Click here to book tickets - Early Bird offer until 17th April - Don't miss out
A fabulous opportunity for fans of Rail Ale who live a little further afield. A door-to-door service to visit the most atmospheric beer and music festival of the year, thanks to Britain’s favourite rail tour operator, UK Railtours, supported by Rail Ale 2023 sponsor Greene King.
UK Railtours has planned a trip which cannot fail to appeal to devotees of two seemingly inseparable interests, namely railways and real ale. This tour gives you a unique chance not only to enjoy everything UK Railtours has to offer onboard its much loved train, but also to experience fine ales from breweries all over the country as well as ciders and gin, not forgetting a great line up of live music, at Rail Ale 2023.
The tour will take place on Saturday 20th May 2023 and will pick up passengers at Finsbury Park, Potters Bar, Stevenage and Peterborough before heading for Barrow Hill Roundhouse, straight into the platform there.
For those Rail Ale fans who enjoy their railways as much as their beer, the tour will take a varied and scenic route across the Midlands from Peterborough to Barrow Hill whilst the return journey will take a south westerly route, before heading towards North London and the drop off stations. The train will be hauled by one of GB Railfreight’s Class 69 diesel locomotives throughout the day.
For those heading to Rail Ale, the off train option includes entry to the event, a commemorative glass, programme and train rides. Passengers will be able to spend just over three hours at the Festival – plenty of time to get into the party spirit!
Tickets and Timings
The First Class Dining option includes “The Great British Breakfast” and a four-course dinner. Please note the dining option is not available from or back to Peterborough due to time constraints. A buffet car is available.
An Early Bird Discount is available for this tour. Enter code EBD5 at checkout or mention EBD5 when booking over the phone for a 5% discount off the usual fare. Only available until 17th April 2023.
Ticket Prices:
Class |
Price |
Standard Adult |
£119 |
Standard Junior |
£109 |
First Class Non-Dining |
£169 |
First Class Dining |
£279 |
First Class Dining Party of Four |
£1,096 |
Off Train Option - Rail Ale at Barrow Hill |
£10.50 |
Timings:
Station |
Depart |
Arrive |
Finsbury Park |
07.15 |
20.00 |
Potters Bar |
07.30 |
20.20 |
Stevenage |
07.45 |
20.40 |
Peterborough |
09.00 |
22.00 |
(All timings are provisional and intended only as a guide)
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Where to stay - special offer
Wanting to make the most of your visit to the Rail Ale Festival and explore the Chesterfield area during your stay? Ringwood Hall Hotel & Spa is a beautiful 19th century Grade 2 manor house set amongst 6 acres of formal award-winning gardens and surrounded by 29 acres of parkland. The hotel is only a short hop in the car or a 20-minute walk to Barrow Hill Roundhouse, the venue for the Rail Ale Festival.
Use the discount code “Barrow10” when booking your stay and you will get 10% off the hotel’s best available rates.
Ringwood Hall Hotel & Spa, Ringwood Road, Brimington, Chesterfield, S43 1DQ
Tel: +44 (0)1246 280077
https://ringwoodhallhotel.com
Rail Ale 2022 Beer of the Festival - Category Winners and Champion of the Festival, click here for the full list.
Thank you to all those breweries who took part in the 2022 Beer of the Festival competition. Thanks also go to all our panel members from CAMRA and the brewing and hospitality industry for giving up their afternoon to help with the judging.
The competition entries were blind tasted by a panel of judges during the Trade Session on Thursday afternoon with all the Gold category winners going forward to a final blind 'drink off' to choose the Champion Beer.
Congratulations to all our winners - the judges had a pretty hard time choosing the Champion Beer – Kaizen from Oakham Ale – from a very competitive line up of beers from near and far.
