London to the heart of the Peaks in under three hours…

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The Hope Valley line connects Sheffield (2 hours from London) to Manchester (Piccadilly station, also just over 2 hours from London). Either make a perfectly reasonable starting point, and trains run once an hour in each direction.

From London, East Midlands Railway services to Sheffield leave from St Pancras. There are usually two trains per hour (one slightly slower), and you can often find cheaper tickets than the Manchester route. Trains call at Leicester, Derby and other smaller towns on the way.

Avanti West Coast services to Manchester leave from Euston in London, and stop at stations including Stafford. They also run direct trains from Birmingham New Street and other stations in the Midlands.

Trains through the Hope Valley are run by Northern, and since I first discovered this line, have been upgraded to lovely new(ish) air-conditioned models with dedicated bike spaces – yay!

Stations

The five stations inside the National Park are:

Station	Facilities	Good to know
Grindleford	Small cafe, no public toilets	Only 15 minutes from Sheffield, so an ideal starting point if you’re day-tripping. Starting point for my overnight trip via Castleton, ending at Edale station the next morning.
Hathersage	Everything! (in the village)	The largest village on the line, with a great selection of shops, pubs and accommodation options. Home to an excellent outdoor swimming pool if you’re not quite brave enough for a wild swim.
Bamford	Pub and toilets in village (15 min walk)	A short walk into Bamford village, a great starting point for getting up onto Bamford Edge.
Hope	Groceries, ATM, toilets, pubs, etc.	Another that’s not quite in the village, but a quick walk to Hope or Bradwell – both of which have grocery shops, ATMs, pubs and accommodation options.
Edale	Pub, cafe, toilets and visitor centre.	I often end multi-day hiking trips here as Edale Moor is a great route down from the Kinder Plateau.

Worth Knowing

All trains on this line show up in normal journey planners, and if you want the detail, download the timetable from Northern (search ‘Hope’ to find it).

Most stations don’t have electronic displays, and lots won’t have a mobile signal either – which means you need to plan (engineering works will show up in journey planners), and trust the timetable! All stations do have help points though, so you can use these to contact someone and check how your train is running.

Adventure Ideas