ETHICAL TRAVELLER:I HAD A CALL from a friend who was stuck in London during the worst of the snow. "You must know how to get me home without flying," she said. "I need to be back in Dublin tomorrow, and every airport in Europe seems to be closed."
Within minutes she was sorted. “Catch the 9am train from London Euston to Holyhead,” I told her. “It arrives four hours later, for the 2pm Irish Ferries crossing to Dublin, arriving just after 5pm. Hop in a cab or shuttle bus, and you’ll be home and dry in time for tea.”
She booked it immediately online, having seen last-minute rates of £55 (€62) for the train and £25 (€28) for the boat. She had a lot of work to do on the way, so she upgraded to a first-class rail ticket, for £97 (€110).
This is the best train upgrade around, in my view, as you get free food and drink the whole way: smoked salmon and scrambled eggs as you lash through the Shires, bagels on the border and a glass of something lovely to strengthen the sea legs as you follow the Welsh coast. With free Wi-Fi and generous reclining seats, you won’t want to get off at all.
Virgin’s latest trains are so comfortable that even economy feels like first class compared with my memories of what was the journey from hell all those years ago, when budget meant the bus.
I got a text at 5.15pm from my friend. “Just drifting past the South Wall. Best trip home ever. Will never fly again.”
This I doubt, but every snow cloud has a silver lining. It’s hard to convince people about the joys of greener, slower travel unless they actually experience it. You can bring as much luggage as you want, including bikes. You check it all in now, so there’s no more lugging it around the ship. You don’t have to hide your make-up bottles, either.
Even the terminal at Holyhead is better these days. On a recent trip, a Donegal man who makes the journey six times a year told me: “It breaks my heart. In the old days we begged them for a new terminal, and now it’s here, but it’s empty. It used to be a cattle market, dirty and full of drunks.” Sounds like a bad budget airline, I thought.
If you aren’t making a last-minute booking, book with SailRail (sailrail.co.uk). This alliance of Irish and UK train and ferry operators offers an invaluable service in sorting out the best ticket combination. It saves looking up lots of individual ferry and train sites, as it gives you the best option for your travelling times.
You can’t book online, however – it’s quite a novelty talking to a human being over the phone for once (00-44-8450-755755). And it’s a UK agency, so count on 10 working days for tickets to be delivered. You can’t get a first-class ticket this way, but book well in advance with Virgin Trains (virgintrains. co.uk) and you should be able to get a first-class single for about £50 (€55). Or, once you’ve worked out your route, you could book a ferry-and- train ticket in the Republic with Irish Ferries (0818-300400) or Stena Line (01-2047777).
Or you can do just as my friend did, and book online the night before. Roll on, roll off, no bother. I’m not sure she really cares that her carbon footprint was at least half what it would have been had she flown, to be honest. But if she can see that travelling the greener way is a much better experience all round, then it’s a win-win situation.
Any other converts can check out all of Europe’s rail routes, with details of journey lengths, transits and overnight accommodation, as well as green places to stay nearby, at the newly launched greentraveller.co.uk.
ethicaltraveller.net, twitter.com/catherinemack