Two days away from £129pp
The railway line between Settle in Yorkshire and Carlisle in Cumbria is one of the most well-known in Britain, and indeed is admired around the world. The best way to visit is to experience it by rail!
The line epitomises the enterprise and determination of the Victorian railway directors, engineers and navvies in their struggle to conquer the forces of nature across ‘the roof of England’. Such was the lure of the lucrative traffic between England and Scotland that drove the directors, engineers and ‘navvies’ in their pursuit to capture a share in the revolution that was the railway age of 19th century Britain.
The route uses the natural contours and north-south lie of the Ribble and Eden valleys. To link these river valleys, and to maintain a fast line speed with a gradient no steeper than 1 in 100, the line cuts through the Pennine landscape in a series of dramatic tunnels, cuttings and bridges. Its magnificent structures include the awe inspiring Ribblehead viaduct and infamous Blea Moor tunnel.
The steady 10-mile pull from Settle Junction up to Blea Moor – the ‘Long Drag’ to its generations of enginemen – passes between the ‘Three Peaks’ of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside. This is followed by skirting above Dentdale and upper Wensleydale to the line’s summit at Ais Gill. At a height of 1169 feet it is the highest point on a mainline in England, and is overshadowed by the evocatively named Wild Boar Fell.
Next the line picks up the infant river Eden in Mallerstang valley, dropping for 10 miles at 1 in 100 down from the mountain country to a lush pastoral landscape, passing through the market towns of Kirkby Stephen and Appleby. It follows the Eden onwards all the way to Carlisle, where on the edge of the city it joins the line from Newcastle and enters the maze of lines leading to Citadel station.
DAY ONE Travel by train from Newcastle to Leeds.
With free time in Leeds
(Option to break the journey with free time in York)
One night, room only, at the 4 Star Park Plaza hotel
(opposite Leeds rail station)
Book by 28 February and get FREE breakfast
DAY TWO
Travel by train on the beautiful Settle-Carlisle line from Leeds, operated by Northern Rail, seeing iconic sights such as the Ribblehead viaduct, and stations used in
(Optional free time in Carlisle)
Travel by train on the scenic Tyne Valley line from Carlisle to Newcastle.
Based on
2025
30 March;
6/13/20/27 April;
4/11/18 May;
1/8/15/29 June
Other dates and hotels available
Please note the Leeds to Carlisle train only accepts cash payments onboard for refreshments due to intemitent wifi
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