Well kept rural station that transports you back to the age of steam. With its little tea room and…read moretoy museum its well worth a visit.

A delightful and charming time is to be had riding this marrow gauge railway. We took a journey…read morefrom Dymchurch to Dungeness and then back again. A delight from start to end and this from an avowed non trainspotter! The views are stunning and varied, looking inland across green fields and verdant lushness to the views at Dungeness across pebble and shingle stretching away for what feels like miles . . . The staff are helpful and hugely courteous, dedicated to fault, and all the more remarkable for being volunteers. Do take a trip on this railway if you can, the memory of it will stay with you for quite a while.

This is listed in two places, so I thought I'd copy my review across!…read more This is a 1/3 (15 inch guage) railway that runs from Hythe to Dungeness (13 miles). It was conceived by two rich men; Captain Howey and Count Louis Zborowski. It was opened in July 1927, but sadly the Count had died at the Monza Grand Prix before he could see his dream realised. It is really fascinating, with both diesel and steam trains running on the line. The station at New Romney gives a wonderful view of these old, small steam trains from the footbridge that crosses the platforms. It's a lot of fun to take the train from New Romney to Dungeness with kids. The carriages are tiny - there is no standing or moving about in them! There are both covered and open carriages depending on the weather and preference. The gift shop is very train orientated and there are lots of interesting things to buy at all ranges of the budget. I particularly love this train service, as it passes right across the end of my father's garden! It looses a star for being just so expensive though! If you were to take two adults and three children on it for the full 13 miles (Hythe to Dungeness) and back, it would cost over 50 quid! For more information... Webiste: http://www.rhdr.org.uk Tel: 01797 362353

The Kent and East Sussex Railway is a preserved steam railway which makes for an excellent family…read moreday out. Formerly a classic rural branch line, it has an interesting history and runs through stunning scenery. History Plans to link the ancient inland port of Tenterden to the rest of the railway network were made throughout the 19th century, but it was not until 1900 that a line from Robertsbridge (on the Hastings main line) to Tenterden was opened, extended to Headcorn on the Ashford main line in 1905. The line was built under what was then new legislation as a cheaply engineered 'Light Railway', running along the beautiful Rother Valley past Bodiam Castle to reach Tenterden. The engineer was the famous Colonel Holman Fred Stephens, who built and/or managed some 16 light railways in rural parts of the UK. The line survived as an independent operation after the First World War which saw most of Britain's railway companies amalgamated into the 'Big Four', but struggled financially from the 1930s onwards. After nationalisation in 1948, traffic ebbed away even faster, and the line was closed to passengers in 1954, and the Headcorn to Tenterden section closed completely. The Tenterden to Robertsbridge section survived until 1961 for freight. Preservationists fought hard to secure this unique line, which reopened in stages from 1974, to its present length in 2000. The Route The line runs from its headquarters in the attractive market town of Tenterden down through the valley of the River Rother to Bodiam, just five minutes' walk from the famous castle. The line follows marshland for much of its length, and part of it is even below sea level! Tenterden has a car park, shop, cafeteria, carriage shed and a small museum. The next stop is Rolvenden, the original terminus in 1900 and home to the loco shed. The next stop, Wittersham Road, really is in the former marshlands, and the ditches alongside the railway were once part of a crayfish farm. The line now joins the Rother Valley proper, towards the station at Northiam. This too has a large car park. The line then continues, with fine views of Bodian castle, to the small country station of Bodiam. Plans are afoot to reopen the section to Robertsbridge, but this is a significant undertaking (with a river and three road crossings to reinstate). The work is being undertaken by the Rother Valley Railway (http://www.rvr.org.uk) . The railway has an eclectic array of rolling stock: in keeping with its rural background, all but one loco are tank engines, and there are diesel locos and railcars as well. One of the best features is the prevalence of pre-war passenger coaches, including rare pre World War One 4-wheeled main line stock, and some very comfortable former Southern railway coaches from the 1930s. The railway lays on a number of regular events, including popular 'Thomas the Tank Engine' days, gala days with extra locomotives in steam, and Pullman dining trains - a good excuse to dress up! Practicalities There are car parks at Tenterden and Northiam, but not at the other stations, and refreshment facilities, a shop and museum at Tenterden. For information about disabled access and facilities, (including car parking, toilets and trains) see their website. All in all, this makes for an excellent day out.

