diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/callbacks/base.py b/pytorch_lightning/callbacks/base.py
index 7150138d66acc6..413189eb59b92f 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/callbacks/base.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/callbacks/base.py
@@ -27,6 +27,22 @@ def set_trainer(self, trainer):
         `trainer.batch_idx`, `trainer.global_step` can be used."""
         self._trainer = trainer
 
+    def on_init_begin(self):
+        """Called when the trainer initialization begins."""
+        pass
+
+    def on_init_end(self):
+        """Called when the trainer initialization ends."""
+        pass
+
+    def on_fit_begin(self):
+        """Called when the fit begins."""
+        pass
+
+    def on_fit_end(self):
+        """Called when the fit ends."""
+        pass
+
     def on_epoch_begin(self):
         """Called when the epoch begins."""
         pass
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/callback_hook.py b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/callback_hook.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..cc84e4cf5bc2e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/callback_hook.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import os
+from abc import ABC
+
+from pytorch_lightning.callbacks import Callback
+
+
+class TrainerCallbackHookMixin(ABC):
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        # this is just a summary on variables used in this abstract class,
+        #  the proper values/initialisation should be done in child class
+        self.callbacks: list[Callback] = []
+
+    def on_init_begin(self):
+        """Called when the trainer initialization begins."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.set_trainer(self)
+            callback.on_init_begin()
+
+    def on_init_end(self):
+        """Called when the trainer initialization ends."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_init_end()
+
+    def on_fit_begin(self):
+        """Called when the fit begins."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_fit_begin()
+
+    def on_fit_end(self):
+        """Called when the fit ends."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_fit_end()
+
+    def on_epoch_begin(self):
+        """Called when the epoch begins."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_epoch_begin()
+
+    def on_epoch_end(self):
+        """Called when the epoch ends."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_epoch_end()
+
+    def on_train_begin(self):
+        """Called when the train begins."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_train_begin()
+
+    def on_train_end(self):
+        """Called when the train ends."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_train_end()
+
+    def on_batch_begin(self):
+        """Called when the training batch begins."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_batch_begin()
+
+    def on_batch_end(self):
+        """Called when the training batch ends."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_batch_end()
+
+    def on_validation_begin(self):
+        """Called when the validation loop begins."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_validation_begin()
+
+    def on_validation_end(self):
+        """Called when the validation loop ends."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_validation_end()
+
+    def on_test_begin(self):
+        """Called when the test begins."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_test_begin()
+
+    def on_test_end(self):
+        """Called when the test ends."""
+        for callback in self.callbacks:
+            callback.on_test_end()
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/evaluation_loop.py b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/evaluation_loop.py
index f5d2b9327f9fa3..da9134ec5ad9f6 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/evaluation_loop.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/evaluation_loop.py
@@ -169,6 +169,12 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.get_val_dataloaders = None
         self.use_tpu = None
 
+        # Callback system
+        self.on_validation_begin = None
+        self.on_validation_end = None
+        self.on_test_begin = None
+        self.on_test_end = None
+
     @abstractmethod
     def copy_trainer_model_properties(self, model):
         # this is just empty shell for code from other class
@@ -293,6 +299,12 @@ def run_evaluation(self, test=False):
                     Please define and try again'''
             raise MisconfigurationException(m)
 
+        # Validation/Test begin callbacks
+        if test:
+            self.on_test_begin()
+        else:
+            self.on_validation_begin()
+
         # hook
         model = self.get_model()
         model.on_pre_performance_check()
@@ -353,6 +365,12 @@ def run_evaluation(self, test=False):
         if self.proc_rank == 0 and self.checkpoint_callback is not None and not test:
             self.checkpoint_callback.on_validation_end()
 
+        # Validation/Test end callbacks
+        if test:
+            self.on_test_end()
+        else:
+            self.on_validation_end()
+
     def evaluation_forward(self, model, batch, batch_idx, dataloader_idx, test=False):
         # make dataloader_idx arg in validation_step optional
         args = [batch, batch_idx]
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/trainer.py b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/trainer.py
index 6cd87b17e04d63..b75ab5e8544f9d 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/trainer.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/trainer.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 from pytorch_lightning.trainer.training_io import TrainerIOMixin
 from pytorch_lightning.trainer.training_loop import TrainerTrainLoopMixin
 from pytorch_lightning.trainer.training_tricks import TrainerTrainingTricksMixin
+from pytorch_lightning.trainer.callback_hook import TrainerCallbackHookMixin
 from pytorch_lightning.utilities.debugging import MisconfigurationException
 from pytorch_lightning.profiler import Profiler, PassThroughProfiler
 
