Do you want to reduce your foot carbon print but don’t want to give up traveling? Here are four ways to travel to Europe without flying.
There are many alternatives to flying to get around Europe during the holidays, and there are also websites dedicated to alternative means of transport. While low-cost flights have made it more affordable to spend a weekend in Europe in recent years, we’ve also become more aware of how much pollution we produce. We have therefore decided to point out some of the most ecological ways to travel in Europe with trains, boats and buses that also offer a much more engaging experience than waiting in line at the airport. Why choose to wait in an airport lounge when you can cross the mountains or the Baltic Sea?
Let’s find out four ways to travel to Europe without taking a plane.
Ferries
Ferries make moving between different cities and countries, even just for a day trip, as you can do from Venice to Pula in Croatia. Ferries also connect the various Greek islands with each other and the Italian mainland with islands such as Sardinia, Elba and Corsica, but also the United Kingdom with Ireland.
One of our favorite ferry trips is between Tallinn and Helsinki. For the price of a restaurant dinner, you travel a few hours on a huge ferry past the once-closed Prangli Saar Island (where Soviet soldiers stood guard against smugglers from the west), and to some of the islands Finnish minors.
Trains
By train you can do a lot of things: the Eurostar connects London to Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussels to Lille; the TGV takes passengers from Milan to Paris in just over seven hours; The night routes, such as that between Berlin and Moscow and Vienna help to make the most of the ride. Finally, Thello trains are also an efficient way to travel between France and Italy. The Kingdom is also a wonderful place to explore by train, especially if you want to travel between London and Edinburgh. The 84-mile journey from Fort William to Mallaig on the Jacobite steam train became famous thanks to the Harry Potter films – the Hogwarts Express passing over the Glenfinnan 21-arch viaduct has transformed the route into a tourist attraction.
The Marshrutka
The word “marshrutka” means “route” in Russian and refers to small vans that transport people to cities such as Riga, Moscow, Tbilisi, and Kiev. Originally manufactured in Latvia, vehicles are now a staple of post-Soviet life.
Not only that, it is also the cheapest way to travel between Tbilisi and Yerevan, the capitals of Georgia and Armenia. You will pass through the controversial Nagorno-Karabakh region, see military vehicles and pass through charming Armenian villages. If you are lucky enough to take a trip to the mountains, the driver will stop at the natural springs where you can get off and fill your water bottles.
Seat 61
The Man in Seat 61 is a website founded in 2001 by Mark Smith. When he was manager of the UK rail network he spotted the challenges of booking low-cost fares across Europe and quit his job to devote himself full time to this site to provide readers with advice on how to find the lowest and most affordable fares in Europe. all over Europe. The site boasts a million visitors per month and major publications have cited it as an exemplary source of alternatives to the fly. Passionate about trains and travel, Mark has experienced many of the routes he talks about firsthand. It is this rich experience that makes readers trust him.
Hiram Abriel is a transportation analyst and writer with a keen focus on railway innovation. He covers advancements in high-speed rail, sustainable transport solutions, and the integration of smart technology in modern rail networks.