Visit England and discover a country of great contrast and diversity both in the places you go to and in the people you meet. All the regions of England are within easy reach of the exciting capital city, London, famed for first class culture, fascinating history and pageantry, its world-class restaurants and theatre.




Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

The chalk hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds roll northwest-southeast between the Humber and the Wash. A peaceful and expansive landscape with fine views, the Wolds have been sheep country for centuries. Now much of the traditional open grassland and hedged fields have been ploughed up for arable farming, but precious stretches survive in the valleys and on steep slopes.

Topographically, the Wolds are a dissected chalk tableland, falling gently eastward from a western scarp face which crests in pleasing contrast above the midland plain. High plateaux and ridges in the north give way to rounded hills crossed by winding valleys and narrow ravines. The grasslands and abandoned chalk pits are an important habitat for rare flowers and insects and some areas of fine mixed woodland are managed to conserve their traditional oak, ash and hazel coppice. Always sparsely settled, this is nevertheless a historical landscape with prehistoric barrows, ancient tracks and the distant spires of fine mediaeval churches.

The AONB's rural economy is based on arable farming together with some mineral extraction. There are no large towns but many unspoilt villages. This is not as yet a well-known tourist area, though literary pilgrims visit pretty, red-roofed Somersby, to see the home and the landscape which inspired the poet Alfred Tennyson. The 'Tennyson Country' connection is now being promoted, as is green tourism, based around the long-distance Viking Way footpath. Seaside Mablethorpe, Skegness and Cleethorpes, all a short distance from the AONB, are obvious visitor centres. Local recreational demand is for traditional country pursuits such as walking or hunting and shooting.


Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

The AONB's intimate green and silver landscape rises from the shores of Morecambe Bay, with wide views over the Kent Estuary to the Lake District. Despite its small scale, the AONB shows a unique interweaving of contrasting countryside.

The area is characterised by small scale limestone hills rising to less than 200m in height, fine deciduous woodlands and valleys which form sheltered agricultural land. The inter-relationship of salt-marsh, limestone cliffs and reclaimed mosses (peat bogs), at or about sea level, contrast markedly with limestone pasture, rock outcrops and limestone pavements at a higher level. The distribution of copses and hedgerows and the pattern of limestone walls create a strong feeling of enclosure, and are important elements in the landscape.

The limestone geology, varied soil types and vegetation, added to a notably mild climate at this northerly latitude, makes this AONB extremely important as a diverse natural habitat. Unimproved pasture and the exposed limestone outcrops are rich in rare butterflies and flowers. Between the limestone hills there are drift deposits and estuarine silts and clays which, close to the estuaries, support nationally important lowland raised mires. Woodlands are a distinctive element in the landscape with significant areas of ancient semi-natural woodland.

Large areas are owned by the The National Trust, English Nature and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as well as local wildlife trusts and conservation organisations. The reed and willow swamps of Leighton Moss nature reserve (RSPB) are a major breeding site for marshland birds which include bearded tits, marsh harrier and the rare bittern. The sands and salt-marshes of Morecambe Bay are internationally important for wading birds and wildfowl. Parts of the AONB are of recognised national and international importance for wildlife.

Farming is, in the main, livestock, with sheep being grazed on the higher rough pastures and cattle and sheep farmed on the reclaimed valley soils. Some active quarrying remains and a small portion of the AONB is commercial conifer plantation. Private land ownership is concentrated on two large estates. Arnside, Silverdale and Warton are the main centres of population.The AONB is a popular destination for quiet outdoor recreation, caravanning and day visits.

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Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

Chichester Harbour is one of the few remaining undeveloped coastal areas in southern England. Rarer still, it remains relatively wild. Its bright wide expanses and intricate creeks are a major wildlife haven and at the same time among some of Britain's most popular boating waters.

Backed by the South Downs, the harbour is a series of tidal inlets with a narrow mouth to the sea, punctuating areas of fertile farmland. Fringed by a narrow margin of wind-sculptured oaks and hawthorn, the fields in turn give way to salt-marsh and intertidal mud-lands, broken by a maze of creeks and rithes.

