We have enjoyed several trips in the UK and Europe by train and they seemed too good to keep to ourselves. These are all real reports of our own experiences and none is sponsored by any of the businesses mentioned in them; all views are my own. Do feel free to comment and ask questions! #flygskam #trainbragging
All our travel so far within Switzerland had been free of charge, included in our Neuchâtel Tourist Card, as had been the trip on the lake at Les Brenets. Even the journey from Le Locle to Neuchâtel city was covered because the card was valid until midnight on the last day (hence the shuffling back-and-forth between Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds without having to keep buying tickets!). Knowing that we would be given a new Tourist Card at our next hotel it occurred to us that if we could fit in the intended Lake cruise at Neuchatel on the first evening, it might be possible to take another later in the stay if we so desired, using the vouchers in our new card! In the event, once round the lake was enough in the weather as it turned out, but that was how we entertained ourselves the first evening in Neuchâtel.
The weather was still sunny and very hot when we arrived and we walked straight to our hotel, the Neuchâtel City Hotel, which was not far and all downhill. Our room was really great, with a huge amount of space and a balcony onto the street with a view of the lake, albeit between buildings. Typical of Swiss hotels, there was no air-conditioning, although a very good electric fan was provided, but this time there was a coffee machine (but not tea!). Having unpacked we made our way down to the port and found the trip boat for which our vouchers were valid and waited a short while for boarding. There were scarily few passengers on board: tourism is a long way from "back-to-normal" here yet and the boat was run with as small a crew as could safely be used. We bought drinks from the bar and sat on deck until the light rain started but it was easy to find a seat under cover when it was raining.
Family history
Back on land, and back in blazing sunshine, we explored a bit and enjoyed on the balcony of our room a salad we had bought at a local supermarket before leaving Le Locle, no substantial dinner being needed after the lunch at the crêperie there. Shower and early night were called-for after the exertions of the day.
We did not get up early on Wednesday and were among the few customers in the breakfast room at the hotel when we went down. After breakfast I went back to the room and started this blog while Alison went off to the local archives office at the Castle to begin some of her research: this was apparently a fairly complex process involving standing outside the right doorway in the castle quadrangle and telephoning a number to be let in - all in French, of course.
We then visited the Galeries d'Histoire together, learning about the development of the city and then walked to the terminus at Place Pury of the "Littorail" (which may be translated, "coastrail") tramway to Boudry by way of continued exploration. There was not a lot there to see, but this is the only remaining tram route (number 5, the others all having been converted now to trolleybus operation) in Neuchâtel, so we thought a ride on it along the lakeside would be a pleasant was to spend a few moments. We came back only as far as an interchange with a bus service that took us up the hill to the district of Peseux in order to see the castle there which is in private hands and so not open to visit but has a distant family connection and we were able to photograph its exterior well enough from the street. From Peseux we caught one of the aforementioned trolleybuses back to the city centre and to our hotel to prepare for dinner.
The castle at Peseux, in the west of the city of Neuchâtel
We had identified from TripAdvisor a great place for fondue, which is so typically Swiss and yet which we had not yet had a chance to try on this visit. Thunder and rain were expected so we carried our waterproof jackets with us and set off for La Taverna Neuchâteloise where the host greeted us with, "Good evening," as we walked in: are we that obviously British? Maybe he'd overheard us talking to each other as we approached, for he was standing on the doorstep! The fondue was great, and the service very friendly, efficient without rushing us, with Neuchâtel wine, of course, and we determined to return the following day for a raclette, bidding our host, "À demain," as we left. During our meal the rain had come and the rain had gone, but we were able to sit outside throughout because there were a couple of excellent canopies over the outside tables and it remained just warm enough for it to be a pleasant atmosphere around our fondue set.
Thursday was our last day in Neuchâtel and we were down to breakfast somewhat earlier and otherwise began our day in a similar way. We reconvened late morning and set off to explore the city using a walking tour in a leaflet picked up from the tourist information office, discovering its thousand-year history and including a climb to the ancient castle which gives the city its name (or did when it was new!). After slogging up the hill and having a good look around the castle, as well as enjoying the views from it, we continued the tour through the main shopping street, stopping off for an ice-cream at Suchard (who else?) and finally strolling along the lakeside which is about as near as Switzerland gets to a seaside promenade!
I had found a toy and model shop and popped in to see if I could find anything useful for my Swiss-based model railway innsdorf.com and came away with only some bridge fencing. our final excursion was to take the bus to Valangin where we had once before visited another castle with a family connection: we did not feel the need to visit the actual castle again, but the bus ride was quick and simple (and free!) and it would be nice to see the village again and to see how it had fared. We had a beer at the café where we'd had lunch on our previous visit and were pleased to see that the village seemed to be looking more prosperous than before, although, as in so much of England, the shop had closed. After all our exertions we went back to our hotel and prepared for our last evening meal, a raclette back at La Taverna. Heavy rain and possibly thunder were predicted for the evening and indeed it was very much like the previous evening but with much more and heavier rain. The meal was excellent although we did have to rein back the amount we ate and drank. We went for a short stroll along the Jardin Anglais after dinner but soon realised that the rain was restarting and so we returned rapidly to our hotel and started preparations for departure in the morning. We needed to do as much packing as we could so the we would be ready for check-out and breakfast first thing because the plan was to go home in one day.
