Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Owned and operated by an educational charity, Woody Bay is an original Lynton & Barnstaple Railway station, opened in 1898, and closed along with the rest of the line in 1935. What you see today, with one mile of track, is just the beginning of an exciting project to rebuild this unique, famous and picturesque narrow gauge railway. Woody Bay is the place to board our narrow gauge heritage train for a journey back in time. All trains run to Killington Lane Halt then return to Woody Bay. We have exciting plans to extend the line towards Caffyns and Wistlandpound - a total of some five miles - and beyond. 2019 Return Fares Adult: £7.50, Child (aged 5 -14): £3.00*, Family (2 adults and up to 3 children): £18. Senior Citizens (Over 65): £6.00. 1st Class Upgrade £3.00 Return (per person). *Children under 5 accompanied by fare-paying adults travel Free. Single Fares are also available. Access to the station, shop, toilets and parking is completely free, except at some special events.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • Graham B
    Devon, United Kingdom126 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A Grand Day Out
    The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (L&B) This is a great adventure taking you back to the early 1900s , when life style was slower and the great war looming , the railway today gives you time to look back and gives a flavour of how it was then, this is short ride just over a 1 .5 miles but has plans to extend the line , well worth a visit. History. The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (L&B) opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track, 1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm) narrow gauge railway and was slightly over 19 miles (31 km) long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, England. Although opened after the 1896 Light Railways Act came into force, it was authorised and constructed prior to that act. Therefore, as with all other railways, it was authorised under its own Act of Parliament and built to higher (and more costly) standards than similar railways of the time. In the United Kingdom it was notable as being the only narrow gauge line required to use main-line standard signalling. For a short period the line earned a modest return for shareholders, but for most of its life the L&B made a loss.[1] In 1923 the L&B was taken over by the Southern Railway, and eventually closed in September 1935.
    Visited September 2022
    Written April 5, 2023
  • Cheekycockney190757
    Basildon, United Kingdom8,548 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A lovely compliment to any visit to Lynton & Lynmouth
    Visited on Saturday 08th October 2022 We headed to the Lynton & Barnstable Steam Railway at Woody Bay. I had visited before and though it is a very limited service, it is fun. There are model and small gauge services on some days as well as attractive station buildings. Only 2 stations at present but worth a visit.
    Visited October 2022
    Written May 14, 2023
  • Phillip C
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A Beautiful little Railway near the north Devon coast with stunning views
    This is an amazing little railway, the views on a good day at stunning! It’s well worth a visit and is perfect for children that want to go on a train but you don’t want to be stuck on it for ages. It takes about ten minutes each way then comes back again . The staff/ volunteers are very friendly and helpful and if you are lucky and they have time between trips they will offen let you hop on the footplate for a look and a photo. It now has a lovely tea room which does lovely cream teas! Also has a woodland walk a small shop and a miniature railway garden railway as well but that is not always running. It’s got the potential to be extended further in the future which would be amazing. Adults are £ 8.50 , children are free! and car parking is free! You can ride as many times that day as you like for the same price, great value! I look forward to visiting again in the near future.
    Visited May 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written June 2, 2023
  • Shirley M
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great heritage railway
    A total gem of a heritage railway at a reasonable charge. Beautiful train pulling well maintained coaches. Very friendly and helpful staff. Tea room serves a great cream tea and food you can sit inside or out to eat. Good selection of things to buy in shop.
    Visited May 2023
    Written June 4, 2023
  • janetgonegardening
    Dorchester, United Kingdom283 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Interesting and ambitious project
    Whilst this narrow gauge railway currently only runs on a short piece of line it is a very ambitious project well worth support. The project is slowly buying back the land to reinstate the original track and even has hopes for 2 new stations to enable it to be a rail service again. A ticket lasts you all day so you can ride the train as often as you want. At weekends there is a miniature railway to ride on. There is also a model railway to look at and a woodland walk. Plenty of parking, places to eat or picnic and good toilets.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written July 2, 2023
  • Paul N
    Oxford, United Kingdom17 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Lovely steam train ride.
    Incredibly friendly and helpful volunteers and a pretty (if slow) journey through the North Devon countryside. Even the rain couldn’t spoil it. Not horrendously expensive either. Well worth supporting.
    Visited July 2023
    Written July 16, 2023
  • purpledolphin1963
    Kefalonia, Greece231 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Delightful day out with lovely tea rooms
    Excellent day out for everyone. Lovely surroundings for a delightful train ride along stunning scenery. Varied and well stocked gift and book shop. Wonderful tasty treats and drinks in the cafe. A lovely woodland dog walk. Dogs welcome
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with friends
    Written July 17, 2023
  • Richard H
    Wokingham, United Kingdom7 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great experience
    Well worth a visit for a ride through the North Devon countryside, even on a rainy day. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff, great little shop & café and easy to get to. It's a short but enjoyable ride in an old carriage being pulled through the North Devon countryside by an old steam locomotive, both the ride and the atmosphere are great.
    Visited July 2023
    Written July 28, 2023
  • Hayzi
    Oxford, United Kingdom32 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great Little Trip
    Wet weather day trip to this quaint and charming railway. This is a historic site and only a small piece of the railway exists which is a shame as I’d have loved to have travelled by train across the hills of North Devon. The site is run by volunteers who genuinely want to make this a great experience for its guests and it shows. The train journey is short but the kids loved the experience and the small woodland walk is a good leg stretch. Worth a visit for an hour or two.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written July 30, 2023
  • Sarah B
    Blaenau Gwent, United Kingdom3 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A lovely hour out
    A lovely little hour out with the kids. It's only a two kile round trip but the volunteers are friendly and helpful and it was lovely to see the steam train operating. The views from the Kilington stop were beautiful. There is a small shop which sells souvenirs and the tea rooms are modern and sell teas and cakes. They even had some gluten free options which was lovely to find. There is also a little woodland walk and an outdoor picnic area. Overall, a lovely visit
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written August 14, 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles577 reviews
Excellent
362
Very good
134
Average
40
Poor
20
Terrible
21

Abul K
1 contribution
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2023 • Couples
Im very disappointed with the service today 2 our late and last 2 days ago same I miss my train because is service was not on the time so i was go Birmingham
Written December 13, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Pedersenrider
Cardiff, UK67 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Friends
Excellent and welcoming visit again. Great to be back and now much improved with the tea rooms. Although only a short line the L&B is well worth a visit for the period atmosphere.
Written October 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Robin G
Truro District, UK121 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Couples
Really wonderful day out on gala day in Sept. I have always wanted to visit this line and the gala day coincided with a 10 day break in N Devon. The £15 gala day ticker was worth every penny. All the staff were so friendly and helpful. It is only 1 mile long BUT. an I suggest that if going there you can get a glimpse of things to come. 3 days earlier en route to Arlington House road repairs meant a diversion. Suddenly the incredible Chelfant viaduct appeared. We pulled off and went ti to the station which has a small .museum and the station some track and signals all there as if waiting for the day when the track is relaid, trains calling at the station before going over the viaduct.
The railway now although only 1 mile long is an incredible achievement. When closed on 1935 all locos were scrapped apart from 1 rumoured sold to S America and never seen again. They have rebuilt locos from scratch from original drawings. So go there and enjoy what is the start of an in in incredible restoration project.
Written September 29, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

debbie
Norwich, UK15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Couples
What a treat. The journey was short but the views and the people were worth it.
Keep up the good work and our train tickets will help towards funding the expansion.
Written September 24, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

sally010
Midlands, UK143 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Couples
Living near the great central, this little line made us wonder if it would be worth the visit but it was.

It is rather expensive for a short ride but it is an all day ticket.

We rode the train straight away. Went to cafe and had a really good pasty and cup of tea (it was a very quiet day so they weren’t going to struggle with service). Then we rode the train again but in the observation seats which was different.

Husband spent ages looking at the model steam train set up, as middle aged men so often do, and he was not alone!

I had a wander down the platform and sat in the sun, enjoying the smells sounds and mostly listening to two of the station staff/volunteers having a discussion about safety, training, coupling, uncoupling, and all sorts of steam railway stuff. I know it was semi-rude to listen in but honestly, it was so interesting I didn’t want to come away and husband had to fetch me which is a weird reversal of roles for us at a place like this.

So yes, it is expensive but seriously nice staff, steam train, toot-toots, a shop, a cafe, a model railway and clean toilets - 10/10 from us.

Would happily take my grandchild for a few hours out too.
Written September 17, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Patricia W
United Kingdom36 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Couples
A wonderful experience on this steam engine on the narrow gauge track, 2 miles through the stunning countryside. It’s incredible what has been achieved re-building this whole station; engines, carriages, tracks, shed and recent addition of a cafe with the most delicious selection of cakes. The volunteers could not have been more pleasant; happy to chat and rightly proud to share their knowledge and experience with us. It’s heart warming to see all their hard work paying off with a successful & busy season so far. Children ride free so it makes it a favourite choice for families. It’s busiest in the morning so we turned up at 2:30pm and found we could book on right away for the 3pm journey. The last one being at 4pm. You can book tickets in advance, online. They have now bought the The Station Hotel and have big plans to extend the track to the pub; another 4 miles which will be fantastic!
Written September 5, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nicola H
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Family
Authentic experience, the kids loved looking at the train and the station, the guys there are so enthusiastic about the trains and wanted to tell us all the interesting information. The journey was great fun, beautiful views and a real step back in time. There's also a great woodland walk to stretch your legs, our dog and little children loved spotting the little characters hiding in the woodland. The cafe has some lovely drinks and treats too. Free parking, regular trains and helpful people, nothing was too much trouble. Highly recommend!
Written August 24, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sarah B
Blaenau Gwent, UK3 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Family
A lovely little hour out with the kids. It's only a two kile round trip but the volunteers are friendly and helpful and it was lovely to see the steam train operating. The views from the Kilington stop were beautiful. There is a small shop which sells souvenirs and the tea rooms are modern and sell teas and cakes. They even had some gluten free options which was lovely to find. There is also a little woodland walk and an outdoor picnic area. Overall, a lovely visit
Written August 14, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Darren S
10 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Family
Not worth the money the walk from the car was longer 10 minute train ride to see sheep in fields not worth £8.50 each rip off
Written August 12, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Hayzi
Oxford, UK32 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Family
Wet weather day trip to this quaint and charming railway. This is a historic site and only a small piece of the railway exists which is a shame as I’d have loved to have travelled by train across the hills of North Devon.

The site is run by volunteers who genuinely want to make this a great experience for its guests and it shows. The train journey is short but the kids loved the experience and the small woodland walk is a good leg stretch.

Worth a visit for an hour or two.
Written July 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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LYNTON & BARNSTAPLE RAILWAY: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway is open:
  • Tue - Thu 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
  • Sat - Sun 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

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