Snowdon Mountain Railway, Wales > Reviews (6)

The Snowdon Mountain Railway, when I realised what I'd signed up for, wasn't the thing I looked forward to most about my trip to North Wales. A double-trouble fear of heights and anxiety regarding train journeys made me slightly nervous, let's put it like that. I do, however, love the views in Wales - a bit of an uphill walk can lead you to the most amazing places, and where better than Mt Snowdon? A compromise (read: challenge) was struck up - we'd catch the train up and walk down, after running it by the kids it was decided and I made a telephone booking for the Sunday of our trip. We'd actually hoped to ride the train on the day before but it was fully booked; it's possible to turn up and hope for the best on a weekday but I'd recommend you book if you want to visit at the weekend, especially if you are travelling a distance.

When you arrive you'll be given your tickets, we arrived an hour or so early so wandered around a well stocked souvenir shop and had a walk around the local area. There's a small bar and cafe next to where you queue up to get on the train - we bought the kids an (overpriced) tray of chips and an ice cream each, while Mark and I shared a cheese sandwich. The food here is nothing special really and added nothing to our visit, in fact the sandwiches I'd packed for our picnic were much nicer than those at the foot of Mt Snowdon!

When our turn to embark the train arrived I was surprised to see how old the trains looked, a quick flick through the guide book told me that this was one of the original 1895 trains - a fact that made me sweat a little considering how nervy I am of trains at the best of times! Inside the carriages are obviously 'of the age' too - hard benches and sitting literally shoulder to shoulder with other passengers. It's not a particularly comfortable ride, but once you get going the beautiful scenery will take your mind off the fact that you're sitting so close to a stranger!

And the scenery certainly is beautiful, from the moment the train begins moving you can feel the upwards gradient and once you're clear of the station (around five minutes into your journey) the whole of Snowdonia seems to open out in front of you. The incline is fairly steep to begin with with a few hair-raising drops to the side of the train tracks - not great for a height hater like me, but the landscape and way the track has been designed means I can just look the other way when I spot something scary on one side or another!

You'd think the best scenery would be when you get towards the summit of the mountain, but you'd be wrong. On the first section of your journey you'll see a stunning waterfall, plenty of beautiful greenery, sheep (of course!) and even a small disused chapel built on the mountain which was in use until the 1950s. The clear commentary on board the train tells you where to look to see the various sights on your trip up Mt Snowdon; I felt there was a little too much anecdotal history in this commentary, but it has apparently been the same for years so most passengers must enjoy it!

There are a couple of stop-off points on the way up the mountain, mainly for the steam trains to take on water in order to continue their journey. At these 'stations' you can disembark the train and continue your journey on foot, or simply stand in the fresh air and take in the views before hopping back on board. In very windy (or 'worrying', as our train driver put it) weather the locomotives stop at Rocky Valley rather than going all the way to the summit - they should be able to advise you of this when booking your ticket, but weather changes so quickly when you're out in the open that you must be prepared for the possibility of not reaching the summit by train.

As it was a warm, sunny day when we rode the Snowdon Railway it carried on all the way up the mountain. While the gradient is fairly gentle (considering you're going up a mountain!), be prepared for a very sharp incline as you reach the summit - this comes on you quite suddenly and you feel yourself pushed back into your seat in a similar manner to if you were on a fairground ride. My daughters' found this highly amusing, although I suspect they were giggling at the terror on my face rather than the experience!

Once you reach the summit of the mountain you are given a set amount of time to walk around before having to get back onto the train for the return journey. As I've already mentioned we had decided to walk down so had as long as we wanted, but I heard one group being told that the train would leave in thirty minutes which is time enough for a wander around taking in the views but you wouldn't get chance to look round the super-duper new visitors centre if you had to be back on the train in half an hour.

An exhausting four hours later we reached the base of Snowdon, and all of us wished we'd taken the train for the return journey! We watched the various locomotives pass us while completing our arduous trek and they're a grand sight from a viewpoint of several hundred feet away, looking majestic and colourful (being painted red) against the stark greenness of Mt Snowdon.

Using the Snowdon Railway isn't a cheap excursion, with an adults return ticket costing £25 and a child of three and above £18. Obviously the 'one way' tickets are cheaper, but there's only a few quid in it so don't be planning to walk down the mountain just to save on the return fare as you'll probably find it wasn't worth it! There are some very tiny discounts for disabled adults and children, although not all of the steam trains are equipped to carry disabled passengers anyway - again, this is something you'll have to check while booking your tickets. Children under three years go free providing they're sitting on your lap, personally if my under three had been with us I'd have rather paid for a seat for him as a two and a half hour train journey with a wriggling toddler on my lap would not have been my idea of fun!

I completely recommend a trip on the Snowdon Railway, if scenery is your thing - and honestly, if you're visiting North Wales then it probably is. The beauty of it is that this, for a lot of people, is the only way of getting to the summit of this amazingly beautiful mountain.