HOW TO TAKE OFF ON A FLIGHTLESS ADVENTURE
Fed up with the hell of flying (and striking pilots)? Drive, coach or train your way to these unforgettable adventures
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in trouble for taking too many flights on private jets — and for lecturing the rest of us about ‘saving the planet’.
Of course, we all love a cheap, fast flight, but there are slower alternatives to getting to a holiday destination without racing through the skies at 37,000 ft.
how about relaxing on a train, saving money on a coach trip or enjoying the flexibility of piling into the family car and stopping whenever you fancy?
here’s our guide to travelling to popular holiday destinations without the horrors of waiting at a departure gate.
FANCY FLORENCE: 867 MILES
BY CAR: The shortest route from Folkestone to Florence (via A26, A1) will take you 14 hours37 minutes. From Calais, skirt north of Paris to Reims, through Switzerland and down past the Italian Lakes to Florence. With this scenery, it’s worth taking your time. Eurotunnel: £86. Tolls: £54.84. Swiss Vignette (road tax): £32.92. Fuel: £152.36.
TOTAL COST: £326.12 BY COACH: The bus departs London Victoria at 7.30am and gets you into Florence 27 hours later at 11.35am. TOTAL COST: £73
BY TRAIN: Starting from London St Pancras, it will take you 12 hours and 11 minutes with changes in Paris and Turin. TOTAL COST: £191.30
NIP TO AMSTERDAM: 267 MILES
BY CAR: From Calais, drive up the coast to Dunkirk, then into Belgium, past Ghent and Antwerp, and arrive in Amsterdam after just four hours 44 minutes. Eurotunnel: £86. Vignettes: £31.57. Fuel: £43.49. TOTAL COST: £161.06 BY COACH: hop on the bus at Victoria at 9am for a direct 11-hour trip. TOTAL COST: £22. BY TRAIN: Direct eurostar trains take just three hours 55 minutes. TOTAL COST: £89.
IT’S NICE IN NICE: 804 MILES
BY CAR: The fastest route will take 122 hours 10 minutes. From Calais, head to Reims, then south to Dijon. Then it’s a gentle meander through Provence before sweeping along the coast to Nice. Eurotunnel: £86. Tolls: £99.31. Fuel: £134.72.
TOTAL COST: £320.03 BY COACH: A coach from V ictoria, with one change at L yon, takes 24 hours50 minutes. TOTAL COST: £26.84. BY TRAIN: An almost direct route through beautiful countryside starting from London St Pancras, with just one change in Paris to catch the TGV fast train to Nice. TOTAL COST: £217.
FUN IN FARO: 1,388 MILES
BY CAR: Driving from Folkestone to Faro in the Algarve will take you 22 hours 10 minutes. But there are plenty of glorious pit stops along the way, from Bordeaux to Merida. Eurotunnel: £86. Tolls: £98.99. Fuel: £241.24.
TOTAL COST: £426.23 BY COACH: Depart Victoria station at 8pm for a gruelling 47-hour trip to Faro with changes in P aris and Castelo Branco in Portugal. TOTAL COST: £109
BY TRAIN: A complicated 34-hour trip. Take the eurostar to Brussels, then pick up the train to P ort-Bou on the Spanish border and jump on a local train to Seville via Barcelona. Finally, there’s a fourth train to Faro. TOTAL COST: £420
BERLIN BREAK: 619 MILES
BY CAR: The fastest route from the eurotunnel in F olkestone will take you ten hours 23 minutes. From Calais, head north- east into Belgium, then cross the border into Germany to Berlin, via hanover. Eurotunnel: £86. Vignettes: £31.57. Fuel: £106.07.
TOTAL COST: £223.64 BY COACH: Leaves Victoria at 8am and arrives in Berlin 24 hours 45 minutes later (with a change in Paris). TOTAL COST: £54. BY TRAIN: hop on the eurostar at St Pancras, change trains at Brussels and Cologne and you will arrive nine hours and ten minutes later. TOTAL COST: £122.
TRY ATHENS: 1,892 MILES
BY CAR: This epic 29 hours 19 minutes road trip will take you through eight european countries: Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece. Eurotunnel: £86. Tolls: £64.33. Vignettes: £53.40. Fuel: £338.87.
TOTAL COST: £542.60 BY COACH: The bus from V ictoria to Athens (with one change in
Prague) takes a stomach-stomach churning 50 hours. TOTAL COST: £115.79
BY TRAIN: It will take you a complicated two days and seven hours to get to Athens via Brussels, Frank - furt and Vienna. Then you’ll need a coach trip to Budapest and a train to Sofia, and Thessaloniki, before arriving in Athens. TOTAL COST: £170
PRICES based on a single trip, departing october 4. Car journeys begin from Eurotunnel Folkestone, coach trips are from london Victoria, and trains from the Eurostar at london St pancras.