Eurostar sets a new record speed

04. September 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: train travel

The BBC reports that the Eurostar has set a new record speed of 325km/h on the new high-speed line in the UK.

The Eurostar is easily the most convenient method of travel between London and Paris/Brussels, but has been held back for many years by the conventional tracks on the British side of the line. The new line will open to the public on November 14th, and is expected to cut 20 minutes off journeys.

Remember to book well in advance, if you’re planning on taking the Eurostar – you’ll get a much better deal than if you purchase tickets close to your date of travel.

Going it alone

01. September 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: solo travel

The Globe and Mail writes:

“It’s never looked better. From shared rooms to special deals, the industry is courting the single traveller”

Travelling solo is a great way to get out and see the world; you’re left to your own devices and you have the advantage of being able to do as much (or as little) as you want. Being able to decide, on a whim, what you want to do each day can make for quite a stress-free trip.

But what do you do if you find yourself getting very sick of your own company?

It helps to pick the right time to go to certain areas: I was in Sweden in April, one year, and it was still too cold for there to be too many travellers around. Shortly after, I headed south, and there were considerably more people around to chat to.

Try to stay in hostels or backpackers’ hotels. You’re unlikely to meet anyone by staying on your own in a midrange hotel, shielded from the outside world in an airconditioned cocoon. If you dislike staying in dormitories – and who could blame you, there’s only so long a person can stand the smell of other people’s towels being hung out to air – many hostels have private rooms, these days.

Look for the hostels that have kitchens for self-caterers, and good lounge/leisure rooms; you’re far more likely to meet other people in situations where you can interact with lots of people.

Italy Roundup

25. August 2007 · 1 comment · Categories: europe, italy

Continuing the theme we started last week with our look at Venice, we’ll do a round-up of the various articles on Italy that have been cropping up in the print media over the last few weeks. The Melbourne Age has no fewer that four stories on Italy this month, starting with a look at cycling through the hills of Tuscany, moving to the other end of the country to try out some of Sicily’s delicacies and then heading north to a health resort on Lake Garda.

And if that wasn’t enough for you, consider having a look at the new couples obsession in Rome: chaining padlocks to metal posts on Ponte Milvio.

The New York Times checks out the sulfur baths near Viterbo, and later visits Sardinia’s port city of Cagliari. Returning to Tuscany, we have two articles, one from Canada’s Globe and Mail and the other from the UK’s Independent.

In the blogosphere, the Vancouver Sun has been tracking the progress of Stephanie, in Me and my Euro Summer; her Italy coverage starts at day 29, in Florence. Episode 102 of the Amateur Traveller podcast focuses on the Cinque terra and Lake Como.

To round things off, there’s a wonderful photo of Vernazza, from the Why Go blog.

Top ten tips for dealing with money when travelling

21. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: money


The was a short article in the Sydney Morning Herald last weekend on withdrawing money when travelling. There’s some good tips in there, although I’m surprised that travellers cheques are listed almost as an afterthought. They’ve been around for over century, and are still the most reliable way of getting money. Here are my top ten tips for dealing with money when travelling.
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Nordic Gold

20. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: denmark, finland, norway, sweden

There have been a gaggle of travel articles on the nordic countries, in recent weeks. The Independent visits southern Finland, and finds a considerable number of saunas. They also have an article on the five best Nordic summer retreats.

The Guardian takes a yacht around Norway’s Lofoten islands and the New York Times looks at Skane, southern Sweden. The Age also travels to Sweden, but goes a a little further north.

Finally, the Shanghai Daily looks at design in Denmark and Sweden.

US makes life even more difficult for travellers.

20. August 2007 · 2 comments · Categories: united states

It’s no wonder that the number of travellers to the US is declining. With constant stories of mistreatment of air passengers by the TSA, people mistakenly finding themselves on no-fly lists and unable to remove themselves, and others being denied entry for petty reasons, I am not surprised at all when I hear comments from people who would otherwise jump at the chance to travel to the US saying that they really can’t be bothered anymore.

Well, now it’s about to get just that little bit more difficult to go to the US, with the signing into law of an electronic authorisation scheme, for travellers from 15 EU countries.

“It will require people from 15 western EU states who now do not need visas to register online and give details of their passport, travel plans and planned social and business meeting at least two days before departure”

How many travellers know the details of their social meetings before they depart? I can also imagine that there will be huge chunk of travellers who also have no idea what their travel plans will be, other than their arrival and departure dates. I can imagine now that a proportion of the travelling public will now throw up their hands in frustration and fly to Canada instead.

