Wales’ 6 Loveliest Heritage Railways

There are perhaps few British wilds as legendary as Snowdonia National Park, an epic Arthurian tapestry of indomitable mountains, legend-soaked lakes, roaring waterfalls, and time capsule villages that hang suspended in centuries now passed. The undisputed king of Snowdonia, however, is Yr Wyddfa (better known by its English name, Snowdon), the monumental 1,085-metre (3,560ft) tall peak that ranks as the tallest in Wales and the third-tallest in the country. A perennial favourite among hikers, even for experienced walkers the  behemothic mount can be a challenge, yet those wanting to soak up the summit’s breathtaking views need not worry: the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which gracefully ascends from the base-camp village of Llanberis to Yr Wyddfa’s very top, has been carrying eager-eyed visitors to the mountain’s apex since 1896. Running March to November and with a journey-time of about an hour (including an optional alighting point at Colgwyn, from which Yr Wydffa’s peak is about an hour’s walk), the line offers stunning panoramas of the Welsh countryside as it passes scree-laced slopes, abandoned miners’ cottages, and rushing waterfalls. Book your tickets in advance online. 

Staying in Snowdonia, the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways are actually two separate lines connected in the paradisal seaside town of Porthmadog, at the point where the national park slopes into sea and across the Glaslyn Estuary from the fairy-tale riviera of Portmeirion. The Ffestiniog Railway, embarking from the former slate mining mecca of Blaenau Ffestiniog, is the oldest narrow-gauge railway in the world still in use and snakes 13.5 miles (21.7km) through patchwork mountain and forest landscapes before arriving in Porthmadog. The trip is like a journey back in time: the trains and carriages are those of the line’s pre-touristic heyday and a ticket guarantees buffet service at your table, as well as access to the bar which serves award-winning local beers.

At Porthmadog you can then board onto the more recently-restored Welsh Highland Railway, which continues a further 25 miles (40.2km) to Caernarfon. This medieval market town on the Menai Strait is abundant with shopping spots and charming eateries, however its most famous resident is Caernarfon Castle, a UNESCO-designated Norman stronghold at the town’s helm. Along the way the line stops at several other notable points including Beddgelert, a pastoral village-scape home to the folk legend of Gelert, and Aberglaslyn Pass, a splendid river-cut gorge dating to the Ice Age. Book your tickets for both online here.

From one indomitable Welsh wild to another, Bannau Brycheiniog is Wales’ youngest national park, however its moon-like moorlands, dotted with ancient cairns, the traces of Roman forts, decayed Norman castles, and the spectres of an industrial past, are no less evocative, no less soul-stirring, than its Snowdonia and Pembrokeshire Coast rivals. Brecon Mountain Railway is the national park’s only heritage railway and offers 5km (8m) of exhilarating mountain-edge track from Pant on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, a town once known as the ‘Iron Capital of the World’, to Torpantau, the summit of the original line high in the Brecon Mountains. Along the way you will pass limestone quarries, see the bones of 13th-century Morlais Castle, and stroke the shores of iridescent Pontsticill Reservoir in their entire length; stop off at Pontsticill to enjoy a lakeside drink at the Lakeside Cafe before continuing to Torpantau. Book tickets here, then read our full guides to Bannau Brycheiniog and Hay-on-Wye for some travel inspiration.

Britain’s first steam-train narrow-gauge railway and the inspiration for the timeless Thomas the Tank Engine cartoons, the Talyllyn Railway is one of the oldest and most popular heritage lines in the UK, located deep in Snowdonia’s south. Opened in 1865 to haul slate from the quarries of Bryn Eglwys to the seaside port of Tywyn, the line itself is protected by UNESCO as part of its ‘Slate Landscapes of North Wales’ heritage site which recognises the formative role the region’s slate industry played in the onset of global urbanisation.

The rail line embarks from Tywyn, worth visiting as a former Victorian seaside resort on the famous Ceredigion Coast. It is also home to the Cadfan Stone, the oldest known record of Welsh-language writing. From there, your steam-train chariot will traverse verdant woodland along the slopes of the Merionethshire Mountains on its way to Abergynolwyn, a popular base-camp town for hikers climbing Cadair Idris on the shores of glacial Llyn Mwyngil. There are several notable stops along the way including at Dolgoch Falls, so this is a route with plenty to offer. To book tickets, go to the website here.

Staying along the Ceredigion Coast is the Vale of Rheidol Railway, originally opened in 1902 to carry timber and lead ore from the fertile Rheidol Valley to the port at Aberystwyth. Aberystwyth, the heritage line’s startpoint, is a bustling seaside university town and has become Mid Wales’ de facto capital, home to a Victorian pier, the National Library of Wales, the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, and the Aberystwyth Art Centre, among the largest art galleries in Wales. From there it vivisects a bucolic lattice of Welsh countryside - ancient woodland, pixie-land meadow, and rugged Cambrian Mountain slopes - until it arrives at Devil’s Bridge twelve miles later, a historic tourist attraction that encloses the 300 ft-tall Mynach Waterfalls and the Three Bridges that cross its gorge. The arresting beauty of the falls is such that it has been the subject of a William Wordsworth poem and several J. M. W. Turner watercolours, now held in the Tate Galleries. Book a ticket on the Vale of Rheidol Heritage Railway online here.

Back to Snowdonia one more time, the Bala Lake Heritage Railway was, like the Talyllyn Railway, originally built to support the local slate industry and opened way back in 1868. Beginning in the sleepy village of Llanuwchllyn and terminating 9 miles later at Bala Pen-y-bont, the line’s main attraction is its waterside route along iridescent Lake Bala, Wales’ largest lake and a popular water sports hub. It is also the source of several Welsh folk stories and myths: according to legend, on moonlit nights towers and buildings can be seen under its glacial surface; this is the palace of Tegid Foel, husband of the goddess Ceridwen, who resides within the lake. The bottom of the lake is also allegedly the home of a Loch Ness Monster-like dragon called “Teggie”. To book a journey on the Bala Lake Railway, go to their website here. 

(Yes, you are reading the name correctly.)