Calling all Potterheads. A new Harry Potter experience is set to open this year, where visitors can take a real-life journey to Hogwarts and interact with characters onboard
12:16, 09 Jan 2026Updated 12:17, 09 Jan 2026
Those who have long dreamt of boarding the Hogwarts Express will now get the chance as a new Harry Potter experience is set to launch this year.
Currently, fans can snap a photo beside the iconic 9¾ platform at London’s King’s Cross, visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London to marvel at the making behind Harry Potter, or ride the Jacobite Steam Train in Scotland. Now, in a brand new attraction set to open this year, Potterheads can experience the real Hogwarts Express.
The Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Express Adventure will be the first of its kind, offering an immersive train journey to Hogwarts. Warner Bros. Discovery has partnered with Rail Events Inc. to launch the new attraction and has revealed some details about what to expect.
In a video, Jamie Ryan, Director of Marketing, said visitors will enjoy a “pre-boarding experience” with nods to the famed 9¾ platform, before boarding a “real moving train”. Onboard, visitors will be able to interact with Hogwarts characters that bring the real-life wizarding world to life.
Afterwards, there will be the chance to try the iconic Butter Beer drink and explore the Harry Potter merchandise. Jamie added that it will be “an unforgettable experience”.
They also shared on their website: “A Hogwarts Express Adventure will open in 2026 – giving us just a bit more time to make this journey aboard a real moving train, everything it’s meant to be. From house competitions to spell-casting thrills, this is no ordinary train ride – and we’re making sure every detail is unforgettable.
Further details, including the launch date, route, and locations, are yet to be announced. However, the news has already sparked excitement among Potterheads online.
One wrote underneath a post on Instagram: “Omgosh, well my 2026 is full.” A second commented: “This is awesome.”
“LETS GO I’M READY!!!”, acclaimed another. A fourth wrote: “This is going to be so magical. Can’t wait to ride it.”
One fan gushed: “This makes my heart happy,” before another said: “This is so cool!!!!” Someone else also penned: “Ahhh, this sounds incredible.”
Another noted the franchise’s ever-growing fame: “The gift that keeps on giving. Harry Potter’s popularity length has to be studied.”
One mega Harry Potter fan even left a suggestion as they shared: “This looks so exciting!!! Can we also get a Harry Potter cruise in the future? I’d love to be able to go from the Harry Potter locations in NYC to Universal Studios to the filming locations in England, and then finish back in NY. Or even leave out Universal and just do the other two locations. Would be so fun!”
Other fans urged for the location of the experience to be confirmed. One asked: “Where will this be at? And don’t say to go to the website, that doesn’t tell us anything.”
Another queried: “Where? Guessing not in the actual studio where it should be.” While one more exclaimed, “Where in the world is this going to be??” But it looks like they’ll have to wait a little longer as further details are yet to be announced.
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A former coal train in Northern Spain has been transformed into a luxury travel experience, allowing passengers to explore this lesser-known part of the country from a comfortable, private compartment
12:16, 29 Dec 2025Updated 12:18, 29 Dec 2025
Passengers will enjoy their own private compartment with a bathroom(Image: Nattivus Experience S.L.)
There’s an undeniable romance to train travel, perhaps because it harks back to a time of black and white films and a slower pace of life. It’s no surprise that experiences like the Orient Express are on many people’s wish lists, offering a nostalgic way to see the world, coupled with luxurious accommodation.
The Orient Express is legendary but comes with a hefty price tag, with fares on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express starting at around £3,800+ for cabins. For those who fancy a rail adventure without breaking the bank, there are other luxury train journeys across Europe that offer fantastic experiences for less.
One such journey can be found in Northern Spain, aboard an unlikely vehicle: a former coal train. La Robla Express once ran between the regions of León and Palencia to Vizcaya, supplying coal to the booming steel industry of the north in the late 19th century.
After the industry waned, the track was abandoned, and the magnificent old trains were left gathering dust in storage sheds. That was until the early 2000s, when Spanish train company RENFE decided to breathe new life into the line and repurpose the old engines as a travelling hotel, allowing passengers to discover the splendour of this part of Spain, reports the Express.
