The beach? First navigate your way through travel’s obstacle course

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE: £20 FOR 1 YEAR]( July 14, 2023 [View in browser](   [The Independent]( [The Independent]( "All you've got to do is decide to go, and the hardest part is over.” Fond though I am of Tony Wheeler, the inspirational quote for which the Lonely Planet co-founder is known rings hollow these tricky days. The hard part may only be beginning. On the move: passengers at Gatwick airport yesterday   [Get inspired...]( [Hunt for the hidden Algarve]( Follow your tastebuds in Portugal's popular tourist haunt to find a foodie’s paradise far from the madding crowd [I'm an image]( Cornish charm]( Did someone say sea, sand and spa? If you're looking to recharge and reconnect, here's our pick of Cornwall's best wellness hotels. [I'm an image]( [Safari in... Argentina?]( From extinction to distinction: a rewilding project in the Iberá Wetlands introduces wildlife lovers to out-of-this-world nature experiences   Simon’s dispatches Any traveller who makes a snap decision to visit Continental Europe faces a series of hurdles. First, getting there. What could be simpler than hopping on a train from London to Paris? Well, on Sunday the first nine [Eurostar]( departures are fully booked, and the remaining four have only Business Premier tickets at £325 one way. Oh well, it’ll have to be the plane, then. Except affordable flights to Europe are also elusive. Just when the aviation industry was struggling to meet the relentless post-pandemic demand from travellers, [easyJet chose to cancel 1,700 Gatwick flights between now and early September](. The airline squarely blames [air-traffic control shortcomings]( for the hundreds of cancellations over the past few weeks; easyJet hopes that culling around 25 departures a day will ease the pressure on the world’s busiest runway. A fair few of the 180,000 passengers booked on those disappearing flights have contacted me about [consumer issues](. They range from cash compensation (due only if you are told of a cancellation less than two weeks ahead) to replacement flights: easyJet switching a Sunday afternoon Barcelona-Gatwick trip to a Saturday morning departure to Luton is unacceptable. The bonfire of the schedules is awkward for passengers and expensive for easyJet: the airline is having to buy tickets on rival airlines for some disappointed customers, and footing the bill for extra overnight stays caused by its cancellations. Yet the mass grounding is [potentially profitable for scammers]( who create imposter accounts on Twitter to swindle cheesed-off easyJet passengers. This week I spoke to a gentleman claiming to be “Mr Patrick from easyJet HQ”. He promised compensation after my cancelled flight, just as soon as I sent £1,000 by bank transfer to an account in Kenya. If your flight survives the cull and your savings escape the scam, you next have to reach the airport. Yesterday [we reported on the inflation-busting increases in drop-off fees at the UK’s airports](. At Gatwick, whose £5 charge for depositing passengers is now typical, I canvassed views. The greatest outrage came from Leo, just arrived from New York – where evidently the ability to drop off a passenger at “curbside” for free is an inalienable constitutional right. Even when you reach the departure airport, your problems may not be over. With the decision to exit the European Union, we wished upon ourselves much extra red tape. Previously you just needed a valid British passport to reach France, Spain or Italy. Now ground staff must check: was it issued less than 10 years ago and is it valid for at least three months after your intended day of departure from the EU? I fear through the summer thousands of holidaymakers will be turned away because their travel document infringes one or both conditions. Please help by sharing [our comprehensive guide to post-Brexit passport validity](. Then go. [An attempted scam that began with an imposter Twitter account](     Tip of the week: Rail industrial action resumes For most of the rest of July, rail passengers face disruption from the next phases of industrial action. For over a year, the two main rail unions have been involved in bitter disputes with train operators and the government over pay, jobs and working conditions. On Monday 17 July, train drivers belonging to Aslef begin another overtime ban through to Saturday 22 July. Hundreds of trains will be cancelled each day as a result. The biggest rail union, the RMT, has called 20,000 of its members out on strike on Thursday 20, Saturday 22 and Saturday 29 July. A London Underground strike, also involving members of the RMT, will run from Sunday 23 to Friday 28 July. Your guide to the rail industrial action in July]( Deal of the week: Cheap rail travel in southwest France “AvantagiO’ Futé” may not be the catchiest brand for cut-price rail tickets. But for anyone travelling in the Occitania region of southwest France – centred on Toulouse and bordered by Spain to the south and Avignon to the east – it spells cut-price rail travel. [Book]( at least a day or two in advance and you can find fares on regional trains (not TGV expresses) that start at €3 for under 40km and rise to a maximum of €15 for over 200km. Sometimes fares of just €1 pop up for off-peak journeys, too. [The ultimate Interrail trip chosen by the editors of Europe by Rail]( Enjoy a year of unlimited digital access for just £99 £20 ✓ Full access to Premium news analysis ✓ Advert-free reading across web and app ✓ The Independent Daily Edition newspaper ✓ Puzzles, virtual event tickets and more [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   Question of the week: The ideal two-week trip through eastern Europe? Q Can you prescribe a good two-week summer holiday travelling through eastern Europe? A Start in [Tallinn](, Estonia, one of the finest capitals in Europe. A two-hour bus ride to Narva takes you to the Russian border – and a beautiful riverside location that has the chill of a Cold War frontier. Travel south to the Estonian cultural hub of Tartu, with the national museum, and continue through the Baltic Republics on trains where they exist buses where they do not. Spend a day in the Latvian capital, [Riga](, and another in [Vilnius]( in Lithuania. Go west through Latvia's second city, Kaunus, and across northeast Poland. Pause at Ketrzyn, location of the chilling ruins of the [Wolf's Lair](, Hitler's eastern headquarters in the Second World War. [Gdansk]( in Poland has much to offer – including the spectacular Solidarity Museum in the old Lenin Shipyards, where liberation began. Handily, it is also very close to Sopot, in my opinion the finest Baltic resort and a fine place to relax for a few days. Next stop, [Warsaw](: rebuilt after wartime devastation, with an impressive Old Town and some good museums. [Krakow](, just a couple of hours south by fast train, may be the highlight of your trip: the medieval roots (the city was Polish capital until the end of the 17th century) are well preserved, along with what remains of the city’s once-vibrant Jewish neighbourhood. At this point, you could fly back – or continue west to Prague or south, across the Tatra Mountains to Slovakia. Wherever you roam, the costs of accommodation and transport will be refreshingly low. [Estonia travel guide]( STAT OF THE WEEK 40+ Temperature in degrees Celsius predicted for today and tomorrow by the Cyprus Department of Meteorology [as a heatwave blankets the Mediterranean](. What you might have missed... - Bali high: [Indonesian island launches $10 tourist tax]( - Taste protest: [Passenger unhappy with meal choice causes diversion](//link.e.independent.co.uk/click/32077534.2383/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5kZXBlbmRlbnQuY28udWsvdHJhdmVsL25ld3MtYW5kLWFkdmljZS9ibHVlLWFpci1yb21hbmlhLWZsaWdodHMtc3VzcGVuZGVkLWIyMTYxNTY1Lmh0bWw/583d2887487ccd777a8b7489B3fc9f504 - Seat scramble: [Why overbooking flights can be a sound idea]( 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 Instagram (and also now on Threads) [@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]( / [BEST TRAVEL BUYS]( [Best men’s summer shoes and sandals, for holidays, weddings and more]( From [sandals]( and [slides]( to [clogs]( and [trainers](, we’ve tested the [best men’s summer shoes](. 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