For the last 3 years (since Fleur and I got serious about climate change), we decided not to fly on holiday. In 2009, in order to get to a G8 demonstration, we prepared to go to Sardinia - which Silvio Berlusconi made a sudden decision to stage the whole conference in L'Aquila near Rome.
After a nerve-wracking week or two perusing web-sites we eventually booked the travel to Florence, and a ferry from Sicily which will make more sense later. The thing is, once upon a time, there were rail ticket offices that let you book tickets across Europe, but no more. So we booked the Eurostar to Paris, then a RailEurope ticket to Florence, secure in the knowledge that Italian trains can be booked easily once there.
So, it is a casual trip to London from Worcester, then the Eurostar to Paris in the afternoon, and a reasonably manageable trip across Paris to Bercy station once we figured out how the metro works. They have some double decker metros that go fast right across the city called RER.
Then an Italian sleeper train took us south, with train personnel that spoke no English. (hint - when in Italy, learn some Italian)
We arrived in Florence at 7am, sleeping in 6 to a cabin couchettes, which are OK once you get used to them, and that you have to negotiate with 5 others in a cabin when to switch them from seats to beds.
Once in Italy, provided you don't book the Italian Eurostar trains, tickets are pretty cheap and even without Mussolini, they tend to run on time.
We stayed 2 days in Florence, to get used to sunshine, then headed to Rome for a few days international demonstrating.
Then it was another 2 days train rides south to the "toe" of Italy and Sicily and a few days exploring Etna, greek and roman ruins in the sun. Then it was the pre-booked ferry direct back to Rome overnight with some of the best karaoke singing in the world on board, a few hours on a train back to Florence, and the sleeper back to Paris.

I find the slower pace of travel on land allows you to appreciate where you are going, and feel the change of culture, land and climate. It also feels more adventurous because it takes longer to get there.

That's impressive finding such a good fare! how did you do it?
We managed a train to Glasgow once, changing at Crewe and Birmingham, but it was still £60 - ish.

Sweden – January 2011
Previously, we took a sleeper train to Italy and I at least was introduced to the idea of travelling what would take a plane 2 or 3 hours. It was warm and cramped in the cabin what with 5 other people and luggage. However, once you co-ordinate with each other (often via more than one language) and wear ear-plugs, you can get a good night’s kip – which is more than you can say for a red-eye flight. Plus there’s no jet-lag upon arrival. It is also not a huge cultural jump when you get off the train as you have to communicate with the other passengers and staff during the journey.

Why Sweden, and why in January? Well – for the Aurora Borealis. It’s about the nearest place you can get to without flying that gives you a good chance of seeing them. Firstly we got to London (unfortunately with me misreading the Shrub Hill / Fore Gate station name and having to go via Birmingham). There was time for sandwiches in London before the Eurostar to Brussels, which despite being January was only a little colder than London (about 5c).
At Brussels we found the ICE train to Cologne to be cancelled! The Belgians refused all the stranded passengers to go on the only slightly faster Thalys, so we had to take the next available Belgian train to Liège, and then a surprisingly small local to Aachen. Deutsche Bahn was a lot more sympathetic, allowing us to board the previously-mentioned Thalys to Cologne. The original plan was to get there in time to find a restaurant – but this was no longer possible, so it was a snack tea in the station instead. It was a little colder, just above freezing when the sleeper from Amsterdam arrived at 9pm. The cabin was already occupied, and set for the night, so we read a while before turning in.
By the grey morning light somewhere near Ringsted in Denmark we awoke to find the cabin to ourselves, and had plenty of time to get up before arriving at Copenhagen at around 10am.
Here we had arranged to coach surf with a local family, who were very happy to regale us with stories about Denmark. Although the air temperature was just above freezing, there was ice on the ground, and all the waterways of the beautiful city were frozen.
On the following day we took the Oresund train across the oresund between Denmark and Sweden. It’s a massive bridge that runs into a tunnel half-way across, to allow really big ships into the Baltic. At around 4 it was already getting dark in Lund, where we changed trains and got Swedish Kroner from a cash machine near the station. We were taken to Stockholm 4 hrs north-east by a flash silver train with nice upholstery and plenty of space, noticing for the first time that the Swedes seem to travel with their dogs much more than we do. There was a little time in Stockholm to pick up food before the next sleeper to take us north departed. Now we had longer beds – and only had to share with 2 others. In the lit areas around stations along the way we could see that there was snow everywhere.
In the morning far north, we had the cabin to ourselves and got up at a leisurely time, found a plush blue upholstered dining car for tea and coffee, watching the northern snowy wastes roll by. By 10 we had to change trains for the last time, at Boden. On the platform it was -10c and we stood on snow. A snowplough fitted freight rolled by first, then our northward train arrived to take us over the arctic circle to Kiruna – where we arrived at about 2pm. The sun was just setting.
There are buses this far north, but there are few and far between, and also only take cash – so you really need to carry plenty else you are a bit stuck. Suffice to say we hung out with the reindeer, did some cross country skiing, and dog-sledging a la White Fang.