Travelling home
On the Friday morning we took our cases down to breakfast and bade farewell to the City Hotel, using our Neuchâtel Tourist Cards for the last time to ride the trolleybus up to the station to catch the 08:34 to Geneva. We had over an hour to spare there and I did enquire about changing the tickets for the next stage to see if we could leave earlier but that would have been more trouble than it was worth and we stuck to the original plan: after coffee we made our way to the international platforms as we have done before. Unlike last time there were actually border police at the passport and customs posts on the way through to the international platforms but we saw no-one stopped as we swept through with our luggage and up to the waiting train for Lyon. This was a SNCF (French) locomotive-hauled train on which reservations were not possible and which had only half a carriage of First Class accommodation in which it was a struggle to find seats (should not have lingered over coffee ...) and we had just decided to sit together in Second Class rather than apart in First when someone offered us some seats together that he had "bagged" for friends who seemed not to have turned up. We were soon away from the lakes and into the hills of France, eventually approaching Lyon Part-Dieu where we had a short break before boarding our TGV to Paris. Here we did have reserved seats but although our agent had booked us "Club Duo" vis-à-vis seats again on this train we found that they were together but one behind the other this time, the seats in that carriage apparently having been rearranged. Oh well, I was intending to be typing this blog most of the way in any case, so perhaps it did not matter too much, but it would have been all the same if we'd been intending to play cards with each other! The TGV got us into Paris Gare de Lyon on time and we walked through to the Metro station, with our tickets ready, to take RER Line D as usual to Gare du Nord but wherever we looked there were no signs for the direction we needed to take. We asked advice from a staff member by a barrier who advised that there was work being done on that section of line today and that we should take line A instead, changing at Châtelet Les Halles to Line B for Gare du Nord. That little bit of kerfuffle did not add much to the time taken but did add quite a bit to the stress levels as we tried to find a route that, for that day at least, did not exist!
The Gare du Nord operation of ticket, passport and security checks is nothing like as smooth and efficient as the St Pancras check and it was stressful getting through there with different ticket queues depending on nationality (why? A ticket is a ticket!) and the automatic gates were not working so we all had to queue for human checks and the issue of revised seat reservations (we had those at St Pancras, too, but the automatic gates issued them). There was only one security scan conveyor belt in use and unlike in London there are no trays so all your possessions come out mixed up with other people's, a right mess, but we all sorted ourselves out and with automated passport checks (plus one person to stamp the passports now that we are not in the EU ...) we were soon in the waiting area having a long-awaited drink. The train, another refurbished E300, started boarding on time and departed on time for the run to London. This went extremely smoothly with the usual light meal served en route and the tunnel under the sea barely noticed. Soon we were at St Pancras International and just had time to pop into Fortnum and Mason for our favourite St Pancras Blend tea before making our way to Kings Cross for our booked 20:33 train to Peterborough. Again we were served a light meal on this train (very light in our case as we did not need much after the Eurostar meal!) and arrived at Peterborough in plenty of time to take our 22:00 connection to Stamford. After all that travelling it was at this stage that it all went wrong! A road vehicle was blocking the railway somewhere near Ely and although our train home had been started back from March and was approaching Peterborough, the platforms there were full of trains that could not continue their journeys because of the blockage: in particular one train for Nottingham had no crew to take it forward and the crew was on its way by taxi from Norwich with the station staff not having been given a clue about when they might arrive ... so we had no idea when our train would be able to go. It was now 22:10 and a strike was due to start at midnight. Taxis, of course, were in short supply as these were needed to take people to destinations in East Anglia beyond the blockage, but we were fortunate to have a son living in Peterborough who was free and agreed to come and collect us by car and take us home. I have no way of knowing whether that was quicker than if we had waited for the 22:00 train to turn up (which may have been just a minute after we had given up), but it got us home and it's always nice to see our family anyway!
With all the little things that had not quite gone according to plan, this trip was more of an adventure than usual, and at times our command of the French language had been put to the test, but we really had a great time. The weather was hotter at the start than I normally like and wetter towards the end (although not too bad), but we did a lot of exploring and thoroughly enjoyed the travel. It was wonderful to be free of the form-filling and testing, too. Lets hope things continue to remain at least this simple for we have two more European holidays coming up and need to ensure that we remain vaccination-compliant for those.
International trains - that is, the trains between Besançon and La Chaux de Fonds - stop at Platform 2 at Le Locle, being the northern end of the platform face opposite the disused station building. The other end of that platform face is numbered 3 and serves the narrow gauge line to the small town of Les Brenets. This is the only place I know personally where trains of two gauges use one platform face and where such a local services is so close to international service. There is an exit up a step stairway for those wanting to go straight to the horological museum, or the few homes up that hill, but the main exit for the town, mercifully for those of us with luggage on such a hot day, is through the subway and down hill into the town centre. Indeed, since our first visit here there is now a short cable railway which took us down in a few seconds to Sidmouth Square in the centre of the town, named after Le Locle's British twin town of Sidmouth in Devon.
From there is was a short walk to the front door of the Hôtel des Trois Rois where we were booked to stay for the next two nights. We had normally stayed at Maison Dubois itself, my wife's ancestral family home, now a B&B, but this had no space for us on this occasion, so we thought we'd give the Trois Rois a try. Its online reviews are very mixed but I have to say we were very happy with it. There was no air conditioning, but that is very rare in Switzerland anyway, and there were no tea and coffee facilities in the room, but again, there seldom is in Switzerland. The décor and general style were very 1970s (purple featuring strongly, and brown) but contrary to what we had read in reviews it was all in good condition and very clean. Staff were friendly and helpful (although few, as in a lot of places at present) and we were soon happily at home in our room on the top floor where our windows were shaded from the strongest of the sunshine by the overhang of the roof - a great place to be in the weather as its was. The hotel provided us with our Neuchatel Tourist Cards which gave us free travel within the canton from the time of issue until midnight on the day of check-out along with a sheaf of vouchers offering free admission to almost every attraction in the canton, effectively turning the entire canton into a massive holiday camp with everything included in our hotel bill.
Sunday afternoon is an unfortunate time to arrive in a small town (even one that is the canton's third largest!) because the choice of where to eat is more than somewhat restricted. The Trois Rois currently offers only breakfast (its restaurant is available to let if anyone fancies a go ...) so our often-tried technique of booking dinner at our own hotel for the first night would not work there. We went for a beer at the Casino (a cinema and restaurant rather than a gambling den) and then after a train ride to La Chaux de Fonds and back (just because we could!), we walked off round the town and discovered that, contrary to its website's information, the crêperie at the Lion d'Or was open, so pancakes it was, then! On the terrace, under a parasol. Parfait! And so to shower and bed, tired but happy.
