We stopped at Glenfinnan for a short time during our Scottish roadtrip 2011.
The Glenfinnan Monument situated here at the head of Loch Shiel was erected in 1815 to mark the place where Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") raised his standard, at the beginning of the 1745 Jacobite Rising.
The viaduct was built in 1897–1901 by the engineer Sir Robert McAlpine. It has 21 arches, reaching as high as 100 ft (30 m). A plaque at the base of one of the arches commemorates the centenary of the viaduct.
The Glenfinnan viaduct recently came to prominence in the Harry Potter films, the first being Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second in the Harry Potter Series, when the Jacobite Steam Train became transformed into the Hogwarts Express and was filmed crossing the viaduct. It also appears and will be appearing in subsequent Harry Potter films. The viaduct also appeared in the 1969 film, "Ring of Bright Water" starring Bill Travers, where in one scene, Travers is crossing the viaduct by train.
Please take the time to walk up the small hill at the back of the tearoom for fab photographs right down Loch shiel and the Bonnie Prince Charlie monument .