This is a fantastic day out for the family. We drove here from East Sussex, lots of parking! We…read morecame for a Thomas Day which is when they have various steam engines dressed up as characters from the Thomas books. A show is put on for the children with the troublesome trucks, the fat controller and so on. Whilst we were there Christopher Awdley, the son of Rev.Awdley was signing his own books(he has carried on the family business, as it were) and his fathers. There is face painting and a bouncy castle included in the ticket price. You then have a short ride on a steam engine(thomas). There is a tent selling Thomas merchandise at low prices! The station also has a cafe(licensed) selling hot meals and snacks. The railway also does a range of other journeys for the enthusiast, fish and chip nights on a steam train etc. Good day out.

Polegate station serves the town of the same name on the northern edge of the Eastbourne…read moreconurbation, and is served by trains on the West Coastway line. It handles around 0.9m passengers a year. The first station on the site opened in 1846 on the Lewes to St Leonards railway line. It became the junction for Eastbourne and for the line northwards to Hailsham in 1849, with the Hailsham line being extended northwards to Eridge on the Uckfield-Groombridge Junction line in 1880. In 1881, to avoid Eastbourne-Hailsham trains having to reverse, a new station was opened further east. The Hailsham line closed in 1968, and the short direct line to Hastings has also closed, necessitating the reversal of all eastbound trains at Eastbourne. In 1986, the 1881 station was closed (it is now a restaurant) and a replacement opened on the site of the original 1846 station, on Polegate High street, and this is the station in use today. It has two platforms, with the main buildings on the north, Eastbourne-bound line. Facilities include a car park, ticket office, waiting rooms or shelters, ticket machines, and cycle storage, but no toilets. There is step-free access both to the ticket office and via short steep ramps to each platform. Between the platforms, there is a footbridge: level access is via the High Street level crossing (allow 5 minutes). Services are provided by Southern; there are two trains an hour to each of Brighton and London Victoria, both via Lewes; and four eastbound to Eastbourne, two of which continue to Hastings and Ore, and one to Ashford.

Just your average train station. Nice long and wide platforms with two waiting rooms (which are…read moreheated!) Good barrier system, although I was sad when the old signal box was removed. Great direct links to London, Brighton, Eastbourne and many more. Staff are nice, there are three (I think) ticket buying machines and two kiosks inside the station. Information packs readily available, you can buy Railcards from here too. I like the welcoming feeling of this station, which also has a night gate for late exits when the barriers are off. I'd recommend this to families, commuters and just about anyone due to the wide platforms and nice service.

Simple, fast and a good option for travellers with pets…read more We went to the UK this year and took the Tunnel both ways. We had our dog with, so this was way faster than taking the ferry and we didn't have to be seperated from our doggy. Prices are similar to the ferries. Taking the dog from the UK into mainland EU is simple. No special preparations are needed. The boarding areas both in Folkestone is pretty big with plenty of shops and fast food chains. Pet areas as well. The arriving area is quite a bit smaller. Just a shop or two and some fast food chain. Small pet area and a gas station. That's it. But it's all you need I guess. The Check-In is pretty fast (even faster if you prepare everything in advance online) and the lines are moving quickly. We got chosen randomly for a security check, which took a few minutes. Enough to miss our booked train. But that's wasn't a big deal, the next train left in 25 minutes, and we didn't have to do anything extra to get on that one. Time enough to eat a Burger in the car in the waiting line. Once inside it's a fast ride and pretty smooth and quiet. Most people stayed inside their cars....but you can wander around a bit, if you fancy a talk with some travellers. Exiting the trains is a fast affair. In a matter of minutes after arriving you'll find yourself on the motorway. Be sure to drive on the correct side :) We really liked the Tunnel. Of course, a ferry might be more enjoyable when it comes to travel. But if you have a pet, I'd go for the Tunnel. It's all very well organised. Travelling from Folkestone to Calais is a bit easier. Everything is thought trough very well with good signs. From Calais to Folkestone it's a bit more difficult.

The train service between U.K. and France is awesome. It's quick and you stay in your vehicle as…read moreyou cross the English Channel and it takes about 35 mins. We chose the train as you are allowed to stay with your pet in the car, something the ferry does not allow. We had initially booked the ferry and ended up canceling it for the simple reason that you had to leave the dog in cargo in car. The train was easy and quick without stress for all. Prices are not too dissimilar to the ferry and the process is fairly quick and easy. Would definitely use this service again. It was my first time and I really liked it.

Rye is the main station on the Hastings to Ashford 'Marshlink' line, and serves the historic and…read moreattractive port town of Rye. The line was conceived by the Brighton, Lewes and Hastings Railway company but completed and opened in 1851 by the South Eastern Railway. It survived proposals for closure under the Beeching cuts in 1963, and now enjoys an hourly service from Brighton to Ashford. Rye station itself provides the main passing place on the single track section of line from Ore (near Hastings) to Appledore, and has unusual staggered platforms linked by a footbridge, with level crossings at each end and a working old-fashioned signalbox. The station was built in the Italianate style, and is in excellent condition: it is listed at Grade II and regarded as one of the best preserved of this architectural style. Facilities include a ticket office and waiting room, and ticket machines. There are public toilets and a car park adjacent to the station.

