On the Jornadas del Vapor at the Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias in Gijón there is a free return trip by steam train inside the museum, about 45 minutes with a guided tour. Tickets are picked up on the same day at reception, at most 5 per person; in mid-October 2026 no dates had been published.
A few days a year, the Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias fires up its historic locomotives and people climb aboard for a short steam-train ride without leaving the grounds. It is free, it lasts about three quarters of an hour and the tickets go fast. The problem is knowing when: dates are announced at short notice. This is what is known about how they work and when they usually take place.
What a Jornada del Vapor is
According to the museum's page on the Gijón City Council website, on these days historic steam and diesel locomotives are started up, and visitors take short rides around the museum in old wooden carriages, with special guided tours.
The pages for each day in the council's events listing always describe the same route: a return trip by steam train from the museum's main platform to the Natahoyo platform, without leaving the grounds, plus a guided tour. Together, about 45 minutes.
What there is in the museum the rest of the year, its hours and how to get there are in our guide to the Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias.
How to get tickets
The ride is free, but you need a ticket. You pick it up at the museum reception on the same day, with a maximum of 5 per person: from 10:30 for the morning trains and from 15:30 for the afternoon ones, according to the council's event pages. There is no advance sale.
On the 2025 Sábados del Vapor the trains left at 11:30, 12:00, 12:30 and 13:00 in the morning and at 16:30, 17:00, 17:30 and 18:00 in the afternoon. If there are several of you, send one person to reception early: with five tickets each, a whole family is covered with one trip to the queue.
When they usually happen
No fixed calendar is published. What the council's events listing of recent years shows is a pattern: special days on 9 December 2023, 10 February 2024, 4 May 2024, 12 October 2024 and 7 December 2024, one at Easter, on 19 April 2025, and the summer 2025 Sábados del Vapor: 5, 12, 19 and 26 July and 2 and 9 August.
In other words: a handful of one-off days through the year, with one in early December in 2023 and 2024, and the Saturdays of July and early August. In 2023 there was also a night session for Museum Day, on 20 May.
When we wrote this, in mid-October 2026, the council's events listing had no Jornada del Vapor published for 2026. If you are spending the autumn or Christmas in Gijón, it is worth checking the council's listing every few weeks.
The locomotives
The museum keeps more than a hundred pieces of rolling stock, on up to seven different track gauges, and the part still in working order is in the track yard. An eldiario.es report from August 2026 speaks of four steam locomotives kept in running order.
The museum does not announce which one will be fired up each time. One that has been seen steaming on these days is the SAF nº 1, a Henschel from 1952, photographed at the session of 31 October 2015.
The Christmas railway market
Before Christmas the platforms host the railway market organised by the Asociación de Amigos del Ferrocarril de Gijón «Don Pelayo», with model railways, collecting, stamps and railway photography. In 2024 it was on 14 and 15 December, on Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00 and on Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00; in 2022, on 17 and 18 December. The 2026 date had not been announced.
Museum hours and getting there
Entry to the museum is free. From October to March it opens Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 to 18:30, and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 18:30; it is closed on Mondays. It is on the Plaza de la Estación del Norte, and city bus lines 1, 4, 6, 12, 16, 18 and 34 stop nearby. Hours and price checked in October 2026.
Checked
Facts checked in October 2026 against: Gijón City Council (Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias page and its events pages for the special steam days from 2023 to 2025, the 2025 Sábados del Vapor and the 2022 and 2024 railway markets), Wikipedia (Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias), eldiario.es (August 2026) and Wikimedia Commons (photo of the SAF nº 1 in 2015).
Quick questions
Do you have to pay for the steam train ride?
No: the ride is free, but you must pick up a ticket at reception on the same day, from 10:30 for the morning and from 15:30 for the afternoon.
When are the Jornadas del Vapor usually held?
A handful of one-off days a year, with one in early December in 2023 and 2024, and the Saturdays of July and early August, as in 2025.
Is there a railway market at Christmas?
Yes, the Asociación de Amigos del Ferrocarril de Gijón «Don Pelayo» organises it on the platforms; in 2024 it was on 14 and 15 December.