To go abroad for one day?

[Teacherbee85]

I'm reading about people who do 'extreme day trips' from the UK to abroad.

I've been looking into it and I've found flights that go to various European cities - leaving first thing in the morning and coming back late at night.

I'm so tempted to say fuck it and just book a solo trip.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the continued input!

I'm still searching away, trying to find a balance between being somewhere so long I'm absolutely exhausted, or not having quite enough time somewhere.

Have attached a couple of options I've found...

We’ve done it a fair bit when I used to fly ( I don’t anymore) but we are SE so likely much easier .

I’ve done this as a day trip to Paris (I live quite near St Pancras). Not sure if I would venture father afield though and there are often delays - especially with the last plane of the day.

I done it, Paris for a day.

It was exciting and fun but absolutely exhausting.

Don't think I'd bother again, much nicer to stay in a hotel to relax at the end of the day... and that way you get a whole proper evening too.

I think we flew at 5am and flew home at around 5pm... we were literally falling asleep in the taxi to the airport going home 😂

The thought of it being spoiled by exhaustion is the only reservation I have!

Did it myself one Christmas to Brussels as got super cheap day return with Eurostar. Although got held up in France for an hour on the train which lessened the time in Brussels, it was so much fun-and packed in so much. It IS a bit of a fever dream though, even looking back on it now. And coming home late the same day all felt a bit surreal (in a good way) but highly recommend it! Do it!!

edit: got the first train out which I THINK was about 5:30/6:00 and the last train back that night. After more delays, got home at something like 1am, but because it was such a fab day, exhaustion didn’t really hit if I’m honest.

@Teacherbee85 having seen your flights, I do think if you're planning there and back in a day you would be better to pick shorter flights. I wouldn't fancy being in the air longer than I was on the ground.

I wouldn't. I'd save my flights for times when I had longer to enjoy the visit.

If the choice is between doing a short trip and a long trip, then obviously the long trip is just as bad environmentally as the short trip. But if the choice is between multiple short trips or one long trip (as it's likely to be for most people with limited time and funds) then it's a very different story.

As well as fewer flights, this is another disadvantage in starting from Scotland or Northern England, the flight each way is around an hour longer than if you start in London.

I know you might be thinking about a day at a beach club OP, but you might be better looking at a day in the Nordic Countries for the shorter flight?

I have been to France and Ireland on day trips. Both involved driving and ferry at night though, arriving in time for breakfast.

It's a good point - I suppose I was just keen to get a break from this miserable Scottish 'summer' 🙃

I also personally could go to ibiza for a day, I wouldn't come back! I would be gutted not to get a few days relaxing in the sun. So personally it would need to be a city break if I was considering it again.

It does sound fun - why not?

Personally I enjoy spending the night and waking up somewhere different, but I can totally see the appeal, especially if it’s somewhere you can go by train rather than a flight.

DD and I used to go to Paris by Eurostar for the day but gave it up as it was just too tiring..

@Teacherbee85 you may be in the group already but there is Extreme Day Trips from Scotland on FB with lots of suggestions and reports from people who have done it.

A single shorthaul round trip adds about 10% to the average person’s annual carbon footprint - that’s not trivial.

If you’ve got £100 burning a hole in your pocket and a day to spare, almost anything is better than taking an extreme day trip. Visit a spa, go tee a show, have afternoon tea at a fancy hotel.

I just joined that thank you!

And how will you be off-setting the shit carbonfootprint?

I have done Amsterdam - London - Amsterdam and the only way it really worked for me is because I was a Londoner living in Amsterdam, thus I knew London really well. It would have been very stressful and time consuming acclimatising and getting around a city i didn’t know. The flight time was 40 minutes and London City Airport was my airport of choice.

....and make sure you don't buy green beans from Kenya or cheap Chinese shit from Amazon or tat from Temu (shipped directly from China)....

Exactly.
The largest contribution to climate change are the US and China, by massive margins. But yet some keep trying to guilt trip people in the UK (contributing less than 1% global emissions) from travelling (2% global emissions). Instead of going after large corporations, international governments, reducing beef consumption, and all the actual large CO2 contributers. But I guess appearing self righteous on social media is more important. Side note: I hope they aren't using Google considering their massive footprint due to AI!

No plans to 🤷‍♀️

Disgusting attitude

I did a day abroad but I went by ferry so had the nights either side on the ferry, which meant I got a nice sleep and a good buffet breakfast, enjoyed the day abroad (Sweden in my case) then back on the ferry in the evening for another buffet, and a good sleep, and breakfast again. Ferry was cheaper than staying in a hotel.

Aw that sounds really good!