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ class Trainer(TrainerIOMixin,
               TrainerEvaluationLoopMixin,
               TrainerTrainLoopMixin,
               TrainerCallbackConfigMixin,
+              TrainerCallbackHookMixin
               ):
 
     def __init__(
@@ -64,6 +66,7 @@ def __init__(
             logger=True,
             checkpoint_callback=True,
             early_stop_callback=None,
+            callbacks: list = [],
             default_save_path=None,
             gradient_clip_val=0,
             gradient_clip=None,  # backward compatible, todo: remove in v0.8.0
@@ -163,6 +166,22 @@ def __init__(
 
                     trainer = Trainer(early_stop_callback=early_stop_callback)
 
+            callback (:class:`.Callback`): Add a list of callbacks.
+                Example::
+
+                    from pytorch_lightning.callbacks import Callback
+
+                    class PrintCallback(Callback):
+                        def on_train_begin(self):
+                            print("Training is started!")
+
+                        def on_train_end(self):
+                            print(f"Training is done. The logs are: {self.trainer.logs}")
+
+                    # a list of callbacks
+                    callbacks = [PrintCallback()]
+                    trainer = Trainer(callbacks=callbacks)
+
             default_save_path (str): Default path for logs and weights when no logger/ckpt_callback passed
                 Example::
 
@@ -579,6 +598,10 @@ def __init__(
 
         """
 
+        # Init callbacks
+        self.callbacks = callbacks
+        self.on_init_begin()
+
         # Transfer params
         # Backward compatibility
         if nb_gpu_nodes is not None:
@@ -761,6 +784,8 @@ def __init__(
             use_amp = True
         self.init_amp(use_amp)
 
+        self.on_init_end()
+
     @property
     def slurm_job_id(self):
         try:
@@ -890,6 +915,9 @@ def fit(self, model, train_dataloader=None, val_dataloader=None, test_dataloader
         _set_dataloader(model, val_dataloader, 'val_dataloader')
         _set_dataloader(model, test_dataloader, 'test_dataloader')
 
+        # Training begin callbacks
+        self.on_fit_begin()
+
         # when using multi-node or DDP within a node start each module in a separate process
         if self.use_ddp2:
             task = int(os.environ['SLURM_LOCALID'])
@@ -929,6 +957,9 @@ def fit(self, model, train_dataloader=None, val_dataloader=None, test_dataloader
 
             self.run_pretrain_routine(model)
 
+        # Training end callbacks
+        self.on_fit_end()
+
         # return 1 when finished
         # used for testing or when we need to know that training succeeded
         return 1
@@ -1082,6 +1113,7 @@ def test(self, model=None):
             trainer = Trainer()
             trainer.test(model)
         """
+
         self.testing = True
         if model is not None:
             self.fit(model)
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/training_loop.py b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/training_loop.py
index e59183aa6b94e4..e192fe15226e53 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/training_loop.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/training_loop.py
@@ -230,6 +230,16 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.profiler = None
         self.batch_idx = None
         self.precision = None
+        self.callbacks = []
+        self.max_steps = None
+
+        # Callback system
+        self.on_train_begin = None
+        self.on_train_end = None
+        self.on_batch_begin = None
+        self.on_batch_end = None
+        self.on_epoch_begin = None
+        self.on_epoch_end = None
 
     @property
     def max_nb_epochs(self):
@@ -305,6 +315,10 @@ def process_output(self, output, train):
         pass
 
     def train(self):
+
+        # Train begin callbacks
+        self.on_train_begin()
+
         warnings.warn('Displayed epoch numbers in the progress bar start from "1" until v0.6.x,'
                       ' but will start from "0" in v0.8.0.', DeprecationWarning)
         model = self.get_model()
@@ -375,6 +389,7 @@ def train(self):
             if self.max_steps and self.max_steps == self.global_step:
                 self.main_progress_bar.close()
                 model.on_train_end()
+                self.on_train_end()
                 return
 
             # early stopping
@@ -390,17 +405,23 @@ def train(self):
                     self.main_progress_bar.close()
                     with self.profiler.profile('on_train_end'):
                         model.on_train_end()
+                        self.on_train_end()
                     return
 
         self.main_progress_bar.close()
 
         with self.profiler.profile('on_train_end'):
             model.on_train_end()
+            self.on_train_end()
 
         if self.logger is not None:
             self.logger.finalize("success")
 
     def run_training_epoch(self):
+
+        # Epoch begin callbacks
+        self.on_epoch_begin()
+
         # before epoch hook
         if self.is_function_implemented('on_epoch_start'):
             model = self.get_model()
@@ -486,6 +507,9 @@ def run_training_epoch(self):
             with self.profiler.profile('on_epoch_end'):
                 model.on_epoch_end()
 
+        # Epoch begin callbacks
+        self.on_epoch_end()
+
     def run_training_batch(self, batch, batch_idx):
         # track grad norms
         grad_norm_dic = {}
@@ -499,6 +523,9 @@ def run_training_batch(self, batch, batch_idx):
         if batch is None:
             return 0, grad_norm_dic, {}
 
