Summer travel still isn't a breeze but we're back to disruption as usual

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE: £20 FOR 1 YEAR]( August 11, 2023 [View in browser](   [The Independent]( [The Independent]( Last week I launched a brand new newsletter, exclusive to subscribers of The Independent. It’s called [Ask Me Anything]( and it gives you the chance to have your travel questions answered by me. To receive Ask Me Anything, along with unlimited access to Premium insight, ad-free reading, the daily edition newspaper, puzzles and more, [subscribe today for just £20 for one year](.   How’s your summer? Passing agreeably, I hope. But you may be fretting about the warning from the Unite union of “severe disruption throughout Gatwick airport” – or the seemingly endless industrial action on the railways of England. All smiles: Chloe, a 1977 VW camper van, at Dover on her way to the Dordogne this week   [Get inspired...]( [Spotlight on: Portugal]( This sublime slice of the Iberian Peninsula offers holiday options aplenty. Here's our pick of the best Portuguese destinations – and when to travel to each one. [I'm an image]( [Brighton hotels]( If you do like to be beside the seaside, consider a late-summer UK break to Sussex's capital of beach cool. Check out this collection of the chicest stays. [I'm an image]( [How Calais got cool]( Think you know the formerly down-at-heel booze cruise hub? Think again. France’s much-maligned port city has had a glow-up, from a new promenade to out of this world sculptures.   Simon’s dispatches Summer remains blighted by worries for UK holidaymakers. Perhaps you are one of the British Airways passengers from Johannesburg who, due to a series of aviation misfortunes, [touched down at London Heathrow three days late](? Many of them had already spent 10 hours on a “flight to nowhere” and a further three hours sitting on an Airbus A380 that was subsequently delayed overnight. A coup in the central African nation of Niger led to the sudden closure of airspace on Sunday night and [BA's SuperJumbos turning back](. Added to the no-go skies above Libya and Sudan, the closure leaves Africa with a 2,600-mile wide barrier stretching from the Burkina Faso border to the Red Sea. With extra fuel loaded two nights later, a second attempt was made – but was thwarted by an unwell pilot, who I trust is making a swift recovery. Maybe you made the mistake of asking HM Passport Office for advice on post-Brexit passport validity for Europe, as one reader did this week – [almost cancelling a £5,000 cruise on the basis of the misleading information](. Or did you turn up at Dover for a ferry to France at 10am on 29 July, coinciding with the longest queue for EU frontier formalities this year: 2h30m? ([As I discovered at the Kent port on Wednesday](, travelling midweek can reduce the wait to a few minutes.) Or possibly you are staring at an empty wallet due to the surge in holiday prices this year: Tui, the giant travel firm, says [the average package this summer is selling for 26 per cent more than in 2019](. If your travel plans have gone Tango Uniform, you have my sympathy. But things could be worse. Much worse. For [my latest travel podcast for The Independent,]( I checked back for stories I wrote exactly one, two and three years ago. 2020: [UK ‘will not hesitate’ to add France to quarantine list]( – and, soon after Rishi Sunak said this, holidaymakers arriving home from across the Channel had to self-isolate for two weeks. 2021: [Hundreds beat Mexico ‘red list’ deadline as travel rules change]( – surely the height of Covid travel restriction-insanity, when the sudden classification led to mandatory (and now [wholly discredited]() hotel quarantine. 2022: [‘My nine-year-old son was ordered to take a Covid test after entering Canada’]( – yes, just a year ago travellers touching down in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary or Vancouver could be randomly selected for a PCR test, folllowed by 10 days in an airport hotel room. For completeness, I looked back to the same spell in 2019 to discover overnight rail passengers [stranded in Preston after the Caledonian Sleeper broke down](; Ryanair pilots in Ireland [voting to strike](; and the UK [planning to leave the European Interrail scheme]( at the end of 2019 (a Brexit travel consequence which thankfully was swiftly reversed). Travel is susceptible to more dimensions of disruption than any other industry. The impact is most acute in high summer, when more of us are travelling and our journeys are the most highly valued. Appreciate how accessible the world has become once more, and try to put inevitable disruption down to travel experience.     Tip of the week: Express rail from Miami to Orlando Five weeks from today, two of Florida’s biggest cities will be linked by express trains. [Brightline]( is due to extend its existing Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach route to a station close to Orlando airport. The 240-mile journey will be covered in three-and-a-half hours for a one-way fare of $79 (£62). Tickets are available from 15 September. [Listen to my Independent travel podcast on Brightline]( PICK OF THE WEEK: VALUE ADDED TRAVEL [Elevate your last-minute holiday at 5* Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Beach Resort! Enjoy a complimentary room upgrade, transfers, and indulge in the All-Inclusive Dine Around experience for unforgettable moments. Book now!]( Deal of the week: Money off P&O Ferries With thousands of flights from the UK cancelled this summer, [P&O Ferries]( is offering a 20 per cent discount deal aimed at rescuing holidays. If you can demonstrate your holiday flight was cancelled, you qualify for one-fifth off Dover-Calais single or return fares in August and September. The minimum stay away is five days. The ferry company was heavily criticised last year [for making UK crew redundant in order to employ workers on lower pay](. [Air traffic overload across Europe]( 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: Beach recommendation for Crete Q I need to find a nice beach and some peace in Crete in late August, please? A The largest Greek island can provide plenty of attractive answers over its 160-mile length. Chania is my favourite Cretan city (much more appealing than the island’s capital, Heraklion). While it does not have a decent beach, the Akrotiri peninsula is nearby and accessible by bus, or by a short taxi ride from the airport. The village of Stavros at the northern tip has an excellent beach and a few bars, as well as a place in movie history: the closing scene of Zorba the Greek was filmed beneath the 1,000ft-high slab of limestone that towers over the beach, with Alan Bates and Anthony Quinn dancing the Sirtaki. For a more conventional resort in the western half of the island, head for Rethynmon, about halfway between Chania and Heraklion. It is a pleasant seaside resort with a good beach, well placed for either city or exploring the south of the island. For the peace you crave, though, I recommend instead travelling east for around 40 miles from Heraklion airport to Elounda. This tranquil location has a good beach fringed with tavernas, plus small and friendly places to stay. Take a boat to the offshore island of Spinalonga – a Venetian settlement, once a leper colony, that is rich in history and intrigue. [Off the beaten track in Crete]( STAT OF THE WEEK £39 [Lead-in single fare for London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam on Eurostar,]( which the rail firm's CEO says she is determined to maintain. Some tickets are available in September; you must buy a return trip to get the lowest prices. What you might have missed... - Africa diversion: [Passengers from Italy to Gatwick travel via Tunisia]( - Algarve alarm: [Advice on travel to wildfire-hit southern Portugal]( - Paw behaviour: [Passenger abandons dog at Pittsburgh airport]( 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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