NY500

The North York Moors Railway is one of those places that stops you dead when you round a bend - suddenly there's a proper steam engine, all hissing and coal dust, and you remember why you bothered coming to North Yorkshire in the first place. The line runs from Pickering through eighteen miles of moorland, and you're sat in a carriage watching the landscape roll past like someone's pulled a moving painting across your window.

It's genuinely brilliant for families who've got kids old enough to sit still for ninety minutes or so. The train itself is the main event - vintage carriages, heritage engines that actually work, volunteers who know their stuff. Adults who remember railways being something other than just a way to get somewhere tend to get lost in it for hours. The journey climbs through the moors to Goathland (yes, that's the Harry Potter station) and on to Whitby if you take the full route, though most people do the Pickering to Goathland return.

You'll want to allow three to four hours minimum including breaks. Trains run regularly through the season - spring and summer are rammed with visitors, but autumn's often quieter and the light's better. Check ahead for operating dates as it varies. From Black Bull Caravan Park it's barely half a mile, or if you're staying further out at Lakeside or Westgate Carr Farm, you're still under twenty minutes' drive.

Is it worth the trip? Absolutely, if you like trains or moorland views. If neither appeals, you'll find Pickering town itself more interesting.