happy to drop you off, but others will kick up a bit of a fuss and say it's not a scheduled stop, and you can increase your chances by stating your case well in advance, rather than trying to get the bus to stop with 10 seconds notice. If the road is busy, and there are stacks of cars piled behind the bus, the driver won't stop, but if he's a genial sort of chap and you've given him lots of notice, he might be able to let the traffic pass at some point before he stops to drop you off.
Same applies in reverse at the end of your walk... only this time you won't have any chance to negotiate in advance. If the bus stops for you in the middle of nowhere, then count that as a bonus, but if it's doing 60mph and has a stack of cars behind it, just accept that it's not going to stop without causing a massive pile-up and great loss of life!
You can tell I've had to do this on many occasions, can't you? It's even more fun in a foreign language!
I can imagine, I had enough trouble at train stations in Eastern Europe while I was Interrailing this summer. I'm pretty sure over the next few years I'll be doing plenty since I've no car and am wanting to get up to Scotland as much as possible since I've pretty much done everything worthwhile at home in the lakes and I've just started at Bangor Uni so will be out in the Welsh hills every week for the next 3/4 years but with only 15 Munros and 3 Corbetts done so far there's plenty available in Scotland to keep me happy.
The bus stops at the Kingshouse turn-off, so you can have a pint whilst you're waiting.
Or start from the Clachaig end, do one side of the glen and camp at the Kingshouse. After a nights refreshment, do the other side of the glen back to the Clachaig for more refreshment.
There was a blanket statement put on all Scottish Citylink bus timetables three or four years ago that services would only pick up /set down at advertised stopping points. This caused a bit of a stink apparently, especially with one gentleman who had evry Friday for the last god knows how many years flagged down a bus outside his cottage, miles from an advertised stopping point, to go to Inverness for a few drinks.
There's now a statement on each timetable, many say that buses will only stop at advertised stops and "established" non signposted stops, which is not much use to visitors. The service down Glencoe is a little more helpful.
Between Uig and Balloch services 914, 915 & 916 will pick up at all the stops listed above and all bus stops and intermediate points outwith the 30mph speed limit zone where it is safe for the coach to stop following a clear signal being given by the intending passenger. NOT for example in the vicinity of a bend or dip in the road whereby the drivers view of other traffic is obstructed.
I've never had a problem being set downsomewhere near where I wanted to go, I've never relied on being picked up the middle of nowhere - I've been on a couple of a buses that have sailed by people
There's a couple of local taxi services which could help you get to/from the bus stops - Ali's Taxis, 01855811136 and Hazelton's, 01855811764. Remember, being the West Coast of Scotland, in a few weeks time you'll have very little daylight so you'll need to move sharpish. I've come down the Clachaig Gully path at the end of the AE by headtorch at night - it's possible, but I wouldn't want to do it in winter.
