My son has been mad about steam trains for as long as I can remember. With him having a December birthday we spent a number of years celebrating his birthday with a trip to see Father Christmas on a heritage railway line. Holidays have often involved steam train excursions too, so I thought it was about time that I put a list together of suggested Top Steam Train Adventures across the UK.
We’ve been on quite a few heritage railway lines over the years, but I’m always looking for recommendations, so I’ve asked a number of other bloggers for their favourite steam train adventures too. It’s worth knowing that under 5’s often travel for free, and we definitely made use of this offer when my son was smaller.
Bristol
When we visited Bristol (did you know it was a county as well as a city) we had a great time taking a trip on the Bristol Harbour Railway.
Buckinghamshire
We live really close to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton. Again, we’ve enjoyed Days Out With Thomas here and it’s often somewhere my son and his Dad disappear to for some quality time together. The line itself is quite short, but there are often miniature railways running as well as model railway layouts and a museum.
Cornwall
When we visited Cornwall a few years ago we enjoyed a trip on the Launceston Steam Railway.
A few years before that we’d joined friends for a day out exploring the Bodmin & Wenford Railway.
There’s also lots to do at Lappa Valley including a couple of train rides.
Cumbria
We haven’t been to the Lake District since my son was born and it’s somewhere we’re eager to explore with him as there are a number of railways to enjoy. The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway has long been on my list to explore and Jane’s adventures there have reinforced that idea.
Cath at Bakes Bikes and Boys recommends a trip on the Ravensglass Railway.
Devon
Jane from Hodge Podge Days suggests a visit to the Lynton and Barnstable Railway which is a narrow-gauge railway in Exmoor National Park.
Natalie at Crummy Mummy tried out the Dartmouth Steam Railway. The railway is a great way to explore South Devon. Nicola at The Mummy Monster also enjoyed an excursion on this line, but one at night, which looks fantastic.
Pecorama has long been on my list of places to visit and having read Kara’s post from Are We Nearly There Yet, I really do need to make this happen for us this year.
Fiona from Mummy’s Little Stars has good things to say about the South Devon Railway and recommends it for anyone aged 5-70!
Dorset
We spent my son’s eighth birthday enjoying a trip on the Swanage Railway, and he got to stand on the footplate of one of the trains. It’s definitely somewhere we will remember for a long time to come. You can also stop at Corfe Castle along the route.
Somewhere we’ve always been meaning to visit is the Moors Valley Country Park and Eileen at ET Speaks from Home tells us that there’s a miniature railway there too!
County Durham
Suggestions for County Durham come from Samantha at North East Family Fun and the Tanfield Railway, while Catherine from Rock and Roll Pussy Cat recommends The National Museum at Shildon. We would love to make a visit up to this part of the world as Shildon looks like an amazing place for steam train fans to explore.
Gloucestershire
Catherine from Passports and Adventures has enjoyed a Day out With Thomas on the Dean Forest Railway. Whilst Lucy at Momma Mack enjoyed a miniature steam train adventure on the Perrygrove Steam Railway.
We’ve visited the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway a number of times over the years.
My son loves it when they also have their miniature railway running alongside the main steam trains. We’ve not visited there at Christmas time, unlike Emma at Bubba Blue and Me who tried out their Santa Express trip.
Hampshire
I grew up on the Surrey/Hampshire border so the Watercress Line holds hold memories from my own childhood. We’ve taken my son on trips there a number of times over the years, the last being for a wizarding weekend.
I always enjoy seeing other families enjoy somewhere we love too, and Katy and her family at Hot Pink Wellingtons certainly do.
Somewhere else that is a firm favourite with my son and Daddy P is the Eastleigh Lakeside Railway. It’s a miniature railway, and somewhere that has become one of their favourite places to spend time together. It’s lovely to see that Wendy at Naptime Natter and her family enjoy it too.
I have fond memories of the Isle of Wight and have discovered we have relatives living there, it’s somewhere else that’s on our family to-do list. Even more so now I’ve discovered the Isle of Wight Steam Railway thanks to Tracey at Pack the Pjs.
For a day surrounded by steam, we can recommend a visit to Hollycombe, which includes a steam train.
Kent
For my son’s seventh birthday we went back to the county of my own birth, Kent and spent time enjoying a trip on the Kent and East Sussex Railway.
It’s always interesting to see somewhere we’ve enjoyed through the eyes of another family, and Sarah-Jayne from Keep Up With the Jones Family shows us what the railway looks like at a much sunnier time of the year!.
When my son was nearly 4 we had a long weekend away in Kent and got to enjoy the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway which has some stunning views across Romney Marsh and beyond.
Lancashire
If you’re near Bury then why not try out the East Lancs Railway, their Halloween Ghost Train looks like great fun. Thanks to Jenny at The Brick Castle for this recommendation. While Nicola at Mummy to Dex can recommend the West Lancashire Light Railway for a narrow gauge adventure.
Leicestershire
If you’re in the area then we can thoroughly recommend spending some time on the Great Central Railway near Loughborough. We’ve been a few times as it’s fairly close to where my best friend lives, it’s always a good day out.
Lincolnshire
Suzy at Our Bucket List lives recommends a ride on the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway which runs close to Grimsby.
Norfolk
A county we don’t know at all, so I was interested to read about the North Norfolk Railway thanks to Jenny at The Gingerbread House.
Northamptonshire
Another one of my son’s birthdays was spent aboard the Nene Valley Railway, and this still stands out in my mind as one of the best organised Santa’s Express trips we’ve been on, and we’ve done a lot!
