Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Great Coastal Railway Journeys is a TV show on BBC2. All aboard! Weaving through charming seaside towns, historic landmarks and natural wonders, Michael Portillo explores the coastal communities the railways made. The program has been available since 2026. A total of 45 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in November 2026.
Last episode
25:00
25:00Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo’s Scottish railway journey reaches Aberdeen, from which he heads to the wild and beautiful Forvie National Nature Reserve and Scotland's most easterly town, Peterhead.
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25:00Michael Portillo visits St Andrews, home to Scotland’s oldest university, in eastern Fife, before heading to the vibrant city of Dundee and the harbour town of Stonehaven.
25:00Michael Portillo travels from the medieval city of Stirling through Perth, the historic crowning place of Scottish monarchs, and into Kirkcaldy, where he revisits some fond family memories.
35:00Michael Portillo continues his journey at the iconic Forth Bridge, before heading to tour the Royal Yacht Britannia and encountering a pair of vast steel sculptures.
25:00Michael Portillo begins a series of coastal railway journeys around the British Isles, starting in Siccar Point, the site of an extraordinary 18th-century discovery, and finishing at Holyrood House.
Series 2
25:00
25:00The final leg of Michael Portillo's South Coast adventure begins in Fishbourne. He also visits Brighton, and the South Downs.
25:00Michael Portillo explores Lee on the Solent in Hampshire, the maritime city of Portsmouth, and Chichester's vast, natural harbour.
25:00Michael Portillo heads from Southampton to the Isle of Wight, where he rides the island's railway, made up of recycled London Underground trains.
35:00Michael Portillo visits Dorset's Jurassic Coast. He heads through Swanage, Poole and Sandbanks, before ending his journey on Brownsea Island.
25:00Michael Portillo travels across Dorset, beginning in Portland Harbour, the location for the 2012 Olympic sailing events.
25:00Michael Portillo travels from the capital of the Republic of Ireland, Dublin, on the DART suburban railway to the harbour town of Dun Laoghaire.
25:00Michael Portillo makes his way from the vast beaches of the Carlingford Peninsula to the capital of the Republic of Ireland, Dublin.
35:00Michael Portillo makes his way from Bangor to Belfast, along the way enjoying live music on a boat and visiting the parliament building at Stormont.
25:00Michael Portillo visits a museum in Belfast Lough telling the story of Ireland's railway heritage and learns of the important role of Carrickfergus.
25:00Michael Portillo heads to Northern Ireland's Causeway coast beginning a new journey along the north and east coasts through Ulster and Leinster.
25:00Michael Portillo reaches Lincolnshire, where his coastal railway journey ends. In Grimsby Town, he investigates a new stage in the town's history.
35:00Michael Portillo travels from the seaside resort of Hornsea, to Spurn Point, where he learns about a life-saving 19th-century invention.
25:00Michael Portillo is in the North Yorkshire seaside resort of Scarborough to explore one of the greatest royal fortresses in England.
25:00Michael Portillo travels from Whitby, where he explores the port's shipbuilding and seafaring heritage, to Robin Hood's Bay, a former smuggling haven.
25:00Michael Portillo hunts for dark matter in the deepest mine in Britain in Boulby, North Yorkshire, then visits Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge.