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Your journey begins in style with a glass of Grand Marque champagne. Once settled into your plush armchair in our stylish dining carriages, a light brunch before a delectable five course lunch is served.
Step back into the spirit of the Roaring 20’s with an unforgettable celebration on- board the Northern Belle. Let the champagne flow and the dresses spin as live music fills the carriages. After-all, a little party never harmed anyone.
Admire the opent interior design of your carriage, which evokes the 1930s “Belle” trains, each vintage carriage is decked out in luxurious details. Look around and discover plush fabrics and handcrafted murals.
Our trip not only embraces the Golden Age of Steam, but also heralds a nostalgic reunion between Princess Elizabeth and Duart – one of our Plman-style carriages resplendent with its exquisite marquetry motif of the famous castle on the Isle of Ml – which Her Majesty used when it too used to form part of her Royal Train.
Affectionately known as "Lizzie" this locomotive was built in 1933 and named after a then young Princess later to become Queen Elizabeth 11. It is one of the two remaining preserved Princess Royal Class Locos.
"Lizzie" played a key role on the Diamond Jubilee celebrations - her whistle signalled the start of the Thames Jubilee Paget and haed the Royal Train during the Diamond Jubilee Tour.
Our special steam program reunites this Royal Engine with our oldest carriage Duart which was once part of the Royal Train.
The route from Preston takes us first to Lancashire’s traditional county town of Lancaster and on to Carlisle, where there will be an hour’s stop during which passengers can photograph Princess Elizabeth, briefly explore the city or just relax on board.
Then, with a piercing blast of that same distinctive locomotive whistle that signalled the start of the Queen’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012, the Northern Belle will steam majestically off towards the spectacar 72-mile Settle-Carlisle line.
Painstakingly hewn out of the North Pennine moors and Yorkshire Dales during the 1870s by an army of 6,000 navvies, this has been voted number two in a list of “The World’s 10 Greatest Train Journeys”.
“Past cotton-grass and moorland boder, Shovelling white steam over her shoder” (to quote W H Auden’s famous “Night Mail poem), Princess Elizabeth will race through picturesque Appleby before working hard to reach the top of Ais Gill (1,169ft, 356m). Then the Northern Belle drops down to Garside until eventually – “Snorting noisily as she passes, Silent miles of wind-bent grasses” – she steams into Settle.
On the way, we will have plunged through 14 tunnels, including the 1.5mile (2404m) long Blea Moor Tunnel, and crossed 22 viaducts, notably the magnificent 24-arch, quarter-mile (402m) long and 104ft (32m) high one at Ribbleshead.
Finally after reaching the pretty little town of Hellifield, we head west through Blackburn and back to Preston. Our trip may be over, but we will have memories to last a lifetime.
>Preston
Carlisle Station
Experience the epitome of rail travel with this fantastic journey of a lifetime. A unique opportunity to travel behind one of the world's most famous steam locomotive’s Princess Elizabeth (6201), this magnificent engine was built in 1933 and named after the then seven-year-old Queen to be, and was used to haul the Queen’s Royal Train.
£395 per passenger
Sold Out
Enter your phone number below to join the waitlist for this journey. If any seats become available, our reservations team will be in touch by phone.
If you have any questions, our reservations team is available on 01270 907010, Monday to Friday, 9:30am–5:00pm.
In addition to our Princess Elizabeth - Spirit of Travel Lunch journey why not upgrade your on-board experience to include the following:
Single travellers will receive half bottles of these derivatives.
Sold Out
Enter your phone number below to join the waitlist for this journey. If any seats become available, our reservations team will be in touch by phone.
If you have any questions, our reservations team is available on 01270 907010, Monday to Friday, 9:30am–5:00pm.
In partnership with KRUG champagne we introduce another class of travel.
In addition to our Princess Elizabeth - Spirit of Travel Lunch journey why not upgrade your on-board experience to include the following:
Bottle of KRUG Grand Cuvée Champagne per couple
Bottle of wine upgraded from our Northern Belle Collection per couple
Seating allocated in Duart formerly a carriage on The Royal Train or Glamis named after Her Majesty’s childhood home
A memorable gift on departure
Single travellers will receive half bottles of these derivatives.
Sold Out
Enter your phone number below to join the waitlist for this journey. If any seats become available, our reservations team will be in touch by phone.
