Enjoy the romance of steam travel as you explore the countryside with our best steam train experiences
Step into the world of yesteryear with a nostalgic steam train trip down memory lane. All aboard now for the best steam train experiences in the UK
Best steam train experiences in UK
West Highland Line
The West Highland Line is surely the grandaddy of all scenic train journeys – not just steam. It runs from Glasgow, by Loch Lomond, via Fort William and along the island-studded coastline to the fishing port of Mallaig. It’s simply superb and can be enjoyed on a standard train, but board a vintage steam train for the final leg to Mallaig and it takes on a different, magical dimension.
Harry Potter and his friends know it well from their journeys to Hogwarts – this section of the line features in the much-loved films. Boring old Muggles will delight in discovering it, too.
The 84-mile steam round-trip from Ben Nevis to Loch Nevis is one of the world’s most exciting steam train trips.
Look right after pulling out of from the station for the top of the whale-backed Ben Nevis. Shortly after, you’ll chug past the cascading flight of canal locks known as Neptune’s Staircase as The Jacobite slowly crosses the bridge over the Caledonian Canal at Banavie, where it meets the saltwater Loch Linnhe. The highlight though has to be crossing of the 300m (1,000ft) long Glenfinnan Viaduct with its 21 arches.
Severn railway line
Like so many rural services, the Severn Valley Railway Line has a history full of stops and starts. Now maintained by hundreds of volunteers, it’s the best way to follow the River Severn through its beautiful and practically road-free valley.
The Beeching rationalisation saw the line close in the 1960s, but budding enthusiasts banded together to reopen passenger services from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade in 1970, before extending the line to Kidderminster in 1984. For a for a jam-packed double rail experience, catch the steam train to Hampton Loade, and then wander back to Bridgnorth along the River Severn on foot, to the Bridgnorth Cliff Railway. Find out more at svr.co.uk
Peak rail
Visiting the Derbyshire Dales can be a little like stepping back in time to a more peaceful, rural way of life. With Peak Rail you can take that one step further, experiencing the bygone age of travel by trundling through on a steam train.
This four-mile stretch of railway used to form part of the Midland Railway Line between Manchester and London St Pancras up until 1968. These days the preserved line, which extends from Matlock to Rowsley South via Darley Dale, plays host to visitors and tourists looking to recapture something of the golden age of transport.
Find out more at peakrail.co.uk
Bluebell railway
We often long for the elegant approach to travel from decades gone by and the Bluebell Railway in Sussex has it by the brass bucket-load. There’s no flashing buttons or ‘mind the gap’ announcement, but a solid, deeply polished wooden door and Inside, the small compartment looks like a film set. The seats are high and upholstered, and among luggage racks, brass knobs and beautifully typeset signs there is plenty of leg room.
The Bluebell Railway travels through 11 miles of glorious Sussex countryside between Sheffield Park and East Grinstead, stopping at Horsted Keynes and Kingscote
Find out more bluebell-railway.com
The Ffestiniog
The Ffestiniog winds its way from Porthmadog, Wales through 13.5 miles of stunning countryside. Waterfalls cascade and streams froth down mossy rock-sides. Swathes of deep green grass soar on one side while valleys dip away spectacularly on the other, affording the chance to look down on tree-tops far below.
Sharp bends in the line offer splendid views of the engine as it chugs onward and upward to Blaenau Ffestiniog where there’s a chance to travel on an even smaller train into the bowels of a former slate mine. The slate-waste landscape at the top of the line makes a fascinating contrast with the natural beauties below.
Find out more at www.festrail.co.uk
West Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland starts at Porthmagog, like The Ffestiniog, but thereafter takes a very different route across the Snowdonia National Park, all the way to the historic walled town of Caernarfon.
The 25-mile journey takes the best part of two hours, but you can enjoy a meal and a drink while taking in the usual glut of glorious scenery, including Snowdon itself and the Aberglaslyn Pass, voted “the most beautiful spot in the UK” by the National Trust. There’s plenty of competition in Wales and several more narrow-gauge lines from which to savour the scenery.
Find out more at www.festrail.co.uk
Keighley and Worth Valley railway
Old worlds collide at the fringe of the wuthering moors of West Yorkshire, where the feisty siblings of Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children meet the long-suffering characters of the high-Victorian novels crafted by the Brontë sisters
This realm of reminiscence is re-emphasised by the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR), which rattles steeply up from the mainline interchange station at Keighley to Oxenhope. There’s no finer way to appreciate this countryside than from a steam train on this line, nestled below gritstone edges and encircled by heather moors.
in 1968 the BBC had scheduled a dramatisation of The Railway Children and leapt at the chance to film branch-line life here. Much more famous is the 1970 film version by Lionel Jeffries, which again was rooted to the K&WVR. This period piece drew heavily on the enchanting mix of character and countryside, much of which is linked on a rail trail based on the preserved line and filming locations.
The K&WVR also stepped up for The Railway Children Return, along with the stunning Yorkshire countryside, including the picturesque town of Howarth
Find out more at kwvr.co.uk
Discover more train magic
- Britain’s best request stop train stations
- Britain’s best train journeys
- 10 of the best walks from train stations in Northern England
- UK’s most scenic public transport routes
- Top 10 railway day-trips
- Britain’s top five narrow-gauge railway journeys