The Railway Hotel is a boutique hotel, restaurant and bar located in the town of Fordingbridge, in the New Forest, Hampshire. Originally opened in the 1860s by Eldridge Pope, a Dorchester Brewer, it served Fordingbridge Railway Station, one of the stops on the newly built Salisbury and Dorset Railway. The Railway Hotel has been lovingly restored to its elegant Victorian form and celebrates the golden age of the railway.

We have five distinctive en-suite rooms and a self-contained two-bedroom cottage set around a characterful courtyard that still features the original livery stables.

Guests and visitors can enjoy contemporary International cuisine in our restaurant where our chefs use fresh, seasonal produce supplied by local farmers and growers.

In our Public Bar guests and locals can relax around the fire and enjoy a wide range of individually selected ales, fine wines and spirits, some of which are brewed or distilled locally.

We regularly showcase The Downton Brewery, HopBack Brewery, Flack Manor Brewery and RingWood Forty Niner across our three hand pulls.

We Source the majority of our Gins Locally using BH1 from Bournemouth for our Classic London Dry alongside a wonderfully fruity Strawberry Gin.

We have recently paired with a local Distillery in Lymington- 820 Spirits. We Stock their Aged blended Rum (scoring Bronze in the London Spirits Competition 2024) Carbon Filtered Vodka, Classic London Dry Gin (scoring silver) and their impressive Blackberry Gin (Gold award) using locally foraged berries and junipers grown onsite in The New forest!

We Source An excellent Quality White & Rose Wine from a Local Vineyard near Bramshaw- Brook Hill Vineyard.

We are ideally positioned for guests to explore the local area. We are just minutes away from some of the country’s most beautiful natural landscapes including the New Forest National Park, Cranborne Chase AONB and the miles of sandy beaches on the south coast.

Originally opened in the 1860s by Eldridge Pope, a Dorchester Brewer, it served Fordingbridge Railway Station, one of the stops on the newly built Salisbury and Dorset Railway. It had seven rooms to rent and a livery stable.

The line was closed in 1964, and the Railway Hotel became The Load of Hay for a time, then was named after a local artist, Augustus John.

We have now restored the Railway Hotel to its original elegant Victorian form. We have five spacious, luxury en-suite rooms and a self contained two bedroom cottage, set around a characterful courtyard and the original livery stables. Guests and locals can relax and enjoy a meal in our restaurant and Pullman Carriage.