Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways, Porthmadog and Caernarfon Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, Harbour Station, Porthmadog, Gwynedd, LL49 9NF 01766 516000  Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway Open: Varies, please check website Price: From £3.00

In a nutshell. Two separate railways, little in gauge, large in appeal. The 13½-mile Ffestiniog from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog now carries passengers, not slate. It’s one of Wales’s best-loved Great Little Trains. The Welsh Highland from Caernarfon to Porthmadog travels through some of Snowdonia’s most breathtaking mountain scenery and the show-stopping Aberglaslyn Pass – a whopping 25 miles from start to finish, making it Britain’s longest heritage railway.

Why go? Scenery and steam. Put the two railways together for a giant little ride of nearly 80 miles there and back.