- 23 Oct last scheduled Jacobite of 2026
- $262 our pick · per person
- 11 of 42 listings include the ride
- 4 tours still selling 2026 seats
- 2027 dates not yet published
If You Still Want to Ride in 2026, Book by Availability First
With less than two weeks of the season left, price and review score matter less than whether a tour can still seat you. Start with the last date that fits your trip, then pick from the ride-inclusive tours that still have it. Four still had 2026 seats for two as the season closed: Highland Explorer's Edinburgh day tour, the 4-day Isle of Skye and Hogwarts Express tour, and the two listings of the same Inverness day tour (from 19 October). Check each calendar before counting on a 2026 seat. Every other tour in the table had sold its train seats for the year or only sells 2027 departures.
Our pick is the From Edinburgh: Hogwarts Express, Glenfinnan & Highland Tour: $262, 4.5 from 890+ verified reviews, the steam-train leg in every booking, free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and Glencoe on the way home. Gray Line's cheaper Edinburgh day has no room for two left on its train option, so what it still sells is the coach-only day. The homepage covers our pick hour by hour.
Check that a tour includes a seat on the Jacobite itself. A tour can visit Glenfinnan, use the Hogwarts Express name and time its stop to see the train cross the viaduct without putting you on it. If your dates fall after 23 October, the answer changes completely: the Jacobite is out of season, so book the Highlands day you want and do not pay extra for wording that sounds as though the steam train might be included. What to book after the season ends covers the alternatives.
Still looking for an October seat?
- Edinburgh day tour: $262, check the calendar for the final week
- 4-day Isle of Skye and Hogwarts Express: $1,046
- Inverness day tour: from 19 October, $262
- Availability disappears date by date, so check the live calendar before you plan around it
Travelling after 23 October?
- The Jacobite stops for the season after its 23 October run
- Ride the same Fort William to Mallaig line by regular ScotRail train
- Or take a Glenfinnan and Glencoe day tour without the steam train
- Planning for 2027? West Coast Railways has not yet published next season's dates
Check a date for our pick here — Highland Explorer's Edinburgh day trip, with the train in every booking; use the calendar for the season's final week. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
All 11 Jacobite Tours Side by Side: Price, Rating, Departure City, Length
Per-person price is for the nearest bookable date we found for two adults on 11 October 2026 (the 12 and 14 October dates in the Next column have since run) — not the lowest headline figure, which on optional-train tours is the price without the train.
Every name links to the operator's own GetYourGuide listing, where every figure comes from. Always = the ride is in every booking option; Option = only the booking option that names the steam train includes it. Ratings drift as reviews land; the booking page always shows the current number. Our worth-it verdict covers whether to ride at all.
Other Scotland Experiences Travellers Pair With a Jacobite Day
Whichever row you pick, it fills one day. Loch Ness cruises from Inverness, Edinburgh's Old Town and castle tours, whisky distilleries on Speyside and Islay, and Isle of Skye day trips all sell from the same three cities.
The Right Jacobite Tour for Each Kind of Traveller
Six situations, one recommendation each — and the listings to avoid this season.
The one most people book — Edinburgh day trip, $262
The Hogwarts Express, Glenfinnan & Highland Tour is the default for a reason: 4.5 from 890+ reviews, the ride in every booking, and the day built around it — coach north through Fife and Perthshire, the one-way steam leg from Mallaig to Fort William across the viaduct, then Glencoe and Rannoch Moor on the way home. The date checker above shows what is left before 23 October, at $262 per person. The one caveat from recent reviews: two of the last ten had the train held up for about an hour, which makes a long day longer. Our full breakdown of this tour →
The cheapest way to ride — Gray Line Magical Highlands, sold out for two in 2026
Gray Line's Magical Highlands Tour with Jacobite Train is a similar Edinburgh day — Glencoe, Fort William, the viaduct, Mallaig — with a single journey on the Jacobite sold as a selectable option. The option called with Hogwarts Express cost $258 per adult, four dollars under the $262 tours; with it sold out, the listing now leads with its $198 coach-only option, which watches the train from Glenfinnan and then meets it in Mallaig by coach. 4.4 from 840+ reviews. The train option has no room for two left this season; the listing itself warns that when the train option does not appear, the train is fully booked and the day runs coach-only. For 2026, the $262 tours are now the cheapest way to actually ride.
Starting from Glasgow — nothing direct any more, so start in Edinburgh
Until this September two sister tours ran out of Buchanan bus station — Highland Explorer's Jacobite Steam Train & The Highlands Tour and Haggis Adventures' Scottish Highlands & The Hogwarts Express Day Tour — taking the same road through Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor and Glencoe to a two-hour Jacobite ride. GetYourGuide has since delisted both: by 25 September 2026 each listing redirected to a city page instead of a bookable tour, so we have removed them from the table. Nothing else departing Glasgow puts you on the train.
Take an Edinburgh tour instead. Glasgow to Edinburgh is about 50 minutes by train from Queen Street, running every 15 minutes, and both Edinburgh day tours meet in the Old Town early enough to connect from a first service — though it does mean a night in Edinburgh if you would rather not start before dawn. Highland Explorer's Hogwarts Express tour, at $262, is the first calendar to check; Gray Line's Magical Highlands Tour has no room for two left on its steam-train option this season.
Starting from Inverness — the most-reviewed Jacobite tour of all
Highland Explorer's From Inverness: Jacobite Steam Train and Highlands Tour has more reviews than any other listing here — more than 1,000 at 4.4 — and a better first half than the Edinburgh version: down Loch Ness with a photo stop above Urquhart Castle, the Commando Memorial, then the one-way steam leg and lunch in Mallaig. $262, with the 7:30 departure the one holding seats for two from 19 October — the departure times swap which one is open from week to week, so take whichever shows your date. The identical itinerary is also listed as Harry Potter Train & Scottish Highlands under the Haggis brand at the same price with 22 reviews averaging 4.1 — book the listing with the thousand.
Making a Skye trip of it — one loop still runs in 2026
Haggis Adventures' 3-day Isle of Skye, Highlands & Jacobite Steam Train ($688, 4.8 from 41) is the cheapest Skye loop with the ride in every booking, in mixed hostel dorms and strictly 18-plus — but its 2026 departures have gone; the first 2027 date it will seat two is 5 May 2027. Highland Experience's 4-day Isle of Skye and Hogwarts Express ($1,046, 4.8 from 170+) is the comfortable version: three B&B nights, Eilean Donan Castle, the ride included, the best-reviewed multi-day here — and the one multi-day tour still running this season: check the listing for the last October departures, at $1,046 per person. Timberbush's 4-day Skye, Jacobite & Whisky adds Oban and Talisker distilleries — but its $451 headline is the tour without accommodation or train. Its Accommodation & Steam Train option sells for next season only: $1,218 from 4 April 2027, the dearest way to ride on this page (4.7 from 38). From Inverness, Highland Explorer's 3-day Skye & Optional Steam Train ($780 with the including Steam Train room — up from $653 in August — 5.0 from 29) is the northern equivalent. Its last 2026 train date was 25 September; it now sells only from 2 April 2027.
The three to skip for 2026
Highland Explorer's Isle of Skye & Optional Jacobite Train 3-Day Tour is a good tour (4.6 from 200+) but on every departure we checked through 9 January 2027 only the excluding Steam Train rooms were listed — the train option is withdrawn for the season, so for this page's purpose it is a Skye tour, not a Jacobite one. Highland Explorer's 5-day Isle of Skye and Loch Ness tour (4.5 from 60) sells the ride as an April–October option — but only the without Jacobite rooms were bookable on every departure we checked through 18 January 2027. Newly back on GetYourGuide after a spell delisted, Highland Explorer's 6-day Isle of Skye and Outer Hebrides tour (4.8 from 21) still promises the train in its Includes if the option is chosen — but the only room offered on any departure we checked, right through to August 2027, was the B&B twin without the Jacobite. All three are worth re-checking when 2027 dates open.
Still deciding whether to ride at all
Read is the Jacobite worth it first — it compares the steam train with ScotRail on the same line and with the free Glenfinnan viewpoint, which is the better choice if the famous photo is what you actually want. Then how to get to the Jacobite from Edinburgh covers doing it without a tour.
Six Things the Listings Don't Make Obvious
The headline price is often the price without the train. GetYourGuide shows each listing's cheapest option on any date. On Timberbush's 4-day it is $451 without accommodation or train; on Highland Explorer's Inverness 3-day it is the $570 excluding room. The table above uses the price of the option that actually rides.
"Always" beats "Option" if you are booking late. Where the train is one option among room types, the train-inclusive options sell first: on one Edinburgh 3-day tour none were left for all of 2026, and on another the including room opened a week after the excluding one. On the one-day tours and Highland Experience's 4-day Skye tour every booking includes the ride — nothing to get wrong.
Ride included does not mean the whole route. Every day tour here puts you on one leg of the Jacobite — Mallaig to Fort William on both the Edinburgh and the Inverness tours — with the coach covering the other direction. You still cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct by steam; you do not get the 84-mile round trip the direct ticket sells. For that, see the Fort William to Mallaig route guide.
Two listings can be one product. Highland Explorer Tours and Haggis Adventures are sister brands, and the Inverness day tour appears under both names at the same price, departure times and dates. The rating difference (4.4 from 1,000+ against 4.1 from 22) is sample size, not a different tour — but book the one with the reviews, because that is the page whose recent feedback you can actually read.
Seat sides are auto-allocated. For the viaduct sit on the left from Fort William, on the right from Mallaig; the tours cannot pre-select a side, and West Coast Railways swaps sides between legs on the direct service anyway. The door windows are where the photographers stand. None of this changes which tour to pick.
Steam is likely, not promised, and 2026 is a short season. The Jacobite resumed on 1 June 2026 on a reduced morning-only timetable after a regulator dispute, may run diesel-hauled on high fire-risk days, and is using a mix of Mark 1 and Mark 2 carriages during a door-locking retrofit. Every tour here cancels free up to 24 hours before departure, so holding a date costs nothing — book early in your trip and keep a spare day. The complete 2026 guide has the timetable detail.
What to Book After the Jacobite Season Ends
The steam train stops after 23 October, but the railway, the viaduct and the glens are still there. Do not book a winter tour expecting the Jacobite to appear.
Ride the same railway by regular train
This is the closest alternative if the journey matters most. ScotRail runs the Fort William to Mallaig line all year, about four trains a day, and it crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct on the same track. You lose the steam locomotive and the heritage carriages, but you keep the route: Loch Eil, Glenfinnan, the coast around Arisaig and the run into Mallaig, in about 1 hour 24 minutes and from around £5 with an Advance single. Our Fort William to Mallaig route guide has the timings, and the West Highland Line guide covers the full line from Glasgow.
Take a Glenfinnan and Highlands day tour
This suits you if the Harry Potter scenery matters more than sitting on the train. Day tours still visit Glenfinnan, Loch Shiel and Glencoe once the Jacobite has stopped, and you can walk up to the viaduct viewpoints without arranging transport from Fort William yourself. From Edinburgh, the Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe & Fort William day trip is one of the best reviewed (4.8 from 4,500+), but it is a viewpoint tour, so check that it runs on your date. The Glenfinnan Viaduct guide covers the viewpoints.
Base yourself in Fort William
This works best with two or more days. Stay in Fort William, visit Glenfinnan on its own, take the regular train towards Mallaig and add Glencoe or the Great Glen. Out of season this often makes more sense than trying to recreate a tightly timed summer Jacobite day in a single trip.
When does the Jacobite start again in 2027?
West Coast Railways has not yet published its 2027 operating dates, so treat any firm 2027 start date you see elsewhere as provisional. Some multi-day tours in the table already sell spring 2027 departures, from 2 April; those are the tour operators' dates, and their train leg still depends on next season's timetable. We will update this page when West Coast Railways announces it.
Which Jacobite Tour: Frequently Asked Questions
The questions people ask when choosing between the tours, answered with figures checked on 11 October 2026.
Can I ride the Jacobite after 23 October 2026?
