Looking for the wow factor on your train journey? Here are eight of the best rail journeys in Britain
Britain’s Most Luxurious Train Journeys Monday 9.00pm More4
Phoebe Taplin - 23 April 2023
Beyond the window, wooded hills give way to shining estuaries. The water is so close you can see the foraging oystercatchers and the wading, curve-billed curlews. Watch the landscape unfurl over a glass of wine. Or relax, read, write, nod off. Britain’s Most Luxurious Train Journeys on More 4 looks at top-end experiences, but the luxuries of rail travel don’t have to involve a sky-high price tag. Here are some relatively affordable train trips across the UK – each with its own priceless wow factor.
BEST FOR SCENERY
Far North Line (Inverness to Thurso)
For trains with a view, Scotland is hard to beat. The West Highland Line to Mallaig, with its island-studded lochs and Harry Potter viaduct, is a well-known scenic journey. The leisurely Far North Line, winding from Inverness up to Thurso, has shifting vistas of coast and mountain, firth and forest. There are heather-purple moors, empty beaches and crags bristling with cormorants, followed by twinkling blue lochans, blanket bogs and deer running past the window. The journey takes four hours and advance tickets start at £14. scotrail.co.uk
BEST FOR ROMANCE
Great Western Railway (Exeter to Penzance)
Herons stand on an old wrecked riverboat, clouds are mirrored in wet sand, and waves collide with red sandstone arches, sending up prismatic plumes of spray. As you approach, St Michael’s Mount rises from the waves. The railway to Cornwall, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is packed with memorable sights. Book seats on the left for the best sea views and a table for your picnic. Cornwall’s little branch lines, heading to towns like Looe or St Ives, pass green valleys and long, dune-backed bays. Advance singles for the three-hour-and-a-bit journey from Exeter start at £10. gwr.com
BEST FOR NOSTALGIA
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, Cumbria
La’al Ratty, as this line is fondly nicknamed, is one of England’s oldest narrow-gauge railways. It opened in the 1870s to carry iron ore from Lakeland fells to the sea and launched new carriages last summer with glass walls and velvet seats. Steam drifts through the oak leaves overhead and tufty-eared red squirrels live in the gnarled trackside woods. From £14 each way for the 40-minute train ride. ravenglass-railway.co.uk
BEST FOR LUXURY
East Coast Main Line (London Kings Cross to Edinburgh)
LNER’s first-class service is understandably popular; the carriages are spacious and the staff are friendly. There are china cups, real coffee and great food sourced from along the route. The train hurtles past the romanesque towers of Durham Cathedral and arched bridges of Berwick-upon-Tweed to complete the journey in a little over four hours with advance first-class tickets from about £72.50 (lner.co.uk). For a slower, differently luxurious London-Edinburgh train, take the revamped Caledonian Sleeper; splash out on a Club room and you could wake to eat hot-smoked-salmon frittata while watching the sun rise over the Pentland Hills as you arrive in Edinburgh. Ensuite B&B twin cabins start from around £250. sleeper.scot
BEST FOR SPEED
London St Pancras to Canterbury
Javelins hurtle through the flowering Kentish countryside at speeds of up to 140mph. There’s Japanese tech in these Hitachi-built trains, which run on Eurostar’s HS1 line. Racing over the River Medway, past shadowed woods and vineyards, they reach Canterbury in around an hour. Tickets from £14.80 each way. southeasternrailway.co.uk
BEST FOR HERITAGE
Talyllyn Railway (Tywyn to Nant Gwernol)
The steady pace of the Talyllyn (it takes 55 minutes to go seven miles), is regularly beaten by joggers in the annual Race the Train. Since 1865 trains have chugged along this slate-carrying line, over viaducts, through ferns, foxgloves and cow parsley-laced hedges, and now they pull carriages plush with polished wood and metal. Near Dolgoch Station, waterfalls cascade through mossy beeches. Around Nant Gwernol, there are greenery-softened former slate quarries and pit-pony paths. The railway is part of a Unesco heritage site celebrating Welsh slate-mining landscapes. Get 20 per cent off the £25 explorer ticket if you arrive by bus or train, which could be via the epic Cambrian Line. talyllyn.co.uk
BEST FOR STATIONS
Inverclyde Line (Glasgow to Wemyss Bay)
The architecture of Glasgow Central includes a window-walled bridge and oval Edwardian ticket office with dark wooden walls. Fifty minutes away on the Firth of Clyde, Wemyss (“weems”) Bay has an elegant, light-filled station of glass and arching wrought iron with a walkway curving down to the connecting Isle of Bute ferries (£6.90 return). calmac.co.uk In between, there is Paisley’s castellated Gilmour Street Station and glimpses of distant hills. Off-peak return tickets from Glasgow to Wemyss Bay are £8.80. scotrail.co.uk
BEST FOR ESCAPE
Wherry Line (Norwich to Great Yarmouth)
Single-track railways, branded the Wherry Lines, run through the watery Norfolk Broads from Norwich to the seaside. Only a few trains stop at remote Berney Arms Station, which has no roads, just footpaths through reeds and isolated windmills. Look out for skeins of pink-footed geese, galloping hares and muntjac deer. Greater Anglia’s smart new trains, greener and quieter than the older models, travel from Norwich to Yarmouth in half an hour and cost £10.50 return. greateranglia.co.uk
Beyond the window, wooded hills give way to shining estuaries. The water is so close you can see the foraging oystercatchers and the wading, curve-billed curlews. Watch the landscape unfurl over a glass of wine. Or relax, read, write, nod off. Britain’s Most Luxurious Train Journeys on More 4 looks at top-end experiences, but the luxuries of rail travel don’t have to involve a sky-high price tag. Here are some relatively affordable train trips across the UK – each with its own priceless wow factor.