If you have any questions, our reservations team is available on 01270 907010, Monday to Friday, 9:30am–5:00pm.
Please read our most frequent questions here, if you don't see what you're looking for, visit our full list of Travellers Tips.
If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with our reservations team.
Get in touchNorthern Belle has limited tables for two. We are happy to take a request, however this is not a guarantee and there is a chance that you may be sharing a table of four with another couple. Subject to availability you may guarantee a table for two by paying a supplement of £105 per passenger. When booking online if private tables of two are available you can select your preference, but you can select a shared table without a supplement subject to availability.
All of the Northern Belle carriages are vintage pullman style. Each row of seats is a table for two and across the aisle a table for four.
Yes. If notified at the time of booking, we will do our best to comply with any dietary requirements. These include Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free, Pescetarian and the exclusion of certain ingredients such as nuts, onions and dairy. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide meals requiring strict religious observance in preparation. Please order at least 14 days prior to travel to ensure we can order the supplies to the train whilst on tour. Please note that due to the small preparation areas on the train we cannot guarantee cross contamination within the kitchen and if you have severe allergic reactions then please call the reservations team to discuss. When you book on line you will find a section to list your passenger’s dietary needs and other comments.
We are able to accommodate passengers with slight walking difficulties. However, we recommend they are accompanied by a carer. We regret that our carriages cannot be boarded on wheelchair. Staff are able to assist passengers to their seats and folding wheelchairs can be stored during the journey.
Some journeys are not suitable for people with disabilities. Should you have any special requirements please contact your nearest reservations office.
For a journey aboard the Northern Belle luxury train, adhere to the smart casual dress code. Choose comfortable yet stylish attire and wear appropriate footwear for day trips that may involve walking.
Our Best Available rate is subject to availability at time of booking, it is not applicable for parties of 12 or more. Please contact [email protected] for group pricing.
I just wanted to write a short email to give fantastic feedback for Lucy, Glenn and Arwen on the Hull-Edinburgh trip today (9th November) - Harlech. All three of them were absolutely excellent and made this very first and very special trip excellent for me and my mum. Thank you so, so much. I cannot believe how tirelessly and diligently they all worked to resolve minor issues and they really do deserve heaps of praise. We've never travelled in this way or experienced this kind of service before.
Just a quick note to say a big Thank You ! to you and all at Northern Belle. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole Northern Belle experience ! Memories for a lifetime !!! Special thanks should go to the “greeter” at Chesterfield station (sorry, I don’t know here name), the lady who played the bagpipes at the railway station, the chefs, the driver (a very smooth journey at speed after the initial delay), the magician, the musicians and the onboard crew … in particular the stewards, Jo, Asim and Jamie, who provided a 5* silver service. Exemplary service from beginning to end !! I also really appreciate the exceptional efforts to which your onboard chefs went to accommodate the menu changes for my mentally-disabled son. They were all perfect !
I feel the need to contact you to express our sincere thanks to you, your booking teams, the staff on board and exceptional attentive service on board during our wonderful journey on Saturdays Settle Carlisle train experience We were booked on Belvoir carriage in seats 19 and 20. Treated to excellent service by Phil, Lucy and Tom during our journey They were pleasant, spent time talking to passengers, provided efficient professional service and ensured our experience on board went without a hitch Thank you Northern Belle for a wonderful day and now looking forward to our next trip to Torquay on 20th August
This was our third time onboard the Northern Belle and it was just as magical as ever. Having previously enjoyed Edinburgh at Christmas routes we opted for a summertime excursion as a pleasant change. The addition of a trip on the Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat made for a great addition to the trip, especially with the hot and sunny weather we enjoyed amidst the lush landscape of the area. We all book for the opulence of the train and the exceptional food (huge thanks to the chef for the culinary delights we feasted on) but the heart of the experience truthfully is the wonderful staff who offer warm greetings and high attention to detail.
May I just take this opportunity to thank you and all your colleagues again for the most incredible experience on board The Northern Belle. It was a very special part of my 60th birthday celebrations and exceeded all of our expectations. The most amazing celebration and I am eternally grateful.
We travelled on the Derby to Sheffield return first class on the Christmas special with a 7 course lunch on Britains most luxurious train. It was like going back to the 1930's with a champagne reception and turkey main course. The train staff were wonderful. the food was top quality and the entertainment and atmosphere was well worth the money.