Choosing Corrour Again

The middle of April saw us returning to Scotland for my fifth visit of the year, although this time we were heading to spend a couple of nights at our favourite place. Caledonian Sleeper had taken us to Fort William (read about that here) and a ride back south on Scotrail brought us to our destination. This post is all about why we were Choosing Corrour Again!

Corrour is a very unique station on the West Highland Line, located in the middle of Rannoch Moor and the Corrour Estate, with the nearest public road being around 20 miles away. With the main estate house being around five miles away, the only buildings within the vicinity of the station are Corrour Station House and the former signal box, which now contains three bedrooms offered out as BnB accommodation by the estate.

As such the railway plays a major role in providing access to the Station House as it is the only option available for the general public that doesn’t require a long walk or bike ride. On a day when the weather is good, trains arriving at Corrour from both the north and south drop off lots of passengers who head out for a walk or cycle around the moor and then head back to the Station House for some food and drink after.

We were lucky enough to be spending two nights staying in the signal box accommodation, with our room being ‘Maccaillin Moor’. All the rooms have a double bed and ensuite bathroom, along with tea/coffee facilities and a stay at the signal box includes breakfast across the tracks at the Station House. The signal box is a great place to spend a couple of nights, but be warned that you’ll have an 0800 alarm as the locomotives hauling the northbound Caledonian Sleeper will pass just a meter or so from your bedroom window.

Having settled into our room and enjoying a short rest, we headed back over to the Station House for some dinner and ended up sharing a table with some other guests as it was a very busy period of the evening. Both of us opted for the venison stew, made with venison from the Corrour estate and it was absolutely delicious. Having enjoyed an excellent meal and watching the remaining day time visitors board the southbound Caledonian Sleeper (the last southbound train of the day), we headed back over to our room to relax and allow the staff to close down the Station House for the night.

After a great nights sleep, we were surprised to not have been woken by the northbound Caledonian Sleeper, but soon discovered that as we woke just after 0800, it hadn’t yet departed Edinburgh. Unfortunately issues with journey from London had resulted in a rare but extreme delay to the service and the Fort William portion eventually departed Edinburgh 10 minutes before it was due at Fort William.

Heading over to the Station House for breakfast, I opted for a Full Scottish and was delighted to find it came with both black pudding and haggis. Following our hearty breakfast we headed up to the lounge that’s located on the former operational floor of the signal box. With 360° views of the moor, the lounge is a great place to relax for a while, enjoy the scenery and just unwind.

With the morning dedicated to unwinding and relaxing, we had decided that the afternoon needed to be dedicated to a walk around part of Loch Ossian. Setting ourselves up with a hearty lunch of soup, we watched the northbound Caledonian Sleeper finally pass through at around 1430, just as we set off away from the railway along the estate road. The full circular walk around Loch Ossian from the Station House is about 8 miles, but we decided just to walk part way along the north shore before heading back, doing about 4 miles in total.

The walk was great, with beautiful scenery and excellent weather and we arrived back at the station thoroughly refreshed by time with nature. Deciding to have a short nap before heading for dinner, we did make a reservation on this occasion to ensure we were able to get a table. I decided to try the other option made with the estate venison, a Venison burger, which was delicious, whilst Beth opted for another portion of the stew. With no southbound Caledonian Sleeper on a Saturday night, the Station House emptied out with the last southbound Scotrail service and we enjoyed some time relaxing before heading to bed.

Breakfast on Sunday saw the close of this visit to Corrour as we had an interesting journey south to Glasgow via train and replacement bus to make. However, as we checked out and settled our bill, we were able to book in our visit to Corrour for 2024. I think it is safe to say that Corrour is my favourite place to visit and even just a two night stay does wonders in helping me to relax and unwind. I’d certainly recommend that you too Choose Corrour!