10 of the UK’s most scenic rail journeys
06.11.2023 - 15:11
/ theguardian.com
This two-hour train trip gets seriously scenic after Coleraine, when it partly follows the coast and Lough Foyle. As it runs along Downhill Beach, the sands and turbulent ocean are just outside the window, with the domed Mussenden temple perched on the cliffs above. On through farmland and past views of craggy Binevenagh – a towering cliff on the edge of the Antrim plateau – it will offer views of wintering geese, whooper swans and waders on the shores of the lough.
Within Derry’s 400-year-old city walls are excellent cafes such as Soda and Starch and engaging guided city walks (from £6). For rainy days, there is the new Derry Girls experience in the Tower Museum or, over the river, the Walled City Brewery for a taster-filled tour (£15). Next door, the Ebrington is a new hotel and spa in a former army barracks with glowing city views across the Peace Bridge (doubles from about £135 room-only).
Singles £14. On Sundays, a Day Tracker ticket gives unlimited rail travel across Northern Ireland for £9, translink.co.uk
This wild 40-minute railway journey, one of Greater Anglia’s “Wherry Lines”, glides out of Norwich and straight through the Norfolk Broads, past reedbeds, rivers and racing deer. Water birds can be spotted from the train windows across windmill-dotted marshland; one of the walks on the Wherry Line walks website) offers a closer look. The pink-footed geese that overwinter here fly past in huge V shapes towards dusk.
Near Haddiscoe station is the free-to-enter ruin of St Olave’s priory, and the Bell, the oldest recorded pub in the Broadlands is nearby. A short riverside walk from Norwich station, by the church where Julian of Norwich was an anchorite, the restful All Hallows guesthouse (doubles from £80 B&B) is immaculate, friendly and great value.
£10.50 return or £12 for a Wherry Line Ranger ticket
Running beside the Loughor estuary and then the castle-flanked River Towy, this route offers glimpses of oystercatchers on the sandy shore outside the window, and cows grazing on the saltmarshes. In Swansea, the elegant Glynn Vivian art gallery, near the station, hosts the biennial Artes Mundi exhibition until February 2024.
Walkable Carmarthen is a great place for a foodie stroll round imaginative places such as Karm’en Kafe near the ruined castle and the veggie cafe in Waverley Stores with its homity pie and platefuls of salad. Almost next door, the veteran Falcon hotel has smartly renovated bedrooms (doubles from £120 B&B).
Day returns £12, tickets.trc.cymru
The wooded Hope Valley line runs right through the Peak District past gritstone cliffs, reservoirs and viaducts. The local Community Rail Partnership suggests walks for all seasons from its stations, such as a 4½-mile hike from Grindleford