You’re enjoying the warmth and comfort of a train, but then it pulls up at your stop. You step onto the platform, the trains pulls away and you realise quite how remote this station is. There’s nothing beyond the tracks apart from silence, countryside and adventure. Remote stations; perfect.
Experiences such as this can be found throughout the UK, with remote stations allowing you to reach places that roads often cannot. I’ve searched railways maps and compared to hiking routes on Viewranger to find 7 amazing stops, starting with the most famous.
Corrour
The highest mainline station in the UK, on the line between Glasgow and Fort William. Corrour is also a stop on the Caledonian Sleeper train route, with London being 12 hours away. There’s a small café at the station.
🥾 Various hikes, including loops back to Corrour and a 35km hike to Fort William
🛏️ Recommended accommodation:
Signal Box
Beaulieu Road
Found in the depths of the New Forest, this tiny station is on the mainline between London and Weymouth and was built for the local Lord in return for allowing the line to pass through his land.
🥾 Numerous easy hikes connecting to the forest network, including to Lyndhurst, an 18km round-trip
🛏️ Recommended accommodation:
Lime Wood
Dent
Located along the spectacular Settle to Carlisle line, Dent is, 350m above sea level, one of the UK’s highest stations. Snow fences keep drifts off the track and the views down the valley are spectacular.
🥾 The best hike is a linear station-to-station hike, 14.6km long and ending at Ribblehead station
🛏️ Recommended accommodation:
The Lister Arms
Sugar Loaf
This remote station is on the Heart of Wales line – an incredibly scenic route running between Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli. Very few passengers use the station, and there are few facilities nearby.
🥾 Across the road you’ll find a trail up through remote woods to a couple of the local peaks
🛏️ Recommended accommodation:
The Cammarch Hotel
Nethertown
Nethertown is a request stop on the Cumbrian Coast line between Barrow-in-Furness and Carlisle. It’s situated right on the seafront and the only cafes and shops are in Egremont, 4km away.
🥾 Although the route now requires diversions, the Cumbria Coastal Path passes right alongside the station
🛏️ Recommended accommodation:
The Corner House
Altnabreac
This really remote Scottish station is 11 km away from the nearest road and 18 km away from the nearest village. It runs between Wick and Inverness and had only 408 passengers use it in 2019.
🥾 A very remote walk takes you 24km from Altnabreac to Forsinard station
🛏️ Recommended accommodation:
Keeper’s Cottage
St Keyne Wishing Well Halt
Along the scenic Liskeard to Looe line, which follows the beautiful Looe Valley, this is one of Cornwall’s most remote stations.
🥾 Take the train from Liskeard and, after reaching St Keyne, walk on down the valley to Looe
🛏️ Recommended accommodation:
Watermark B&B
A Plan To Go 