The train to Les Brenets at the platform at Le Locle
Monday morning was just as hot and sunny. We had earmarked it for the lake cruise at Lac des Brenets and in order to leave some of the day for other things were aimed to take the 10:00 cruise departure. This outing would also be our last chance to ride the little electric train through the mountain from Le Locle to Les Brenets as it is to close next year and be replaced two years later with an electric bus service using part of the same route but then serving more of Les Brenets than the train is able to do. We took the lift up from Sidmouth Square and arrived at the platform at Le Locle station in good time to board the little train and travelled the few kilometres to Les Brenets and just as last time, we walked down to the lake shore through the village and exchanged our vouchers for tickets to ride the lake cruise. We were disappointed to see that the water was no higher than last time we came: it had been a very dry year and the people who run the boats were anticipating that within two or three weeks they would be unable to operate until the water returns next spring. Very disappointing for us, but even more disappointing for them: few tourists now, and nothing much to sell them when more begin to arrive in the summer! Even on the day we were there the 10:00 departure was cancelled due to low demand, so we went for a stroll and had coffee and caught the 11:00 instead, by which time there were still only about eight of us on board. The boat cruises the lake and the River Doubs which forms a lengthy part of the border with France but with the river so dry there is effectively no border; you can just pick your way over the boulders of the river bed. We took the easy way, though, and crossed the footbridge to France, had a brief look through the souvenir shops and returned to Switzerland to go and look at where the waterfall should have been and then took the 12:30 boat back to Les Brenets and the taxibus back to the station. It was a lovely walk through the woods (reminiscent of Dovedale in Derbyshire) and we were glad to have done it even though there was no more water in the river than last time. I took few photographs because it all looked just the same as on our previous visit. Perhaps next year or 2024 ...
Back in Le Locle we went back to our hotel, left my camera and collected our swimwear. On the edge of the town is an open-air swimming pool and we caught to bus there from the bus station near our hotel - Le Locle is a small town about the size of our home town of Stamford, and yet there are frequent local buses to every part of town all day long: you just don't get this in England. The pool was just amazing: once we had paid at the turnstile (reduced price for pensioners!) we were in a huge area typical of a town park, with a large swimming pool in one corner. The pool was divided into three: half of it was Olympic size and 2 metres deep throughout; the other half was again halved with a very deep diving pool one end (boards at 5 metres and 10 metres high!) and a shallow pool the other, only 0.8 metre. Not a frequent swimmer and not having swum for some time I was torn which pool to use - the idea of swimming 50 metres entirely out of my depth did not appeal to me: 25 metres is more my usual length before I take a rest. So I swam in the shallow pool although it was really only just deep enough for me and, of course, it was hard to swim lengths because it was popular with children who kept popping up or jumping in (or just jumping!) everywhere. No matter, it was good to cool down on a hot day. Dinner that evening was a superb pizza at the Casino.
After our sweet crêpes on Sunday evening we had resolved to return to the Lion d'Or for a savoury crêpe at Tuesday lunchtime, the crêperie, like most other restaurants in Le Locle, being closed on Mondays. Before lunch we checked out of the hotel, asking them to store our cases, and went for a long walk, beginning by taking a bus out to the edge of town and then walking through woodland up the steep slope to an agricultural settlement where there was a tenuous family connection to investigate. The footpath through the wood was marked on maps and was just about discernible on the ground but it was plain that not many people had walked this was recently and we were pleased that the knee-deep grass and plants did not include stinging nettles nor many thistles; it all added to the adventurous feel of this trip! We walked back down along a lane between farms as far as the outskirts of Le Locle where we bought chilled drinks from a supermarket before walking into town and having lunch at the Lion d'Or as planned. Then it was time to retrieve our luggage and go to the station to begin the next stage of the trip.
Actually, it was not quite that simple because after we had passed it we thought how good it would have been to have looked down from the train and seen where we had walked in the morning ... so we got off the Neuchâtel train at La Chaux-de-Fonds and caught the next train back to Le Locle (only a couple of minutes), looked out properly and stayed on board to be taken back to La Chaux-de-Fonds where this time we had to change trains to continue to Neuchâtel, emerging from the air-conditioned train once more into the blazing heat and light at Neuchâtel station.
Since the last time we visited Le Locle we have wanted to return in the hope of seeing some water in the lake at Les Brenets and the reputedly dramatic falls on the Doubs river. We also wanted to visit Neuchâtel, the cantonal capital, where another (!) castle connected to my wife's Swiss ancestors had been identified and where the local records office is located. The revisit was delayed by pandemic precautions, but we finally took the plunge and booked hotels and travel for the middle of June 2022 and we were successful in one sense, in that by the time we left home all the travel restrictions had been dropped in the UK, in France and in Switzerland for those who are vaccinated against Covid-19. The only document we needed in addition to our passports and tickets was a vaccination certificate, available through the NHS app on our smartphones: no passenger locator forms, no test results. Although official websites still mention masks on public transport there were very few people wearing them and no-one asking us to do so: I kept a stock of high-grade masks in my case but never needed to use one.
In another sense we were unsuccessful, in that the water level in Lac des Brenets was no higher than in our previous trip which had been much later in the year. We shall have to try again in an April! Indeed, in many ways there were little disasters all through this trip but it was still immensely enjoyable and full of delights and surprises. I am typing this paragraph several days into the adventure and it is the first time I have had the time to switch on the MacBook to do so - we have packed in so much. Until this morning (Wednesday) it has been hot, very hot, and now with light rain and temperatures "only" in the mid-twenties, it is a bit cooler and I have decided to take morning easier, sitting on the hotel balcony and writing up the adventure so far, while I can still remember it!
