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2025 UK Celebration of Steam Bicentennial

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Special Interest Tours
Sep 23 - Oct 1, 2025
Group size: 15 - 35
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About this trip
In summer 2025 join Trains Magazine and Special Interest Tours as we travel around Great Britain celebrating the bicentennial of steam train travel and experiencing the best steam trains of the region. A one-time event, join the waiting list to secure your space now!
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What’s included
  • Hotels
    8 Nights Hotel
  • Meals
    Daily breakfast and either lunch or dinner on full tour days.
  • Tour Activities
    Daily train rides and/or museum visits including:
  • Ffestiniog Railway
    Private Car, Round Trip Excursion
  • Welsh Highland Railway
    Private Car, Round Trip Excursion
  • North Yorkshire Moors
    Private Car, Round Trip Excursion
  • Snowdon Mountain Railway
    Private Car, Round Trip Excursion
  • Hopetown Darlington
    Historic site and Museum in Darlington
  • Locomotion
    Museum at Shildon
  • National Railway Museum
  • London Transport Museum
  • London Bus Tour
  • Ground Transportation
    Private Coach bus when not on trains.
  • Gratuities
    Special Interest Tours will provide gratuities for the driver(s) and any group meals. However, gratuities for breakfasts or housekeeping will be at the guest's sole discretion.
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What’s not included
  • Airfare
    Guests are responsible for arranging travel to and from the tour.
  • Additional Meals
    Any meals not mentioned in the "Included" section will be the guest's responsibility.
  • Additional Alcohol
    Guests will be responsible to pay for any alcoholic beverages ordered at meals.
  • Travel Insurance
    Guests will have the option of purchasing a travel protection plan and will be provided with a quote.
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Itinerary
Day 1 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 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’ll visit the London Transport Museum which celebrates over 200 years of design, innovation and the remarkable stories behind British transport history.

Day 3 - April 6 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 - April 7th 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 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 #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 artefacts on permanent display.

Day 6 Shildon and Locomotion

Today we’ll 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 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 it’s 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 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 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 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.

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Accommodation
Meals
Overall
Transport
Value for Money

Double Occupancy
$8,900
9 left
Deposit: $500
Per person price based on one guest in the hotel rooms.
Single Occupancy
$10,900
9 left
Deposit: $500
Per person price based on one guest in the hotel rooms.