It was a lovely experience travelling on the steam train waiting for santa to come and sit with us and talk to the children.. it was a little nippy but it was -4 outside and the train hadn't had time to warm as we went on the first trip of the day. Nice presents the boys loved them. I think next time we will get a coffee at the coffee shop. Dress extra warm. The port and mince pie warmed me up a treat xx

For the second year running, we all (babies, small children, parents, grandparents) absolutely loved the Dean Forest Santa Train. Such a pleasure to have such a fun, festive time without a trace of commercialisation. Thank you, see you again in 2023!

Absolutely freezing onboard train so wrap up extra warm.Has to be expected this time of year.Cafe was decent and not costly.Would be great for kids in summer as Dec trips were too cold.Did think that the train would be lit up with festive lights especially for the kids and with no heating onboard train

If your looking for a relaxed laid back approach to taking your kids on a steam train to meet Santa and take in the beautiful scenery then this one’s for you. If your into a full on Santa experience full of commercialised drilled unhappy people getting you from one place to another in a quick timed fashion then you’ll be disappointed and probably won’t enjoy the Santa train! Yes the train was late - it was -1 outside that really can’t be helped (wrap up warm, take blankets, the trains are old, yes that’s expected too, they are locomotives!) they did their utmost to keep everyone warm inside the cafe and on the trains, everyone had drinks and they kept us updated along the way, there’s brief breaks along the way where you can step off, get the presents off the elves (might I add, the most thoughtful gifts we’ve received in a few years doing experiences) and then hop back on to another station, it’s like stepping back in time, a lovely train journey, music throughout the carriages, Santa stopping at each table to talk to the children, my boys loved it, and at a younger age Santa doesn’t need to be completely convincing for now! It’s family run, volunteer run, and they worked hard to make the best of what they have, it’s not commercialised and after we had the worst experience ever last year at a very commercial expensive experience we’d gladly go back to this one for some lovely festive cheer and a lovely family day out. I think there’s too much pressure on company’s these days needing to be instagrammable and up to everyone’s social media’s expectations - Dean forest railway really hasn’t conformed to this and that’s what’s so lovely about it! Thank you Dean forest railway, you put our faith back in Santa experiences and made our day wonderful! We’ll be back in the summer to enjoy a longer trip on your steam trains! The Williams Family

Booked on the Santa experience. Because of the very cold weather our train ride was hour late due to the freezing of points and the overhead loco water tank frozen so a hose had to be used to fill up the tank adding to time. Although the weather can't be helped, it was forecast and i'm sure a plan could have been put in place as in some decing spray for the points or other similar means. How did they manage years ago? The cafe can get overcrowded so arrive a bit early for a table. The hot drinks and bacon rolls were lovely. The atmosphere at Norchard felt quite festive with music playing and decorations. The train ride itself was quick but a good experience. Dress up warm because the carriages are cold. The seats are looking tired and there could be more decorations on board. Santa was very good with the children and took his time with each one. Our big issue were the toilets! Norchard were grubby both male and female. Only 1 cubicle at Lydney Junction and 1 working at Parkend due to the freezing temperatures. This wasn't good for little ones and witnessed a child have an accident. The toilets need to be cleaned and repaired to prevent them freezing or at least hire a couple of portaloos. I feel when you've done it once, that's enough. An average outing all in all. Glad we did it and that's about it.

The trip on the train itself was lovely. Although very short! The cafe was overcrowded and the poor staff were so overworked. It was chaos before we even got on the train. The train had a 45 minute delay. Couldn’t be helped, but there wasn’t much shelter to go under. The gift from Santa was awful. (2 year old) I felt so disheartened giving it to my son that I felt like I had to get him something from the gift shop. Wasn’t a bad trip. But definitely not worth the money.