We left home on Saturday morning and that was when the "little disasters" began to happen! Our first train, Stamford to Peterborough, was on time, but it was very busy. As we had a lot of luggage (by our standards) we decided to stand in the spacious vestibule rather than squeeze into available seats with cases all over the place - there were seats even though several people were standing. We noticed that the train after ours was cancelled, and after that was the two-hour gap in Cross Country's "temporary" timetable. Not good, although it did not affect us, fortunately. The first little disaster was that when we went to wait in the coffee lounge at the Great Northern Hotel in Peterborough, which is what passes for the First Class Lounge there, staff shortage at the hotel meant that the lounge was unavailable. We sat in the easy chairs in the hotel lobby until it was time to go over for our train: the lack of coffee was not such a big deal because we knew we'd be served coffee on the train. The train was on time and although busy, again, we had our reserved seats and there was plenty of space on the luggage racks. The breakfast menu was still on offer but as we were planning an early lunch in London we took only coffee and a satsuma, with the biscuits and loafcake wrapped as a snack for later in the trip if required.
The second little disaster was that by Hitchin the train had slowed to a crawl: a points (and possibly signal) failure at Stevenage had caused problems and by the time we picked up speed again had lost 25 minutes which meant we were just a tad late for our midday luncheon appointment. It was, though, a great joy to see the family on our way through London and enjoy lunch together in one of the many new restaurants between the stations at Kings Cross and St Pancras. It was a very warm, sunny day and time passed all too quickly before we parted company at St Pancras as we made our way into the throng of international travellers waiting for trains to the continent.
We were rather early and had to wait our turn to join the queue for the ticket barriers, priority being given to ticket-holders for the preceding train to Brussels. An hour before our train's scheduled departure we queued for the barrier, scanned our tickets and went through for the baggage scan - all over in a moment once we were through the barriers. I do wonder if the station is short-staffed because it seems to me that there could have been many more barriers open at such a busy time provided that there were enough security staff for the baggage scanning to keep up with the incoming passengers. In any case we were soon nodded through the vaccination pass, UK passport control and French passport control and into the waiting area. We were among the first few through, and the Brussels train was already loading so there was a huge choice of seats in the waiting area. Great.
The next little disaster was that, for what ever reason, it seemed to be taking a long time to get everyone through the checks - announcements said it was because of Covid precautions but really there weren't many - and we had been promised that the train would not leave until everyone was through, so the train left St Pancras over half an hour late. It was a refurbished E300, one of the original Trans-Manche Super Trains, and never made up any of the lost time. Normally this would not have been a big deal but on this occasion we had dinner booked at Le Train Bleu restaurant at Gare de Lyon in Paris and, taking into account that France is an hour ahead of the UK, time was a bit tight. I do not think we had ever been late on a Eurostar service before and had come to regard it as completely reliable (statistically, I think, it is 95% on time, so we are probably not alone in seeing it that way). There was the usual light meal served, and we did not consume all of it, knowing that dinner was coming soon. The buffet bar on Eurostar trains sells Paris Metro tickets in carnets of ten, so to save time struggling with the ticket machines in Paris I went and queued to buy our tickets in advance there: these would see us both ways on this and our next trip and still leave us with tickets to spare. a great investment.
On arrival at Gare du Nord we made our way swiftly to the Metro and too RER line D to Gare de Lyon. The heat was striking as we descended from the Eurostar train, and even more so on the RER station. It was on the RER train that we met the last British person we would speak to for many days, on his way to work in Italy from his home in England. Yes, things are getting back to normal! On arrival at Gare de Lyon we went straight to the restaurant to explain that we were running late and asking if we could delay our dinner while we went to our hotel to check in and change. They were really relaxed about that and said we could be as late as we wanted, they were not busy. So good; we could have been on time but would have had our luggage with us and been a sweaty heap after lugging it through Paris at 39 degrees! It was hotter in Paris than in Cairo on that day.
I had, I thought, booked the Mercure hotel next door to Gare de Lyon, but had done so through the Trains Europe agent who booked the train tickets, and he had mistakenly booked a different Mercure just a couple of blocks away, but we did not find this out until we had queued for ten minutes at the wrong hotel, which was the next little disaster! An understandable error: both hotels had "Mercure Gare de Lyon" in their names! In the event, though, once we had found the hotel in which we actually had our reservations, we were very happy with it (except that the lift had broken down and we were on the fourth floor ... next little disaster ... but the kind receptionist helped us cary our stuff up to the room). In future I shall book this hotel if we need a night or two at this side of Paris, so I was glad to have stumbled across it. But four floors up in 39 degrees I can do without!
The room was air-conditioned (yay!) and we washed and changed and walked, free of luggage to Le Train Bleu and settled to a great dinner in great surroundings. It was all lovely, but in very hot weather my appetite is greatly diminished and in spite of the best French cooking and the relaxed (although hot!) atmosphere I could not manage the whole of my main course and declined the dessert. Alison just had to have the crêpes Suzette, though, with flaming Grand Marnier (just to add to the heat)! The staff were lovely and looked after us as if we'd been there every week! Like everywhere else, I think they were just delighted to have customers - not just because of the pandemic, but there were also major building restorations going on all around their restaurant.
And so back to our hotel and a good night's sleep with, I think, no further little disasters but an exciting day, and indeed several days ahead of us.
It was, then, Sunday morning when we returned to Gare de Lyon, calling on the way at a small Monoprix supermarket to buy take-away salads and fruit for lunch. By the time we had walked through to the correct part of the station ("Hall 2") and bought our coffee and croissants the TGV to Besançon had been announced and so we took our seats and had our breakfast on board awaiting departure. Fas at Trains Europe had done a great job with this reservation: a "club duo" pair of seats aligned with the window on the upper deck of a duplex carriage - just the perfect seating for a couple on this sort of trip. The first time we went to Le Locle we had come on this train travelling Second Class on the lower deck and it was a great experience, but this was even greater. After a suitable interval I went to the bar car to buy coffee - there did not seem to be an at-seat service on this train - and soon after coffee we arrived at Besançon TGV station where we had to change trains.
That first time we did this we had been surprised to find that the local train waiting for us had been a through train to Switzerland which required no further changes, but this time it was as shown in the timetable, a connection to Besançon Viotte (the town's main station), where we had to change again for Le Locle. It was all very civilised and straightforward, although with temperatures still in the thirties and with luggage to handle it was as well not to rush - and we did not need to, the connections being very well timed. So we settled into our seats on this strangest of international trains: a three-car stopping train, second-class only and the only diesel-powered train we had used since leaving our local train at Peterborough, the rest having been electric throughout. No disasters this day: everything had been on time and had worked exactly as planned! We stepped off the train into the heat at Le Locle's international platform and so began the next stage in our adventure!
Well into the trip from Besançon to Le Locle, just after Gilley station. The train the turns and makes its way to Morteau, the French watchmaking town, before crossing the Swiss border to Le Locle and termination at La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Last year's intended return to Yarmouth and West Wight had to be postponed because of travel uncertainty, and so we did it this year, followed as usual by a few days in Chichester to visit of friends holidaying at nearby East Wittering. Unlike last year, train services were almost back to normal this summer, with Covid-19 restrictions being lifted following the effective NHS vaccination programme, and it was much easier to book travel, although I booked the hotels way back at the height of the pandemic, ensuring that free cancellation was available, anticipating that demand for UK holidays might be high this summer with foreign travel being difficult. We opted for four nights on the Isle of Wight and three nights in Chichester, our friends having kindly booked theatre tickets for one of those evenings!
It had been a while since I had arranged a trip which included more than one destination and involved several activities, and I have to confess that I was quite nervous about it. This was probably partly because the long gap enforced by the pandemic meant that I was out of practice and the confidence gradually built up by experience had waned somewhat, but possibly more due to the additional complexities wrought by pandemic precautions still being taken by many organisations - the need to book in advance for many more activities than normal, and the reduced capacity of, for example, restaurants, meaning that advance booking was almost essential. As restaurants etc vary in the way they take bookings, an evening was largely taken up in the week before departure with online and telephone bookings to ensure that we should not go hungry during our holiday.
Then there was the weather ... we had had some glorious sunshine and hot, even very hot, weather before we went, but the poorer weather started on the day we left, with the forecast looking even worse for the four days we were due to be on the Isle of Wight, although rather better for Chichester. Packing required layers: I took sandals but wore shoes for travel. I took all short-sleeved shirts but packed a jumper as well. I took shorts but wore jeans, and so on: an unlined, light jacket but also a water and wind-proof jacket with hood. Jumper and both jackets could be used all together if the worst happened temperature-wise, but in August if the sun shines, even if the air temperature is low for the time of year, it still feels hot, so we did not anticipate too bad a time provided that, and it was quite a provision, the rain was not too persistent!
Even for a whole week's holiday we still managed to pack everything in one small case each (the sort that air travellers call "carry-on") together with a small backpack each. I included a fresh shirt for each day as well as spare shoes and sandals. Off we went on a sunny Thursday morning to catch the 10:57 train from Stamford station. As I crossed the meadows I overheard a young child asking her father, "Why does everyone have a suitcase?"! The train, on time, took us to Peterborough where we had just a few moments before the 11:29 to London Kings Cross, on which we travelled in First Class on cheap Advance tickets. We were plied with coffee and with food, so an early lunch was therefore taken.
In London we took a bus to Waterloo for the next stage of the journey. I had allowed lots of time in London in order that there would be no difficulty in the event of travel disruption in case railway staff had to take time off for self-isolation etc, but in fact everything went smoothly and on time at every stage and we therefore had a leisurely journey with plenty of breaks! Bus travel if not the quickest way from Kings Cross to Waterloo, but it did not have to be ... and with the departure point for the service having moved (unknown to us) from St Pancras to Euston we had a longer-than-expected walk to board the bus in the first place - all good for the exercise we needed following the laziness of lockdown.
We sat on the concourse at Waterloo, with takeaway coffee, waiting for our train to be announced, the 14:35 to Poole, and fell into conversation with a lady also travelling to the Isle of Wight for a holiday. Soon the platform was indicated for our train and we boarded the nearest coach and chose our seats. The First Class sections of these trains are less spacious than they used to be but the seats are still very comfortable and there is plenty of legroom, big tables and a decent view from the windows. Luggage space is not as good as one would like for a holiday train, but not too bad and we easily managed with our cases between seat-backs and backpacks overhead. The train was very fast, whisking us through south London without stopping and on though Surrey and Hampshire with just a few brief halts. The stretch through Southampton and the New Forest was the same way we went last year on our way to our family holiday in Dorset, but this time we changed trains at Brockenhurst for the shuttle to Lymington Pier. Another passenger from our part of the train was taking this route for the first time and was asking our advice: she, too, was on her way to the Isle of Wight for her holiday. It all felt very old-fashioned and traditional, although no-one was carrying a bucket and spade. We had only been that way once before ourselves but the connection is very simple, across the platform and wait just a few moments for the four-coach electric train that runs the few miles via Lymington Town to Lymington Pier. Again I had arranged plenty of time before the next ferry departure and we sat and enjoyed a cup of tea at the terminal before boarding.
The rain started just before we boarded the ferry and continued all the way across the Solent, giving the distant view of the Isle of Wight through the ship's windows an oil-painting quality as we approached the terminal at Yarmouth, but as we disembarked the rain stopped and sun shone as if to greet us as we stepped onto the island! We checked in at The George hotel and unpacked in our room on the top floor overlooking the harbour then went for a short stroll around the town. Dinner was booked at the hotel the first evening and was wonderful, with plenty of local produce.
When planning the itinerary with the help of the National Trust and English Heritage iPhone apps I came across one place we had never been and looked like it merited a summertime visit, Mottistone Manor Garden (National Trust), between Freshwater and Newport. It is on bus route 12 which is one of those half-a-dozen services per day bus routes so the visit had to be carefully scheduled, and we went on the Friday, the first full day on the island, taking the regular bus (number 7) to Freshwater and changing there, after a short walk around and our morning coffee break, to the number 12 for Mottistone.
Above: "The Shack," the architects' office and rural retreat of Lord Mottistone, now displayed at Mottistone Manor Gardens
The gardens were stunning and well worth seeing, and the short history of the manor was interesting, too, the 2nd Lord Mottistone having been an architect (responsible for the 20th century restoration and conversion of Eltham Palace for the Courtauld family). We had lunch in the tea garden and enjoyed the views over Freshwater Bay from the higher parts of the gardens then caught the bus back. The bus ride (top deck, of course) there and back were an important part of the enjoyment of the day, with spectacular coastal views - so much so that I'd recommend taking a ride on the number 12 even if you don't visit anywhere.
Left: a small part of the front, lower, garden. This has to be seen to be believed
We rode back to Totland on the bus and then walked down to the beach and walked all the way to Yarmouth along the beach and then the coastal path, pausing for a cup of tea at the Fort Victoria Country Park. It had been a great day so far and we had walked many miles and seen a lot of sea, fairly rough sea for there was a brisk wind but even though temperatures were quite low for the time of year we were kept warm by the fairly constant sunshine.
Friday was the only day for which we had not made a booking for dinner, wanting to be flexible so that we could perhaps go somewhere in Freshwater or Totland ... bad idea in 2021. After washing and changing following the day's exertions we returned to Totland by bus to see if either of the seafront restaurants we had seen there earlier had a table free for dinner. Neither did, so, becoming rather hungry by now, we returned to Yarmouth ... None of this was costing us anything in bus fares because I travel free anyway on my pensioner's pass and my wife was using the Southern Vectis bus company's new "tap in, tap out" system which capped her fare at the Day Rover rate, reached while travelling back from Mottistone earlier in the day. Walking towards the town centre from the bus station, the first restaurant we saw was The Terrace which had some indoor seating (all taken) and a lot of outdoor seating (almost all available) overlooking the harbour at first-floor level, over the ferry terminal building. It would have been an idyllic spot (and probably packed out) were it not for the aforementioned brisk wind, now a very strong wind. We were offered blankets and promised swift service and that they would do their best to make it as good as possible, and they did. We had a great time, paper menu weighted down (just!) by water and beer bottles. It was great fun, and the food and drink were good, too. I don't think I've ever dined out wearing a coat before, not even in Switzerland.
Cocktails at Off The Rails
The weather forecast for Saturday was not good: the wind was expected to be much the same but there was expected to be rather less sun and some rain from time to time. Undaunted we set off for an expedition to Osborne House (English Heritage), for which I had already booked tickets in advance: these were free of charge to us as English Heritage members but required to ensure that there was no bunching of arrivals. We travelled on bus route 7 in the other direction to Newport and changed there for route 5 to Osborne. Many of the island's bus services go to and from Newport bus station, so a change there will reach almost any destination (we could even have come to Mottistone this way but the idea had been to see Freshwater and the coastline). We have been to Osborne several times before and did not need all day there, but it was great to see Queen Victoria's beach again and to take a lengthy walk around the extensive grounds. We visited the house itself briefly and paid special attention to the little exhibition about the way Victoria and Albert celebrated their birthdays at Osborne, which was new to us. We did get caught in some of the expected rain, but we also got caught in more than expected of the sunshine which coincided nicely with our time at the beach. And so back to Yarmouth via Newport to get ready for dinner at Off The Rails, a quirky restaurant in Yarmouth's former railway station. Through the week Off The Rails does not open in the evenings and only offers dinner on Saturdays, so I had booked Saturday dinner there well in advance to ensure that we could eat there: we sat on former railway carriage seats, next to a pile of suitcases and surrounded by vintage and quasi-vintage railway signage. I ordered the "Firebox," which was smoked mackerel with toast and salad (we discovered the Isle of Wight tomato on this holiday - how have I avoided them before?).
Sunday's outing, which had also had to be booked in advance, was to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway which we had last visited about four years previously. Partly because of coronavirus fears and partly because of the current temporary closure of the Network Rail Island Line for track improvements the timetable and ticketing on the Steam Railway have been simplified for this year and based on the assumption that everyone would start from their main station at Havenstreet (to where a shuttle bus operates from Ryde and where there is a car park. But we had to start at Wootton, the only station served by bus, so I had had to make the advance arrangements by telephone in combination with the website - quite a palaver but it worked. Again we left Yarmouth on a bus to Newport and changed there for a Ryde-bound bus as far as Wootton Station. We had left plenty of time in case of delays but there was no hold-up and we had time for a stroll into Wootton before returning to await our train. I had to speak to the guard to be let into a First Class compartment because although our online booking included travel from Wootton to Havenstreet the reserved space on a specific train was for the 14:33 from Havenstreet, for which I had to obtain our tickets at the the Havenstreet ticket office, that at Wootton being closed.
The First Class compartment in the vintage coach was just wonderful, with deep upholstery and splendid moquette, slam doors with droplights held by leather straps. We were taken to Havenstreet in luxury and then I made my way to the ticket office and became a real ticket-holding passenger (!) and then we had our lunch at the station refreshment room before exploring the Train Story museum, right up-to-date with the recently-withdrawn 1938 tube train which had been in service on the Island Line until January this year. These were to be replaced by new trains made from old District Line coaches this spring after some track and platform alterations had been completed but there has been considerable delay in getting the new trains into service and the Island Line remains closed which among other inconveniences has removed the rail connection to the Steam Railway at Smallbrook Junction. We were able to board the 1938 unit no 007, on which we had ridden several times while in service on the island, and watch a video about the new trains which are, eventually, to replace it.
Soon the time came to board our vintage steam train at Havenstreet for the round trip which would get us back to Wootton for the end of our outing. With all the vintage sounds of guard's whistle, slamming doors, locomotive whistle and hissing steam, we set off towards Smallbrook Junction in our beautifully restored First Class compartment. At Smallbrook the locomotive was detached and ran round to rake us in the other direction, non-stop through Havenstreet to Wootton. For most people their round trip would include the ride back to Havenstreet, but we had already done that part and so, after a pleasant ride through the countryside to the traditional steam railway sounds, we left the railway and waited for our bus back to Newport where we explored the town centre for a while before taking the next bus to Yarmouth.
