Welcome to Rail Rambles!

Rail rambles are walks from railway stations in Wales and the border counties of England. The walks themselves are free to join (but of course you have to pay your rail fare!) Each walk is planned to be accessible by a day return rail journey from a number of main line and connecting stations. Rail fares are very reasonable and good value with many discounts available. You do not have to be a member of any organisation to join a walk. All you have to do is appear at the station from which the walk departs and make yourself known to one of the leaders.

At least two walks are arranged to take place every Saturday throughout the year and there is also a monthly Wednesday walk. The two walks offered on Saturdays differ in length: the plain vanilla walk is less than ten miles but might be quite demanding while the long walk is greater than ten miles. Descriptions of these walks may be seen by clicking on the "Programme" and "Long Walks" buttons above. Wednesday walks might be of either kind and are included in the appropriate listings.

Outward and return times from the walks destination stations are indicated in the programme details for each walk. Where appropriate, outbound departure times from main line connecting stations are also included. For details of departure times from other locations and connecting services, please telephone the enquiry number 08457 48 49 50 or visit www.nationalrail.co.uk or www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk. Time details may be subject to minor change. Walkers are strongly advised to check times of trains before travelling.

Clicking on the "Maps" button above produces a map of the rail lines radiating out from Shrewsbury. These include the Cambrian line running up to Aberystwth and Pwllheli and the Heart of Wales line running down to Swansea.

Rail rambles were first organised in 1989 by Alan Howard and have only continued because of the support of Arriva Trains Wales and Ramblers Cymru. Extracts from a magazine article describing the early days of rail ramblers is available from the menu button above.