Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway

Cost: Family fares
Ages: 4 to 11
Where: Newby Bridge, Cumbria
Weather: Mostly outdoors
Booking: Train tickets on the day at the station; the combined cruise ticket can be booked online through Windermere Lake Cruises

A short steam line through the Leven valley run with real charm - engines to admire at Haverthwaite, and the timetable meshed with the Windermere boats at Lakeside.

Train plus boat is the assembled classic: nobody drives, everybody rides, and the transport is the day. Open carriages on fine days are the ones to hold out for.

The move that makes the day is the combination ticket: steam train up the Leven valley to Lakeside, straight onto a Windermere cruise from the same platform, and back again. Booked together it beats paying separately, and the connection is timed so a four-year-old's patience survives it.

Haverthwaite station is more than a platform: a proper 1950s carriage rake, an engine shed to poke around, a woodland playground for burning off the sit-still, and a tea room open from 9am whose bacon barms have their own small following. Dogs ride free, which for Lakes walking families settles the argument.

What it costs: The 2026 steam season runs daily from 28 March to 1 November. Train only: adult return £12.50, child (3 to 15) return £7.30, family return (two adults and up to three children) £37.50, under 3s free, dogs free. Train tickets are sold only at Haverthwaite or Lakeside station on the day. Combined Yellow Cruise and steam train from Bowness: adult £29, child £17, family £84, bookable online with Windermere Lake Cruises.

What’s on at Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway

Tinsel Trains on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway

Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway, Haverthwaite Station · Newby Bridge

Weekends, 5 to 20 December, trains at 10am, 11.30am, 1pm and 2.30pm

An hour on a steam train in your own compartment, with Father Christmas coming to you with presents: a soft toy for 0 to 10s, a goody bag for older ones, gingerbread for all, and a drink and treat for adults. It is priced by the compartment, so it works out far better for six than for three. Tickets go on sale at 10am on 4 November, set an alarm. There is no space for pushchairs on board.

£125 a compartment for four, £30 each extraOnline only, opens 4 November at 10am, no refundsIndoor option

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