LUXURY TRAIN TRIP PULLS INTO N. WALES
£3,575 steam engine tickets include tour of ‘rugged Welsh coastline’
Dion Jones
A STEAM engine pulling a luxury train which charges passengers up to £3,575 per trip came through North Wales at the weekend.
The Great Britain XV left London’s Paddington station on Saturday en route to Bristol.
It headed through Rhyl, Llandudno Junction and across Anglesey before returning to Llandudno Junction again for the night on Sunday.
The train’s nine-day trip through England, Scotland and Ireland has been organised by the Railway Touring Company, and passengers are paying quite the premium to enjoy the holiday.
The best tickets – labelled the ‘Premium Price’ – come with a price tag of at least £3,575 per passenger.
That’s based on two people sharing a room.
A single-supplement will cost you a further £395, while there’s also an option to spend more for a guided excursion of Aberdeen when the train pulls into Scotland – that will cost another £299 per person.
However, you do get quite a lot of luxury for that price.
The Premier Price plan comes with eight nights’ worth of hotel accommodation and breakfast in either three- or four-star hotels, coach transfers, luggage transfers (from hotel to hotel), an allocated seat in the first class open carriage, an “at seat” drinks service and six breakfasts, four lunches and four “silver service” dinners while on the train.
For those who think that’s a bit too rich for their blood, there is a slightly cheaper option – “First class” tickets cost £2,765.
On Monday, passengers were given some free time in Llandudno to take in the sea-air, sights and sounds of the ‘Queen of Welsh resorts.’
They then hopped back on board the Great Britain yesterday morning to head north to Edinburgh.
Described as a must for train enthusiasts and steam engine buffs alike, the Railway Company says the “Grand Steam Tour” trip will take passengers from the “flat Fens to the Suffolk coast, from the rugged Welsh coastline to the soaring summits of Scotland”.
“For nine days you’ll explore the length and breadth of Britain, hauled by classic restored steam locomotives through contrasting scenes of mountains, fields, farms and rivers,” it added.