Flight free vacations travel guide
Fallen out of love with flying? You’re not the only one. From the moment you enter the airport it’s a painful experience. Slow-moving check-in queues, liquid bans, irritating weight limits, security checks, delays, the joy of trying to find space in the overhead lockers. And that’s before we get on to the carbon footprint of air travel. So why bother?
Going flight free isn’t just more eco-friendly and less of a hassle. It restores a sense of romance and adventure to travel.
When you treat the journey to your destination as part of the vacation, getting there becomes far more relaxed and pleasant. In this guide we’ll show you how easy it can be to travel around Europe – and beyond – from the UK, with expert advice from our responsible tourism partners and inspiring itinerary ideas. The sky’s the limit when you stay on the ground.
Read our flight free vacations travel guide for more details.
Flight free vacations are…
eco-friendly, fun and easier to organise than you might think.
Flight free vacations aren’t…
about ‘shaming’, but fast and cheap aren’t always best.
What do flight free vacations entail?
Aha, you cry, the clue is in the name! And you’d be right. But it’s not quite as simple as cutting out the flights; it’s also about thinking how you can still get to where you want to go without flying. These are vacations where you reach your destination by road, rail or boat rather than going by air.
Now, we’re not expecting this travel guide to convince you never to fly again. But if you’re reading this, then the chances are that you’re already thinking about at least reducing the amount you fly, quite possibly for environmental reasons. While this might seem a bit odd and counterproductive for a travel company – we actually think it would be great if everyone flew less.
So we hope this guide will do three things: 1) assure you that flying less is a great thing to accomplish; 2) show you that going flight free doesn’t mean limiting your travel ambitions; 3) give you some practical advice on where and how to get started.
Now, we’re not expecting this travel guide to convince you never to fly again. But if you’re reading this, then the chances are that you’re already thinking about at least reducing the amount you fly, quite possibly for environmental reasons. While this might seem a bit odd and counterproductive for a travel company – we actually think it would be great if everyone flew less.
So we hope this guide will do three things: 1) assure you that flying less is a great thing to accomplish; 2) show you that going flight free doesn’t mean limiting your travel ambitions; 3) give you some practical advice on where and how to get started.
Getting ahead of yourself
Our flight free vacations are for the most part to destinations across Europe that can be reached within 72 hours at a leisurely pace. After all, if you’re committing to going flight free, why rush it? But as you’ll see when reading about long-haul rail journeys, there’s nothing to stop the more ambitious among you from setting your sights a little higher. If you’re confident with getting around Spain by rail, who’s to say you can’t add on a boat transfer to the Balearics or Morocco? Or if you’re comfortable with taking the iconic Trans Mongolian Railway then why not continue on past Beijing?
How our responsible tour operators can help
Many of the vacations on our website offer discounts to travelers who can prove that they’ve arrived by train, as part of their own commitments to sustainability. We also have travel partners, several of whom you’ll hear from in this guide, that go one step further. They can help you get to your vacation by rail, road or boat with expert advice you can rely on, and in some cases they’ll make all the booking arrangements for you. You can opt for Grand Tour-like train odysseys around the great European capitals with an Interrailing vacation, or a well off-the-beaten-track adventure to Georgia, Iran, or even the Arctic that will have you regaling dinner parties for years to come.Loire Valley single center cycling vacation, France
A beautiful hotel when exploring the Loire
From
£550 to £1465
8 days
return by train
Family adventure vacation to France
Life enhancing family adventure & yoga in the French Alps
From
£1240
8 days
ex flights
Normandy cycling vacation, Bayeux & beaches
Explore a rich history cycling Normandy's beaches
From
£1095 to £1595
6 days
return by train
Avignon & Cotes du Rhone cycling vacation
Cycle past sunlit towns and gorgeous landscapes
From
£1925 to £2275
8 days
return by train
Sweden kayaking and camping vacation
Kayaking and wild camping among thousands of islands, Sweden
From
€750 to €915
6 days
ex flights
E-bike vacation in the Loire Valley
Cruise between chateaux on our excellent e-bikes
From
£1195 to £2065
8 days
return by train
Contact Us
Call us for a chat about our vacations. We are happy to discuss your vacation and help in any way we can. No bots, queues or awful hold music.
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