The Bure Valley Railway at Aylsham in Norfolk has a host of activities planned for this year’s Festive season.

The Festive Express runs from 6th to 24th December, and combines a joyful experience on a steam train with a visit to Santa’s grotto and personalised gifts for the children.

A more atmospheric evening can be experienced on the Noël Night Train, where twinkling lights provide a background to festive music and seasonal refreshments, as well as time for Christmas gift shopping.

To complete the Festive season, the Mince Pie Special offers a relaxing journey and a warm mince pie from the Whistlestop Café.

Starting from Aylsham Station, The Festive Express provides a magical steam train fun for families, with festive treats before starting a 30-minute journey to Brampton behind a steam engine.

At Brampton, the engine will run round to the back of the train for the return to Aylsham, where Santa will be waiting on his sleigh to welcome every child into his grotto to meet his elves and receive a personalised gift as a memory of their visit.

On 5th, 11th, 12th and 18th December, the Noël Night Train provides an atmospheric experience for anyone looking for something different, or a special night out with family and friends.

The evening’s events start at Aylsham Station from 18:30, where the station will be lit up and decorated for Christmas, with the Aylsham Brass Band playing festive favourites to set the mood. Before the train leaves, there will be time to browse the gift shop and take advantage of a 10% discount.

After collecting festive refreshments and boarding the train, it departs at 19:30 for a 60-minute steam journey through the Norfolk countryside, returning to Aylsham at 20:30.

An ideal way to round off the festive season between 27th December and 4th January is by taking a ride on the Mince Pie Special. This starts with a journey behind a steam engine through the wintry Norfolk countryside, before returning to Aylsham Station for a free warm mince pie from the Whistlestop Café.

Full details on all the trains, dates, and availability of tickets can be found on the Bure Valley Railway website.

With the increasingly difficult task of obtaining suitable supplies of coal for its steam locomotives, in 2024, the Bure Valley Railway trialled the use of manufactured ovoids for steam locomotives. In 2023, it became the very first heritage railway in the UK to invest in a zero-emission locomotive for passenger services.