UK Train Journeys: The Best Routes by Rail

Travelling the UK by train can be one of the most relaxing ways to see the country, and for a lot of you we know that it is also the part of the trip that can feel the most daunting before you arrive. The good news is that it does not need to be.

In this article we have used our extensive UK travel experience and Doug’s comprehensive rail knowledge to put together the routes we think are genuinely worth taking.

Some are scenic lines you travel for the view alone, some are the everyday intercity routes that link the places you want to see, and some are easy day trips you can do from London without hiring a car.

This is the hub for the whole series. Each journey below links to its own full guide with the route, a map, what to look out for along the way, and Doug’s practical notes on booking and the best seats.

Explore every journey on the map

Explore the full set of routes below, with every journey marked, so you can see which ones cluster near where you are already heading.

How to use this guide

The journeys are grouped by the kind of trip they suit. If you want the scenery, start with the scenic lines. If you are planning around cities and want to know the practical routes between them, the intercity section is for you. And if you are based in London for part of your trip, the day trips section shows how far you can get and back in a day on the train.

You do not need to be an experienced rail traveller for any of these. Doug’s practical section near the end covers the bits that worry people most, from booking in advance to working out which National Railcard or Britrail Pass is worth it.

Scenic lines in Scotland

The Scottish lines are where rail travel in Britain is at its most memorable, and they are the reason a lot of visitors decide to build a train journey into their trip in the first place.

• West Highland Line (Glasgow to Mallaig and Oban). Often called Britain’s most scenic line, across Rannoch Moor and past the Glenfinnan Viaduct. (Full guide coming as the first in the series.)
• Kyle of Lochalsh Line (Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh). Mountains then sea, ending at the doorstep of Skye. Read the full guide
• Far North Line (Inverness to Thurso and Wick). The long, quiet run to the northern tip of mainland Britain. Read the full guide
• Glasgow to Oban (West Highland branch). Lochs and hills down to the gateway of the isles. (Guide to come.)
• Borders Railway (Edinburgh to Tweedbank). A revived line running south into Walter Scott country. (Guide to come.)

Scenic lines in England and the north

You do not have to go to Scotland for a great rail view. Some of the most loved scenic lines in Britain run through the north of England.

• Settle to Carlisle. England’s best-known scenic line, carried over the Ribblehead Viaduct. (Guide to come)
• Cumbrian Coast Line (Carlisle to Barrow and Lancaster). Sea on one side and Lakeland fells on the other. (Guide to come.)
• Tyne Valley Line (Newcastle to Carlisle). Hadrian’s Wall country from the comfort of a carriage. (Guide to come.)
• Hope Valley Line (Sheffield to Manchester). The Peak District by train. (Guide to come.)
• Lakes Line (Oxenholme to Windermere). The short branch that carries you into the Lake District. (Guide to come.)

Scenic lines in Wales

• Cambrian Coast Line (Machynlleth to Pwllheli). A coastal run along Cardigan Bay. (Guide to come.)
• Heart of Wales Line (Swansea to Shrewsbury). A rural, slow cross-country meander. (Guide to come.)
• Conwy Valley Line (Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog). From the north coast inland to the mountains. (Guide to come.)
• Chester to Holyhead (North Wales Mainline) The coastal line hugging the North Wales shore, past Conwy Castle to the Irish ferries at Holyhead. (Guide to come.)

Heritage and steam railways

For a lot of visitors a heritage line is the highlight of the trip, and several of them connect to places you will already be visiting.

• The Jacobite (Fort William to Mallaig). The steam service over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, familiar to film fans. Read the full guide
• North Yorkshire Moors Railway (Pickering to Whitby). Heritage steam across the moors, with stops you may recognise from screen. (Guide to come.)
• Bluebell Railway (Sussex). Preserved steam within easy reach of London. (Guide to come.)
• Severn Valley Railway (Kidderminster to Bridgnorth). A classic preserved line through the Severn valley. (Guide to come.)
• Swanage Railway (Dorset). Steam down to the edge of the Jurassic Coast. (Guide to come.)
• Dartmouth Steam Railway (Paignton to Kingswear). Steam along the Torbay coast and the Dart estuary, with a short ferry across to Dartmouth itself. (Guide to come.)

Intercity journeys

These are the everyday routes that link the places most visitors want to see. Knowing how they work makes planning a multi-stop UK trip far less stressful.

• London to Edinburgh (East Coast Main Line). The classic London to Scotland run up the east coast. Read the full guide (Watch our YouTube video)
• London to York (East Coast Main Line). A fast, easy run to the walled city. Read the full guide
• London to the Lake District (Euston to Oxenholme or Penrith). The mainline gateway to the Lakes. (Guide to come.)
• London to Bath and Bristol (Great Western). West along Brunel’s line to Georgian Bath. Read the full guide (Watch our YouTube video)
• London to Cornwall (to Penzance). The long, scenic run to the far south west. (Guide to come.)
• London to Cardiff (Great Western). West into Wales, a route we have taken ourselves. (Guide to come)
• Edinburgh to Inverness. From the Lowlands up to the Highland capital. (Guide to come.) (Watch our YouTube video)
  • Coastal Route via Dundee & Aberdeen
  • Via the Highland Mainline
• Edinburgh to Glasgow. Scotland’s two big cities, end to end in under an hour. (Guide to come.)
• London to Paris and Brussels (Eurostar). The UK to the Continent without flying. Read the full guide

Day trips from London by train

If you are spending part of your trip in London, you can reach a surprising amount of the country and be back the same evening.

