Train stations can be very romantic places on Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day train stations might not be at the top of everyone’s romantic locations list but, if your loved one loves a train journey, who knows!

This year Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday, which has to be the perfect excuse to take a day off work, spend some time together…

And visit a romantic train station.

Okay the word ‘romantic’ is a bit tongue in cheek. Here in the UK it’s tricky to view glaciers from your train seat or take a February trip to sun-drenched beaches but our railway lines are packed with romantic destination possibility.

Don’t believe me?

Oh you of little faith!

My top suggestions for romantic Valentine’s Day train stations

And let’s not forget, I do write the UK’s most popular train adventure website (at least I hope I do!)

Sadly we don’t have a St Valentine’s train station here in the UK but if you’re hungry, there’s always Valentine’s Coffee Shop at Cwmbran station.

Burgers a specialty.

It might be hard to believe but train travel in the UK has a history of romance. Close your eyes and imagine a steam train, a crowded platform and two lovers meeting.

It must have happened all the time.

And it could happen for you too. Here are a few ideas for romantic train station meetups, on platforms that have surely seen plenty of stolen kisses.

How about a royal romance?

Ballater train station

If you love someone, you buy them a castle. Right?

Well that’s what Prince Albert did for Queen Victoria who didn’t have to think about how to get to Balmoral Castle because she had her very own train (s).

Ballater railway station was once the nearest train station to Balmoral Castle and was used frequently by the royal couple. It was lost to the infamous Beeching cuts in 1966 but is now a tourist attraction known as Old Royal Station and home to a replica of one of Queen Victoria’s railway carriages.

Catch the 201 bus from Aberdeen’s Union Square to either Balmoral Castle or Ballater.

Or a Brief Encounter?

Carnforth train station

• Alec: Could you really say goodbye? Never see me again?
• Laura: Yes, if you’d help me.

If you can’t travel on Valentine’s Day, might I recommend a night in watching Brief Encounter? Once you’ve indulged in this classic strangers-on-a-train ‘weepie’, you’re bound to want to visit Carnforth station, where the movie was filmed.

Carnforth is a working station now and was a working station then but you can still get a taste of the atmosphere at the Carnforth Station Heritage Centre and its lovingly recreated 1940s cinema.

Only one film plays here, what could be more romantic?

Maybe opt for travel romance?

St Pancras train station

With its Eurostar platforms tempting us towards romantic Parisian nights, London’s St Pancras  station already has an air of indecent excitement about it but the most romantic location at St Pancras isn’t at the impressive trackside St Pancras Bar, but the 9-metre tall ‘The Meeting Place‘ sculpture colloquially known as ‘The Lovers Statue’.

Who knew bronze could be so sexy!

Looking for a Valentine’s Day train station for two?

Corrour train station

I haven’t visited Corrour station in February but I have been through on a snowy day in December and I can tell you that, if it’s romantic seclusion you’re looking for, you’ll find it at the UK’s highest mainline train station in February. You could say this is the perfect Valentine’s Day train station.

Corrour train station has a super romantic setting in the middle of lonely Rannoch Moor but unless you’ve booked a night at Hostelling Scotland’s Loch Ossian Hostel or packed a tent and a very warm sleeping bag, you’ll soon wish you were back on the train.

Winter on Scotland’s West Highland Line

Check with staff if you want to get off at Corrour.

Valentine’s Day train stations with romantic names

There are a few UK train stations with romantic names but I had to dig quite deep to find a connection.

For a start, how about The Hawthorns station in Smethwick. Not for West Bromwich Albion, or the surrounding scenery but because hawthorn trees have long been associated with fertility and love.

Or how about Aber-lovey-dovey in Gwynedd for a cuddle?

Or Liphook in Hampshire for a kiss?

Or even Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham for a proposal?

But might I suggest you avoid Uckfield and Pokesdown on a first date?

Did you know that all UK train stations have an abbreviation code? If you’re a bit nerdy like me, you’ll enjoy learning a few to use when you book online.

Showing off to an app can be fun!

As well as looking at station names for your perfect Valentine’s Day destination, you could check out their abbreviations as well but be warned…

You only have 2,579 stations to choose from!

Here are my favourites:

• VAL = Valentine but also Valley station on Anglesey
• LUX = Luxury but also Luxulyan station in Cornwall

One thing to remember if you’re looking for that romantic couples selfie at your Valentine’s Day train station; abbreviations don’t usually appear on station signs.

Possibly best to explain in advance.

You might get away with taking your loved one to the train station with their name in the station title or abbreviation.

• AMY = Amberley in West Sussex
• BEE – Beeston in Nottingham
• DSY = Daisy Hill near Manchester
• HRO = Harold Wood in Havering
• MIA = Manchester Airport
• NOA = Newton-on-Ayr in Ayrshire
• OLY = Ockley in Surrey
• PAT = Patricroft near Manchester
• SAL = Salisbury in Wiltshire
• TED = Teddington in Richmond

And if you can’t find your special person’s name in the UK train stations list, this one should cover you.

• BAY = Bayford in Hertfordshire

Valentine’s Days out by train

So many train stations, so much choice. This blog post has taken me ages to write because I wanted to research and visit all the stations I read about.

If you fancy extending your romantic commitment to train travel beyond the station platform, check out my romantic ideas for a Valentine’s day out by train.