📌 Fort William, Highland
★
There’s not much to see of Fort William‘s Old Fort, but we’ve given it a place here by virtue of its importance in creating the town around it. The site overlooks Loch Linnhe close to the centre of town, though getting to it is a little difficult thanks to the dual carriageway along the promenade. Oliver Cromwell first built a wooden citadel here in the mid 1600s, which was upgraded to a stone one a few decades later. A settlement soon grew up close by: An Gearasdan – or “the garrison” – later became known as Fort William, named after the king who approved the citadel’s upgrade. The fort withstood a Jacobite siege in 1746 and fell out of military use a century later; the eastern half was demolished by the construction of a railway line, now dismantled and replaced by the road which makes pedestrian access to the fort awkward today. Cannons point out the view along Loch Linnhe which is the main draw; you can also duck through the Sally Port to view the fort from below.
🌍 Location
📌 Next to Loch Linnhe by a roundabout on the A82, 5-min walk north of Fort William town centre
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 104743
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.821384,-5.107591
🚆🚌 Fort William
🚗 Car parks (charge) in Fort William town centre
📝 Key info
⌚ Always open
🎫 Free
💬 Recommended access from the town centre is a 10-min walk (each way), either through the railway station car park to the north or along the promenade from the south. (The direct route is blocked by a dual carriageway with no nearby crossing.)
