Northern Belle heads to Cardiff and Swansea: How to get a seat for Christmas Lunch

Or if you'd rather, and have the dosh, hop aboard.

The Northern Belle is heading to Cardiff and Swansea next month, but you had better look smart if you want to catch it.

A special Christmas Lunch trip is taking place on December 8, with several more excursions planned from Newport in 2022.

You can see more about future trips on the Northern Belle website.

The train was featured on Channel 5’s ‘The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys’ with Bill Nighy last week.

Nighy raved over both the 1930s-style Pullman train and the Welsh scenery during the 200-mile journey from Preston.

Champagne-sipping passengers tucked into caviar and salmon for breakfast as the train snaked through the Shropshire hills and past Ludlow Castle.

Nighy told an estimated million and a half viewers: “This is a railway experience that harks back to the halcyon days of travel.”

Then as the train pulled into the Welsh capital, he added: “This is the beating heart of the industrial revolution and one of its grandest relics is Cardiff Castle.”

Assistant curator Erfyl Parry explained how the Marquess of Bute turned the medieval castle into a Gothic extravaganza during Victorian times.

When he died he left a staggering 12,000-bottle stash of wine in the cellars.

The show also featured the Fron Choir conducted by Leigh Mason singing in front of the Cefn Mawr viaduct and a canal boat trip across the Pontcysyllte aqueduct over the River Dee.

During the return journey to Lancashire, the Northern Belle passengers were served a five-course dinner with wine.

Nighy quipped: “They are lapping up all that this luxury train has to offer.”

A spokesman for the Northern Belle said afterwards: “It truly was a wonderful trip to Wales.

“But we were stunned by the reaction to the programme. Both our website and phone lines went crazy after it was screened.

“We are already planning to repeat the visit to Cardiff next year.”