East Lancashire Railway

Cost: Family Day Rover £62 online, £67 on the day
Ages: 4 to 11
Where: Bury, Greater Manchester
Weather: Mostly outdoors
Booking: Book themed days ahead

Heritage trains, often steam, on a 12 mile line from Heywood through Bury, Burrs Country Park, Summerseat and Ramsbottom to Rawtenstall. The family calendar runs to themed trains such as Day Out With Thomas, a Wizarding Adventure and Halloween Ghost Trains in the autumn, then Santa Specials in November and December. The Day Rover turns one journey into a hop-on-hop-off adventure.

Ramsbottom makes the natural halfway stop: market town, ice cream, back on the next departure. Bury Transport Museum, across the road from Bolton Street station, rounds off the day for the wheels-obsessed, and a Day Rover gets you in free.

What it costs: Fares page on 27 Sept 2026, Day Rover on the day / advance online: adult £26 / £19.50, child (3 to 15) £18.50 / £12.50, family of 2 adults and 2 children £67 / £62, 1 adult and 2 children £46 / £41. The Full Line Return is a little cheaper (family of four £57 / £52). £2.50 booking fee per online order. Special events are priced separately, advance fares are not sold on Day Out With Thomas dates, and under 16s must travel with an adult aged 18 or over.

Know before you go

Buy the Day Rover and hop off at Ramsbottom: it breaks the journey, the kids get two more train rides, and it gets you into Bury Transport Museum free.
Book online: a Day Rover for a family of four is £62 in advance against £67 on the day.

What’s on at East Lancashire Railway

Santa Specials on the East Lancashire Railway

Bury Bolton Street Station

28 to 29 November, 5 to 6 and 12 to 13 December, then daily 19 to 24 December

A walk through Bury Bolton Street dressed as a winter wonderland, then an 80-minute steam round trip to Rawtenstall with a brass band, a gift for every child and Santa coming down the carriage. The late November weekend is the cheapest by some distance, and parking in Bury is tight, so the Santa Shuttle from Heywood is worth a look.

Child from £24.50, adult from £25Book online - prices rise each weekend towards ChristmasIndoor option

Written by us

Looking for more adventure & rides near Bury?

Your postcode

What visitors say

★★★★★ 4.8 across 3,326 Google reviews.

Read all 3,326 reviews on Google - filter by star rating there

Also in Bury

Burrs Country Park

Bury~40 min

4.7(1,249)

Riverside country park on the Irwell with a playground, old mill remains and its own East Lancashire Railway station, so a heritage steam train can be part of the day rather than the whole of it.

Free entry and parkingAges 3-11

Bury Transport Museum

Bury~40 min

4.6(1,119)

A restored 1848 railway goods warehouse full of cars, buses, trucks and trains, just across the road from the East Lancashire Railway's Bolton Street station. Open whenever the railway's trains run, and free with a Day Rover.

Adults £5, children £3, free with a Day RoverIndoorsAges 3-11

Imagination Bay Adventure Play

Bury~40 min

3.9(173)

Beach-themed play in a converted mill: indoor sand, role play, a craft corner and a dance floor rather than the usual three-storey frame. Timed two-hour sessions and no walk-ins.

£7.95 + VAT a child, adults £1 + VATIndoorsAges 1-11

Little Luxe Soft Play

Bury~40 min

4.9(28)

A small independent built around inclusive play, with a multi-sensory calming room off the main floor. The one to try if a big noisy centre has gone badly before.

Book online - price not listedIndoorsAges 0-8

Jungle Mayhem

Bury~35 min

4.1(520)

Radcliffe's jungle-themed centre: a four-lane slide, a ball pool with suction tubes, a sports zone and a disco room. Adults get in for nothing, which is rarer than it should be.

£6 a child, adults freeIndoorsAges 0-11

Funtastic Play Centre

Bury~35 min

4.2(320)

The long-standing Radcliffe centre, with a multi-tier frame, a proper toddler section and a home-cooked cafe. £5.50 a child on weekdays, and one adult per child gets in free.

£5.50 weekdays, £6.50 weekends, £7 holidaysIndoorsAges 0-11

What’s on near you, every Friday

One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.