Britain’s ‘Most Luxurious Train’ Will Chug Into Liverpool This Summer – With A Champagne Reception & 6-Course Dinner Onboard

Previously part of the Orient Express group, the Northern Belle train, once favourite of the Queen Mother, will make the journey to Liverpool and Manchester on a journey along the Settle to Carlisle line – with only two visits to our fine city this year. In 2023, the train was voted the ninth most luxurious in the world, the only British train to be named in the top 10, with each carriage named after a grand stately home or castle.

The 1930s pullman-style locomotive provides a nostalgia trip for train enthusiasts and foodies alike, with absolutely everything perfected to a tee. The mosaic-clad interiors retain the intricacy and craftsmanship that was poured into many machines like this almost a century ago, and the service has been devised to satisfy even the trickiest of customers.

An army of 6,000 navvies toiled in extremely harsh conditions during the late 19th century to hew the 73-mile wonder of engineering out of the rugged Yorkshire Dales and the Cumbrian Fells, that is the Settle to Carlisle line. And until the mid-1970s, steam-hauled expresses between London and Scotland like The Thames-Clyde Express and The Waverley still thundered over the route.

There is one Northern Belle journey that travels through Liverpool station on the way to Carlisle this year, plus another in September that’ll chug into nearby Newton-le-Willows, followed by Preston.

Saturday 14th June

Saturday 19th July

Departing stations and times:

These Northern Belle journeys take in some of the most gorgeous scenery in the north, plus, the legendary Flying Scotsman, Princess Elizabeth, which hauled the late Queen’s Jubilee Royal Train and Tangmere are just three of the engines that have operated this famous route with the Northern Belle. What’s more, within minutes of arriving, Stewards will carefully pour you a sparkling Mimosa cocktail as you study the sumptuous menu.

Ahead lies a journey back to the Golden Days of rail travel, a time when nothing was too good for the pampered passengers. You can look forward to a sumptuous three-course brunch and six-course dinner, accompanied by the resident Sommelier’s choice of wine, and each course boasts the finest seasonal ingredients from the British Isles, with classic and innovative dishes crafted in the recently refurbished kitchen carriage.

The Northern Belle train then steams majestically through 14 tunnels and across 22 bridges – including the spectacular 24-arch Ribblehead Viaduct, which is 104ft high and a quarter of a mile long – to Settle.

It’s no wonder Hollywood actor Bill Nighy called the train the “Grand Dame of luxury travel”, while narrating Channel 5’s The World’s Most Scenic Railways Journeys programme in 2023, and is an opinion the team behind the Northern Belle are very proud of.

So, roll out the red carpet and get to Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Victoria, Manchester Piccadilly, Newton-le-Willows or Preston station on one of these three dates, if not to board the Northern Belle, to see a still-lively piece of history chug into Liverpool. You can book onto the Settle & Carlisle Steam Special here.