Cheap tracks
| Published: 15th October 2007 20:13 |
As air travel becomes increasingly tiresome and pressure to "go green" increases, a key concern is the perceived cost of switching from short-haul flights to rail. Can you really travel to Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Spain or Amsterdam as cheaply by train or ferry as by budget airline? The answer is that yes, you pretty much can, if you know where to look.
First of course, it pays to be realistic about the cost of flying. The advertised prices look tempting, but the actual fare is often higher. Add airport tax and Air Passenger Duty (APD), and remember that Heathrow, Stansted and Luton can cost around £26 return from London by train. The airport at the other end of the flight may be £5-10 return by bus or train from the city it serves. Have you a baby or small child? Infants go free on trains and ferries, but may attract both a fare and APD by air. Have you any large bags? These now cost around £7 each way per bag on some budget airlines, but there's no such problem with trains or ships.
UK
Within the UK, saver fares for the train are often no more expensive than flying once you consider these added costs. London to Edinburgh or Glasgow costs £98 by train, city centre to city centre. That's not a limited-availability special offer, that's the regular saver return price. The saver has unlimited availability, so no need to book in advance, you can turn up and buy it on the day of travel. It's refundable if you choose not to use it, and flexible as you can hop on any train outside the Monday-Friday business peaks. Compare this with a non-refundable, fixed-itinerary airfare that might be billed as £25 each way, but once you add £20 APD, a £26 return train ticket from London to the airport, £5 for the bus at the other end and £7 each way for you bag, you're talking over £100. In fact, if you book in advance and choose your moment you can pick up a London-Edinburgh "advance" train ticket for as little as £15, or put another way, £2 more than the train ride to Heathrow. The best place to check British train fares is at nationalrail.co.uk or call 08457 48 49 50.
Ireland
Cheap train-and-ferry fares to the Emerald Isle were introduced in 2005. central London (or any station in the south east) to Dublin Ferryport costs just £26 each way. Again, that's the regular fare with unlimited availability, not a special offer. See www.sailrail.co.uk and book by phone on 08450 755 755.
Amsterdam
For Amsterdam, how about £69 return from London by Eurostar? Alternatively, combined train-and-ferry tickets from central London (or Norwich, Ipswich, Ely or Cambridge) to Amsterdam (or any other Dutch station) start at £29 each way on the daytime ferry, or £59 each way on the time-effective overnight ferry with a private en suite cabin and breakfast included in the fare. Book at www.dutchflyer.co.uk or on 0870 5 455 455.
France
If you're travelling to France, head for eurostar.com. Here you can buy through tickets to major French cities by Eurostar and French high-speed TGV, for example London to Bordeaux from £99 return, and London to Marseille, Perpignan or Nice from £109 return. From November 14, Eurostar plans to offer some cheap through tickets to Paris from places such as Manchester, York, Leeds and Leicester, with one simple change at the new St Pancras International station.
The rest of Europe
For Switzerland, Italy or Spain, check out www.raileurope.co.uk (or call 0870 8 371 371). Here you can book both your Eurostar ticket from London to Paris and many cheap deals offered by the European railways. Buy a London-Paris ticket from £59 return, then nab a ticket from Paris to Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Basel or Zurich from as little as £15 each way. You can even treat yourself to first class, from £38 each way.
If travelling to Italy, a couchette on the overnight train from Paris to Florence, Venice or Rome can be yours for as little as £26 each way. If you're bound for Spain, a bed for the night on the excellent "trainhotels" from Paris to Madrid or Barcelona costs just £52 each way if you book in advance. And frankly, an afternoon Eurostar to Paris then an overnight sleeper to the Mediterranean won't take much more time out of your schedule than a late afternoon flight plus a room for the night - and isn't that a hotel bill saved, too?
There are similar deals from the UK to Germany, Austria and even Poland, see www.seat61.com or call German Railway's UK office on 0871 8 80 80 66.
You'll not only find train travel affordable, you might just find it adds a new, more relaxing dimension to your trips away, free from airport queues and flights.
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