The Asturias Railway Museum occupies Gijón's old Estación del Norte, next to Poniente beach, and holds more than a hundred locomotives, wagons and carriages. Entry is free; from October to March it opens Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 to 18:30 and is closed every Monday.
In El Natahoyo, a step from Poniente beach, there is a station where trains no longer arrive and which nevertheless holds more than a hundred locomotives, wagons and carriages. It is the Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias, opened in 1998 in Gijón's old Estación del Norte. Entry is free and you understand Asturias better when you leave. Here is what is inside, when it opens and how to get there.
A station that ran out of trains
The museum stands at the start of El Natahoyo, a working-class district that grew up at the end of the 19th century largely because of the station: the Ferrocarril del Noroeste terminus was built in 1874 to a design by the engineer Melitón Martín, and today it is the museum's main building. Many of the trains are still parked along its historic platform.
In 1990 the station stopped working as a terminus and it was decided to turn it into a museum. A parallel building by the architects Hernández Sande was put up and joined to the old one by a canopy. According to Wikipedia, the museum was inaugurated on 22 October 1998.
What is inside
According to Gijón City Council, the site has three buildings and a large track yard, more than 14,000 square metres in all, of which 10,000 are permanent exhibition. The collection runs to more than two thousand pieces, and more than a hundred are rolling stock: locomotives, wagons and carriages on up to seven different track gauges. The council describes it as the largest collection of historic railway stock preserved in Spain.
Seven gauges have a very Asturian explanation: many lines were built to carry coal and serve the factories, each in its own way and without connecting to the others, as Wikipedia explains. That is why steam locomotives and mining and industrial trains weigh so heavily here. Among them is the Ferrocarril de Langreo, the third railway line built in Spain, after Barcelona-Mataró and Madrid-Aranjuez. Next to the engines there are lamps, tools, oil cans and telephones, the small objects of the trade.
The days the locomotives steam
Several times a year the museum holds its Jornadas del Vapor: historic steam and diesel locomotives are fired up and people take short rides around the site in old wooden carriages. Before Christmas the platforms host the railway market organised by the Asociación de Amigos del Ferrocarril de Gijón «Don Pelayo».
On the third Thursday of each month, except in August, there are talks in the auditorium. The library, the newspaper archive and the documentation centre can be consulted free of charge, by appointment.
What it costs and when it opens
Entry is free. From October to March it opens from 9:30 to 18:30, Tuesday to Friday, and from 10:00 to 18:30 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. From April to September, from 10:00 to 19:00 Tuesday to Friday and from 10:30 to 19:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
It is closed every Monday of the year, on 1 and 6 January, Carnival Tuesday, 15 August and 24, 25 and 31 December. Opening hours and price checked in October 2026 on the Gijón City Council website.
Getting there
The museum is on the Plaza de la Estación del Norte, next to Poniente beach. City bus lines 1, 4, 6, 12, 16, 18 and 34 stop nearby, at the Museo del Ferrocarril stop. They are almost the same lines that stop at the Aquarium: 1, 4, 6, 12 and 16, so both visits fit into the same day.
Checked
Facts checked in October 2026 against: Gijón City Council (Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias page in its directory: opening hours, entry, history, collection, activities and buses), Wikipedia (Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias) and the official Gijón Aquarium website (bus lines).
Quick questions
How much does the Gijón Railway Museum cost?
Nothing: entry is free. It opens Tuesday to Sunday and is closed every Monday of the year.
Which buses go to the Railway Museum?
Lines 1, 4, 6, 12, 16, 18 and 34, at the Museo del Ferrocarril stop, next to Poniente beach.
When can you see the steam locomotives running?
During the Jornadas del Vapor, several times a year, when historic steam and diesel locomotives are fired up and short rides are given in old wooden carriages.