BEST FOR SCENERY
Far North Line (Inverness to Thurso)
For trains with a view, Scotland is hard to beat. The West Highland Line to Mallaig, with its island-studded lochs and Harry Potter viaduct, is a well-known scenic journey. The leisurely Far North Line, winding from Inverness up to Thurso, has shifting vistas of coast and mountain, firth and forest. There are heather-purple moors, empty beaches and crags bristling with cormorants, followed by twinkling blue lochans, blanket bogs and deer running past the window. The journey takes four hours and advance tickets start at £14. scotrail.co.uk
BEST FOR ROMANCE
Great Western Railway (Exeter to Penzance)
Herons stand on an old wrecked riverboat, clouds are mirrored in wet sand, and waves collide with red sandstone arches, sending up prismatic plumes of spray. As you approach, St Michael’s Mount rises from the waves. The railway to Cornwall, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is packed with memorable sights. Book seats on the left for the best sea views and a table for your picnic. Cornwall’s little branch lines, heading to towns like Looe or St Ives, pass green valleys and long, dune-backed bays. Advance singles for the three-hour-and-a-bit journey from Exeter start at £10. gwr.com
BEST FOR NOSTALGIA
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, Cumbria
La’al Ratty, as this line is fondly nicknamed, is one of England’s oldest narrow-gauge railways. It opened in the 1870s to carry iron ore from Lakeland fells to the sea and launched new carriages last summer with glass walls and velvet seats. Steam drifts through the oak leaves overhead and tufty-eared red squirrels live in the gnarled trackside woods. From £14 each way for the 40-minute train ride. ravenglass-railway.co.uk
BEST FOR LUXURY
East Coast Main Line (London Kings Cross to Edinburgh)
LNER’s first-class service is understandably popular; the carriages are spacious and the staff are friendly. There are china cups, real coffee and great food sourced from along the route. The train hurtles past the romanesque towers of Durham Cathedral and arched bridges of Berwick-upon-Tweed to complete the journey in a little over four hours with advance first-class tickets from about £72.50 (lner.co.uk). For a slower, differently luxurious London-Edinburgh train, take the revamped Caledonian Sleeper; splash out on a Club room and you could wake to eat hot-smoked-salmon frittata while watching the sun rise over the Pentland Hills as you arrive in Edinburgh. Ensuite B&B twin cabins start from around £250. sleeper.scot
BEST FOR SPEED
London St Pancras to Canterbury
Javelins hurtle through the flowering Kentish countryside at speeds of up to 140mph. There’s Japanese tech in these Hitachi-built trains, which run on Eurostar’s HS1 line. Racing over the River Medway, past shadowed woods and vineyards, they reach Canterbury in around an hour. Tickets from £14.80 each way. southeasternrailway.co.uk
BEST FOR HERITAGE
Talyllyn Railway (Tywyn to Nant Gwernol)
The steady pace of the Talyllyn (it takes 55 minutes to go seven miles), is regularly beaten by joggers in the annual Race the Train. Since 1865 trains have chugged along this slate-carrying line, over viaducts, through ferns, foxgloves and cow parsley-laced hedges, and now they pull carriages plush with polished wood and metal. Near Dolgoch Station, waterfalls cascade through mossy beeches. Around Nant Gwernol, there are greenery-softened former slate quarries and pit-pony paths. The railway is part of a Unesco heritage site celebrating Welsh slate-mining landscapes. Get 20 per cent off the £25 explorer ticket if you arrive by bus or train, which could be via the epic Cambrian Line. talyllyn.co.uk
BEST FOR STATIONS
Inverclyde Line (Glasgow to Wemyss Bay)
The architecture of Glasgow Central includes a window-walled bridge and oval Edwardian ticket office with dark wooden walls. Fifty minutes away on the Firth of Clyde, Wemyss (“weems”) Bay has an elegant, light-filled station of glass and arching wrought iron with a walkway curving down to the connecting Isle of Bute ferries (£6.90 return). calmac.co.uk In between, there is Paisley’s castellated Gilmour Street Station and glimpses of distant hills. Off-peak return tickets from Glasgow to Wemyss Bay are £8.80. scotrail.co.uk
BEST FOR ESCAPE
Wherry Line (Norwich to Great Yarmouth)
Single-track railways, branded the Wherry Lines, run through the watery Norfolk Broads from Norwich to the seaside. Only a few trains stop at remote Berney Arms Station, which has no roads, just footpaths through reeds and isolated windmills. Look out for skeins of pink-footed geese, galloping hares and muntjac deer. Greater Anglia’s smart new trains, greener and quieter than the older models, travel from Norwich to Yarmouth in half an hour and cost £10.50 return. greateranglia.co.uk
PHOEBE TAPLIN