Discover Glorious Yorkshire with Great Rail Journeys
08/11/2024 · By Rob Payne
Discover Yorkshire with Great Rail Journeys from a base in historic York. Tour York Minster, visit Harrogate and ride the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
Read moreSave up to £200pp on British Isles 2026 holidays, when you book by 31st October 2025.
Discover the beauty of Yorkshire on this picturesque rail getaway. Home to timeless towns, sweeping rural landscapes and rich architectural heritage, this is a region full of character and charm just waiting to be explored.
Stay in the elegant spa town of Harrogate and visit the coastal resort of Whitby, before enjoying a nostalgic journey on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Uncover Yorkshire's hidden gems, discover the landscapes which inspired the Brontë sisters and travel into the steep valleys of Yorkshire's industrial past aboard the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.
Unforgettable Experiences
What’s included on the tour?
Itinerary
Your Yorkshire adventure begins in Harrogate, where you'll meet the Tour Manager and fellow travellers at the centrally located hotel. Harrogate is a charming Victorian town known for its spa heritage, beautiful gardens and elegant buildings.
Harrogate's Valley Gardens contribute to its picturesque charm and the nearby Bettys Tea Room invites you to savour quintessential Yorkshire treats. Other highlights you may wish to explore include the renowned Turkish Baths, known for its restorative treatments dating back over 200 years and the Royal Pump Room Museum, showcasing the town's history with its mineral springs. The town has a traditional theatre, a variety of music venues and hosts several national and international events at its Convention Centre, not far from our hotel.
This evening, we gather at the hotel for our first dinner as a group.
Additional information
Hotel
More information on the different trains that are used on this tour.
The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway commenced both
freight and passenger services in 1867. Although it was a vital
transport link for the local community, this was always secondary
to its freight services, and so for much of its working life the
branch line was known to very few people outside the
vicinity.
The railway was an early victim of the Beeching Axe, with its
final service running in 1962. A preservation group had already
formed as a reaction to the closure, which quickly purchased the
line from its then-owners, British Rail. After a few years of
preparation, the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
re-opened in 1968 run entirely by volunteers. The branch line was
preserved in its entirety, and to date it is the UK's only heritage
railway to run at its complete original length.
Since opening as a heritage railway, the line has remained popular
with the local community, but has also become a major tourist
attraction. It is easy to see why the railway is a popular feature
on several of our Yorkshire holidays as the line
passes through the beautiful, rugged countryside and rolling
moorland made famous by the Brontë sisters.
The wild and windswept North York Moors are infamous in fact and fiction, with over 1,400 miles of stunning scenery, tranquil trecks and wonderful wildlife it's easy to see why. Overflowing with barron moorland, lush valleys and pine forests to captivating coastlines and home to historic monuments, villages and a wealth of wildlife - there is so much to discover here.
Enhance your holiday
We can book UK rail tickets from your local station to and from Harrogate. Please call us to discuss your requirements.
Reviews
4.1 / 5 · 761 reviews
mr b davison
Submitted 28/Sep
Excellent value and well organised tour
Collected by Trustpilot
customer
Submitted 26/Sep
Great hotel though totally cashless which i did not know. Food was good tour guide excellent. Train was overcrowde on way to harrogate but bioked seats for return which was also crowdef.
Collected by Trustpilot
Alison Donald
Submitted 17/Sep
Excellent Tour manager. Hotel was great. First time I've seen the Yorkshire Moors, fabulous views. Coach driver very witty and enthusiastic about his home county. I shall be booking 2 more trips with Great Rail for next year. Many thanks.
Collected by Trustpilot
Elisabeth
Submitted 13/Sep
Atha was an A+tour manager, always available, pleasant and very well-informed. 40 is a very large group and quite difficult to manage (I took university students from US to China, Australia and Europe). Yorkshire is gorgeous. I would love to take another tour with Atha.
Collected by Trustpilot
Paul Stoneman
Submitted 12/Sep
Certainly understand why it is called God’s country. Lovely tour of the Moors and some of the Dales
Collected by Trustpilot
Liz Walsh
Submitted 12/Sep
A super few days with very good hotel, tour leader and exceptional coach driver who told us so much about Yorkshire.
Collected by Trustpilot
Download the brochure
Discover the beauty and hidden gems on our doorstep. Whether you long to explore historic castles, stroll along windswept beaches, or sample traditional delicacies, the British Isles has endless possibilities for exploration.