Tracks, Trains, and Tiny Travelers

There’s something special about England at Christmas, but the cold can make it hard to enjoy being outside for long. While visiting family over winter break, we took a quick trip to York, which is always one of our favorite places to visit. This time, though, we planned most of the day around staying warm indoors. Visiting the National Railway Museum was an easy choice with two kids in tow.

The museum is completely free to visit, and you can reserve a time slot ahead of time to skip the queue. We took the train from Harrogate after a quick Wetherspoon’s breakfast. The museum sits right beside York railway station, but the walk felt much longer than expected in the freezing weather. By the time we arrived, everyone’s little feet were cold and tired.

Thankfully, the trains immediately turned the mood around. As soon as we walked downstairs, we spotted the legendary Flying Scotsman. My mom and I recognized it instantly, while Scott had absolutely no idea why we were so excited. The museum is packed with trains from different eras, trains built for completely different purposes, and plenty you can actually climb aboard and explore.

Scott loved getting up close to all the design details and mechanics, while I spent most of my time admiring the old railway posters and vintage train nameplates. We climbed aboard a Shinkansen, learned more about the Channel Tunnel, and watched a beautifully detailed model railway winding through the British countryside.

After the museum, we headed into town for our sort-of-annual family photo on the York city walls. We had hoped to catch the little road train taxi, but we had just missed it, so we bundled up and hurried toward York Minster instead. We wandered around the cathedral looking for Paddington displays, grabbed coffee to warm up, snapped a few pictures, walked along the walls, and finally got our family photo before catching the train back home.

By the end of the day, we all agreed it was probably the kids’ favorite day of our winter in England.