Dinner that night was very special, at a restaurant called "On The Rocks" (not to be confused with Off The Rails). The menu was very simple, a big piece of meat, fish or halloumi served uncooked on a hot stone, with unlimited salad and fries and a wide choice of drinks. The meat, fish or halloumi cooks on the table and is eaten straight from the hot stone and if the salad or fries run out, the staff bring more. A great experience and thoroughly recommended. Very popular and again was booked before we left home. And so to bed on our last night at Yarmouth ready for moving on the following morning for our annual visit to Chichester.
On Monday morning we took the now-familiar bus number 7 to Newport and changed there for the bus to Ryde Esplanade from where we walked to the pier head for our catamaran to Portsmouth. There the usual waiting space and cafeteria were closed and being used simply as queueing space once boarding began: we all had to hang around the concourse with simply a coffee machine for refreshment. It is a good thing that we had not relied on taking lunch here, as we had considered. I did not understand why Wightlink and Costa could not get these facilities back to something like normal, especially as passenger numbers were still not back to normal levels. There was also a short panic when I saw a notice that space on the catamaran had to be reserved in advance, but although I telephoned the number given for this and was sent an email confirmation of our spaces on the next departure, when I showed the train tickets at the barrier the inspector did not ask to see the reservation - we had through Day Anytime rail tickets from Ryde to Chichester which stated on them that we could travel on any service that day; clearly Wightlink did not take through rail passengers into account when devising their policy on reservations.
The crossing went smoothly and on time, and the on-board system for disembarking passengers without undue crowding was very good. We then had about twenty minutes to wait at Portsmouth Harbour for our Southern train to Chichester, which departed a couple of minutes late but encountered no further problems and arrived on time. After checking in (a little early) at the Chichester Harbour Hotel and unpacking we met our friends for a drink at the excellent Park Tavern just around the corner from our hotel. Bath and bed and ready for another day.
On the Tuesday morning we contacted some other friends who now live in Chichester and went to join them at their home for morning coffee, then we went our separate ways until later afternoon. Tuesday evening was the theatre booking, and four of us met for a very early dinner (5.30pm!) at The Bell Inn and then joined two others for the well-reviewed performance of South Pacific at the Chichester Festival Theatre - the fourth time we have been to the summer musical at this superb venue. It was great to be in a theatre again: to my surprise all the seats were taken although mask-wearing was urged and most people complied.
Wednesday was our day at the seaside at East Wittering and we travelled there as usual by the local bus service, and as usual were delayed in the dreadful Chichester traffic but arrived eventually and after coffee and a brief visit to the beach had lunch together before a walk towards Bosham, taking the ferry from Itchenor across a part of the enormous (but scenically and naturally splendid) sprawl of Chichester Harbour. Good exercise and lovely countryside before a pint of local ale at the pub in Itchenor before returning to our hosts' holiday home at East Wittering for an evening together with dinner.
Our train home was booked for Thursday afternoon so after checking out we left our luggage at the hotel and visited the Novium museum to read about Roman Chichester and North Bersted Man, the most elaborate Iron Age warrior burial ever found in Britain. We then bought provisions and sat in the Priory Park for a picnic lunch in the pleasant summer sun before collecting our cases and taking the train home via London after a great week's holiday.
Again we had allowed plenty of time in London before taking our LNER train from Kings Cross, and we crossed London by bus and bought some tea in Fortnum & Mason at St Pancras before going to wait in the First Class Lounge at Kings Cross until our train was announced. The new "Deli" menu, with beer, made a good light supper on the way to Peterborough where we had a little while to wait for the train to Stamford. Having spent the week largely avoiding showers we were disappointed that as we approached Stamford the rain started; by the time we had sheltered under the canopy at the station to put on our jackets and put up the umbrella, though, the rain had stopped and the jackets just made us rather hot as we walked up the hill out of the town centre to our home! It had been a brilliant week, sometimes because of the weather but often in spite of it, and we are already looking forward to the next couple of trips and hoping that the Italian and German ones booked in autumn and winter can take place.
To read the newspapers in Britain at the moment you would think that holidays in the UK were a new idea. Perhaps they are for London-based journalists! But for various good reasons around the pandemic and the travel uncertainty arising from it, there are likely to be many more of us in Britain taking our holidays in Britain this year, and the newspapers are full of "advice" about "staycations" - although how many journalists are qualified to give this advice, considering they feel the need to call them something other than a holiday, I am not sure. So, having taken lots of these holidays in the recent past (and the distant past, too, come to that!), I thought I'd write some advice myself. I hope my readers find it helpful. You can find some ideas for destinations on my page, "UK Holidays".
Traffic
Now at first it is easy to think that the greater number of British people holidaying in Britain will be balanced by the far fewer numbers of foreign visitors holidaying here, but I am not so sure about that. First, a lot of foreign visitors visit London (it is the most popular tourist destination in the world), and I suspect that few of us will take our main holiday there: we shall go the coast or to the lakes or forests, moorlands, etc.. Second, foreigners will tend not to bring their cars (some, from Europe, will, of course, and some will hire them when they get here), whereas most British people will tend to drive. Putting all this together, I predict that roads to the coast and rural resorts will be more than busy: it was already bad enough four years ago for me to declare that we were never going to Devon or Cornwall by car ever again, and if more are heading that way this year then I hope they have a LOT of patience. That is why I would recommend travelling by rail for UK holidays, and the advice I am offering concerns making the arrangements for train travel.
Booking
Cross Country's retro ad a few years ago isnpired me to book a seaside summer holiday by train!
