Filming locations in Scottish Highlands

The western Highlands have become a magnet for screen pilgrims, and a single base at Fort William puts you within reach of four very different films and series. The most famous draw is the Glenfinnan Viaduct, the graceful curved railway bridge that the Hogwarts Express steams across in Harry Potter, most memorably with a flying car in pursuit. Park at the visitor car park and walk fifteen to twenty minutes up to the viewpoint to see it.

Time that walk for the Jacobite steam train crossing, which runs daily in season, so check the timetable before you go and you can watch a real steam engine curl over the arches. Below the viaduct sit the Glenfinnan Monument and Loch Shiel, and the road carries on to Mallaig for the ferry to Skye, making the whole spot an easy, rewarding morning out from town.

The same landscapes carry a deep Outlander and adventure-film pedigree. Glencoe, a brooding glen of dark peaks just up the A82, supplies the sweeping Highland backdrops of the Outlander opening titles and several travel sequences; it is free to drive through, with marked viewpoints and a visitor centre. Nearby Glen Nevis, beneath Britain's highest mountain, plays William Wallace's Highland home in Braveheart.

Bond fans complete the set at Glen Etive, the remote single-track glen where 007 drives his Aston Martin home to Skyfall; the public road off the A82 has passing places and ends at a loch, so go slowly and use the laybys for photos. Fort William is the practical base for the lot, with the West Highland Line on its doorstep. Highland weather turns fast, so pack layers and aim for longer summer days, though the glens are dramatic in any light.