National Railway Museum, York (must see)

The National Railway Museum was established on its present site, the former York North locomotive depot, in 1975. It displays a collection of over 100 locomotives and nearly 300 other items of rolling stock, virtually all of which either ran on the railways of Great Britain or were built there. Also on the 20 acres (8.1 ha) site are many hundreds of thousands of other items and records of social, technical, artistic and historical interest, exhibited mostly in three large halls of a former motive power depot.

It is the largest museum of its type in Britain, attracting 727,000 visitors during the 2014/15 financial year. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001.

The museum is a short walk from the railway station in York, either on the road or via a staircase from the rear of the platforms. A "roadtrain" runs from the city centre (near York Minster) to the museum on Leeman Road during half term, holidays and summer. York Park and Ride also serve the museum from the car park entrance, on Line 2 (Rawcliffe Bar-York).

Why You Should Visit:
To get close and familiar with all sorts of famous engines from history – the Rocket, Mallard, Flying Scotsman, Eurostar and Shinkansen among them.
This is a living museum with real-life trains and the way in which dining is incorporated is a true delight – you can sit and eat while you look around.

Tip:
Make sure you go up the staircase and through the big doors that appear to be off limits – they are not. It's the workshop area where you can see how the trains are looked after and/or renovated.
If you want to go on the steam train (only on certain dates so you would need to check the website), note that they only accept cash so remember to take some with you.