The company embarked on its first journey in 2009, and the train has been providing a unique experience for rail lovers ever since.
The La Robla Express currently offers two popular journeys. The first is the La Robla Route, a three-day, two-night trip either from Bilbao to Leon or vice versa. And for true train buffs, there’s the longer Pilgrim’s Route, a six-day, five-night journey that covers a larger portion of the Camino de Santiago route.
On the La Robla Route, you’ll have the chance to visit towns such as Frómista, renowned for its medieval architecture, and the Roman villa of La Olmeda. Excursions are available at various stops, allowing you time to explore each location.
The extended Pilgrim’s Route takes you through more of northern Spain, including Oviedo, known for its gothic cathedral and numerous UNESCO sites. You’ll travel through the verdant countryside of Northern Spain, with stops along the pristine coast in Ferrol and A Coruña.
Departures are scheduled from June to September in 2026, taking advantage of the mild climate in this region of Spain. The north tends to be cooler than the more tourist-heavy coastal areas of Southern Spain, and the train is equipped with air conditioning for a comfortable journey.
During the day, you can take in the views from your private compartment, complete with its own bathroom featuring a sink and toilet. You’re also free to roam the train, find a cosy spot in the lounge, or enjoy a drink with fellow travellers.
At night, each compartment transforms into a cosy bedroom of 36.8 square feet, equipped with fold-down bunk beds. The bedrooms feature storage space, reading lights, and a music system, providing a snug retreat.
Best of all, unlike some sleeper services, the train stops for the night, ensuring no sudden movements disturb your slumber. Onboard dining is available in a luxurious dining car, offering meals such as a daily buffet breakfast and dinners that highlight local ingredients and dishes. Additionally, there’s an opportunity to dine at local restaurants at various points of the journey, with guests being transported to local dining spots along the route.
The train’s shorter itinerary, La Robla Express, starts from €2,600 (£2,267) for a double room, working out at €1,300 per person. This includes full board, excursions and entrance fees, and all organised activities.
For the longer Pilgrim’s Route, tickets start at €3,400 (£2,965) for two sharing a double room, presenting an affordable alternative to luxury trains like the Orient Express.
Christmas was only a few days away and the Finnish capital of Helsinki was ringing with festive cheer as we explored the Tuomaan Markkinat in Senate Square, sipping from mugs of hot, spicy glögi (mulled wine), and biting into joulutorttu (jam-filled puff pastries shaped like catherine wheels). A cold front had brought abundant snow and inhaling was rather painful at -8C, but nothing could still the tremble of excitement.
Along with my husband and two young daughters, I was here to take the Santa Claus Express to the northern city of Rovaniemi, the heart of Finnish Lapland – and the “official” home of Father Christmas. A regular commuter train for the rest of the year, come late November the Santa Claus Express is Finnish Railways’ flagship service, offering the ultimate sleeper-train adventure. As I checked my watch and announced it was finally time to make our way to Helsinki central station, the girls were pink in the cheeks, eyes sparkling from all the surrounding golden lights.
Inaugurated in 1919, the edifice of the majestic art nouveau station swept over us as our footsteps echoed beneath its arches, the ceiling hung with neoclassical chandeliers.
Our train was almost 20 minutes late and the anticipation was palpable as passengers shifted from one fur-trimmed boot to the other, a mass of parkas and puffer jackets milling around. Bobble-hatted children glanced hopefully at every train entering the station, their breath twisting up on the air. This is a bucket-list trip filled with snowscapes, perky elves, reindeer rides, husky sledding and northern lights, but I was quietly terrified that something might go wrong: a cancellation perhaps or a lengthy weather delay.
Helsinki central railway station. Photograph: Ryhor Bruyeu/Alamy
Then, at 7.45pm precisely, the Santa Claus Express appeared, red tail lamps blazing as it reversed in through the darkness, and my fears were allayed.
As a child, this train would have fulfilled my every dream. But who was I kidding? As an adult it still did. The green and white doubledecker, with Santa’s jolly face painted on the side, came to a standstill, the doors hissed open and we tumbled on board, clambering upstairs to our compartment. On one side were bunks and on the other an en suite toilet that converted to a shower area. With hot water, underfloor heating and a window seat to watch nature’s slideshow playing outside, it was perfect.