No. The last scheduled Jacobite service of 2026 runs on 23 October, and the train does not run through the winter. After that date you can ride the same Fort William to Mallaig line on ScotRail's regular year-round trains, which cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct, or take a Glenfinnan and Glencoe day tour that visits the viaduct without the steam train.
When does the Jacobite start again in 2027?
West Coast Railways has not yet published its 2027 operating dates, so treat any firm 2027 start date as provisional. Some multi-day tours already sell departures from April 2027, but their train leg depends on next season's timetable. We will update this page when the official dates are announced.
Which Jacobite Steam Train tour is best for first-time visitors?
The From Edinburgh: Hogwarts Express, Glenfinnan & Highland Tour by Highland Explorer Tours, at $262. It is the best-reviewed single-day departure from Edinburgh that includes the steam-train leg in every booking — 4.5 from 890+ reviews — with the coach, the Mallaig to Fort William ride and a live guide in one price, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before. The last Jacobite of 2026 runs on 23 October, so check its calendar for the final week; Gray Line's train option has no room for two left this season.
What is the cheapest tour that includes a ride on the Jacobite?
For the rest of 2026, the $262 day tours: Highland Explorer's Hogwarts Express tour from Edinburgh and its Inverness tour (from 19 October). Gray Line's Magical Highlands Tour was four dollars cheaper at $258 with the steam-train option, but that option has no room for two left this season and the listing now leads with its $198 coach-only fare; its coach-only version only photographs the train from Glenfinnan.
Is there a Jacobite tour from Glasgow that includes the train ride?
Not any more. Until September 2026 two sister tours ran from Buchanan bus station with a two-hour Jacobite ride included, but GetYourGuide has delisted both — by 25 September 2026 each listing redirected to a city page rather than a bookable tour. No Glasgow departure currently includes a seat on the train. Edinburgh is the practical answer instead: trains run Glasgow to Edinburgh in about 50 minutes, and the Edinburgh day tours pick up in the Old Town. Highland Explorer's Hogwarts Express tour costs $262 and is the calendar to check first for the last week of the season; Gray Line's steam-train option has no room for two left this season.
Which Jacobite tour runs from Inverness?
Highland Explorer's From Inverness: Jacobite Steam Train and Highlands Tour, at $262 with 4.4 from more than 1,000 reviews — the most-reviewed Jacobite tour of all. It drives down Loch Ness past Urquhart Castle and the Commando Memorial before the one-way steam leg. The same itinerary is also listed under the sister brand Haggis Adventures with only 22 reviews; book the better-reviewed listing. A three-day Inverness option with an optional steam train also exists.
Which multi-day Scotland tours include the Jacobite Steam Train?
Seven listings sell one, but only one still had 2026 departures as the season closed: the 4-day Isle of Skye and Hogwarts Express B&B tour from Edinburgh ($1,046, 4.8). Three have rolled into next season — Highland Explorer's 3-day Skye tour from Inverness ($780 with the train option, from 2 April 2027), Timberbush's 4-day Skye, steam train and whisky tour ($1,218 with the accommodation-and-train option, from 4 April 2027) and Haggis Adventures' 3-day Isle of Skye tour with hostel dorms ($688, 4.8, adults only, from 5 May 2027). The remaining three — the Edinburgh 3-day, 5-day and 6-day tours with optional train — had no train-inclusive dates at all.
Do all Jacobite tours on GetYourGuide actually include riding the train?
No. Of 42 listings that mention the Jacobite, Hogwarts Express or Glenfinnan, only 11 include a ride; the other 31 stop at the viaduct viewpoint to photograph the train, chase it by boat, or list boarding the Jacobite under Not included. Several of the viewpoint-only tours have thousands of reviews, so a high rating is not evidence that you will ride. Check the Includes list for a train ticket before you book.
What does 'optional steam train' mean on a multi-day tour listing?
The operator sells the same departure as two or more booking options — for example Twin Room excluding Steam Train and Twin Room including Steam Train — and only the including option carries the ride. The train-inclusive options are the ones that sell out first: on the Edinburgh 3-day Skye tour we found no train-inclusive room bookable on any departure through 9 January 2027. Pick the including option explicitly and check it shows a date before you commit.