A bank holiday weekend that none of us wanted

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [The Independent]( September 16, 2022 [View in browser](   [The Independent]( [The Independent]( Travel is built on prediction. Train firms, airlines, hotels and attractions estimate likely demand, then try to meet it. UK transport schedules for mid-September were set months ago. The Queen at London Heathrow airport in 1969 The public response to the death of the Queen has [temporarily transformed the flows of travellers](, in the same way that a seismic event might change the course of rivers. Confronted with uncertainty, the nation’s travel providers are working flat out to try to manage a thoroughly unpredictable set of circumstances. No one knows how many people from elsewhere in the UK will want to travel to London to pay their respects to Her Majesty and be part of history, but it is likely to run into millions. [Hoteliers are cashing in on the surge in demand](, with many properties selling out completely. Standard double rooms at The Goring near Buckingham Palace are still available for Sunday night at £1,550; if you checked in at the earliest time possible, 3pm, and stayed to the 12 noon check out, that works out as £78 per hour. [The best hotels near Buckingham Palace]( On Monday, the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey will affect transport in many ways. Victoria Coach Station, which has been delivering first-rate service 365 days a year for as long as I can remember, will be closed because of its proximity to events in Westminster. The skies over central London will fall silent during the service – leading to widespread cancellations of flights scheduled to land at Heathrow, and subsequent departures. The movement of the Queen's coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall caused [16 British Airways flights to and from Heathrow to be cancelled](; Monday’s disruption will be much more intense, with [200 services grounded](. [How to get to viewing spots for the Queen’s funeral procession]( Monday will be a bank holiday that none of us wanted – and a day when the traveller’s options are limited as much of the tourist industry shuts down. From Brighton’s Royal Pavilion to Edinburgh Castle, great heritage attractions will be closed. I sympathise with any tourism enterprise seeking to do the right thing at a time of national grief, but [Center Parcs inadvertently became an object of national derision]( when it published plans to clear out all guests for 24 hours on Monday “as a mark of respect”; my colleague Lucy Thackray [summed up the decision crisply as “performative madness”](. By this time next week, travel and transport will be back to business as usual – which, sadly, does not equate to sweetness and light. Expect the rail unions to announce more strikes in their long and bitter dispute; airline passengers will still be beset by mass cancellations and poor customer service; and the planet needs some relief from the impact from transport to ease. These deep-rooted problems are merely postponed, not solved.   [Get inspired...]( //link.e.independent.co.uk/click/29069154.15410/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5kZXBlbmRlbnQuY28udWsvdHJhdmVsL2V1cm9wZS9hbGJhbmlhL2FsYmFuaWEtYmVhY2hlcy1ndWlkZS1yb2FkLXRyaXAtYnVzLWIyMTUyNjQyLmh0bWw/583d2887487ccd777a8b7489B6b6cbb85[Flavoursome foodie breaks]( Try one of these English gourmet getaways for the tastiest stays this autumn [I'm an image]( [New York's best budget hotels]( Visitors to the city that never sleeps still need somewhere to lay their head - bed down in these ace but affordable digs [I'm an image]( [Green guide to Amsterdam]( How to plan an action-packed yet sustainable trip to the Dutch capital Tip of the week: New Zealand’s main train is back After closing to tourists for two years, New Zealand is now seeking to rebuild its travel industry. The Northern Explorer train, which runs through the North Island from Wellington to Auckland, resumes on 25 September. The 11-hour journey is selling for NZ$219 (£115) one way. The journey takes in the Central Plateau with three iconic volcanic cones and the Raurimu Spiral – which lifts the railway 139 metres in a remarkably tight space. [How to spend 48 hours in Auckland]( PICK OF THE WEEK: NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE [Chase the sun on an NCL cruise & enjoy 40% savings on cruises & fly-cruises across all accommodation categories!]( Deal of the week: A Greek island for £232 Bargain package holidays are widely available for the next month, with Tui offering a week on the Greek island of Zante for just £232 per person. The price is based on two sharing. It includes a flight from Birmingham on 4 October with baggage, transfers and room-only accommodation at Maria Studios in the hills above Alykes on the northeastern coast. [The ultimate Greece travel guide](   Question of the week: Can I fly direct to Rimini? Q Is there a UK airport that I can fly from to Rimini in Italy? A The lovely Adriatic resort is one of a fair number of Italian towns and cities whose airports are intermittently connected to the UK. But currently there are no direct links. You can, though, fly into either Ancona or Bologna, both about 50 miles away, and travel onward to Rimini by regular and inexpensive trains. Both are linked by Ryanair from London Stansted, with British Airways also connecting London Heathrow with Bologna. In your position I would make the most of the opportunity provided by the lack of direct flights: build in time to explore gorgeous Bologna, and/or take one route outbound and the other inbound. [Read our Bologna city guide]( STAT OF THE WEEK 1 The number of UK airlines that did not cancel a single flight during July or August. Jet2 achieved the 100 per cent operation over the summer peak, while [British Airways and easyJet were grounding flights in their thousands]( due to staff shortages What you might have missed... - Cost of living: [Could spending the winter abroad save money on energy bills?]( - Cash in: [How to stretch your holiday money as value of pound plunges]( - World tour: [Family of six reveals how they holidayed non-stop for free]( SIMON'S DIARY       Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](.         Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](.         I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder](         I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder](         Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder](         Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder](         Or you can find me on TikTok. Come and have a look at what I have been up to as I bring you top travel topics and report on the latest changes in a minute or less via [@caldertravel](         Or you can find me on TikTok. Come and have a look at what I have been up to as I bring you top travel topics and report on the latest changes in a minute or less via [@caldertravel](   INDYBEST / [TRAVEL BEST BUY]( [10 best sleeping bags for camping, festivals and trekking adventures]( From kids’ options to cocoons for two, these will ensure the happiest of campers. [Click here for the full list](     Essential reading How Center Parcs fell foul of performative mourning in a PR disaster](//link.e.independent.co.uk/click/29069154.15410/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5kZXBlbmRlbnQuY28udWsvdHJhdmVsL25ld3MtYW5kLWFkdmljZS9jZW50ZXItcGFyY3MtcXVlZW5zLWZ1bmVyYWwtY2xvc3VyZS1wZXJmb3JtYXRpdmUtYjIxNjcyNDUuaHRtbA/583d2887487ccd777a8b7489E93b45161   Articles available exclusively to subscribers The coolest UK hotels that opened last month](   OTHER NEWSLETTERS YOU MIGHT LIKE [Race Report] The Race Report Fortnightly, 7am (UK time) Written by Nadine White [Join now]( [Health Check] Health Check Every Thursday, 7am (UK time) Written by Rebecca Thomas [Join now]( 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 newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. 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