June 2 – 28

For this trip, transportation expense was more than for a typical road trip as we purchased those Eurail passes, which were still an incredible bargain in terms of the number of individual trips and the distance we traveled.  If we were to have purchased single tickets for each of our legs, the cost would have been multiple magnitudes more.  So, if you are concerned about driving in Europe, this could be the best way to go. 

Also, when you add in how European cities are structured, almost always with the main train station a focal point for the city’s municipal transportation options, often near the historic center and usually within easy reach of numerous lodging choices, traveling by train is a good alternative to driving for the independent traveler. 

But for the adventurous or those who wish to travel outside of the major cities, trains can make travel much more complicated with fewer options.  Our visit to the Loire Valley illustrates this.  After our two-night stay in Blois, we traveled to Amboise, Villandry, and Chinon, all within 37 miles of each other, so that I could bike between them, and one would think that moving between each by public transportation would be simple.  This would not be the case. 

As we found out to our dismay, trains don’t run between these smaller towns and so one must rely on regional bus lines and in one case for Joanna on the way to Villandry, needing to take a $50 taxi ride to get to her last stop of the day.  We ran into this situation twice in England in 1998 during a two week trip there where we traveled exclusively by train; the first in Bath when we used a train and a local bus to visit the neolithic stone circles at Avebury.  It took us all day to do this one simple thing.  If we’d had a car, we could have seen the stones and taken in a couple of other tourist sites, including the cathedral at Salisbury. 

The other occurrence that trip occurred in Chester, when we took the train to Shropshire to visit the World Heritage Site at Iron Bridge (Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron.  Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a structural material).  Between the distance we needed to travel and the timing of the train schedule, we arrived at the site so late we could only spend an hour or so there before needing to turn around and return to Chester. 

Another consideration is total cost of the mode of travel.  For us for this trip, traveling on the Eurail senior pass made great sense, particularly given rental car prices at the time (agencies still dealing with inventory issues post Covid) and the high cost of gas.  But for other trips, decent rental car and moderate gas prices can be a break even or even cheaper than taking the train. 

Another very reasonable mode of travel is by bus.  Greyhound here in the U.S. can tend to give this form a bad name, but in Europe or Mexico, regional or state bus lines are very affordable and tend to also offer many more routes between large and small towns.  During our 2017 trip we took advantage of FlixBus, a German brand that offers intercity bus service in Europe, North America, and Brazil.  It is owned by the mobility platform Flix SE, which also operates Flixtrain, FlixCar, and Greyhound Lines. Their buses are new and equipped with WI-FI, power outlets and an onboard bathroom. 

Their fares are highly competitive, and they offer an advantage over local bus lines in that their website is in English.  In Spain, and Mexico, we ran into an issue with local sites in that the main page would translate to English, but once you dove deeper into the site, say to check fares or schedules, the site defaulted to the native language and became quite difficult to navigate.  Consequently, we used Flix to travel between Toulouse and Montpellier, Montpellier, and Barcelona and here in the states, Oakland and home in Los Angeles. 

So, for travelers to Europe, one’s transportation choice comes down to comfort with driving, cost considerations, the itinerary, and one not always thought of, how much luggage you plan to bring along.  Joanna and I each traveled with one check-in size bag, for her the Osprey Fairview 65 Wheeled Travel Pack (26-Inch/65 Liters) and for me the Eagle Creek Gear Warrior (26-inch/61 liters). 

Joanna’s bag converts to a backpack, convenient for carrying what becomes a heavy bag up narrow European stairwells in buildings without an elevator.  My Eagle Creek is an older two wheeled version of the bag offered today and it does not convert.  Unfortunately, we can’t quite seem to pare down our clothing and accessories when traveling and find these size bags accommodate our needs for capacity while keeping it down to just one bag apiece along with our day packs. 

For air travel, this means the bags must be checked, not a big deal for us, but the real downside comes for train travel as they tend to be heavy and so muscling them on and off the train can be a challenge, as well as navigating those narrow stairwells I mentioned earlier.  Indeed, if you can manage to fit all your travel needs into a 22-inch carry-on, you will be good to go all around, not needing to check your bag and able to easily navigate trains and stairwells.  For those looking for strategies on packing light, there are many outlets for determining how to reduce what you take with you, either in guidebooks or that other great resource, YouTube.

And so, this closes out Europe 2022, celebrating our 40^th anniversary and as most good trips do, saluting those places we are most attached to while also exploring new territory.  For us, the joy of spending time in Europe is so compelling that it does a disservice to all the other noteworthy and worthwhile places we could visit.  But we are trying to turn over a new leaf, as witnessed by our journeys to Egypt and Mexico in 2019 and for this year, a two-week tour of Peru in July. with Intrepid Travel, the folks we toured Egypt with.

Two separate orthopedic surgeries (total right knee replacement in July 2022 and then the hip on the same leg last January).  With three month or more recoveries for both, it put quite the dent in our ability to travel for almost a year, but we did get some done in the fall which will recount in following posts.  In the meantime, thanks again for following this blog as it allows us to share our adventures with you.  Until the next post, travel on.

Links

Eurail: https://www.eurail.com/en

Osprey Fairview: https://www.osprey.com/us/en/product/fairview-wheeled-travel-pack-65l-27-5-FAIRVWWH65F22.html