A transport company is offering £2 tickets for coach trips across the UK to be taken up to May 12. With a £1 service fee, that means travellers planning journeys can book long-distance tickets from £3 on the FlixBus website or app. In England there is a government-backed scheme capping …
Read More »‘I wanted the 17-hour trip to go slower, not faster’: readers’ favourite European journeys
Ferry through the fjord, Albania Instead of a four-hour road trip from Koman to Fierzë, relax and enjoy the Albanian fjords via the Drin River. We reversed on to the Berisha ferry, which takes 10 cars, plus foot passengers. Everyone sits on deck, regardless of the weather, to take in …
Read More »From Transylvania to Santa’s village: eight of Europe’s best winter train journeys
Bernina Express: Chur, Switzerland, to Tirano, Italy Listed as a Unesco world heritage site since 2008, the Bernina line is one of the highest railways in the Alps, promising four hours of panoramic views from its glass-domed carriages: frozen lakes, rivers crashing down canyons and forests heavy with snow. Departing …
Read More »10 of the UK’s most scenic rail journeys
Belfast to Derry This two-hour train trip gets seriously scenic after Coleraine, when it partly follows the coast and Lough Foyle. As it runs along Downhill Beach, the sands and turbulent ocean are just outside the window, with the domed Mussenden temple perched on the cliffs above. On through farmland …
Read More »‘The best thing about the No 50 is that it goes on a boat’: readers’ favourite UK bus journeys
Swanage to Bournemouth, Dorset The No 50 Purbeck Breezer travels regularly between Swanage and Bournemouth past the beautiful beaches of Studland Bay. Behind Knoll Beach there’s a heathland nature reserve with a lagoon and a giant natural sand pit. In Poole we visited the Japanese garden at Compton Acres and …
Read More »‘I took my Brompton on the train to Armenia’: readers’ favourite European rail journeys
Oslo to Bergen, Norway Take a trip from Oslo to Bergen on Vy, the Norwegian state railway (I was delighted to get a senior’s ticket – a usual Norwegian courtesy), a journey of scenic delight at any time of the year, and stop over at Myrdal. There, buy a return …
Read More »‘We snaked between mountains and the Mediterranean’: readers’ favourite European train journeys
Sleeper proved an eye-opener, Amsterdam to Vienna I recently took the sleeper train between Amsterdam and Vienna. On the way, I had a compartment to myself until the early hours when I was woken by a couple with a 10-month-old baby, who wanted to know if I would rooms so …
Read More »Six of Europe’s best slow, scenic rail journeys
Few pleasures compete with relaxing on a comfortable train and watching the landscape slip by beyond the window. Here are six of my favourite routes, ranging from under four to over nine hours, so easily completed in a day. Interrail passes are valid on all these journeys, although a small …
Read More »The best new European train journeys for 2023
You might expect Europe’s 2023 train schedules to debut on 1 January 2023. They don’t. The new timetables kick in on 11 December this year, bringing myriad new travel opportunities for the year ahead. Highlights include Genoa and Dresden both securing new international night sleeper services, a new daily train …
Read More »10 of the best railway journeys in Italy
The Cinque Terre Express One of Italy’s loveliest rail routes is the coast-hugging track along the Cinque Terre in Liguria. Called an express, it’s more of a gentle pootle above all five of the Unesco-listed seaside villages in this celebrated national park. Setting off from La Spezia, the route ends …
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