Not surprisingly, the EU is now thinking of retaliating, by imposing a similar scheme on American citizens.

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A few days in Venice.

18. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: italy, lcguide, venice

The world’s oldest film festival, the Venice Film Festival is less than two weeks away, so it’s a good excuse to see what the area has to offer the independent traveller.

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Common mistakes of first time backpackers

14. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: backpacking

Kirsty Henderson has written an interesting article on Five common mistakes of first time backpackers. I’d like to add a few of my own:

  1. Arriving in a new town too late in the evening: it’s a scary feeling wondering if you’re going to end up spending the night at the main railway station, because all accomodation in a town is booked out. Try to arrive early, so that you have a good choice of places to stay.
  2. Taking a laptop computer: just don’t do it. I’ve been on business trips that I turned into short backpacking holidays, and carting a laptop around with me was an absolute pain. They’re always too heavy, yet valuable enough to make you think twice about leaving it in a railway station locker. If you want to stay in touch with friends, just make use of web-based email services in net cafes.
  3. Not properly reading up on the towns you’re visiting: you can’t always rely on being able to stumble onto a town’s sights; learn about the places you’re visiting before you leave, so you don’t waste all your time reading guidebooks when you’re there.

The hell that is bus travel

10. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: australia, bus travel, pacific

I’ve just emerged from a three-hour trip from Melbourne to the north-eastern Victoria. It’s ski season, here in the high-country, and being a Friday evening, the bus was packed to the brim with skiers planning a weekend at Mt Buller.

Bus travel is generally unpleasant even at the best of times. The best someone can hope for is that the trip is short, that it isn’t crowded and that the bus-driver doesn’t decide to put on a blaring video to keep passengers amused.

Alas, it wasn’t to be. The person sitting next to me fell asleep and his head crashed onto my shoulder every few minutes, for the first half of the journey and the driver decided to turn up the heating to sauna levels, until someone pleaded with him to turn it down.

I’ve long been of the mind that travel isn’t just about being somewhere; half the fun is getting there, too. Bus travel kills this notion. There’s just nothing to enjoy about being crowded into a seat with no leg room, whilst dealing with the smell of your fellow passengers and the cleaning chemicals from the tiny toilet at the back of the vehicle and worrying about your luggage being stolen from the underneath compartment at stops along the route.

The sad part of this is that thirty years ago, there was a railway line from Melbourne to this area, but unfortunately, it was removed by a shortsighted government for minor economic gain. With the number of people coming to the area to ski now, the line would make a very welcome alternative to a pretty horrible bus journey.

When economics and safety collide

04. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: air travel

Easyjet announced this week that it intends to start charging passengers for all luggage that they check into the hold. While they certainly aren’t the first airline to do this – Ryanair have charged passengers for checking in luggage for a year now – their reasoning for this has annoyed me greatly:

“It’s about getting people to pack smarter, travel lighter and travel cheaper,” Easyjet said.

How many people can easily take a holiday with just hand luggage? If you travel anywhere for more than three or four days, the amount of cleaning clothing you’ll require will quickly outgrow the space available in a small backpack, unless you plan to spend each day of your trip in a laundromat.

Add to that the modern traveller’s problems with what may and may-not be carried on-board a flight. Like to carry a pocketknife with you? You’ll need to check your baggage. Have liquid toiletries such as shaving cream, deodourant or sunscreen? You’ll need to check your baggage.

In fact, I would contend that the only travellers who don’t need to check their baggage are businesspeople on day-trips, or staying in expensive hotels where all required toiletries are provided for free – and these are the people who are least likely to choose to fly cattle-class on a budget airline.

This is clearly a money-making exercise. They know that the vast majority of their passengers simply cannot avoid checking in luggage, and now they intend to profit from it, under the guise of “packing smarter”.

It will be interesting to see the long term impact of these policies. Clearly the fee for carrying bags will rise, and as more passengers attempt to try flying with hand-luggage only, the queues for luggage-scanning will grow longer and it will become increasingly difficult to get passengers onboard quickly, while they block the aisles of the plane trying to lift their huge bags into the overhead lockers.

EasyJet and Ryanair may have shot themselves in the foot, over this one.

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