uk train rides | scotland, wales, ireland

Tucked amid the Grampian Mountains, Scotland's oldest 2 ft/610 mm narrow gauge passenger railway steams along a riverside route segment stretching between its museum station home and bucolic Haughton Country Park. Highlights include play and picnic areas. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions.

Steam trains chug through landscaped former rail yards along the Firth of Forth's southern shore... then climb woodland hills to Birkhill Station, site of an historic fireclay mine. Highlights include mine tours and the Scottish Railway Preservation Society museum. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, station cafe, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, wheelchair access.

Remote countryside and an imposing slope lie in the path of the steam and diesel trains that roll between the Victorian terminus at Brechin and the former Royal stopover at Bridge of Dun. Highlights include a nearby National Trust property and bird sanctuary; driver experiences. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

Scotland's only island passenger railroad is a 40-minute ferry ride from Obnan. The narrow-gauge line extends to Torsay where a baronial castle, prize-winning gardens and woodland paths await. Highlights include "Mull Experience" train/castle tour combo. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: train charters.

Scaling Constitution Hill, Britain's longest electric funicular affords striking views of Cardigan Bay and the Snowdonia Mountains. HIghlights at the summit include hiking trails and a replica Victorian Camera Obscura -- an outsized revolving mirror which casts remarkable images of the impressive countryside. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: station restaurant.

BLR's distinctive red-and-black steam engine hauls vintage coaches along a 9 mi/15 km turn, past Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), and through Snowdonia National Park. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: station buffet, holiday/event excursions, gift shop.

Some 50 mi/80 km north of Cardiff, vintage steam locomotives tow observation cars along the full length of the Taf Fechan Reservoir through Brecon Beacons National Park. Highlights include railway workshop, picnic site, children's play area. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: enroute cafe and station restaurant, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, wheelchair access.

"In the heart of the land of the little trains," this narrow-gauge railway replicates a short stretch of line first built to haul slate in the mid-19c. Highlights include a replica "Tattoo" class No.7 steam loco; also carriage shed tour. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum.

Narrow gauge railway runs from Fairbourne Village to the Harbor where it meets the ferry bound for the seaside resort of Barmouth. Various attractions, including sandy beach, golf course and cafe, are accessible from the railway's six stations. Highlights include nature centre and driver experience courses. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, online ticketing.

Built to haul slate in the 19c, today's narrow-gauge steam railway is given over to tourists. The scenic 14 mi/22 km heritage line stretches from coastal resort of "Port," through Snowdonia National Park to the old mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog. Highlights include attractions at intermediate stations; train driving experiences. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: onboard snack service, station cafes, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shops, gift certificates, limited wheelchair access.

Vintage steam locos tow restored Victorian carriages along a short (1.25 mi/2 km) picturesque country line. Kingfishers, heron and otter are sometimes glimpsed along the way. Highlights include picnic grounds and miniature railway; train driving experiences. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: station cafe, holiday/event excursions, gift shop, wheelchair access.

Along a Snowdonian lakeside, trains filled with picnickers and sightseers have replaced the slate hauling railway of yore. Highlights include an interactive woodland centre and a country park containing crafts workshops and a water sports center. Trains operate seasonally.Selected features: station cafeteria, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, limited wheelchair access.

Take an awesome rail journey to the 3560 ft/1085 m summit of Wale's tallest peak. Once reached, the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland and the Isle of Man come into view and a host of ammenities let you hoist a pint or two, shop for souvenirs and send a letter from the highest altitude posting box in England or Wales. Trains operate year-round.

A rarity is this narrow-gauge line which still operates its own original locomotives and cars along a rail trail extending from the Welsh coast into the rolling green forests of Snowdonia National Park. Trains operate year-round (except January and February).

With roots dating back a century and a half, the onetime branch of the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line rolls over hills, through a tunnel and across steams on its scenic country route. Little remains of the original line; its later-day narrow gauge namesake results from the hard work of a dedicated stream of volunteers. Trains operate seasonally.

From the resort town of Aberystwyth on the Cambrian coast, original steam engines and carriages of super-narrow gauge traverse the sharp curves and steep gradients first plyed by freight-haulers in the early twentieth century.Trains operate seasonally.

Not even rails remained, when restoration began along the WHR's abandoned railbed in the 1970s. Today, along the old slate-hauling route, the old line is back and riding high... up from the Cardigan coast and across rugged mountain stretches inside the Snowdonia National Park. Trains operate year-round (except January).

A narrow gauge steam train ride through the delightful Banwy Valley, W&LR's string of stations are replete with attendent shops, outbuildings and yardworks of the sort necessary to support this typical Edwardian line. A large and changing retuine of vintage steam engines and rolling stock complements its service as do the wildlife habitats and authentic period tearoom along the way. Trains operate seasonally.

This vestige terminus and branch line of the Belfast & County Down Railway are fragments of Northern Ireland's railing past. Today's museum acquires, restores and exhibits rail vehicles of the sort that were once common sights on trackage across the Emerald Isle. Trains operate seasonally.

Gaelic for "Black Pig," Donegal's only operational narrow gauge railway has snorted and chugged along the shore of crystaline Loch Finn for more than a century. Trains operate seasonally.

The ancient steam-drawn train sets that ply this secluded branch line are machine-age treasures. Skillfully restored, today they merge with their historic countryside route to replicate a lost era of travel and day-to-day life. Four stations serve the 4.5-mi/7-km line from end to end; Smallbrook Junction transfer Island Line electric train for pier/ferry and additional Island points. Trains operate seasonally.