The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways

Two narrow-gauge railways meet at Porthmadog Harbour station, and one company runs them both. The Ffestiniog Railway climbs 13½ miles from the harbour to Blaenau Ffestiniog, the slate town that "roofed the world". The Welsh Highland Railway runs 25 miles the other way, past the foot of Snowdon and through the Aberglaslyn Pass to the castle at Caernarfon. Between them they cover about 40 miles of Eryri, the Snowdonia National Park, on track less than two feet wide.

They were built for different reasons, and it shows. The Ffestiniog opened in 1836 to carry slate down to the ships, graded so that loaded wagons could roll all the way to the sea by gravity; its operator calls it the oldest narrow-gauge railway in the world. The Welsh Highland was finished in 1923, failed within fourteen years and lay closed for six decades, until the Ffestiniog's own company and its volunteers rebuilt it and reopened it to Porthmadog in 2011.

Riding them today is a day out rather than a commute. Double-ended Fairlie locomotives, built in the railway's own works since 1879, work the Ffestiniog round a complete spiral and through a mountain tunnel; South African Beyer Garratts, the largest engines at this gauge, haul the long Welsh Highland trains over the shoulder of Snowdon. Trains run from late March to the end of October, out in the morning and back in the afternoon, with time to explore at the far end.

Both railways start from Porthmadog Harbour station, on the old slate quays. Porthmadog itself exists because of the Cob, the embankment William Madocks built across the estuary of Traeth Mawr and finished in 1811; the first mile of the Ffestiniog runs along its top.

Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog

At the far end of the Cob is Boston Lodge, the railway's works, where its locomotives and carriages are still built. The line then calls at Minffordd, where the Cambrian Coast main line passes underneath and a short walk leads to Portmeirion, and climbs through oak woods to Tan-y-Bwlch, the woodland halfway station. Above it the train leaves the trees, rounds the Dduallt spiral, crosses over itself and runs through the 310-yard Moelwyn tunnel to come out beside the Llyn Ystradau reservoir. The last stretch passes Tanygrisiau and the slate tips into Blaenau Ffestiniog, more than 700 feet above the harbour, where the narrow gauge shares a station with Transport for Wales trains down the Conwy Valley.

Porthmadog to Caernarfon

The Welsh Highland leaves in the other direction, across the harbour bridge and along the street, then crosses the Cambrian Coast main line on Cae Pawb, the only flat crossing between two gauges in the United Kingdom. It runs straight across the flat land of Traeth Mawr towards the mountains, ducks into a tunnel at Nantmor and comes out on a ledge high above the river in the Pass of Aberglaslyn. After Beddgelert the train climbs through the forest in a series of tight bends to the summit of the line, calls at Rhyd Ddu with Snowdon above it, and runs beside Llyn Cwellyn and down the valley of the Gwyrfai to the coast. The terminus at Caernarfon, opened in 2019, stands beside the castle.

The trains

The Ffestiniog is the home of the Double Fairlie, a double-ended engine with a chimney at each end, carried on two power bogies; the first ran here in 1869. Merddin Emrys, the first engine built at Boston Lodge, dates from 1879 and is still in service, and the newest, James Spooner, was completed in 2023. The Welsh Highland's NG/G16 Garratts worked in South Africa before coming to Wales; No. 143 was the last Garratt built by Beyer, Peacock in Manchester. Both lines run modern carriages with large windows, and a Pullman observation car for passengers who pay for Gold service.

The railways run from late March to the end of October, with Santa trains in December. Each service is sold as a return trip with a set train back, so the tables show both legs. The full Ffestiniog runs on most days of the season and daily for the rest of October 2026; the full Welsh Highland runs on selected days, which in October 2026 are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Ffestiniog Railway — Mountain Spirit

Welsh Highland Railway — The Harbourmaster, from Porthmadog

Welsh Highland Railway — Snowdonia Star, from Caernarfon

Good to know:

• The Quarryman runs the Ffestiniog the other way, from Blaenau Ffestiniog at 11:40 (Porthmadog 12:50) and back from Porthmadog at 15:25 (Blaenau 16:40). On many summer days the Mountain Spirit makes a second trip at 14:20.
• Shorter trips. The Woodland Wanderer runs Porthmadog to Tan-y-Bwlch in heritage carriages; the Aberglaslyn runs Porthmadog to Beddgelert; the Gelert Explorer runs Caernarfon to Beddgelert at 11:10, returning to Caernarfon at 15:25.
• Request stops. Penrhyn and Tanygrisiau on the Ffestiniog, and several halts on the Welsh Highland, are request stops served by some trains only; check the timetable before planning to use one.
• Both lines in one day does not work in October: the morning trains leave Porthmadog within 35 minutes of each other.

Times as of October 2026, from the operator's 2026 base timetable and its live booking calendar; extra trains may run on busy days. Check your date on festrail.co.uk (opens in a new tab).

Tickets are sold by the railway itself, online or at its booking office, and each one is a return on a named train: you cannot come back on a later service unless you book two singles. The Ffestiniog round trip on the Mountain Spirit or the Quarryman costs £49.75; the full Welsh Highland on the Harbourmaster or the Snowdonia Star costs from £72. A child aged 3 to 15 pays £5 on any standard return, and under-3s travel free. Online booking adds 6 % and guarantees your seats; tickets on the day are subject to space.

Single tickets in Standard class are sold on the day. Gold service in the Pullman observation car costs more and adds at-seat service. Dogs travel for £5 in most Standard accommodation. Fares checked October 2026 on festrail.co.uk (opens in a new tab); pounds sterling, one adult.

No rail pass is valid on either railway. Interrail's table of railway companies for Great Britain does not list the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, and BritRail's conditions exclude privately owned, steam, heritage and tourist railways. You buy the railway's own ticket.

A pass can still get you to the ends of the line. Both include Transport for Wales, whose Conwy Valley trains terminate at Blaenau Ffestiniog in the same station as the Ffestiniog, and whose Cambrian Coast trains pass under the narrow gauge at Minffordd. The railway's booking office will hold seats on the narrow gauge for passengers making a through journey by main-line train.

For this journey alone, a pass is not worth buying. It pays only if the narrow gauge is one stop on a longer trip round Wales.

Checked October 2026 against interrail.com (opens in a new tab) and britrail.com (opens in a new tab).

Most visitors base themselves in Porthmadog, where both railways start, and ride one line a day. The places below run from Porthmadog up the Ffestiniog to Blaenau, then along the Welsh Highland to Caernarfon; each is a stop on the way or a short walk from one.

Porthmadog is the practical base, because both railways start there. The Royal Sportsman stands on its High Street. A stop along the Ffestiniog, the Hotel Portmeirion sits on the shore of the Dwyryd estuary below the village, and at the other end of the Welsh Highland the Celtic Royal stands on Bangor Street in Caernarfon.

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