Track stars
1 mum, 1 son, 5 cities, 13 trains, 9 days
GRETA Thunberg has won over my 11-year-old son – and now he wants a greener kind of holiday.
Luckily, Ted wasn’t keen on hitching a boat ride across the Atlantic. But swapping planes for trains to see five European cities did appeal.
My other travelling companion was the Trainline app, which offers the best times and cheapest trains so you can bag the bargains.
The first train was a no-brainer. The Channel Tunnel is the simplest escape route, so we headed off on the Eurostar to Paris.
At St Pancras International in London the queues and security were so much easier to handle than at Gatwick.
Yes, the journey time of two hours 20 minutes is longer than the 80 minute flight but it’s a nicer ride with charging stations at every seat. And, you just get off the train and, voila! you’re straight into Paris.
A quick – and cheap – metro hop to Bastille had us checked in at Ibis Paris Bastille Opera in no time.
It has a boutique entrance, bijou rooms and more plants than Kew.
We were in situ for just one night as we had plans for a two-day blast at Disney – 40 minutes on the train from Gare de Lyon.
It’s easy to navigate, with simple signs. Or just follow the people in mouse ears. Eurostar goes directly to Marne-la-vallee-chessy as the theme park has its own station but there’s only one train on Mondays,
Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays compared with 28 a day to Gare du Nord. After two full-on, magical days at Disney, we took a 7pm train to Rome. The Thello overnight sleeper crosses the border as you snore.
A two-bed private couchette with en suite loo, shower and toiletries, was a godsend.
At £300 for the two of us, it worked out the same as flying as we saved on accommodation. It’s an adventure in itself for younger ones.
Arriving at Roma Termini with our backpacks we were munching on fab fresh pizza at £2.50 a slice by lunchtime. Usefully, we picked an Airbnb near the station. Then we got exploring by foot. You can pretty much walk everywhere in the city.
We took in the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Mouth of Truth, the Spanish Steps, the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City and a lot of pasta.
Hop
The metro here is as cheap as chips. For about £1 you get 100 minutes of travel and tickets can be used on buses too.
We grabbed a 9.20am train to Florence Santa Maria Novella – one of the world’s most beautiful cities.
Florence is a one-hour hop to Pisa for a visit to see the leaning tower. At £4 return, it’s a cheap way to tick another landmark off your list.
I bagged last-minute tickets to see Firenze v Lazio at the beautiful art deco football stadium too. We navigated our way there easily alongside 43,000 fans on a specially laid on buses.
Then it was off to Firenze Rifradi station for our train to Venice. Firstclass tickets for the three-hour trip to Venice Mestre were just £30.
We pulled in at 10pm and were soon bedding down at the Anda Venice Hostel just a five-minute walk from the station steps.
I left school in the 90s, so a hostel conjures up images of drunken students and sleeping bags. But this was our favourite pitstop.
At £35 for a private room with en suite and breakfast included, you won’t find anywhere cheaper here.
While you’re not on the island itself, it doesn’t matter when the station is on the doorstep and it’s a £2, ten minute trip to the canals.
Seeing Paris, Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice in nine days armed with a smartphone and a small backpack felt like a TV reality challenge.
Trains are alive with real people so you get a true feel of the city you are in. They emit only one twentieth of the CO2 produced per mile by air travel and a seventh of a car.
And your break won’t cost the earth either.
FACTFILE: Prices for the Eurostar start from £67, eurostar.com. Thello from £115pp standard class or £165pp two-sleeper couchette.