The Aberystwyth Cliff Railway is still doing the job it was built for nearly 130 years ago: carrying visitors up Constitution Hill. Opened in 1896, it is Britain’s longest electric funicular cliff railway, and it remains one of the town’s most distinctive attractions.

That matters in Aberystwyth because the Welsh seaside town is already known as one of the most visited places in Wales and is often described as the culture capital of Cymru. The railway gives that reputation a physical anchor, linking the promenade to a hilltop view that has drawn visitors for generations.

The climb is part of the appeal. The carriages are hauled to the summit at four miles an hour, and on a clear day the view takes in the town, Cardigan Bay and 26 mountain peaks. At the top, the camera obscura offers a live bird’s-eye view of 1,000 square miles of land and seascape below, while the Consti cafe sells meals, snacks and drinks for people who want to stay awhile.

History is built into the route. Before electrification in 1921, the railway ran on a water balance system, and Constitution Hill was once known as Luna Park, with a helter skelter and a switchback railway among its attractions. The hill is now quieter, but the line still carries the same sense of novelty that helped turn Aberystwyth into a destination in the first place.

The view is supposed to be the selling point, though it was not fully on display for the writers who visited on a less clear day. That is the small catch with a ride built around scenery: the railway’s status does not depend on perfect weather, but the experience does, and the best reason to go is still the one thing no one can guarantee.

Aberystwyth has other heritage landmarks as well, including Wales’s oldest pier, the Royal Pier, which opened in 1865. But the cliff railway stands out because it is both transport and attraction, a working piece of Victorian-era engineering that is still carrying people to the top of the hill more than a century later.