Totally customisable 
Local guide 
Hotel pickup & dropoff For many visitors to Wales, the high point of their tour is a ride on one of the famous heritage railways including the 'Great Little Trains of Wales'. Celticos are now offering tours which include these unforgettable rail journeys. You will be able to experience the sounds, sights and smell of yesteryear combined with the convenience of a seamless escorted journey to the departure point and final stop of each railway journey.
Please Note
The day or multi day Train tours are only available in North Wales, visiting the train lines featured and are only available during the spring and summer months – subject to the individual train company timetables.
We have inherited these wonderful routes from the industrial age, when they were driven through our hills and valleys to carry slate and minerals to coastal ports. They now showcase the best of rural Wales matched with high standards of customer care and experience.
As well as the day’s rail journey, we’ll ensure you get a great all-around experience by travelling around our beautiful region with its mountains and lakes, craggy coasts and mighty castles.
Some of the main experiences
- Welsh Highland Railway
- Ffestiniog Railway
- Llanberis Lake Railway
- Talyllyn Railway
- Vale of Rheidol Railway
- Llangollen Railway
- Snowdonia National Park
- Conwy Town and Conwy Valley
- South Snowdonia & Llyn Peninsula
- Dee Valley and Llangollen
- Welsh Highland Heritage Railway
- National Slate Museum
- Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum
- Dinorwic slate railway story
Some of the main sights
Welsh Highland Railway
Welsh Highland Railway (Caernarfon – Porthmadog)
The UK’s longest narrow-gauge railway runs from coastal Caernarfon with its commanding castle, through magnificent mountain scenery to the coast at Porthmadog. The view changes constantly from jagged peaks to glistening lakes to pretty villages, each dripping with history and legend.
The long, magical history of Wales unfolds as you glimpse upland farms, timeless hidden valleys and picture postcard villages.
Ffestiniog Railway
Ffestiniog Railway (Porthmadog – Blaenau Ffestiniog)
The Ffestiniog Railway shares a station in Porthmadog with the Welsh Highland – creating a busy hub for narrow-gauge travel and its long history. The journey on this line starts gently from a historic harbour, but soon winds its way into the mountains of Snowdonia, passing lakes and waterfalls is it rolls along.
The engineering highlight is a spiral, enabling the line to ascend to its final destination of Blaenau Ffestiniog, the capital of slate, moodily magnificent in its rugged mountain setting.
Talyllyn Railway
The Talyllyn Railway is The World’s First Preserved Railway
Steam through the charming Fathew Valley in Snowdonia National Park on the Talyllyn Railway. Your train, pulled by a historic steam engine, will take you past streams and waterfalls, through a remote and beautiful valley in the Merioneth mountains full of Celtic mystery.
You’ll go on a journey of just over seven miles through spectacular scenery within sight of one of Britain’s highest mountains Cader Idris. The railway is affectionately known as ‘The Railway with a Heart of Gold’.
Vale of Rheidol Railway
Vale of Rheidol Railway (Aberystwyth – Devil’s Bridge)
Opened in 1902, the railway is a masterpiece of engineering and has been delighting passengers young and old for generations. The journey starts in the coastal town of Aberystwyth and runs for twelve miles to Devil’s Bridge in the Cambrian Mountains. Watch the stunning scenery passing by your window, the wide open fields, ancient woodland and rugged mountain scenery, twisting and turning, clinging to the hillside to reach Devil’s Bridge - home of the famous Mynach Falls. A highlight for many is the natural environment, not least the Red Kites, a distinctive bird who soars and glides above the deep valley as the train winds along. The locomotive and rolling stock are always magnificently maintained in traditional livery.
Welsh Highland Heritage Railway
Not to be confused with the Welsh Highland Railway this heritage railway is only a very short journey but has some interesting attractions for railway enthusiasts.
Your train will take you for a short ride, then we stop at the Engine Sheds where you get to climb into the cabs of the locomotives and see how things work.
Find out about the narrow gauge railways of Porthmadog and how they became famous around the world with your free visitor guide.
There’s chance to find out more about the original Welsh Highland Railway, which was one of the greatest white elephants in British industrial history, and shut just 15 years after it opened and the Ffestiniog Railway, which carried thousands of tons of slate and influenced other railways round the world.
Llangollen Railway
In contrast to the classic Great Little Trains of Wales, the Llangollen Railway is a restored full-size mainline operation. Its route follows the picturesque River Dee, passing through some of the finest natural beauty North Wales has to offer. In its day, it took people to the seaside on holiday and transported various goods including slate and chemicals, offers a sample of the sights and sounds of yesteryear
The views from the carriages are breath-taking and constantly changing from season to season: from the first spring lambs to the ever-changing colours of the Autumn / Fall season. The whole experience is a trip back in time when magnificent steam engines ruled the rails and the pace of life was slower.
