Our Guide To Visiting The North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Stoke up your engines and climb on board – the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is one of the world’s greatest heritage railways. This historic line chuffs through 24 miles/38 km of North Yorkshire’s amazing scenery, so it’s time to travel back to the golden age of the railways as you take your seat in a wood-panelled carriage swaying behind a steam or heritage diesel train. Most of the locos are of the oil-oozing, soot-sneezing variety, with the occasional 1950s workhorse of the British Rail network to take the strain.
A ride aboard the railway is an evocative steam or diesel experience that’s bound to thrill travellers of all ages. However, if you’re holidaying nearby, the line is just one of many attractions to enjoy in the North York Moors National Park. There’s so much to see and do that you’ll need at least a few days to discover the area and all its secrets properly.
Looking for budget-friendly accommodation in North Yorkshire? Pitchup has scores of campsites available for booking, whether on the moors, by the beach or on the outskirts of pretty country villages.
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Riding the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs from Pickering to Grosmont before joining the main line to Whitby, crossing through river-carved valleys and over high moorland and undulating hills towards the sea beyond.
The journey from Pickering to Whitby takes around 90 minutes, with stops along the way to delight sightseers, walkers, history buffs and Harry Potter fans alike.
If you choose a Day Rover Ticket, you’re able to hop off wherever you want and explore the best of the surrounding moorland countryside. Here’s our guide to visiting the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, with the stops and sidings to take in along the way.
Pickering to Goathland
Pick up the train at Pickering, setting off from its 1930s-themed station. It's worth getting there early because this bustling market town is packed with historic attractions and independent places to eat and drink before boarding the loco – and it’s an awe-inspiring sight when it pulls up to the platform.
The locomotive first huffs to Levisham station, preserved as a 1912 homage to the heyday of rural railways, when the steam train was the only sound that broke through the chorus of sheep on the surrounding hills. Jump off at Levisham for a walk to the Hole of Horcum, a massive naturally formed amphitheatre with stunning views from the upper ridge right across the moors (best seen in summer when the morland turns to a carpet of purple heather).
A few minutes further along tracks lined with deciduous woodland is Newtondale Halt. ‘Halt’ perfectly describes this stop, where the moors tip into peaceful woodland behind a short platform that can otherwise only be reached on foot or by bike.
The next point on the line could not be a more magical whistle-stop. The railway heads through Cropton Forest before a climb across open moorland to Goathland as the train puffs, pants, whistles and clanks upwards.
Goathland will be instantly familiar to certain cinema-goers as Hogsmeade Station in the Harry Potter films – although slightly older passengers may instead recognise the village as the setting for the long-running TV series Heartbeat. A short walk from the station is the Aidensfield Arms pub, preserved as it was on the family show.
Goathland to Whitby
Another 15 minutes along from Goathland, after the 146-yard/134-metre darkness of one of the world’s oldest railway tunnels – once used by George Stephenson’s horse-drawn carriages –the train pulls into the Esk Valley’s Grosmont station, still as it was in the 1950s. This is perhaps the prettiest stop on the line and worthy of disembarking to explore your surroundings.
The village is the operational hub of the railway, with engine sheds and workshops to visit before a wander into its centre with pubs, cafés, a shop and art gallery. Grosmont has connections to the main rail network as well as your onward steam train to Whitby should you choose to head for the coast.
Explore historic Whitby
You’ll get a few hours to explore Whitby (one of our best places to visit in North Yorkshire) before hopping on the train back to Pickering. That’s just about enough time to immerse yourself in everything this historic harbour town has to offer.
Whitby is a place of split personality. One is seaside attractions, novelty shops and fish and chips; the other is a deeper and darker side of ancient mariners and moody folklore, manifested in the clifftop church and haunting abbey that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which overlooks the port from which Captain Cook set sail.
If ever a journey itself was as fabulous as its destinations, it’s one on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Look around you on the return journey as the train curves along the track and take in the engineering marvels that have pulled passengers along this route since Victorian times.
Visitors who'd like to maximise their time spent in this fabulous scenery should plump for camping in one form or another. Pitchup has a vast assortment of options for you to choose from, whether you’re after a simple rural campsite with spectacular countryside views, a lively caravan park with lots of facilities for the kids or a romantic adults-only retreat in a glamping lodge with a hot tub.