+        # Batch begin callbacks
+        self.on_batch_begin()
+
         # hook
         if self.is_function_implemented('on_batch_start'):
             model_ref = self.get_model()
@@ -610,6 +637,9 @@ def optimizer_closure():
             with self.profiler.profile('on_batch_end'):
                 model.on_batch_end()
 
+        # Batch end callbacks
+        self.on_batch_end()
+
         # update progress bar
         self.main_progress_bar.update(1)
         self.main_progress_bar.set_postfix(**self.training_tqdm_dict)
diff --git a/tests/test_trainer.py b/tests/test_trainer.py
index 283b332aa0d7fe..684b2312f9481b 100644
--- a/tests/test_trainer.py
+++ b/tests/test_trainer.py
@@ -17,9 +17,12 @@
     LightningValidationStepMixin,
     LightningValidationMultipleDataloadersMixin,
     LightningTestMultipleDataloadersMixin,
+    LightningTestMixin,
+    LightningValidationMixin
 )
 from pytorch_lightning.core.lightning import load_hparams_from_tags_csv
 from pytorch_lightning.trainer.logging import TrainerLoggingMixin
+from pytorch_lightning.callbacks import Callback
 
 
 def test_no_val_module(tmpdir):
@@ -694,5 +697,120 @@ def test_trainer_min_steps_and_epochs(tmpdir):
         trainer.current_epoch > 0, "Model did not train for at least min_steps"
 
 
+def test_trainer_callback_system(tmpdir):
+    """Test the callback system."""
+
+    class CurrentTestModel(
+        LightningTestMixin,
+        LightningValidationMixin,
+        LightningTestModelBase,
+    ):
+        pass
+
+    hparams = tutils.get_hparams()
+    model = CurrentTestModel(hparams)
+
+    class TestCallback(Callback):
+        def __init__(self):
+            super().__init__()
+            self.on_init_begin_called = False
+            self.on_init_end_called = False
+            self.on_fit_begin_called = False
+            self.on_fit_end_called = False
+            self.on_epoch_begin_called = False
+            self.on_epoch_end_called = False
+            self.on_batch_begin_called = False
+            self.on_batch_end_called = False
+            self.on_train_begin_called = False
+            self.on_train_end_called = False
+            self.on_validation_begin_called = False
+            self.on_validation_end_called = False
+            self.on_test_begin_called = False
+            self.on_test_end_called = False
+
+        def on_init_begin(self):
+            self.on_init_begin_called = True
+
+        def on_init_end(self):
+            self.on_init_end_called = True
+
+        def on_fit_begin(self):
+            self.on_fit_begin_called = True
+
+        def on_fit_end(self):
+            self.on_fit_end_called = True
+
+        def on_epoch_begin(self):
+            self.on_epoch_begin_called = True
+
+        def on_epoch_end(self):
+            self.on_epoch_end_called = True
+
+        def on_batch_begin(self):
+            self.on_batch_begin_called = True
+
+        def on_batch_end(self):
+            self.on_batch_end_called = True
+
+        def on_train_begin(self):
+            self.on_train_begin_called = True
+
+        def on_train_end(self):
+            self.on_train_end_called = True
+
+        def on_validation_begin(self):
+            self.on_validation_begin_called = True
+
+        def on_validation_end(self):
+            self.on_validation_end_called = True
+
+        def on_test_begin(self):
+            self.on_test_begin_called = True
+
+        def on_test_end(self):
+            self.on_test_end_called = True
+
+    test_callback = TestCallback()
+
+    trainer_options = {}
+    trainer_options['callbacks'] = [test_callback]
+    trainer_options['max_epochs'] = 1
+    trainer_options['val_percent_check'] = 0.1
+    trainer_options['train_percent_check'] = 0.2
+    trainer_options['show_progress_bar'] = False
+
+    assert not test_callback.on_init_begin_called
+    assert not test_callback.on_init_end_called
+
+    # fit model
+    trainer = Trainer(**trainer_options)
+
+    assert trainer.callbacks[0] == test_callback
+    assert test_callback.on_init_begin_called
+    assert test_callback.on_init_end_called
+    assert not test_callback.on_fit_begin_called
+    assert not test_callback.on_fit_begin_called
+
+    trainer.fit(model)
+
+    assert test_callback.on_fit_begin_called
+    assert test_callback.on_fit_end_called
+    assert test_callback.on_epoch_begin_called
+    assert test_callback.on_epoch_begin_called
+    assert test_callback.on_batch_begin_called
+    assert test_callback.on_batch_end_called
+    assert test_callback.on_train_begin_called
+    assert test_callback.on_train_end_called
+    assert test_callback.on_validation_begin_called
+    assert test_callback.on_validation_end_called
+    assert not test_callback.on_test_begin_called
+    assert not test_callback.on_test_end_called
+
+    trainer.test()
+
+    assert test_callback.on_test_begin_called
+    assert test_callback.on_test_end_called
+
+
 # if __name__ == '__main__':
 #     pytest.main([__file__])