Not dramatic in the upland sense, the AONB's landscape nevertheless has a special sense of wilderness and isolation. Its rich diversity is enhanced by the patterns of sea and land changing with the tides and the seasons. In this flat landscape, the vertical elements of church spires and old mills are an important part of its character, as are the colour-washed, red-roofed villages.

The AONB's massive stretch of tidal flats and saltings are of outstanding ecological significance. The rich, complex estuarine habitats of the harbour are a Ramsar Convention on Wetlands designated wetland. Very large populations of wildfowl and waders use the mudflats feeding on the rich plant life and the huge populations of intertidal invertebrates. More than 9,000 Brent geese overwinter on the intertidal mud-land and adjacent farmland.

There are no towns in the AONB, although it is easily accessible from Portsmouth and Southampton. Picturesque creekside villages such as Bosham and Itchenor are sought-after for commuter, retirement and holiday homes. The harbour lowlands contain high quality arable farmland with some beef and dairy farming. Boatyards, marinas and commercial fishing are important elements of the local economy.

This is one of the south coast's most popular sailing waters with as many as 10,000 craft regularly using the harbour, and with 14 yacht and sailing clubs and seven training centres, the area is considered to have reached capacity. The villages, sea walls and footpaths of the AONB are a popular local leisure area and day visitor destination for London and the South East.


Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

The Cotswold Hills rise gently west from the broad, green meadows of the upper Thames to crest in a dramatic escarpment above the Severn valley and Evesham Vale. Rural England at its most mellow, the landscape draws a unique warmth and richness from the famous beauty of its stone buildings.

Jurassic limestone gives the Cotswolds their distinctive character, and an underlying unity through its use as a building material throughout the area. The limestone lies in a sloping plateau with a steep scarp slope in the west drained by short streams in deep cut wooded valleys, and a gentle dip slope which forms the headwaters of the Thames. This gentle slope has a maze of lanes connecting picturesque streamside villages built predominantly from local stone.

The Cotswolds are nationally important for their rare limestone grassland habitat and for ancient beechwoods with rich flora. Important grasslands such as Cleeve Hill have survived due to their status as ancient commons, and a National Nature Reserves protects the finest ancient beech complex. Some Cotswolds plants are so rare that they have specific legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Traditionally a landscape formed by sheep grazing, this is now prosperous mixed and arable farming country. The AONB excludes urban areas but includes market towns such as Chipping Campden. Now only the third largest employer, agriculture is outranked by tourism and services. There is still active mineral extraction in the AONB.

Motorways, together with a central location, make the Cotswolds accessible to a huge urban visitor area including Bristol, London and the West Midlands. The AONB, with 'honey pot' villages such as Bourton-on-the-Water, Bibury and Castle Combe, is a national and international tourist destination as well as an important local recreation area. The Cotswold Way National Trail, which runs between Bath and Chipping Campden, and a number of other walking routes extend across the AONB.


Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

Covering some 44 per cent of Dorset, the AONB stretches along one of Britain's finest coastlines and, reaching inland, takes in countryside which still evokes the settings of the Hardy novels.

Curving through the county to the sea, the dominating chalk ridge of Dorset underpins the AONB's landscape. It stretches in a broad band of downland from the Upper Axe Valley eastwards to the Stour Valley near Blandford Forum. A southern arm circles Dorchester and extends to the Isle of Purbeck. The rural landscape varies from the ridges and valleys of central Dorset, through chalk ridges and limestone plateaux to the sandy heaths and flats of Poole Harbour.

The AONB's coast, including the famous Lulworth Cove and the great pebble barrier bank of Chesil Beach, is as notable for its complex chalk, limestone and sandstone geology and rich ecology as for its scenery. The rare remaining downland and heathland are also highly important conservation habitats supporting a wide range of flora and fauna with notable rarities. The AONB has many Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and several National Nature Reserves. The particular quality of the Purbeck Heritage Coast has been recognised by the award of the Council of Europe's Diploma for the Conservation of Protected Landscapes. Rich in prehistoric sites and field patterns, the AONB contains the largest Iron Age fort in Europe: Maiden Castle.

