Travelling alone at 50: Scotland by train with Fanette

Written by Lisa Abitbol

Published on November 5, 2024, modified on April 29, 2025

Looking for practical advice, feedback and inspiration for your next train journey? Make yourself comfortable and put your headphones in your ears: board now for “Je t'offre un rail?”, the podcast that will get you hooked on trains, produced with the support of SNCF Connect!

A solo trip to Scotland at 50

In this episode, we welcome Fanette, 50, a train travel enthusiast and adventurer at heart. After years of raising her children alone, she decided to embark on a 10-day solo trip to Scotland to explore the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Her goals: to take her time, rediscover herself and enjoy the trip from a different angle.

“There's a real sense of freedom: disconnecting from the everyday world to better reconnect with yourself and nature” she explains. For Fanette, going off on her own at 50 is a liberation. It's an opportunity to refocus on oneself and stop putting off one's travel dreams until tomorrow.

Episode summary

• Her relationship with trains since she was a child, intimately linked to her relationship with travel.
• Pre-departure preparations: how she organized her trip to Scotland, and in particular the SNCF Connect offer for a ticket to London that enabled her to make the journey.
• The praise for slowness and contemplation, and how it can be beneficial when traveling solo: “There's a real sense of disconnection: at no point did I feel like opening Insta or Facebook.”
• The power of spontaneous encounters, and how these travelers of all ages, encountered on trains or in hostels, enriched her journey.
• The return journey, and how it transformed his perception of solitude.
• And other nuggets that we'll let you discover by clicking right here 👇

“There's a big difference between being alone and being lonely. I've never felt lonely. Ever! At any time.”

“Inverness to Sursaut, I think it was the most beautiful train ride I've ever done in my life.... It was absolutely fantastic.”

“At 50, you're able to listen to yourself more, to take your time. Travelling alone then becomes a luxury.”

“On the train, you can afford to arrive at a station and say: wait, there's a departure in an hour.... Let's go. ”

Fanette's tips to get ready for your Interrail trip in Europe

• Anticipate offers and be flexible: “First of all, you have to get in early. You have to be hyper-aware of all the offers. I keep an eye on social networks and I subscribe to a lot of websites that offer special deals. The SNCF Connect newsletter, for example, has a lot of special offers."

• Choose suitable accommodation: to combine comfort and safety, Fanette opted for youth hostels where she met young travelers and backpackers with whom she could share her experiences.

• Use the advantages of train travel: with flexible tickets, she was able to stop off in picturesque little towns like Plockton. “Flexible tickets are an incredible freedom that gives you time to explore.”

Fanette's complete itinerary

• Paris 🇫🇷 - London 🇬🇧: the kick-off to her adventure.
• London 🇬🇧 - Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: an immersion in the English and Scottish landscapes.

Then a train journey through Scotland, on trains “totally clean, with absolutely fantastic scenery on the North Coast, from birds to deer!”

• Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - Inverness 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: to discover the Highlands and make a compulsory stopover at the famous Loch Ness.
• Inverness 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - North Coast 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: to discover superb wild and maritime landscapes.
• North Coast 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - Inverness 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: to visit the Culloden Battlefield, a famous Jacobite battlefield.
• Inverness 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - Isle of Skye 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: a unique 2-day getaway on Scotland's most famous island.
• Return via Glasgow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: to round off this trip to a vibrant city, with “music on every corner”, pubs and a very warm atmosphere.
  

Her best travel anecdotes

The sun that never sets

When she ventures north of Scotland in the middle of summer, Fanette discovers that the sun never really sets. “There was a guy who went to watch the sun set over the sea. He waited for a long time and then came back, a bit puzzled!”

It's a moment she describes as magical, with a clear, soft light that envelops the region until midnight and begins again at 2am.

The culture of anonymity in hostels

Fanette has discovered a unique space of freedom in the hostels. “In hostels, no one asks questions about identity, name, age.... We simply ask each other where we're from."

An anonymity that allows for more authentic and spontaneous exchanges. “I spent some time with a Dutchman and an Australian, and we found ourselves on the same route several times, without ever giving each other our names or our age.

An extraordinary train journey

Fanette's favorite? The Inverness to Sursaut line, which she describes as “the most beautiful train ride” of her life.

“You ride along the sea and the wilderness, with animals approaching the tracks. You're immersed in the landscape, as if the train were part of the scenery. It's absolutely fantastic.”

With this magnificent solo trip, Fanette proves (if proof were needed) that there's no age limit to adventure. It's a superb way of finding yourself and refocusing on yourself, while letting yourself be carried away by discovery, encounters and freedom.

She's now ready for her next trip to Norway, by train of course. Thank you and bon voyage Fanette!

To make sure you don't miss a single episode and get inspired by our guests, don't hesitate to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite listening platforms. Thanks to our partner SNCF Connect, the reference app for trains and sustainable mobility, which accompanies over 15 million users on their journeys in France and Europe!