There is no more relaxing form of travel than by train, and no better way to enjoy the beauty and sights of a country than through a carriage window, whatever the season. When it came to seeing landscapes, Robert Louis Stevenson thought "nothing is more vivid...than from a train".
Britain has hundreds of attractive rural railway lines offering scenic delights, and access to great walks or picturesque villages and towns. It has more tourist railways than any other country per capita, attracting millions of passengers every year.
Royal Scot
This hotel on wheels has become a synonym for luxury in train travel. The cabins, all en suite, are generously sized for a railway carriage, but it's the quality of the food and the perfect friendliness of the staff that make a journey on the Belmond Royal Scotsman so enjoyable.
The small galley kitchen produces refined dishes using produce from the land wherever possible, and there is a good selection of malts to accompany a chat in the lounge car before or after dinner. The varied tours, from three to eight days, are designed to showcase the most beautiful scenery Scotland has to offer, with some focusing on history, others on food and whisky. An open balcony on the rear bus helps photographers capture the sights; wellness enthusiasts will appreciate the new Dior Spa on board, with two tranquil treatment cabins. Two Grand Suite cabins will also be added in 2024, featuring Highland-inspired furnishings and design.
The details: From £4,400 per person for the Taste of the Highlands route (0845 077 2222; belmond.com).
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Britain's busiest heritage railway runs through 25 miles of beautiful countryside, much of which lies within the North York Moors National Park. With the help of part of Network Rail, trains climb along the Esk Valley from the coast at Whitby to reach the North Yorkshire Moors Railway's own tracks at Grosmont junction.
The railway, designed by George Stephenson himself, crosses wooded country to the moorland village of Goathland, still remembered as the setting for the TV series Heartbeat. Some passengers break their journey here to walk into the village or explore the famous mile-long stretch of road - Roman or even earlier - across Wheeldale Moor. Leaflets suggest walks from the other way stations before the journey ends in the market town of Pickering and its 13th-century castle.
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The details: Daily services return on March 23 and tickets for 2024 will go on sale soon (01751 472508; nymr.co.uk).
The Jacobite
The West Highland Railway crosses some of the wildest country crossed by a British railway, connecting Glasgow to Fort William, although it is the onward extension to Mallaig that is best known. The famous curved viaduct at Glenfinnan (pictured top) features in four of the Harry Potter films, and the Jacobite steam trains that run to the fishing port from April to late October attract thousands of people to the area for the spectacular scenery.
After a glimpse of the Caledonian Canal at Neptune's Staircase - a flight of eight locks - the railway skirts Loch Eil and soon skirts the sea. Sometimes you can see cattle on the white sands at Morar, with views over the sea lochs and the small islands of Muck, Eigg and Rum. Inland there is a panorama of mountains dotted with the stones of sheep stables and farm cottages. The Caledonian Sleeper from London, some carriages with private showers and even a double bed, are the most romantic and relaxing way to reach Fort William.
The details: The Jacobite runs from March 28 to Friday October 25, from £64 return (0844 850 4685; westcoastrailways.co.uk). Caledonian Sleeper, London to Fort William, from £405 for a double cabin (0330 060 0500; sleeper.scot).
Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways
Both narrow gauge lines terminate at a shared station at Porthmadog and run through Snowdonia. The Welsh Highland Railway to Caernarfon Castle, and the Ffestiniog Railway to the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.
The Ffestiniog railway has numerous claims as to why it should go down in railway history - locomotive trials in 1870 attracted delegations from nine countries, including Russia and India - but it's the spectacular scenery that fills trains. These leave Porthmadog over the narrow Cob with the sea on one side and a mountain-ringed polder on the other, before climbing to a unique spiral near the summit.
The scenic highlight of the Welsh Highland Railway is the passage through the Aberglaslyn Pass, although there is not a single dull moment in the 25 miles. The steep slopes of both lines require special steam locomotives. The Ffestiniog Railway offers an observation car, while the Welsh Highland Railway has two Pullman cars, one with an observation end (all are at an additional charge).
The details: Welsh Highland Railway from £70 for two, return; Ffestiniog Railway from £50 for two, return. Services will restart on March 25 (01766 516000; festrail.co.uk).
Dartmouth Steam Railway
West Country resorts were the destination of hundreds of excursion trains during the summer months when everyone went on holiday by train. The Dartmouth Steam Railway was once the route of the Torbay Express and now makes a terminal connection with Network Rail before continuing south to a terminus at Kingswear.
The line climbs from Paignton to provide a panoramic view over Torbay before crossing a saddle in the hills to descend along the Dart Estuary to Kingswear, passing Agatha Christie's holiday home at Greenway, now in the care of the National Trust . Different ticket options allow you to make the return journey by river cruise with a bus connection to complete the circuit between train and boat.
The details: £21 return (01803 555872; dartmouthrailriver.co.uk).
Bluebell Railroad
Southern to East Grinstead trains offer Londoners an easy way to reach the Bluebell Railway, whose station is a few minutes' walk from the main line platform. The 11-mile journey to Sheffield Park winds through the well-wooded Sussex countryside, which is covered in bluebells in spring.
Each of the four stations has been restored to evoke a different period from the line's 137-year history, and the quiet rural junction of Horsted Keynes, with its small refreshment area on the island platform, is one of the most atmospheric of all historic train stations. . Being the first historic standard gauge railway, opening in 1960, the Bluebell has a fine collection of vintage carriages, adding to the charm of the journey. Take a walk to the National Trust gardens in Sheffield Park before returning.
The details: All-day adult Rover tickets from £25 (01825 720800; bluebell-railway.com).
Shrewsbury to Pwllheli/Aberystwyth
The railway line serving the resorts of Cardigan Bay, between Aberystwyth in the south and Pwllheli in the north, winds through central Wales and landscapes of rolling hills devoted to livestock farming or woodlands. The two lines diverge at lonely Cyffordd Dyfi (Dovey Junction), accessible only by a footpath. The southern route goes to the university town and offers the chance to take the Vale of Rheidol narrow gauge line to the famous waterfalls of the same name.
The northern line runs gently along the cliffs above the sea and also provides connections to narrow gauge lines: the Talyllyn Railway at Tywyn and the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways at Porthmadog. A highlight is the crossing of the Mawddach Estuary via the 1867 wooden bridge at Barmouth, shared with cyclists and pedestrians.
The details: Shrewsbury to Pwllheli, from £27.10 return; Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth, from £24.80 return (0333 3211 202; tfw.wales).
Cumbrian Coast (Lancaster to Carlisle)
The fastest route between Lancaster and Carlisle is the west coast main line over the Shap summit, but the slower route via Barrow and Whitehaven offers long stretches of track along the treacherous sands of Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea. The west coast main line is left at Carnforth Station, where Brief Encounter was filmed in 1945.
Long viaducts carry the railway through estuaries, and the landscapes bear few scars of the mining, steel and shipbuilding industries that once dominated the Furness Peninsula. Beyond the shooting range at Eskmeals is Ravenglass and the start of the beautiful Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, a 15 inch line used by many walkers as a way to reach the western hills. Past Whitehaven, one of England's first planned towns, the railway turns inland through a pleasant agricultural area to reach the border town of Carlisle.
The details: From £26.50 return (0800 200 6060; northrailway.co.uk).