It is often said that “it’s not the destination, but the journey that counts.” I have never fully subscribed to this theory, at least when it comes to travel. In my experience, there are some destinations that involve a long and unrewarding journey but make up for it in the end.

On the other hand, there is a valid point to the expression. From an environmental standpoint, the way you travel is much more important than where you are going. There are also some trips where the journey itself is far more than a way to get from A to B.

Rail fits the bill on both counts. It is an environmentally-friendly way to travel, while the world’s best train journeys are breathtaking in their own right. The Trans-Mongolian railway is not the fastest way to get from Beijing to Moscow, but thousands of people do it every year. The Rocky Mountaineer in Canada even has a glass-domed roof in the dining car, the better to admire the stunning mountain views as the train takes you from Vancouver to the ski resort town of Jasper.

Yet, according to Wanderlust, the best rail journey in the world is in Scotland. The magazine included a rail journey category in its travel awards for the first time this year. The stretch of railway from Glasgow to Mallaig – where you can get a ferry to the famously beautiful Isle of Skye – won by a wide margin of votes. It got the gong for the stunning scenery, beating rail trips to Lake Titicaca or Machu Picchu in Peru, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in India, The Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide in Australia and others.

I took part of this trip in reverse recently, from Mallaig to Crianlarich, the junction in the Highlands where you can transfer to the Glasgow-Oban train. My, oh my. I can see why it won.

I spent most of the first half of the journey dashing from one side of the train to the other, marvelling at the sheer rocky hills rising to my left and the silvery lochs (lakes) surrounded by greenery. At this time of year the foxgloves are in bloom, providing a flash of purple along the train tracks. As we went deeper into the Highlands, we passed through peat bog scattered with white fluffy flowers waving in the wind, known aptly as bog cotton, framed by the blue of distant mountain peaks.

At Glenfinnan we passed over a giant viaduct, well known to Harry Potter fans. In summer you can actually go on the Jacobite steam train transformed into Hogwarts Express for the movies. It does a once-daily trip from Fort William, at the foot of snow-capped Ben Nevis, to Mallaig and back, but you need to buy a special ticket and book in advance.

There is no fuss about the West Highlands Railway – for ticketing purposes it’s just a normal part of the ScotRail network. My ticket to Crianlarich cost £23.60 on the day of purchase – it’s often cheaper when you buy in advance.

Rail is a fantastic way to see Scotland. The train journey from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh is also extremely scenic, though not a patch on the West Highlands Railway. Major cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen are well-connected with each other and with England. It is only a five-hour journey from Glasgow to London and there are sleeper services from London to most major Scottish cities.

Sometimes it definitely is the journey that counts.

Images: piglicker, paradiseconnections, brianholsclaw, ipoh

The Highlands of Scotland are one of my favorite places in the world. The countryside is stunningly beautiful with the steep mountains plunging out of glassy clear lochs. The people are friendly and the food is good – the free-range venison, fresh fish, berries, cheeses, and homemade jam and baked goods that is; the deep-fried Mars bars, not so much. If you like a tipple, you can get a wee dram of whisky anywhere you go and even visit the distilleries where it’s made.

For all its charms, there are a few things the Highlands lacks and one of them is trees – not including the estates where the local lord grows plantation pine instead of raising sheep. Vast tracts of the Highlands are marked as forest on the map but this is merely the medieval nomenclature for a deer hunting ground. Most of the Highlands are covered with heather and tussocks and it’s easy to assume this is the land’s natural state.

In fact, Scotland was once covered with forest and a new project is bringing it back. The work is being led by Trees for Life, founded 20 years ago. The organisation is committed to restoring the so-called Caledonian forest to a target area of 600 square miles and they have planted more than 750,000 trees so far. Here’s what they have to say:

The Caledonian Forest originally covered 1.5 million hectares of the Scottish Highlands as a vast primeval wilderness of Scots pine, birch, rowan, aspen, juniper and other trees. Today, though, just 1% of the forest remains, and species such as the beaver, wild boar and lynx have gone. It’s up to us to ensure the survival of this ancient and remarkable woodland. It’s Scotland’s equivalent of the rainforest and it urgently needs our help.

They run volunteer work weeks (video) and there’s a separate volunteer website. But if tree planting isn’t really your scene, there are plenty of ecologically friendly ways to explore the Highlands. Here are a few ideas:

Scotland is a wonderful destination for active wilderness holidays, especially hiking and sea kayaking. Try Responsible Travel or Wilderness Scotland.

Wild camping (i.e. not in a designated campsite) is allowed in Scotland – see the Mountaineering Council of Scotland for details.

If you’re looking for something more comfortable with eco-credentials, try Huntingtower Lodge overlooking Loch Linnhe, near Fort William and Ben Nevis. The lodge is gold-rated in the Green Tourism Business Scheme.

Or there is this adorable treehouse, part of Kinlochlaich House & Gardens, in Appin, Argyll – near Oban and Castle Stalker.

How are you getting to Scotland? There are frequent trains from London, including a sleeper service.The National Express East Coast (formerly GNER) trains up the East Coast have free wifi on board – not that you’ll need your laptop when soaking up the natural beauty of the Highlands. Once you’re there, savor the surroundings and stay put – or catch the local bus service if you need to get from town to town.

Image: ccgd