Dover Priory is the main station for Dover, one of the best-known port towns on Britain's south…read morecoast. It's a terminus of the South East Main Line from London, and of the Dover Branch of the Chatham Main Line - so as well as services to London St Pancras, Victoria and Charing Cross, it's well connected with the rest of Kent. First opened as a temporary station in 1861, today it's very much a permanent one and has a striking whitewashed facade that dates back to a modernization project in 1932. The station is just west of the town centre, with the shops around Biggin street a five-minute walk away. At the end of Biggin Street, you'll find the Grade 2 listed St Mary's Church, with the pleasant Pencester Gardens behind it. Keep heading south and you'll come to the waterfront, with Dover Marina to your right and the busy ferry terminal to your left.

Dover Priory is the main station in Dover, situated close to the town centre…read more History Dover has an unusually complex railway history. The first line opened in 1844 from London via Redhill terminated at a point at the foot of Shakespeare Cliffs, extended to the Admiralty Pier in 1860. This line was extended to a new station, Dover Marine, opened in 1921 (later renamed Dover Western Docks). Meanwhile, the London Chatham and Dover Railway had opened its line from the north, with a station at Dover Priory in 1861. This line was extended under the cliffs to the harbour later the same year, appropriately called Dover Harbour, and also extended to the Admiralty Pier station in 1864 and Dover Marine in 1921. Unsurprisingly, rationalisation was needed, with the closure of Admiralty Station when services were diverted to Dover Marine; Dover Town in 1914; Dover Harbour in 1927; and Dover Marine in 1994 (with the onset of services via the Channel Tunnel). Dover Harbour's station buildings can still be seen next to Limekiln Roundabout on the A20, and Dover Marine is now a cruise-liner terminal. This has left Dover Priory as the town's only station. The current main building was built by the Southern Railway in a modernist style in 1932. The station forecourt is currently undergoing a substantial refurbishment. The station has three platforms. Services The stations has two trains per hour to London Charing Cross via Sevenoaks; two trains per hour to London Victoria via Canterbury East and Chatham, and an hourly service to Ramsgate via Deal. Since December 2009, the station has also benefited from the new high-speed 140mph (225kph) service to London St Pancras via Ashford and the high-speed line used by Eurostar trains. Facilities As well as a ticket office and waiting area, there is a cash-machine, taxi rank, a small car park, and cycle storage. There is level access (via lifts) to all platforms.

It's a surprise to find a station serving as a small village as Balcombe, especially on a main…read moreline. However, the lack of good roads to and from the village, and its proximity to London, ensures a healthy flow of commuter traffic, with Balcombe acting as a rail-head for several villages around - it is used by just over 100,000 passengers a year. It's an attractive small station, the east side nestling in a cutting, and surrounded on all sides by mature trees and shrubs, and is very popular at week-ends with walkers exploring the surrounding woodlands. The station opened on 12 July 1841 as an intermediate station on the then London and Brighton Railway, later amalgamated into the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The 1841 census shows that there were 550 railway labourers living in the village at the time - which must have been challenging for the locals! The station has been rationalised over the years, but retains a small building on the down (Brighton) platform, complete with Victorian canopy, ticket office and toilet. The office is only open at peak times (the toilet is also closed when the office is shut). If this is the case, you need to buy a 'permit to travel' from the machine and buy a ticket on board. The up platform (for London) has a small waiting shelter with step-free access from the car park, and there are car parking spaces and a cycle rack on this side of the station. A footbridge provides access between the platforms, and also provides the exit to London Road at the top of the cutting. Note that there is no step-free access to the Brighton platform. An oddity is the extension of the Brighton platform under the small tunnel at the south of the station: this is only used to board and alight from trains, and a sign warns not to enter the tunnel when a through (ie non-stopping) train is approaching which they do, at some speed. The service is fairly sparse: off-peak, Monday to Saturday there is one train an hour in each direction, on the First Capital Connect service from Bedford to Brighton via London Bridge. On Sundays, an hourly service is provided by Southern on the Brighton to London Victoria line. Additional services stop during rush hours in both directions. To the north of the station is Balcombe tunnel, 800 yards long, and to the south the famous Ouse viaduct, the first long railway viaduct in southern Britain. At 1,475 ft (450m) long, faced with Caen stone and with four Italianate pavilions at each end, it is regarded as one of the most attractive in the UK.