• London to Brighton (Victoria to Brighton). The seaside in around an hour. (Watch our YouTube video)
• London to Oxford. A day among the colleges and spires. (Guide to come.)
• London to Cambridge. Colleges, the Backs and punting. (Guide to come.)
• London to Canterbury. The cathedral city, fast from St Pancras. (Guide to come.)
• London to Windsor. A castle day trip that is easy to do. Read the full guide (Doug has a video on this one.)
• London to Hampton Court Palace. Henry VIII’s riverside palace, easy by train from Waterloo. Read the full guide
• London to the Cotswolds (Moreton-in-Marsh). Into the hills by train rather than car. Read the full guide (Watch our YouTube video)
• London to Salisbury (for Stonehenge). Ancient Wessex within day-trip reach. Read the full guide
• London to Liverpool. The Beatles, the docks and the waterfront, a longer day trip but an easy run from Euston. Read the full guide
• London to Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare’s home town, direct from Marylebone. (Guide to come.)
• London to York (East Coast Main Line). A fast, easy run to the walled city. Read the full guide
• London to Bath and Bristol (Great Western). West along Brunel’s line to Georgian Bath. Read the full guide (Watch our YouTube video)

Special journeys worth saving up for

A few rail experiences are a treat in their own right, whether that is an overnight sleeper or a vintage touring train.

• Caledonian Sleeper (London to the Highlands or to Glasgow and Edinburgh). Go to bed in London and wake up in Scotland. Read the full guide (Watch our YouTube video)
• Night Riviera Sleeper (London to Penzance). The overnight train to Cornwall. (Guide to come.) (Watch our YouTube video)
• Belmond Royal Scotsman. A luxury touring train through the Highlands. (Guide to come.)
• Belmond British Pullman. Vintage-carriage day excursions out of London. (Guide to come.)

Travelling the UK by rail with confidence

This is the part most visitors worry about, and it is Doug’s area. A few things make UK train travel much easier once you understand them.

Booking ahead. Many of the cheapest fares, called Advance fares, are released around six to nine weeks before the date of travel and sell in limited numbers, so the earlier you can book a long intercity journey, the more you tend to save. Shorter and local journeys are usually fine to buy on the day.

National Railcards. If you travel as a couple, or you are over a certain age, the right railcard can take a third off most fares and usually pays for itself within a couple of journeys. Doug’s guide walks through which one suits which traveller.

Reservations and the best seats. On the scenic lines it is well worth knowing which side of the train to sit for the view, and on busy intercity routes a seat reservation gives you peace of mind. Each route guide in this series notes the better side where it matters.

For the full picture, our Guide to UK Train Travel is a step-by-step guide to travelling Britain by train with confidence.

If you have a specific route or a tricky connection you want to talk through, the 30-Minute Q&A with Doug is focused entirely on UK train travel, a Video Review of your rail itinerary or a UK Itinerary Planning Consultation with a focus on train travel planning.

Also Doug’s UK Train Travel Tips group on Facebook – more than 3,700 members – is also a friendly place to check a route or a connection before you book.

Watch the journeys

Doug provides guides on YouTube to many of these routes so you can see exactly what to expect before you travel.

Listen to the podcast

We talk through a lot of these journeys on the UK Travel Planning Podcast, which has now passed 650,000 downloads across more than 200 episodes. A dedicated West Highland Line episode is on the way.

Why we love travelling the UK by train

There is something about settling into a window seat, watching the country go by, and letting someone else do the driving.

For overseas visitors especially, the train often turns the getting-there into one of the best parts of the trip rather than a chore. That is the whole reason we put this series together: to take the worry out of it, so the journey becomes something to look forward to.

Related guides

• UK Train Travel Hub
• Britain by Train
• Day trips by train from Edinburgh
• Day trips by train from Inverness
• Day trips by train from Glasgow

Join Doug’s train travel community

If a question comes up while you are planning a rail trip, you do not have to work it out alone. Doug runs a dedicated UK Train Travel Tips group on Facebook, now more than 3,700 members strong, where he and fellow travellers help with everything from tickets and railcards to which side of the train to sit for the view.

It is a friendly place to sanity-check a route or a connection before you book. Join the UK Train Travel Tips group.

Products and services

• Guide to UK Train Travel: a step-by-step guide to travelling Britain by train with confidence
• 30-Minute Q&A with Doug: focused specifically on UK train travel questions
• UK Itinerary Planning Consultation: a 1-hour live consultation with Tracy and Doug
• Best of Britain Travel Planners: essential one-page guides for 9 iconic UK destinations