Agriculture is the major land user, including mixed arable and dairying with beef and sheep grazing. Mineral-rich Purbeck is the site of extensive oil, gas, limestone and brick industries. Skirting major centres, the AONB includes picturesque market towns and ports such as Beaminster and Bridport.

The coastal stretch of the AONB is a highly popular tourist area and major resorts such as Weymouth and Swanage attract two million visitors a year. The South West Coast Path starts at Poole Harbour and the coast's extensive footpath network is well-used by residents and visitors.

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Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

Half of this beautiful island is protected as an AONB in separate areas which include the principal landscape features of the interior's central and southern downlands and also much of its famous coastline.

Visually, the AONB is dominated by chalk in the sharp upfold which forms both the island's east-west backbone and southern expanse of wide green downs, and its most famous landmark, the bright white stacks of the Needles. On the north coast, the AONB protects the low clay cliffs, salt-marsh and mud-flats of the Hamstead Heritage Coast. In the south, the complex landscapes bounded by the Tennyson Heritage Coast range from sandy bays to high unstable sandstone and chalk cliffs, cut by wooded 'chines'. This complexity gives rise to chalk downland, arable farmland, wooded dairy pasture, small areas of heathland and hay meadows, sea cliffs and creeks.

The AONB landscape is of considerable scientific and ecological importance and includes exceptional, flora-rich chalk grasslands, the north coast's major estuarial habitats and the geologically notable southern cliffs and landslips.

A rural island, 80 per cent of its land area is devoted to agriculture with sheep rearing on the downs and heath 'rangelands' and dairying on the lower-lying land, together with pockets of arable farming and forestry. Farming in the north retains its traditional pattern of woodlands, fields and hedgerows, a contrast with the open grazed uplands. The AONB, with a population of 10,000, has few large settlements. It includes small resorts such as Freshwater Bay but skirts major resorts such as Shanklin, Ventnor and Cowes which are major centres of employment in tourism and services.

The Isle of Wight is one of Britain's longest established visitor destinations and includes seaside family resorts, caravan and holiday parks and the seasonal day trip influx on the Solent ferries. The island is also a popular yachting centre, focused on Cowes and Yarmouth. To encourage countryside tourism, the council has created the Isle of Wight coastal footpath and seven long-distance trails.


Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

This is a heavily fragmented AONB containing some of Britain's finest coastal scenery, including Land's End and the Lizard peninsula.

The north coast landscapes range from famous headlands, such as Tintagel and St Agnes Head, to extensive rolling dunes and the spectacularly folded, Atlantic-fretted cliffs north of Boscastle which are some of the highest in Britain. The south coast has an altogether softer landscape of multi-coloured cliffs, tiny coves and picturesque fishing villages. It is indented by the oak-fringed estuaries of the Fal, Fowey and Helford Rivers.

To the west, the Lizard and Land's End areas have distinctive geological formations. The Lizard's famous serpentine rock is found in the many reefs and spectacular stacks that emphasise the wild isolated character of the coastline. The granite intrusions around Land's End have created rocks rich in minerals that have been mined for centuries.The AONB also contains the broad expanse of the Camel Estuary and inland, the high open sweep of Bodmin Moor, the heath plateau of the Lizard Peninsula and the historic moorland of the Penwith Peninsula. Bodmin is the only extensive upland area in Cornwall and is dominated by granite outcrops with characteristic granite tors and clitter slopes, a wealth of mineral deposits and unusual river profiles.

The AONB protects many important natural and historic sites. The Lizard, with its complex geology, is a National Nature Reserves, and the Fal River is one of Europe's best unspoilt examples of a drowned estuary complex. The traditional farmed landscape of small hedged and banked fields is intrinsically part of the AONB's value as are its ancient standing stones and the distinctive ruins of Cornwall's tin mines.

