Actually I’d rather do Freiburg - Paris - London - York. Faster and more reliable too : you don’t have to deal with the Ruhr area delays nor with the unreliable ICE to Brussels. For example :

• TGV Freiburg (Breisgau) Hbf - Paris-Est 06:36 - 09:35 20€
• 10 min walk + margin and passport controls
• Eurostar Paris-Nord - London St. Pancras 11:10 - 12:30 30€
• any train from King’s Cross to York (free optional reservation)

Note that Eurostar has a passholder quota and you must book well in advance on weekends/holidays.

Fort William is remote for sure but the West Highland line to get there is beautiful. Continue to Mallaig for the Glenfinnan Viaduct if you wish. I also took the Kyle of Lochalsh - Inverness railway : you could reach Kyle with a bus from Fort William (where I’d set a base) before continuing towards Inverness and Edinburgh.

Basically any railway in Scotland is beautiful haha

I spent a month in the UK and Ireland last summer so feel free to ask anything!

Also available for €10, even for tomorrow.

Nice! I thought it was a fixed 20€ fee as opposed to other domestic trains. Glad it changed.

Definitely go that way @Loeffle  :)

Thanks for your insight - I have friends who regularly do Freiburg - Wales by train and they said they have bad experiences going via Paris AND London, but perhaps they have even more difficult way onwards to Wales.
As I live in a village I might have some problems to catch the 6:36 departure, but the way you describe it, it’s very attractive. (got stuck in the Ruhr Area last autumn on my way back home from Bremen - what a mess!)

It’s unlikely I can make the trip around Pentecost, so it would be in September. So still some time to book the reservations I guess.
Thanks also for the tipps on Fort William and surroundings. Seems worth those two additional hours.

The Freiburg - Paris direct TGV is indeed very convenient. It also stops in Ringsheim, Lahr and Offenburg if it helps. :)

I never had issues in Paris. Always went through the checks in 3-5 min. Obviously the terminal is always crowded but it's worse in London.

It's an easy walk from Gare de l'Est to Gare du Nord so you don't have to deal with métros or RERs either.

Yes sure, you've got time. French trains won't be on sale for quite some time too.

Feel free to ask further questions.

Thanks - yeah, I saw it. But those places are even further North. I come from the East of Freiburg, a village with no train station. So it’s a bus ride plus a ride by the very unreliable S-Bahn to Freiburg. But it’s not totally impossible to make that TGV.

If I may ask another one? I get only one York - Fort William connection. Departure 11:56, Arrival 22:07. Is there maybe another option, arriving a bit earlier? Maybe including a bus?

Departure York either on a Sunday or Monday.

Thanks again

British trains start at around 9am on Sundays (it was really a shock for me!) so you can't make the midday train from Glasgow, only the evening service.

On Mondays it's quite doable though :

- York - Edinburgh Waverley 07:35 - 10:20

- Edinburgh Waverley - Glasgow Queen Street 10:45 - 11:37 or 11:15 - 12:06

- Glasgow Queen Street - Fort William 12:22 - 16:09

Have you checked this on www.nationalrail.co.uk? If so, on which date?

On Mondays there should also be a morning departure.

There is a bus alternative that would get you to Fort William much earlier on Sundays, train to Glasgow Queen Street and Citylink 914 Glasgow to Fort William which would not be covered by your pass.

https://www.citylink.co.uk/timetables-service-updates/glasgow-skye

A shame to miss the railway though... ;)

But thx for the heads-up

The bus trip is also very scenic and takes a different route for much of the journey, both are worth doing.

Thanks, perhaps one trip by bus and one by train then? ;)
Might need an extra day on way home.

Oh thanks, used the planner on the Eurail app ;)

The rail planner app is unreliable and not fit for planning purposes.

that’s a very helpful advice :)