
Michael Portillo embarks on a railway journey around the ragged rocks of the western coast of Wales. He begins on the Victorian Cliff Railway at Aberystwyth, rising above the historic town to take in views over Cardigan Bay, home to the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in Europe. \n\nOn the beach at Borth, Michael discovers a petrified forest, part of a lost realm which was much mythologised in Wales during the Middle Ages. In Machynlleth in Powys, Michael visits the site of Wales’s medieval national parliament and the charismatic hero who nearly achieved Welsh independence from England in the early 15th century.\n\nBack on the coast in the seaside resort of Tywyn, Michael finishes this leg of his journey with a glorious ride aboard the first preserved heritage railway in the world, the Talyllyn, from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn.
Source: BBC 2
Series 1: 5. Forvie To Peterhead
Michael Portillo’s Scottish railway journey reaches Aberdeen. From the Granite City, Michael heads straight out to a dramatic piece of coastline 18 miles to its north. For ...
06-11-2026
BBC 2
Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash
Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the eastern reaches of England is drawing to a close. His travels today begin on the smallest public railway in the world, the Wells ...
26-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 19. West Runton To Burnham Market
The oldest and largest mammoth ever found in Britain was discovered by walkers on the beach at West Runton in Norfolk. Michael Portillo examines a replica of the smallest bone i ...
25-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 18. Lowestoft To Great Yarmouth
Michael Portillo’s East Anglian coastal railway journey takes him to the treacherous waters off the Norfolk coast, which have sunk many ships and cost many lives. Michael ...
24-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 17. Woodbridge To Southwold
Michael Portillo reaches the Deben estuary on his coastal railway journey around eastern England. At Woodbridge, he is plunged in at the deep end on a rafting challenge with the ...
23-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 16. Canvey Island To Wrabness
Michael Portillo embarks on a new railway journey around the coast of the east of England. He begins in the Thames estuary, where creeks separate Canvey Island from the mainland ...
22-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 15. Faversham To Chatham
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure zig-zagging the coasts of the English Channel and the Thames estuary nears its end on the north Kent coast. The pretty and historic to ...
21-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 14. Birchington-on-sea To Whitstable
Michael Portillo’s railway exploration of the Channel coastline and Thames estuary via Calais has reached the Isle of Thanet. Flat and temperate, it is excellent terrain f ...
18-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 13. Dover To Margate
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure along the north and south coasts of the English Channel resumes in Dover, where he recalls the biggest evacuation in military history. ...
17-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 12. Folkestone To Le Touquet
Michael Portillo travels through the longest undersea tunnel in the world on the Eurotunnel shuttle rail service from Folkestone to Calais.\n\nIn Calais, Michael is reminded tha ...
16-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 15. Faversham To Chatham
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure zig-zagging the coasts of the English Channel and the Thames estuary nears its end on the north Kent coast. The pretty and historic to ...
21-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 2. Exeter To Plymouth
Michael Portillo reaches Devon’s county town, Exeter, dominated since the Middle Ages by its magnificent gothic cathedral. Michael joins the stonemasons charged with conse ...
02-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash
Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the eastern reaches of England is drawing to a close. His travels today begin on the smallest public railway in the world, the Wells ...
26-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 18. Lowestoft To Great Yarmouth
Michael Portillo’s East Anglian coastal railway journey takes him to the treacherous waters off the Norfolk coast, which have sunk many ships and cost many lives. Michael ...
24-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 1: 8. Invergordon To Tain
Michael Portillo’s Scottish coastal railway journey reaches Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth, the third great inlet on the northeast coast of the Highlands. He arrives on ...
15-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 13. Dover To Margate
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure along the north and south coasts of the English Channel resumes in Dover, where he recalls the biggest evacuation in military history. ...
17-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: 19. West Runton To Burnham Market
The oldest and largest mammoth ever found in Britain was discovered by walkers on the beach at West Runton in Norfolk. Michael Portillo examines a replica of the smallest bone i ...
25-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 1: 20. Mallaig To Isle Of Lewis And Harris
Michael reaches the terminus of the West Highland Line at Mallaig, from which he follows in the footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie over the sea to Skye. The island is renowned f ...
31-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 2: 15. Dun Laoghaire To Rosslare
Michael Portillo begins the final leg of his railway journey, beginning in the harbour town of Dun Laoghaire. He joins a crew of geological surveyors to discover what lies benea ...
04-10-2023
BBC 2
Series 2: 6. Middlesbrough To Boulby
Michael Portillo’s coastal railway adventure propels him in search of the unknown universe in Boulby, North Yorkshire. Over a kilometre below the surface of the earth, in ...
18-07-2023
BBC 2