86 per cent of the AONB is in agricultural use for meat and milk production and, in favoured pockets, horticulture. The AONB has few large settlements but includes villages such as St Keverne, Mevagissey and Polperro, now bustling holiday centres, and small towns like St Just. Tourism is a vital part of the rural economy and the AONB is intensively used by visitors to the Cornish resorts. The South West Coast Path, a National Trail, follows the coastline.

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North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

An AONB protecting the wide empty miles of one of the country's last expanses of wilderness, the upland plateau, northern limit of the Pennine chain, stretches away in a high wild landscape of undulating heather moorland and blanket peat. On its western edge, the plateau ends sharply in a steep escarpment looking down on the green and gold patchwork of the Eden Valley. The table-top summit of Cross Fell (890m) is the highest point. The Tyne, Tees, Wear, Derwent and Allen rivers drain from the plateau forming valleys that each have their own distinct character.

Ecologically, the North Pennines are of outstanding value. The AONB is rich in wildlife and includes herb-rich hay meadows, juniper, alpine limestone flora and a diversity of moorland and wading birds. Parts are protected as National Nature Reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The AONB also includes areas of international importance, such as the North Pennine Moors Special Protection Area, the Upper Teesdale and Moorhouse National Nature Reserves and five candidate Special Areas of Conservation.

Hill farming (mainly sheep) is important to the rural economy and is complemented by moorland management for grouse shooting. Other economic activities include the quarrying of limestone and mineral working in the Durham sector. The North Pennines was once the lead mining centre of the world and the ruined traces of abandoned lead mines are now acknowledged as an intrinsic part of the landscape and its heritage.

There are no major towns within the AONB and its largest settlements are Allendale Town and Alston. The scattered stone villages throughout the area have experienced a significant reduction in population following the decline in the traditional lead mining industry from the late 19th century. Typically, they are remote rural villages, where young people tend to leave for jobs elsewhere and the remaining population (fewer than one person per square kilometre) experience the knock-on effect of losses of shops, post offices and other rural services.

Recent years have seen a modest increase in inward migration and tourism which, to some extent, is helping to stem the decline. The AONB's countryside, historic villages and industrial heritage are the essential components in comprehensive new strategies to promote sensitive tourism. The National Trails of the The Pennine Way and the developing Pennine Bridleway pass through the area, as does the Teesdale Way. Other initiatives to create recreational routes in the area are underway.


Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

This scattering of tiny granite islands 45 km off Land's End is the smallest of all the AONBs. In terms of the variety, environmental quality and beauty of its marine landscape, the AONB is outstanding. It ranges from white quartz sand beaches with jewel-green shallows to dunes and sheer rugged cliffs. In the lee of the Atlantic gales, sub-tropical gardens, brilliant with rare trees and flowers, contrast with the low bare inland heather plateaux.

The Scillies are famous as a landfall for rare migrating birds, and the uninhabited off-islands in particular shelter some of Britain's most important bird populations. The warm clear lagoons between the islands are home to seals and porpoises and the intertidal zones are an exceptional marine habitat.

The islands have been settled since Neolithic times and are rich in archaeological sites. Only five of the islands are inhabited, St Mary's being the largest with a population of 1,600 in a total island population of 1,960. The three main economic activities are tourism, early flowers with market gardening, and fishing. The limited scale, revenue and resource base of the islands means inevitable economic limitations.

Tourism use of the AONB contributes as much as 85 per cent of the local economic revenue, and focuses in particular on the natural environment. It ranges from local bird spotting and fishing trips to flora and fauna nature tours, underwater safaris and a windsurfing centre. Local recreational use of the coast is also high and the majority of residents own small craft.


Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

The AONB, a long coastal strip, incorporates the finest, remotest and wildest of Norfolk's renowned marsh coastlands. It includes the silt expanses of the Wash, the north-facing coastal marsh and dunes of the Heritage Coast and the high boulder clay cliffs east of Weybourne which the sea is rapidly eroding away. The coast is backed by gently rolling chalkland and glacial moraine including the distinctive 90-m high Cromer Ridge. An undulating, intimate landscape under huge skies, the AONB is characterised by its imposing churches and quiet brick and flint villages and small towns such as Wells-next-the-Sea.

This is a soft shifting coastline of unique scientific and ecological value and contains some of the most important salt-marsh, intertidal flats, dunes, shingle and grazing marsh in Europe. Together the coastal habitats form an ecosystem of outstanding importance, and National Nature Reserves within the AONB include the world-famous bird reserves, Titchwell Marsh (RSPB) and Cley Marshes, and Winterton Dunes, one of the country's finest dune systems. The Heritage Coast stretch of the AONB is a Ramsar site, a Biosphere Reserve, a Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Special Protection Area and candidate Special Area for Conservation (SAC) and Marine SAC.

The coast's rural economy increasingly relies on tourism and other service industries although agriculture and fishing still have a role to play. The AONB skirts the larger Norfolk resorts such as Cromer, while its north coast is a popular sailing area and includes small but busy sailing villages such as Brancaster and Blakeney.

The AONB's coast attracts many day and weekend visitors, particularly from East Anglia, the East Midlands and London. Walking, touring, visiting beaches and exploring villages are the most popular activities. Informal outdoor recreation is focused on the Peddars Way National Trail National Trail which passes through the AONB.

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Vampire Vacation

Where do Vampires go for their holidays? Well sea and sand are great but too much sun may be a problem so an autumn break to Whitby in North Yorkshire would be perfect. With its quaint cobbled streets and picturesque houses standing on the steep slopes of the River Esk, Whitby is dominated by its gothic cliff top abbey. This small seaside town celebrates its setting as a key location in Bram Stoker's Dracula, which he wrote while living on its West Cliff, looking out at the spooky ruins of the abbey. Those with a Dracula disposition can now enjoy a vampire-based tourist industry as a result.



As well as the vampire connection, Whitby has produced its own famous sons, not least Captain James Cook, and also the outstanding father and son whaling masters of the Scoresby family.



But if it's the undead that you're interested in, quench your thirst at the gothic Elsinore pub in Flowergate and then go in search of vampires at the Dracula Experience by the beach where plastic fangs are optional!



If supplies of fresh blood are running low then you can enjoy Whitby's famed fish and chips, which the fishing port also specialises in. Fresh haddock and cod, caught the night before, and chips wrapped in newspaper are on offer from almost every other building in Whitby. Situated along one of Britain's finest stretches of coastline, with cliffs, lovely bays, safe, sandy beaches and attractive villages, Whitby has been a port for more than 1,000 years and is still a seafarers' town today.



Spend the evening on a guided Dracula walk, where a suitably scarily clad guide will point out the parts of the town that feature in Stoker's novel. The narrow streets and alleys climbing down to the quayside still bustle as they have done for centuries and as folklore and tradition are very much part of the Whitby scene, visitors soon find themselves involved. From these centuries-old streets, 199 stone steps lead up to the parish church of St Mary, whose churchyard also inspired Bram Stoker. If you're really brave you can finish the night by climbing these famous steps to the abbey ruins that feature in Dracula.

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The Yorkshire Dales has outstanding scenery, a diversity of wildlife habitats, a rich cultural heritage and peacefulness. In 1954, 1769 square kilometres was designated a national park in recognition of these most important qualities.

The Dales lie astride the Pennines in the north of England in the counties of North Yorkshire and Cumbria There are over 20 main dales, differing much from each other in character and atmosphere. To the south of the area lies a highly populated industrial area while to the north thinly settled uplands stretch to the Tees and beyond. About 20,000 people live in the scattered farms, villages and small market towns of the Dales.

People have lived in the area for over 10,000 years and have left their mark on the landscape in the form of ancient settlement sites, disused mineral workings and the patchwork of dry-stone walls and barns so typical of the Dales. Early farmers cleared the woodland and developed the fields.



