Where to go next year without flying

[calyxx]

Best suggestions? Seeing some of the effects of climate change play out this year has made me determined (again) not to fly if we can possibly avoid it. I've done eurostar to Avignon and then gite with hire car, that was great.

We can't do only trains, too much stress for DD and also hopping from town to town doesn't work with her.

How about tunnel to Calais and drive to the Netherlands or Germany? Germany would mean a stop somewhere. We went twice to northern Bavaria but we are originally from the north/north-west and took the car there as well.

If you don’t mind using a car you can get practically anywhere in Europe, but it helps if you make the journey part of the holiday. Otherwise, it can be a slog.

@stonkytonk11 I actually can’t remember! Was for a work trip though, so I wasn’t paying. Will see if I can dig out the name of the hotel.

Everyone heads south for warmer weather but if that doesn't bother you too much then Scandinavia is accessible by ferry and there are some lovely places to visit.

We have had a couple of amazing holidays in Northern Spain. There are ferries from Southampton to Santander or Bilbao.

We're just back from the Netherlands, fantastic place!

We were in Lausanne last week and stayed at a guest house called Hotel du Marche. Quadruple room was about 180francs and it was basic but fine. Nearby supermarket for lovely deli sandwiches

Rail trip of Europe! You can get a sleeper train to Venice... or from Hamburg to Stockholm.

Check the man in seat 61 website for more ideas!

@calyxx if you can camp Plymouth to Santander, a week on the beach then as week in the Picos

All these are fine if you live in England. Not so good if you have to factor in travel from Scotland.

It's the extortionate price of rail travel in Britain that’s the issue there. Apart from that you’re only 4 hours further away from the continent than someone in London.

BlackForestCake
That's when it pays to get an Interrail pass. You get 2 days travel in your country of origin- one out, one back. So, your train journey from Scotland would be included FoC- as long as you took your Eurostar and got out of the UK on the same day.

F

Devon

We had a great time in the Netherlands this summer. If you have youngish kids Efteling is fab.
we got the ferry direct to Hoek but you can drive via Calais or get the train. Public transport is great once there.

We've just come back from 9 days in Leiden in the Netherlands - drive to Harwich (2hrs from us), ferry to Hook of Holland is about 6 hrs but so much more pleasant than flying, then Leiden was only another 40 min drive. No car hire fee as we took our own car. Leiden is beautiful and easy to walk around. A lot to do in and nearby. Went to Amsterdam and a few other places. Ferry was £360, sooo much cheaper than flights for 4 of us. Had a great time. Not great if you want a hot holiday but we weren't bothered.

For April 2020 we had planned London to Paris by Eurostar, couple of nights in Paris, overnight train to Venice, couple of nights there, then train to Naples, before flying back (but you could of course train it back). Obviously that all got cancelled given what happened in March 2020...

France - so much to explore (and eat and drink!)

Brittany car ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff... or from there carry on south if you'd rather . Up to about La Rochelle is a manageable journey from there

TImes travel section had a great article about the north coast of Denmark today - seriously thinking about it.

We've just come back from The Netherlands. We live in rural Wales, so it takes us over 5hrs to get to St Pancras. We just factor in a night in London at the beginning and end of the trip, which means that we can get the early Eurostar out and the last one back. It also gives us a chance to do half a day of London museums etc.

We wanted sun, so planned Girona by train, with a break in Lyon on the way.

We've been by train to Switzerland a couple of times. It was amazing! Train to London the Eurostar, then TGV to Geneva/Lausanne, then the Swiss transport system is so amazing you can get wherever you like. We went to Crans Montana one time and Kandersteg the other. No need to hire a car when you're there either. Even staying in a tiny village near Kandersteg we had hourly buses which linked up seamlessly to trains. Also post buses do some amazing hair raising trips up the mountains which I'd never dare drive.
Highly recommended!

Also agree with the recommendation of Harwich to Hook of Holland Ferry above. We drove to Mosel Valley in Germany from there. Absolutely stunning with beautiful vineyards and fairytale castles. We went to Efterling theme park on the way back. We used to go there on my childhood holidays and it's every bit as magical as I remembered. Dd (9) adored it.

There is something very exciting about getting the train and seeing the landacape change as you rattle through.