‘Best in Europe’ train journey where £13 gets you 120 miles of views

It is more than 150 years old and runs 121 miles from start to finish through some of the finest and most varied scenery the UK has to offer.

In fact, so special is the Heart of Wales railway line that it was named as one of the best rail journeys in Europe by world famous travel guide Lonely Planet.

Running from the estuaries of south Wales to “one of England’s prettiest medieval cities”, the line was described by the guide as “a spectrum of scenery”. It was ranked in the best 10 European train journeys alongside Le Petit Train Juane in the French Pyrenees, The Berina Express in Switzerland and The Brenner Railway passing through Germany, Austria and Italy.

But fears over the long-term future of the iconic line have been raised by councillors who have criticised a reduction in services on the line, which runs between Swansea and Shrewsbury, takes four hours to travel in full and passes through towns and villages such as Llandeilo and Llandovery in south-west Wales and Craven Arms and Church Stretton further north.  

Operator Transport for Wales (TfW) has said services will reduce from five to four per day from December this year, WalesOnline reports, along with the removal of two late evening services to the towns of Llandovery and Llandindrod Wells.

A motion backed by Carmarthenshire councillors claimed the Heart of Wales Line had suffered from under-investment for decades and that this, along with service reductions, could jeopardise its long-term future. It called on the Welsh Government to review TfW’s decision.

Among the many stops on the line (some of which are by request only) are Bynea, Llangennech, Pontarddulais, Pantyffynnon, Ammanford, Llandybie, Ffairfach, Llandeilo, Llangadog, Llanwrda, Llandovery, Cynghordy, Sugar Loaf, Llanwrtyd, Llangammarch, Garth, Cilmeri, Builth Road, Llandrindod, Pen-y-Bont, Dolau, Llanbister Road, Llangynllo, Knucklas, Knighton, Bucknell, Hopton Heath and Broome.

Reporter Robert Harries travelled the length of the line in 2023. He said: ” There’s great value for money to be enjoyed here. For £13 (one way) you can literally travel through the heart of Wales and take in all that it has to offer.

“By the time we get to Ffairfach we’re really into the rural nature of this journey, passing rivers and streams and fields filled with sheep. Soon the colourful row of terraced houses that were probably built just to be on a Llandeilo postcard sit high above a hill on my left.

“As we hurtle past Cynghordy and towards the wonderfully named stop of Sugar Loaf, a thousand trees line steep mountains that dovetail like something from the opening of a Roger Moore Bond film.

“If it wasn’t for the incessantly chatty Englishman two rows in front talking the ear off the poor sod next to him, I would swear we were in the Swiss Alps in summertime, as the sun breaks through the dip between mountains.

“As well as all the hills and the fields, this journey also takes me to some of the most picturesque and pretty little towns and villages in the country – surrounded by red bricks and tiles, country pubs, a glorious viaduct – and more or less directly into the quaint gardens of those who live along the line.

“It’s spectacular, like strolling through a human-sized model village. It’s a part of Wales I’m not familiar with; it’s a million miles from Cardiff and Swansea, from Llanelli and Carmarthen.

“By the time I get off at Craven Arms I feel like I’ve seen an honest advert for what Wales is: it’s gorgeous but you can never ever rely on the weather. I can’t wait to come on this train again. It’s well worth the £13, the time, and the lack of phone and internet signal. More than three hours of sitting down looking out of the window; more than three hours where my phone barely left my pocket. It’s wonderful.”

Naming the Heart of Wales line as being among the 10 best train rides in Europe, the guide book said: “Expect a spectrum of scenery, alternating from the sand-edged estuaries of South Wales, via bucolic farming towns and tracts of forest and hill country you probably never knew existed, through to one of England’s prettiest medieval cities.”

1. Settle to Carlisle, England: 73 miles

2. Le Petit Train Jaune, France: 39 miles

3. Belgrade-to-Bar Railway, Serbia and Montenegro: 296 miles

4. The Bernina Express, Switzerland: 96 miles

5. The Heart of Wales Line, Wales and England: 121 miles

6. Munich to Venice on the Brenner Railway, Germany, Austria and Italy: 350 miles

7. The Kyle of Lochalsh Line, Scotland: 84 miles

8. Nova Gorica to Jesenice, Slovenia: 55 miles

9. The Centovalli Express, Switzerland and Italy: 32 miles

10. Bergensbanen, Norway: 308 miles