One thing the newspapers have been hot on is the need to book in good time, because everyone else will be doing the same. Anticipating this, I have already booked hotels for our summer breaks, one in England, one in Scotland, so you can't get in front of me how ever soon you book: but you may need to hurry to get in front of each other! Look for hotel and B&B bookings that allow free cancellation so that if circumstances change and you need to back out for a reason not covered by your travel insurance (yes, you do need it for holidays in the UK unless you are happy to take all the risk yourself) your costs will be minimised.
Train Travel
While I have booked accommodation for my summer holidays, I have not yet booked travel, because even in normal times train tickets with seat reservations are not usually available until three months before the travel date, and in the current changing circumstances the train companies can have no idea what trains they will be running by the summer holiday season, so it is not worth even thinking about tickets just yet. But what I have done, and what I recommend for anyone thinking of travelling on holiday by train, is set up on the relevant companies' websites an advance ticket alert which will cause them to send me an email message to tell me when Advance tickets are available for my chosen dates. I could probably book open tickets now but (a) they are relatively expensive, (b) the trains I eventually choose may be too busy for me to get a seat and (c) in the current pandemic-dominated world it is anyone's guess what trains will be running.
One advantage of buying Advance tickets early in their availability is that First Class travel is usually available at a really good price - like London to the Isle of Wight, including ferry, for under £20 First Class one way - and on most lines Advance tickets come with seat reservations so you know you will get on the train you have chosen. They can only be used on a specific train, so some planning is needed, but then if you usually fly abroad you will be used to having to catch a specific flight. But rail travel is much less faff than flying: you don't have to be there ages before departure; you keep your luggage with you so when you arrive you're free to go; you can take food and drink with you and you can see things out of the window all the way!
I have written articles elsewhere on this website about Luggage and about Changing Trains, and if you are not used to rail travel, then please take a look at both of these pages. Which brings me to the question of planning ...
Planning and Preparation
Inverness: hotel next to station
Planning the travel needs to be part of the early planning of the whole holiday. I usually start with an idea of whereabouts I want to go in the country and then look at accommodation and train route together so that I do not end up needing to hire a car or taxi to get from the station to the hotel, as if I were on one of those inconvenient holidays by air! Sometimes we stay right next to the station, usually within reasonable walking distance, and now-and-again we use a bus or a boat (!) to complete the trip - it is all part of the adventure of travel. Take this summer's planned trip to the Isle of Wight: we are booked at a hotel right beside Yarmouth Castle, about a minute walk from the ferry terminal, and our train will take us right to the ferry - it is an official connection and the train tickets will be booked to Yarmouth. We did the same trip two years ago and it worked like a dream. When we went to South Wales a few years ago we soon found that our options were very limited: unlike North Wales, few of the southern resorts are on a railway route, but we did have a great time in Tenby!
View from our bus on board the ferry at Poole
While I would encourage anyone not to be afraid of changing trains to reach their destination (the Tenby trip involved several changes), sometimes it is more convenient to minimise changes at the cost of taking a little longer, especially if changing stations in London can be avoided, no matter how convenient the Underground makes this. From our home in Stamford, Lincolnshire, we often travel via Birmingham (which is on a direct line from Stamford) when travelling to the south-west, or sometimes even to the south coast in Dorset or Hampshire, which takes longer than going via London but just needs the one change at Birmingham New Street, the hub of the inter-city rail network. We did this last year when we went to Studland Bay.
Unless you do go, as we often have, to a resort with the station right there, then the trip will probably be completed by bus or some other means. This used to work when I was a toddler with my parents going to Margate (everyone went on holiday in Britain and by train in those days, unless they were very rich, and even they probably went by train!) and it still works now but needs a tad more planning. The Studland Bay trip last year was brilliant for this, with a bus right from Bournemouth station taking us to the door of the hotel, and it was an open-top tour bus, too, with some wonderful views along the way, including the ferry across Poole Harbour! When we have been to Dartmouth, which we have done twice, the last leg of the trip was by steam train to Kingswear and then ferry across the River Dart. All part of the adventure.
Adventure
I don't buy the "door-to-door convenience" angle of car travel, especially for holidays. Yes, I have a car, and it is a good car and it has its uses (it is questionable whether those uses are frankly a good enough reason to spend all those thousands of pounds buying and maintaining it, but that is a whole other discussion!), but unless one is mobility-impaired there is no need to travel between doors, and for us when we go by train the adventure starts when we walk out of the door and trundle our cases to the station, pockets full of tickets. We know our train times and our meal arrangements and we look forward to what we shall watch going by our windows. We can drink wine and/or beer if we like, the loo is a short walk down the carriage, and if we are held up someone else will sort it out, but hold-ups are rare. We get exercise on our walks to and from the stations, and we do not have to park the car. Some will say the they need the car when they get to their destination, and I know that those who fly abroad often hire one when they get there, but although we are open to hiring a car we have never yet done so, always having found that bus services are more than adequate for our needs - but then for us walking is an important part of our holiday. In the autumn, just before the second UK lockdown, we revisited Studland Bay by car. We parked it at the hotel and never used it again until we left - all our local travel was on foot, boat and bus, and on the way back we were held up by a serious accident on the M1 ... train delays are nothing compared with this.
I think we have great holidays, not in spite of leaving the car at home but partly BECAUSE we leave the car at home. We see, hear and smell our surroundings, we actually LIVE in the places we visit and are not sealed off from them; travelling on the same buses as shoppers and business people in the towns we visit, and walking through the countryside, experiencing nature - people pay for safari holidays in remote places, but with our network of public footpaths you can do your own British safari all on your own - and get the bus back to your hotel.
Don't be misled by the newspapers' put-down of UK holidays as an inferior thing called a "staycation" as if it were not a real holiday. I do have holidays abroad (although usually still by train!) and have two booked for later this year, but they are not superior to the English, Welsh and Scottish ones, they just need a passport as well as a ticket, and different money, and different language. But all are great fun, wherever they are, and I reckon more fun without the car.
Do have a browse through the summer holidays I have blogged on this website: they are all my own experiences, paid for out of my own pocket and completely unfettered by allegiance to any company or product. and do ask questions in the comments, here or on any other page, and I shall try to answer.
