Special Interest Tours and Trains Magazine bring you a one-time rail excursion tour. Get ready to travel around Great Britain celebrating the bicentennial of steam train travel and experiencing the best steam trains of the region from Sep. 23 to Oct. 2, 2025 with Trains Associate Editor Bob Lettenberger on this 10-days/9 nights adventure.
Time to tour
Day 1 (Sep. 23): Arrive in London
Travel to London and meet at your 4-star hotel. In the evening we will gather for a welcome dinner and get acquainted with your guides, fellow guests and Trains Magazine special guest.
Day 2 (Sep. 24): Explore London
Spend the day exploring classic city sites with our own chartered bus. See Big Ben, the tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and much more!
In the afternoon we will visit the London Transport Museum which celebrates over 200 years of design, innovation and the remarkable stories behind British transport history.
Day 3 (Sep. 25): Travel to York
In the morning we depart by rail for York, where we will be spending the next four nights. Upon arrival we will get to know the city and visit Shambles street and the York City Walls.
In the afternoon we will visit the National Railway Museum, which tells the story of rail transport in England and its affect on society.
Day 4 (Sep. 26): Pickering to Whitby
We hop on the Yorkshire Moors Railway for a delightful ride behind steam through the north english countryside through North Yorkshire Moors National Park.
At the terminus in Whitby we will have lunch, followed by free time to explore the scenic coastal town before returning to York.
Day 5 (Sep. 27): Hopetown Darlington
On this 200th anniversary we will take the local train to Darlington, part of the original passenger steam line. Here we will visit the in depth exhibits at Hopetown Darlington and see the star of the hour, Locomotion No. 1.
Hopetown Darlington is a visitor attraction where every building has a unique story to tell. Visit North Road Station Museum, housed within an 1842 Victorian railway station, to discover Darlington’s story of rail engineering, ideas and invention. In the 1853 Carriage Works, you’ll find the Exhibition Hall, featuring special exhibitions, and The Stores, where you can explore the archive and 30,000 railway artifacts on permanent display.
Day 6 (Sep. 28): Shildon and Locomotion
We continue our anniversary celebration and head to the historic site of Shildon, the world’s “first railway town” and visit the Locomotion Museum complex.
The museum is arranged as stops along the 0.6 mile demonstration line with station direction board signs and information points on the trail between the car parks and the main collection building. The museum has a six-spur apron in front of the main shed and another short length of track for showing off resident locomotives and visiting trains.
The trail ends at the largest building in the museum. It contains the exhibition hall and a conservation workshop with viewing gallery to see the work carried out by volunteers restoring some of the exhibits.
Day 7 (Sep. 29): Ffestiniog Railway
We journey westward by coach into Wales where we spend our first day on the Ffestiniog Railway. Today’s journey will take us to Blaenau Ffestiniog from Porthmadog. The Ffestiniog countryside is notable for its striking slate mines and quarries which surround the town.
The scenery continually changes as the train crosses the estuary along the Cob embankment before climbing up the valley, through pastures and villages, then entering the ancient wooded slopes of the valley side. Shortly after picturesque Tan-y-Bwlch station, the train leaves the trees behind as it clings to the valley side. After rounding the spiral at Dduallt and passing through the tunnel, the train emerges beside Llyn Ystradau reservoir and the slate tips beckon.
Day 8 (Sep. 30): Welsh Highland Railway
After breakfast we’ll experience the Welsh Highland Railroad. Our train will steam through farmland and forest, crossing the foothills of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) before descending a steep hillside to pass the village of Beddgelert, through the magnificent Aberglaslyn Pass and across the Traeth Mawr (Great Estuary) to reach Porthmadog.
Day 9 (Oct. 1): Snowdon Mountain Railway
In the morning we travel by bus through the welsh countryside and Snowdonia National Park to reach the Snowdon Mountain Railway for a journey up the mountain pushed by steam.
Upon our return down the mountain we will continue by coach to Manchester, where we will gather a final time together for our farewell dinner, before settling into our final hotel.
Day 10 (Oct. 2): Departure
Breakfast is included at the hotel. Guests are free to depart at their leisure for the Manchester airport for flights home. If you prefer to book a round trip flight to/from London, you can purchase an express train ticket from Manchester to London to take a flight home from London instead.