Sheep on the fells, hay meadows in the valley bottoms: this has long been the way of life for Dales farmers, resulting ina landscape cherished by residents and visitors alike. However, both the landscape and traditional farming methods are now under threat from changing agricultural economics, development pressures and tourism.

Tourists are attracted to the area because of its beauty but it is the large volume of visitors which can unwittingly damage the very places they come to see. Picturesque villages become overcrowded. Narrow roads soon become blocked by cars. Popular footpaths are transformed into mud baths by countless hiking boots.

Conservation is vital. Good stewardship of the countryside must go hand in hand with the maintenance of a healthy local economy. In this way local people can continue to live and work in the Dales, and visitors can enjoy this unique countryside.



It is hoped that the National Park Authority, which is no longer part of the democratic process, can balance the needs of the Dales community with those who wish to visit and enjoy its special environment.

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The natural features of the Dales are the result of erosion by glacier ice. Weathering of limestone, shale, sandstone and millstone grit laid down about 300 million years ago has created the scenery that we see today. Visitors can explore this fascinating, distinctive landscape of open moorland, rounded valleys, crags and hills. The area is particularly well known for its splendid limestone formations: scars, caves, dramatic waterfalls and the expanses of fissured rock known as pavements. Many visitors are unaware that the Yorkshire Dales are essentially a managed landscape. While the major land-forms were created millions of years ago, the distinctive character of the Dales is largely due to man's intervention. A succession of settlers left their mark on the land - by clearing woodland, building villages and roads, cultivating crops and later building barns and walls which are such a feature of the area. Though few crops grow successfully on the uplands, the lush valley grass provides ideal grazing. Dairy and mixed-stock farming predominate in the lower dales; the high fells are left tothe Swaledale sheep.

The Yorkshire Dales provide archaeologists with an abundance of riches. The Romans drove their ruler-straight roads across the fells. The Angles, Danes and Norsemen came in their turn and the story of their settlements can still be read today in the evocative names of places and natural features.

The Middle Ages brought the Normans, who built castles and created hunting forests. Monks from thegreat abbeys farmed vast estates; they were the first to make cheese in Wensleydale and bred the hardy hill sheep on the inhospitable fells. While we tend to think of the Yorkshire Dales as a farming community, lead-mining was an important industry throughout the North Pennines until late last century.

The typical Dales landscape of dry stone walls and field barns came about gradually, as land-owners enclosed the open fells for their livestock. The landscape is always changing, and the Dales people of today are part of this changing pattern.

The Yorkshire Dales are a spectacular, beautiful and livinglandscape: more than 60,000 people live and work in the Yorkshire Dales area. While tourism is becoming increasingly important, the local economy is still very dependent on farming. The land provides 32% of all employment within the national park area, and many of the customs and festivals have their origins in agriculture.

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The history of York, one time capital of the north and second city of the realm, is as varied as the history of England. It is one of the world's most fascinating cities with surviving evidence from the different cultures that have ruled the area.