The Return
This is perhaps a lesson in the art of building in slippage time into a long-distance journey. We departed Gällivare above the arctic circle early evening on a through train to Stockholm (about 900 miles away). Again, waking pleasantly late and strolling to the nice dining car for breakfast, to find that we were on time. At 11am in Stockholm we walked around for a couple of hours delighted to find it only around freezing (much warmer than up north). In between ice floes on the many river channels through the city there was water – something else we had not seen in the arctic, where you can drive over a river in a pick-up. Everything was fine on the express to Mälmo until Hässleholm at around 3pm where a wheel failure up the line forced all the trains behind to wait – for an hour. Unfortunately we only had an hour spare at Copenhagen, so by the time we arrived there the sleeper to Germany had left.
We grabbed the next train heading west at 5pm anyway and hoped for the best. At Odense I recognised the German sleeper on another platform, and we hastily packed our food and bags to run across the station, jumping aboard as soon as we could. It was the right train, and was scheduled to wait around for some time.
This train arrived very early at Cologne (6:30) with plenty of time for breakfast under the station. The 7am ICE train pleasantly cruised through the Ardennes, only lightly sprinkled with snow as we dozed through to Brussels. There we waited in a station café reading dutch newspapers before grabbing baguette sandwiches for lunch on the Eurostar to London. From there the Worcester line was closed for engineering, so it was an afternoon virgin train to Birmingham and from there to Worcester. Everything was pleasantly green and way above freezing – but still felt cold (possibly due to us not wearing all the arctic winter kit).

To Scotland by bike part 2

Monday
The first couple of miles were easy along the canals, with well-kept towpaths, but a 2 mile stretch towards the ship canal were almost completely unused, apart from by a goose family that had no intention of letting me pass. I sneaked past shielding myself from an angry goose parent with my bike. She was really angry and chased me off twenty yards!
The route out of Manchester was a cycle path through Walkden that wasn’t bad, but stretches were strewn with broken glass and maybe not advisable after dark. Following this were about 10 miles on main roads through Horwich to Chorley, then a few more on canals very much like on the weekend. The canals are less windy and always level - but it's slower. A series of paths through nature reserves and parks led through to Preston where I stopped for lunch after about 35 miles.
The afternoon involved a stretch on the main A6 which had fairly heavy traffic, until I could leave for quieter roads through the Lancashire countryside, full of cattle and sheep, though the NCN route zigzags around a lot. Further north were some low hills, and then a few showers dampened my spirits a little. The outskirts of Lancaster are also hilly and go on an unexpected amount.

Tuesday
Despite rain overnight, the day was dry but cold and blustery, but with sunny patches. The first few miles to Carnforth are along a canal, though this was much quieter than those further south, and the canal goes almost up to the coast where I got to the sea and saw Morecambe Bay, and across to Ulverstone in Cumbria. Mountains to the north loomed big around the horizon. The cycle route to Kendal stays off the main roads, but at a cost in hills and distance, with some fairly mean climbs, though the landscape is pretty with woods, rocky hills and Cumbrian villages. After a long hard morning I finally arrived in Kendal feeling very much like I’d arrived in the Lake District.
On the slow shallow climb out of Kendal on the A6 it started to rain, though fortunately it was only showers that never lasted more than 5 minutes. After an endless 8 miles following a valley upwards into moorland the road hits proper fells and the only way north is up to Shap, over 1,000ft up. Up there and for the next 10 miles it was cold and windswept with nothing but sheep or conifer plantations. I stopped in Shap itself for a coffee to warm up, and overheard sheep farmers discussing lambing.
Although there were no more big hills, it was still a long way to Penrith afterwards, but it’s quite pleasant to find a town down off the moors, with bushes and gardens and it is half-way.

To John O'Groats pt1

Friday
Unfortunately Scotland decided that one day in the rain was not enough and that I warranted the special treatment of rain AND a headwind. To leave Lanark and get into West Lothian requires a climb over the forested crest near Forth on a straight road aimed into the wind. A short break standing within the forest out of the wind off the road it was nice, and the smell of pine needles was lovely, but there were many more miles needed. Once into West Calder, the conurbation of Livingston protected me from the wind quite well. At the north eastern end, by Uphall and Broxburn the road sign says “Welcome to Edinburgh”.
I dried off and warmed up in a café in Broxburn and felt human again. Your bike may be able to handle it and your body too, but the mind also needs to be tended to, so that it can keep going. This includes short but regular breaks, looking at scenery, and appreciating wildlife or vegetation.

There are a few miles through Kirkliston before Queensferry, where I was surprised to see the imposing girders of the Forth Bridge from quite a way inland. The road bridge has a massive bike lane along it, that is ideal for taking photos of the Forth Bridge, and the train I saw scuttling over it is tiny by contrast. It was an exhilarating moment with a view not only of the bridge but a regular shipping lane with freighters where I could see all the way to the North Sea!

After Inverkeithing on the other side, there are cycle network signposts, though not always that clear, directing you through Dunfermline. At the northern end of town, the forested Ochil hills rise up ridge after ridge for another 8 or so miles. In other weather it would have been wonderful. Once you are over them, there’s a massive plain, with Loch Leven sitting in it, and mountains on all sides, all different colours. There were about 5 more miles to Kinross, some of which freewheeling off the hills, which was pretty good.

Saturday
At last, only one more day, and the sun came out! There’s a fairly easy stretch to Milnathort and then a short climb followed by what seemed like a 5 mile downhill run following a river towards Bridge of Earn. From here there is another ridge to climb over before dropping into Perth itself. The town was clean and pretty, and it rained again, but thankfully only a brief shower. From here there is a riverside cycle path that is very nice through a golf course by the Tay and on about 7 miles to Almondbank. Then there are hills but none of them that steep or long, through lots of pine forest, farms and villages to Birnam and Dunkeld where it is pretty much in the highlands, exactly as you expect it to be (though I didn’t see any deer I did see pheasant). Dunkeld is on the Tay, and forest cycle paths take you a couple of miles up it before you cross the river and take a quiet B road. It’s pretty much just like this for the next 15 miles to Pitlochry. In the distance I could see a mountain-top still covered with snow.