Up to the age of 10, children travel for free as long as they share a berth with another passenger, and the berths were wide enough for my husband and me to top and tail with the girls. I’ve travelled on more than 100 sleeper trains over the last 15 years, and this was the finest I’d yet found.
To hoots of delight and feet thumping along the corridors, we stashed bags and headed for the restaurant car, where a large family was already crammed into one booth, watchingthe movie Elf dubbed into Portuguese. Tinsel was wound up the brass bars, mistletoe peeked out from the backs of banquettes and the windows were sprayed with snow, the glass already steamed up. The aroma of home-cooking filled the car and a waitress soon arrived with a bowl of reindeer stew and two dishes of meatballs and mash (80,000 portions of which are sold every year according to the railways’ website).
The writer and her family on the Santa Claus Express
“What meat is this?” my elder daughter asked, dangling a piece of smoked reindeer into her mouth like a Roman ruler. It was a moment I’d been dreading. How could I tell her they were wolfing down the protagonist of their favourite Christmas song?
“Well,” I said, “in Finland they eat lots of different things depending on what they can grow and farm, and this is … reindeer.”
She shrugged and finished the bowl just as I noticed the train was on the move, the twinkle of the city already giving way to woods, branches sagging under the weight of snow.
Aware that other families were waiting to dine, we grudgingly gave up our booth and squeezed through what was starting to feel like a pub on New Year’s Eve, beer spilling on to tables amid the warmth and cheer of strangers exchanging stories and jokes.
Back in our compartment, the girls were soon tucked in. The train was strikingly smooth, barely a hum detectable over the sounds of parents yelling at their kids through the air vents. As the girls slept soundly, and my husband read, I sat at the window searching the darkness. Black lakes flashed under street lamps, sheets of ice dusty between skinny branches. From the little pull-down seat I could see how fragmented Finland’s landscape was: a mass of islands, lakes and forests locked together.
Cabins with igloo roofs at the Apukka resort beneath the northern lights
It was a worthwhile venture scouring the scene, watching walkers with their dogs, locking eyes with late-night smokers on their balconies, and spotting wreaths hanging on doorways. A single fox darted across a car park and I wondered what it might feel like to travel into the polar darkness. Tomorrow there would be no sunrise, so I left the blind up and climbed into bed.
The train drew into Rovaniemi just after 7am and we were soon at the Apukka resort, a collection of igloo-style cabins built around a lake. While husky rides and petting reindeer were high on the list, Santa Claus Village, which is on the Arctic Circle line, was our first port of call and we were soon in a queue curling up and around a staircase towards the magical wooden grotto.
I’d dreamed about this moment since becoming a parent. Bringing my children to meet the big man, watching their mouths fall open with joy. In reality, the girls had spent the last half hour grumbling about being bored and pinching each other, and I was now gripping their wrists and mouthing threats through gritted teeth. My elder daughter was also unconvinced about Santa’s identity. “It was Sophie’s dad, Steve,” she had said after the previous year’s school winter fair. How could they not see how special this moment was? On the verge of tears, I pulled the girls apart and eventually we made it to the front of the queue.
The writer’s daughters meet a man with an unfeasibly large beard in the Santa Claus Village
Inside, two elves were setting up their camera and I looked across to where Santa was sitting in a chair, knee-length beard and giant felt boots in place. He smiled over pince-nez and beckoned the girls, who had fallen silent. Exchanging looks, they shyly sat down. This was a Santa who was authentic enough to make me a believer again. He asked if he could visit in a few days, and they nodded, accepting two gift bags and waving. Outside, they pulled out two plush reindeer toys and beamed. “He was definitely the real Santa,” said my elder daughter, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “His beard was real.”
Making our way back outside, I barely noticed the chill. Flushed with warmth I looked down at the smiling faces and gave silent thanks for what had finally turned out to be our family Christmas miracle.
A two-person cabin on the Santa Claus Express from Helsinki to Rovaniemi starts from €239 one way on VR railways (travel time 11¾ hours)
Monisha Rajesh is the author of Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train, published by Bloomsbury (£22). To support the Guardian, buy a copy from guardianbookshop.com
