West Highland Line for Loch Ossian
It’s been voted the top rail journey in the world and the unstaffed, windswept platform at Corrour is arguably its finest station. This is the highest mainline stop in Britain (1340ft) and the remotest (seven miles by crow or 10 by path from the nearest road), where the bustle of Glasgow, or London if you arrive on the Caledonian Sleeper, evaporates in the peace of Rannoch Moor.
Walks pull in all directions: Leum Uilleim, which Renton, Sick Boy and Spud memorably refuse to climb in Trainspotting, lifts to the west. To the east, Beinn na Lap and Carn Dearg push through the Munro-qualifying 3000 feet on opposite sides of Loch Ossian, while a track circles its shore, and another leads south-east across the wild moor to the lonely station at Rannoch*. You can stay too, at Corrour station itself, or at the youth hostel at the tip of the loch.
Almost every stop from Glasgow to Mallaig will make you twitch to get off: turn to Walk 25 to tackle the pyramid of Beinn Dorain from Bridge of Orchy, and find more walks from the line at walk1000miles.co.uk/bonusroutes