Saturday 20th December 2025

Join us on our festive excursion to the North East of England and the ever popular Beamish Museum where Christmas festivities will be in full swing! To celebrate we are offering remarkably low fares, and we have something special for the enthusiast too. As befits the time of year, First Class Dining is available on this train and includes The Great British Breakfast and a four course Christmas dinner, freshly cooked onboard and silver served by our attentive team. 

Beamish, the Living Museum of the North is truly world-famous. Opened in 1971 it has won praise and many awards here and abroad. British Museum of the Year, European Museum of the Year, Visitor Attraction of the Year, Pride of Northumbria Awards, Civic Trust and Group Travel Awards testify to its appeal.

Our special train will take us to Durham where we will transfer to comfortable road coaches for the short trip to Beamish, where we expect to have over three hours to explore the extensive grounds.

Visiting Beamish at this time of year is truly special. Imagine delightful decorations, festive food, merry music and Christmas crafts from Georgian times right the way through to the 1950s. Join in the festivities at 1820s Pockerley Old Hall, with festive greenery and food displays before visiting the 1900s Pit Village to see the mining families all set for Christmas in the traditionally-decorated pit cottages.

Stroll down the beautiful Edwardian cobbled street in The 1900s Town and see the exquisitely decorated homes and shops, and tuck into delicious festive treats from the bakery and sweet shop. Browse the stalls for that perfect present, or stop off for a festive photo in the 1900s photography studio, where there’s a stylish range of winter costumes (small extra charge applies).

At The 1940s Farm, the Land Girls are preparing for Christmas too, with homemade gifts and ration cooking on the menu. Don’t forget to call into 1950s Spain’s Field Farm to find out how the residents are celebrating the festive season.

Pop into the new toy shop in The 1950s Town to explore a wide range of great gifts for the young and the young at heart and experience Christmas community spirit in the welfare hall.

Keep an eye out for Father Christmas or Mrs Claus travelling around site in their splendid horse-drawn carriage!

Of course, all the usual attractions for which Beamish is so famous will also be available to you. Trams and vintage buses operate throughout the day on a circular route around the museum. The tramway, which opened in 1973, serves to re-create the experience and atmosphere of tramway operation of an earlier generation, whilst providing an essential means of transport for visitors around the site.

‘The Georgian North’ is a restored landscape surrounding Pockerley Old Hall and Waggonway showing the way it looked in the 1820s. Ridge and furrow ploughing, riven oak fences, stone walls and hedgerows of the period create a working agricultural landscape to showcase the farming practices and crops of the early 1800s. Durham Shorthorn cattle and Cleveland Bay horses graze in the fields, typical of those animals bred by farming improvers in the region.

At the Colliery Village (based on the year 1913) you can explore the chapel, village school and several cottages. There is even a traditional fish and chip shop frying chips in beef dripping!

The 1900 and 1950s towns are where most visitors to Beamish tend to spend more time than anywhere else. The period streets feature neat and tidy houses and cottages, authentic shops, a bank, a garage and many other buildings where you will find staff on hand to answer any questions. One particularly popular feature of The Town is the Sun Inn, where a pint or two can be enjoyed in period surroundings.

The City of Durham

Why not spend an afternoon enjoying the festive atmosphere of the City of Durham. This vibrant university city offers many attractions including an excellent indoor market; a selection of unique speciality shops; a diversity of art galleries and museums and some delightful public gardens in which to relax and enjoy the views of this remarkable city. Or given the time of year, perhaps explore some of the gin bars, gastro pubs and traditional real ale hostelries for which Durham is renowned.

Merry Christmas to the enthusiast
As a special treat for our enthusiast friends, GB Railfreight has kindly agreed to open up what would have been the Empty Coaching Stock moves from Finsbury Park to King’s Cross (in the morning) and from King’s Cross to Finsbury Park (in the evening) as passenger carrying movements affording the opportunity for those interested in haulage behind freight locomotives to grab some bonus class 66 haulage. No promises at this stage, but we can say that there is a good possibility that this will be the first time that the chosen locomotive will have worked a passenger train.

Please note the same locomotive is expected to work in both the morning and evening. And as its Christmas those who book the main tour can travel on the stock moves absolutely free. For others we are happy to offer a fare of £35 for either the morning or evening movement.

All timings are provisional and intended only as a guide.

Station	Depart	Arrive
Finsbury Park	06.35	22.15
London Kings Cross	07.15	21.45
Potters Bar	07.45	21.15
Stevenage	08.15	20.45
Peterborough	09.05	19.55
York	11.15	18.10

First Class Dining will be provided by The Railway Diners (formerly Creative Rail Dining) and includes the Great British Breakfast and a four course Christmas dinner. Our comfortable Mk3 carriages provided by Eastern Rail Services feature a well stocked buffet car serving a range of snacks, sandwiches and drinks. Today’s train is operated by GB Railfreight.

Class	Fare	Availability
Standard Adult	£109	Good
Standard Junior	£89	Good
Standard Class from York	£49	Good
First Class Non Dining	£179	Good
First Class Dining	£289	Good
First Class Dining Party of Four	£1136	Good
Finsbury Park - London King's Cross	£35	Good
London King's Cross - Finsbury Park	£35	Good
Supplementary Option - Beamish at Christmas Adult	£35	Good
Supplementary Option - Beamish at Christmas Junior	£25	Good

 

Book Now