Llanberis Lake Railway
Llanberis Lake Railway
This is a shorter journey, but long on history as you skirt along Lake Padarn on a line built in 1845 in the very earliest days of railways in the world. Locomotives built to haul loads of heavy slate now pull and push their passengers along the glistening lake, opening vistas of mountains, dramatic quarries and a ruined Welsh castle. The Lake railway is built following part of the original route of the Dinorwic slate Padarn railway.
National Slate Museum
The National Slate Museum at Llanberis is one of the most alluring assets of this beautiful region. Visitors expecting dusty displays or worthy walkabouts are delighted to find a treasure trove of human stories and engaging activities, where craftsmen show the art of splitting slate and dramatic landscapes are magnets for exploration. We can then follow the route of the old Dinorwic slate railway down to the harbour in Y Felinheli (Port Dinorwig). The Dinorwic Padarn Railway was an early and uncommon 4 ft (1219 mm) narrow gauge industrial railway connecting the slate quarry at Dinorwic in Caernarvonshire with the coastal port at Y Felinheli. We can also show you the route of the horse-drawn tramway built in 1823 which was in use before the train railway was built. We also have a library of old images of the railway and the old port.
Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum
Penrhyn Castle's Railway Museum is dedicated to industrial locomotives, some of which were once used in the Penrhyn slate quarry of nearby Bethesda.
The Railway Museum at Penrhyn Castle is dedicated to industrial locomotives, some of which were once used in the Penrhyn quarry just a few miles away in Bethesda. The museum is now housed in the old stable block, which was once home to around 36 of the estate's horses at one time.
Today you can see a wide selection of engines, carriages, rolling stock and tools on display as well as a film that offers an insight into the previous lives of some of the engines on display.
Conwy Town and the Conwy Valley
The historic castle town of Conwy and the Victorian resort of Llandudno are well known as popular tourist destinations but there is a lot more on offer for visitors to this beautiful area of North Wales. We travel along the Menai Strait, looking over to the Isle of Anglesey, before following the ancient road over the mountain to Conwy.
We then follow the river along its course, visiting hidden historic sights and quaint corners before reaching Betws-y-Coed, the perfect picture postcard village nestling in the hills at the gateway to Snowdonia. You could take the opportunity to travel on the Conwy Valley line, part of the National Rail Network. This spectacular line is 27 miles long and offers one of the most beautiful rail experiences in the UK. conwyvalleyrailway.co.uk/
Snowdonia National Park
Snowdonia National Park includes 823 square miles (2132 square Km) of North West Wales, including Mount Snowdon itself, and the mountainous region around it. As well as striking mountain scenery, it is a treasure trove of history, from early warrior Princes through resolute farming stalwarts to early industrial entrepreneurs who plundered the rich resources of the region to roof the world with slate. It is also the home of rare animals, birds, flowers and trees, and host of stories to be discovered.
South Snowdonia & Llyn Peninsula
South Snowdonia and the Llyn Peninsula offer you an incredible variety of scenery, architecture and history. The Italianate fantasy village of Portmeirion, castles at Criccieth and Harlech, beautiful gardens at Brondanw and an Iron Age hillfort are all en route. And if that were not enough, there is a dramatically located, restored quarry village repurposed as a cultural centre which lies on the shores of an azure sea.
Dee Valley and Llangollen
The natural centre of this beautiful region is Llangollen, an attractive small town at an important crossing point of the river Dee. The river is quite wild at this point and it’s a great pleasure to spend time on its banks watching canoeists battle their way through, while keeping an eye on the steam trains arriving and departing from the perfectly preserved station. On a gentler note, the town is also a cultural centre, hosting an International Eisteddfod (festival).
Yet another World Heritage Site is nearby – the famous Pontcysyllte aqueduct which takes the Llangollen canal soaring above the valley of the River Dee. You can visit Telford’s masterpiece from below or for those who want to brave the heights, you can walk across. Nearby are also the atmospheric ruins of Vale Crucis Abbey and the hilltop castle of Dinas Bran – the City of the Crow.
Tour information
Can I include this tour as part of a sightseeing tour?
Yes! All of our tours are fully customisable and can be built into a multi-day sightseeing tour. Our railway-focussed tours usually last between two and four days, and you don’t need to travel by train every day. This means you can include quite different experiences to complement the rail journeys. We have enough castles, gardens, wildlife and scenery to fill many a day.
Included
Your knowledgeable local guide • Pick up and drop off to your hotel • transport to and from stations at beginning and end of railway journey
Not included
Fares on heritage railway. However, we can obtain tickets and make reservations on your behalf
To help you enjoy the day
Please wear sensible footwear for some light walking and bring a rain jacket (just in case!).
As we tour, we will make suggestions for eating places that our guests have enjoyed visiting
Can we travel up Mount Snowdon?
You can also ride on the historic train to the summit of Mount Snowdon, but please note, the journeys to the summit only take place during summer months and are dependent on weather conditions.
Start your journey.
Get in touch ↓
Our clients love this tour!
When I told our guide that one of us was quite interested in railways, he kept it in mind and showed us as many railways in the district as possible. Naturally, this made the railway fan overjoyed.
