Flying is to be endured, rail travel is to be enjoyed

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [View in browser]( [The Independent]( [Travel] Simon Calder’s Travel Week [Simon Calder]( Written by Simon Calder | October 22, 2021 To remind yourself of the joys of rail travel, try flying. I am writing to you close to midnight on Thursday at the end of an absurdly long day – which included a self-inflicted stretch of aviation-related stress that taught me to revere the train. Yesterday saw the maiden voyage of [Lumo, a new “open access” train operator](. From Monday, 25 October, Lumo will offer two services a day each way on the East Coast main line from London King's Cross via Newcastle to Edinburgh Waverley. As a publicity exercise, a trainful of rail dignitaries and media were invited to journey north on a preview trip on Thursday. I thought it might prove instructive to cover the same ground by air. [Could flying match the train for speed between the two capitals?]( I concocted a cunning plan to find out. Raring to go: the Lumo train at London King's Cross that I raced to Edinburgh Waverley After seeing off the train, I sprinted across to St Pancras station, caught a delayed Thameslink train to Luton Airport Parkway, sprinted some more for the connecting bus to the airport, passed through all the indignities of security from separate shoe screening to a full body scan, hunted down a departure gate so remote I swear it was in another county, waited around with no means of recharging my flagging laptop and phone, flew to Glasgow (yes, Edinburgh would have been easier but there were no affordable flights that aligned with the Lumo schedule), arrived five minutes early but waited another 10 minutes on the plane because the dispatcher turned up late, sprinted again from (inevitably) the furthest possible gate at Glasgow airport to the taxi queue, paid more for a cab to the city’s Queen Street station than the plane ticket had cost – and made a final dash to leap aboard the last possible train that would get me to Edinburgh before the Lumo train. Rush hour: easyJet flight 65 from Luton on arrival at Glasgow yesterday And relax. As the sun burst through the clouds to illuminate the autumnal scenes unfolding to the north, I realised that rail travel is a modern miracle. Each of the several hundred passengers on the ScotRail train between Glasgow and Edinburgh had their own motives for making the journey; their own thoughts and moods; their own ways of filling the time. (While I gazed at the unfolding landscapes, the gentleman opposite me knitted an exquisite creation.) Yet collectively we had an unspoken agreement to travel together through spectacular landscapes, covering one mile every 40 seconds and exploiting Victorian infrastructure to the full to minimise environment damage. The rail traveller is in harmony with the world. So rather than taking the train to its final destination and feeling pathetically smug about beating Lumo by a few minutes, I hopped off at the penultimate station, Haymarket, to stroll and sightsee for the final mile along Princes Street – cherishing the autumn sunshine and the majesty of Edinburgh Castle, I walked into Waverley station just as Lumo pulled in. For the many journeys where there is no reasonable alternative, flying is terrific. But an option to stay at ground level presents itself: take it. Destination of the week: Reykjavik, Iceland View from the ferry to Videy, a windswept isle that is also an outdoor art gallery The last days of October comprise a time of transformation in the far north. Today, daylight in the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, extends just beyond nine hours. By the end of the month, the length of the day shrinks by an hour, with the sun sinking lower on the horizon and a wider window for seeing the northern lights. [Even if you stray no further than the capital, there is much to savour –]( including the Culture House, reflecting the nation's art and literature, and Harpa, a vast concert hall that celebrates its 10th birthday this year. The local ferry to Videy Island takes you to a windswept isle that is also an outdoor art gallery. At the western end is the Peace Tower – a white cylinder – created by Yoko Ono. It carries the message “Imagine Peace” in 24 languages. The latest Icelandic start-up airline, Play, will take you from London Stansted to Reykjavik for £99 return, flying out on Friday 5 November and back three days later. Don’t miss my daily travel podcast [Green List Travel]( For all the latest travel tips, advice and news listen to my podcast ‘Green List Travel with Simon Calder and The Independent’. It's available now for free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](. Deals of the week: Italian connection and the lowest fares for taking a car to Ireland - If you don’t mind flying, perennial bargains in short-break packages abound for European short breaks with British Airways. Travel outbound from London Heathrow to Milan on 1 November, for example, and you can stay for three nights at the four-star Doria Grand (near Centrale station) for £200 per person, based on two sharing. The price includes flights with a 23kg baggage allowance and breakfast each morning. Book at ba.com or through an agent. - Increasingly many travel enterprises have low fare finders, display the dates and departures when you can pay the least. The Stena Line website has some good offers for two people travelling together with a car between Fishguard in west Wales and Rosslare in southeast Ireland. The lowest fare of £290 return is available on late-night departures from Wales to Ireland and early evening sailings in the opposite direction. Question of the week: Help! We are in Morocco. What are our options for getting home? Question: We are on holiday in Morocco, and since the flight ban took effect we have had no communication from our airline. How am I am meant to get my family home? Answer: Unhelpful as it may sound, I suggest you just wait. It’s now 31 hours since [Morocco brought in a ban on flying in passengers from the UK]((as well as Germany and the Netherlands) because of alarm about soaring levels of new Covid-19 infections. Yet some airlines are still flying empty planes out to Morocco to bring holidaymakers like you home; indeed I see that easyJet has a departure planned for noon today from Marrakesh to London Gatwick. In the absence of any other information, assume the flight will go ahead as planned. But if the airline tells you the flight is cancelled, then it must provide an alternative way for you to get home – either direct on a rival or perhaps on its own services via France or Spain. Stories you might like [Foreign jabs aren’t good enough, government tells ‘pinged’ visitors]( [Foreign jabs aren’t good enough, government tells ‘pinged’ visitors]( [Ask Simon Calder your travel questions, live, later today]( Ask Simon Calder your travel questions, live, later today]( More stories [Eurostar trials biometric passport system using facial recognition]( Eurostar trials biometric passport system using facial recognition]( [Coventry trialling £3,000 grants for drivers to give up their cars]( Coventry trialling £3,000 grants for drivers to give up their cars]( Other newsletters you might like [Adam Forrest]( Inside Politics Every weekday, 8am (UK time) Written by Adam Forrest [Join now >]( [Joe Sommerlad]( Daily News Briefing Every weekday, 8am (UK time) Written by Joe Sommerlad [Join now >]( Let me know your thoughts on Twitter [@SimonCalder](. If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Please do not reply directly to this email. You are currently registered to receive The Independent's Travel email. Add us to your safe list of senders . If you do not want to receive The Independent's Travel email, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Travel_Newsletter_CDP). If you no longer wish to receive any newsletters or promotional emails from The Independent, you can unsubscribe [here](. This email was sent by Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07320345. Read our [privacy notice]( and [cookie policy](.