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York Railway Museum

What's on



British Rail - A Moving Story
A permanent exhibition telling the story of British Rail from nationalization in 1948 to privatization in 1996. Told by those who made it happen. Shinkansen - Japan's Bullet Train
In the 1960s Japan reinvented the passenger railway. The Shinkansen was the first railway designed to move large numbers of people in comfort at high speed, on the 'Bullet Train' The service was compared with air travel. Judge for yourself by boarding the only Bullet Train outside Japan. Wish You Were Here
Holiday destinations have changed markedly over the last 160 years, but the railways have continued to play an important role. Catch the holiday express to this new display where fun and relaxation are the order of the day. Royal Trains - Palaces on Wheels
How did Queen Victoria travel by train? Why did George VI have an armour-plated carriage? Walk along the red carpet and find the answers in our lavish Royal travel exhibition. Moving Things - The Mail
Moving mail by rail is as important as ever. This interactive exhibition allows you to have a go at sorting letters, get syncopated with the poem 'Night Mail', and compare the earliest primitive sorting carriages with a modern mail train. The Interactive Learning Centre
Interactive displays help you to understand why trains stay on the rails, why high-speed trains are streamlined, or why signal levers need to be pulled in the right order. Check out the Interactive Learning Centre in the Education section. Travelling by Train
The earliest train travellers in open wagons would not recognize today's high-speed trains. The historic carriages on show at the NRM range from the most primitive wooden plank seat, to the opulent elegance of the first class compartment. Models to Main line
Perfect recreations of trains of all kinds produce the impression of the main line in miniature on the NRM's recently extended gauge '0' model railway. How Railways Work
From locomotives to track, signals to staff, and stations to bridges - the NRM displays demonstrate how each is important, and why the system can grind to a halt when one element breaks down. Railways in Art
Railways have inspired artists to produce some of their finest work. The NRM's art collection covers watercolours, oil paintings, portraits, landscapes, as well as original artwork for some of the most famous railway posters. Express Travel
Each railway company was keen to shave another few minutes off the journey time and make their trains more comfortable than anyone else's. Find out about the 'Races to the North', and why the Midland Railway eventually decided to allow third class passengers into its dining cars.

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Commuter Travel
Quick, functional, but somewhat dreary and generally unloved. The NRM acknowledges the vital role played by these humble trains, and you can find out why electrification made such a big difference to the 08.15 to Waterloo. The Great Outdoors
Our open air space offers fun for all the family. The railway themed children's play area is specially designed for younger visitors Grab a bite to eat at the barbecue - (weather permitting) - or take advantage of our picnic area. You can even polish it all off with one of our delicious ice-creams. Miniature Railway
Free with your entry to the Museum are rides on the 7 1/4" gauge Miniature Railway. The railway runs at weekends and during school holidays - weather permitting. It takes visitors on a fun ride through the Museum's newly designed play and picnic area. Please check availability. Train Rides
Enjoy a short train ride along our demonstration line in the South Yard and experience the smells and sounds of a bygone era. Train rides usually take place during school holidays and half-terms. Rides are normally free but during some special events a charge may apply. When a steam engine is unavailable, a diesel engine will be used instead. Put Yourself in the Picture
We provide the historical costumes and backdrops - you bring your camera, and capture a picture of yourself in times gone by. Available only during the school summer holidays 11.00-16.00. Play Train
Hands-on creative activities with a railway theme for children of all ages. There is a small charge for these activities, which usually take place 10.30-16.30 during school holidays and half-terms. Platform 4 Theatre
The Museum's resident theatre company provides a different and entertaining perspective on the history of the railways. Almost every Saturday and Sunday during the year there are four performances per day, each lasting around 20 minutes.
Click here to see the calender of public performances
Click here to book an education performances Gallery Tours
The tours last up to 35 minutes and bring to life the fascinating stories told by many of the varied objects in the Museum's displays. Tours normally take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11.50, 14.00 and 16.00 .
See notices on arrival The Works
As well as hearing about the traditional skills of railway engineers in the Workshop Round Up (a twice daily talk), kids will have great fun building trains themselves. Our unique trackside balcony will give you great views of today's trains as they return and depart from York Station. The Warehouse
The Warehouse is a real "Aladdin's cave" packed to the rafters with national treasures and items of railway memorabilia.Treasures include Sir Winston Churchill's director's pass and the actual chest of lead shot used by the original "Great Train Robbers" of 1855.

The Working Railway
The Working Railway explores many aspects of railway safety, from the days when railway policemen warned of danger using hand signals, to today's advanced computer communications system. Daily Events at the National Railway Museum
There are up to 14 talks and demonstrations every day at the NRM. This includes turnings of the locomotive turntable in the Great Hall at 11.00 and 15.30. Our Explainer Team are on the museum floor - whether you have a specific question, a subject interest, or fancy a chat about the railways.

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