Glenfinnan is where the West Highland Railway crosses a curve of arches above the head of Loch Shiel, and where the 1745 rising was proclaimed. Both are real. The viaduct has also become a photograph people queue for, because a steam train crosses it in season and because a film made the curve famous. Arrive for the landscape and you will still be glad. Arrive only for a two-minute train and you may mostly see other people’s phones.
It sits on the Road to the Isles, between Fort William and Mallaig. That road and that railway are the journey. The viaduct is a stop on it.
See
The viaduct viewpoint
Walk up from the visitor centre. The path is short and the view is the curve plus the loch, which is the better half.
The monument
At the head of Loch Shiel. The history is 1745, not the film. Read the stone.
The train, if the timetable agrees
The Jacobite steam service runs in season and is booked out. The ordinary ScotRail service still crosses the arches and does not require a costume.
On to the coast
Arisaig, Morar or Mallaig. Silver sand and the Small Isles ferry if you have the rest of the day.