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Matlock lies on the edge of the White Peak, and is within easy reach of beautiful rolling hills and villages. It’s also got plenty going on itself, and neighbouring Matlock Bath retains many of the features that once made it one of the country’s top tourist destinations.

Derwent Valley Line

The Derwent Valley Line reaches Matlock from Derby in just over half an hour, making it less than 2.5 hours from London St Pancras.

Trains to Derby from London run from St Pancras in London (with East Midlands Railway). Derby is well connected to the rest of the country’s rail system too, with regular trains running to Nottingham (20 mins), Birmingham (35 mins) and even Edinburgh, Exeter and Plymouth.

Trains generally run once per hour in both directions, and will show up as normal in any online journey planner. The full timetable is available from the East Midlands Rail website.

With the current timetable (valid to 10/12/22) a weekend trip from London could look like…
Saturday: St Pancras 9.02am – Derby 10.27am. Derby 10.33am – Matlock 11.06am.
Walk to Winster, and then up over Stanton Moor to Youlgreave.
Spend the night at YHA Youlgreave or the Bulls Head Hotel.
Walk back to Matlock for the 3.40pm to Derby, and 4.28pm to St Pancras.

Peak Rail

Matlock station is also the southern end of the heritage railway Peak Rail, which runs north to Matlock Rail, Darley Dale and Rowsley South. Unless you have a very specific plan, none of these stations are particularly more useful for getting into the Peaks than Matlock is – but if you’re keen to ride a heritage railway (or even drive a steam train!) then you can definitely build it into a plan.

Tickets and timetables are only available from Peak Rail, and you can find out more on their website.