North Yorkshire Moors Railway from Pickering to Whitby - on the Hogwarts Express through Hogsmeade

In the early morning, we set off from York to Pickering to take the train to the coastal town of Whitby.

Historical trains run on the route, some of which are pulled by old steam locomotives. They are particularly popular since a station on the route appeared in the first Harry Potter film.

We took the first train, which was scheduled to depart from Pickering at 9:20 AM, but due to a signal failure, it didn't leave until around 10 AM.

Even the later trains were delayed for various reasons; this reminded us of traveling with the German Bahn…

But the journey itself was also a goal, so we chugged along for about two hours through the North English landscape until we reached Whitby.

The small town was supposed to be a picturesque coastal town according to the travel guide, but it seems too many tourists have read that by now.

Thus, “picturesque” was not the first term that came to my mind as we pushed through the crowds from the station and along the harbor.

There was also quite a lot going on at the beach due to the beautiful weather, and many strollers walked along the harbor wall with us to enjoy the view of the coast and town.

After a small ascent, we reached the monument of James Cook, who lived in Whitby during his teaching years.

We walked through the streets of the town center to the harbor again to fortify ourselves with a portion of fish & chips.

We also made a stop at the James Cook Museum.

It was established in the house where he lived as a young man in the attic as a lodger.

Back at the station, we dutifully joined the ever-growing line to wait for the train - which was again delayed.

Standing in line seems to be a British thing. It was very organized throughout the station. When boarding, only one English family and one German travel group tried to sneak past those waiting.

On the way back, we first got off in Grosmont and watched the locomotive change from diesel to steam.

There was not much to see in the small place, so we took the next train towards Pickering (which of course was also delayed again).

An additional stop in Goathland was of course a must: The station was the filming location for the station of Hogsmeade in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone”.

After the obligatory photos and an ice cream from the station café, our train was still there.

Outside of the stations, there is only one track, so every train has to wait for the approaching traffic. Therefore, the morning delay carried on until the afternoon, and we boarded the same train we arrived here with - you never know when the next one will come…

Thus, we reached Pickering quite early and could still take a look at the town.

There was also a castle, which had already closed, so we only saw it from the outside.

Our journey continued only a bit further to Cropton, where we spent the night at a pub with a brewery and of course tried the food and beer there.