10:32 AM
anything
With the summer upon us many people are finalizing their holiday plans if they haven't already done so. In these difficult financial times many are opting to stay within the UK rather than venture abroad, providing a great opportunity to get to know our own country and also reducing the need to travel by plane. For those still traveling to other shores, there are also many different ways to travel, which can in fact be an adventure in themselves.
Traveling by plane produces vast quantities of greenhouse gases, and reducing or cutting air travel out altogether can make a big difference to your carbon footprint. Especially when traveling abroad, it is easy to instantly think about flying to your destination, but there are often alternatives which will almost certainly be greener, could be cheaper and will often become part of the fun of the holiday.
Within Europe in particular there are plenty of options to travel by ferry, train or coach. The numerous UK ferry ports travel to various destinations in both northern and southern Europe with the longer journeys often a mini holiday in themselves. Once at your destination, look into train or coach travel for the remainder of your journey. Coach travel from the UK is also an option with companies offering various packages across Europe.
You can, of course, travel by train direct from the UK to mainland Europe using the Eurostar. There are all sorts of travel tickets available allowing you to work out the most cost effective and quickest (or longest if you want to take in some more scenery and locations) way to travel. With sleeper carriages on many long distance trains, you can travel in comfort with the whole family.
If you are traveling further than Europe, the options are of course more expensive and take longer, but it is worth looking into the options available as you can make the journey part of your holiday.
Whatever your travel plans this summer and beyond, do consider alternatives to flying; it will probably make a refreshing change to your traveling and will also help the environment.