Oxfordshire
We’ve enjoyed a couple of trips on the Chinnor and Princes Risborough railway over the years. A trip along the full length of the track takes approximately 25 minutes each way. They often have special deals on for Mothers and Father’s Day. Our first visit was over Easter 2012 and I returned with my son last summer when kids travelled for £1. A bargain way to spend some quality time together.
Somewhere we’ve visited lots of times is Didcot Railway Centre. There’s so much to see there and we’ve enjoyed days out there at all times of the year. From Days out With Thomas to adventures aboard the Flying Scotsman and the Union of South Africa.
We’ve made lots of memories there over the years and it’s still one of my son’s favourite places to explore. There are two short lines to travel on, there are engine sheds to explore as well as a museum. It’s the perfect place for a picnic on a sunny day too.
Shropshire
Another firm family favourite here is the Severn Valley Railway. We’ve made numerous visits to travel the line over the years. Where else do you get to see elephants and rhinos from your carriage window?
We ran out of time to try The Polar Express on the Telford Steam Railway last year, but we’re hoping to try out this line later in the year. It was great to read up on Lisa’s thoughts from The Family Ticket.
Somerset
Jane from Hodge Podge Days recommends a trip on the West Somerset Railway. It’s Britain’s longest standard gauge steam railway and runs for twenty miles from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead, and is another line that we’ve got on our to-do list, hopefully soon.
Staffordshire
We’ve recently discovered Statford Barn Railway near Tamworth and can thoroughly recommend it for a day of steam loco and tram adventures.
We added the Churnet Valley Railway to our list of Steam Railway adventures recently and enjoyed the 10.5-mile round trip through the lovely countryside. Our first time travelling behind a US-built steam loco.
Sussex
You can take a look at our trip on the Kent and East Sussex Railway. We also spent a day on the Bluebell Railway in October last year when the Union of South Africa was visiting, which we can thoroughly recommend.
If you’re spending time in Eastbourne then Emma recommends the Eastbourne Miniature Steam Railway.
Yorkshire
We took my son up to York a few years ago and another post I’ve still to write up is all about the National Railway Museum in York. It’s a must for any steam train fan. We also got to spend the day on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which is probably my favourite heritage line to date. It’s a really beautiful line to travel on, and ending in Whitby for fish and chips by the seaside, what more could you ask for?
We are eager to return to Yorkshire and explore other railways there. Suggestions for a future trip come from Erin at Yorkshire Tots who recommends Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway, and another adventure on Kirklees Light Railway.
Whilst Catherine recommends a trip that we’d love to take to relive the story of The Railway Children on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.
If you happen to be in Barnsley then Naomi from Trips with a Tot recommends a visit to the Elsecar Heritage Centre and a trip on their steam train.
Scotland
A trip to Scotland is something else we’d love to do, so some steam railway recommendations have been most welcome. Sarah at Let Them Be Small and Jenny at Monkey and Mouse both recommend a trip on the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway near Stirling. Other ideas from Jenny include having cake and enjoying the steam trains on the Strathspey Railway and if you happen to be in Perthshire then a trip on the Wester Pickston Railway is a must.
Wales
We visited North Wales in April last year and realised very quickly that we could spend a good few weeks just exploring the various steam railways. We got to enjoy a couple of trips in various weather conditions, on the Ffestiniog Railway and Snowdon Railway.
Nikki at Notes of Life certainly got to see more scenery on her trip on the Ffestiniog line! The mist was well and truly down on our visit.
We drove through Llangollen on our way to our hotel and vowed that we would return to visit the Llangollen Railway on a future holiday. Again, Nikki shows us all how wonderful the line is.
We stopped to look at the Llanberis Lake Railway when we walked around the town, but it wasn’t running when we visited. Rebecca at Becster shows us what we missed.
Other ideas come from Catherine at Passport and Adventures who visited the Brecon Mountain Railway and Louise from Pink Pear Bear who recommends a trip on the Vale of Rheidol Railway.
Can you think of any other top Steam Train Adventures across the UK that we should be aware of? I’m always looking for new ideas of places I can take my young steam enthusiast.
Perhaps you might like to pin this post for future reference too?
Wow, who knew there were so many steam journeys to go on across the country. Thanks for including mine
Thanks for your input, will definitely keep us busy trying to tick these off our list.
Fantastic list of places. We’ve visited a lot of them but there’s so many more to add to our list.
Thanks for including me too!
Cat x
Thanks for your input
Thanks for including our post! Bizarrely my partner came home today and said he’d Googled East Lancs to find some information and ended up here, and found a link to our blog. I said “It’ll be Mary” 😀
Lol, well that’s spooky. Thanks for your input too.
It’s not steam but if you are going to Pecorama it’s worth dropping into Seaton (next town along) to go on their trams. We did both when down there last summer.
Oh that sounds fab, thanks for the tip.
Wow what a great post, packed full of steam-train adventures to try out! Living up in Yorkshire, we can definitely recommend the National Train Museum. Even for two kids who are not particulalry “into” trains, mine love visiting here – the sheer scale of the engines is breathtaking and, being free, it’s a great family day out for mummy and daddy too!
And congratulations because someone thought this was the best post they’d read all week and so chose to add it to the BlogCrush linky for you. Hurray! Feel free to pop over and collect your “I’ve been featured” blog badge #blogcrush
Thanks for visiting, it was a fun post to put together 🙂