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Hang out the bunting folks, Italy has finally embraced the age of High Speed Rail with the launch this week of Italo, the first privately run High Speed train service in Europe. This comes only a few months after the launch of the new Thello sleeper trains in Italy.

The service, run by NTV, sprints from Turin to Salerno (in Campania) in a blistering 6 hours and 22 minutes, stopping off in Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples en route, while another branch will connect Venice and Florence five times daily in a mere 2 hours 5 mins.

For now the line operates between Milan and Rome, with routes from Rome to Venice and Turin to Salerno being added later in the year.

Somewhat incredulously, prices are pretty reasonable too, with introductory offers starting from around 30 Euros for a single journey from Milan to Rome or 20 Euros from Florence and Rome. Do those crazy I-tal-i-yuns know what they’ve unleashed I wonder? Affordable, High Speed rail in Europe, who’d have thunk it?

To anyone who cherishes romantic notions of roving on the Italian rails, this seems impressive enough, but wait, there’s more tricks up its shiny, red and black TGV sleeves.

It has a cinema on board.

Ya’know, especially for those of you who may tire of gazing out at the scrolling vistas of one of Europe’s most eye-candy-tastic countries.

Naturally this got me to wondering what would be the ideal film programme to curate for the journey? Just a few weeks ago a New Orleans-based film producer contacted me, under my aegis as social meejah henchman for the good folks at the Train Chartering Company, about the tantalising prospect of staging a film festival on the American rails.

It’s yet to come good, but there’s no harm in doing a little advance planning I always say (you what chief? Just when do you ever say that? Oh yeah, just then.) So here are my suggestions for the inaugural Italo Film Festival:

1. La Dolce Vita

Obvious I know, but we could scarcely ignore Fellini’s prized paen to love and life a Roma for this reason. See also La Strada, the Bicycle Thieves, 8 and a Half etc.

2. Death in Venice

Thomas Mann’s angsty treatise on obsession, guilt, writer’s block and tortured sexuality would be sure to stir up some atmospheric yearnings for those leaving Venice’s misty canals behind…

3. Don’t Look Now

…And this little baby would certainly crank up the tension further. Time to don those creepy red anoraks in earnest trainspotters!

4. Speed

Seems entirely appropriate no? Maybe the train staff could even re-enact some of the chase scenes on those curvaceous (insert those  Italy is well sensuous clichés here) Neopolitan bends? Or maybe we could simply tie Keanu Reeves to the roof and see if it changes his perennially gormless facial expressions for once?

5. Source Code

OK, maybe the fragility of human life and destiny is not ideally conveyed with a film about a horrifically inevitable train crash while you’re sitting on one yourself, but, hey it has BOOM factor.

6. Hugo

It may lay on the syrupy, sentiments like a Gelateria generously dousing your Cornetto with enough strawberry sauce to sink an armada of gondolas, but there’s no denying this film’s indulgent charm in celebrating both the early French pioneers of movie making and the golden era of the rail travel. Look out for that pesky steam engine hurtling its way towards the screen in 3D though!

7. Cinema Paradiso

An equally sickly cinematic confection which plucks shamelessly at the old heart strings, but still a charming enough slice of Southern Italian movie theatre nostalgia nonetheless.

8. Night Train to Lisbon

You’ll have to wait a bit for this one, not due out til early 2013. Jeremy Irons and Bruno Ganz star in the adaptation of Pascal Mercier’s cult novel about a mild-mannered teacher suddenly who takes an impetuous sleeper train ride in search of an enigmatic author.

Which films would you propose and why? Don’t be shy, tell us with a comment below!

Full info on prices, routes can be found on Italo’s website, alongside details of their actual cinema programme. This includes two films a week. Those programmed over the coming weeks are an intriguing mix of Hollywood and lesser-known homegrown movies, including Green Zone, A Serious Man, Quo Vadis Baby, Whatever Works and Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere.

Want to read more about trains in Italy? Check out this post on the new Thello Paris to Italy sleeper service.

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Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebird72/

For many, looking for a holiday closer to home will involve visiting a cottage or holiday home somewhere in the UK.

But a tour of the United Kingdom can include witnessing some of London’s famous sights; or the stark landscape of the Scottish Highlands, there is something for everyone in the UK. There are plenty of fascinating experiences that remain undiscovered by travellers around Britain today.

There are many reasons as to why a holiday in Britain may suit your holiday requirements. Railway holidays in Britain are certainly cheaper than travelling abroad, and although the trip will be longer than flying, the scenic routes and comfortable experience on a train make it much more worthwhile for many. A railway journey also permits more luggage than airlines who often charge passengers for taking extra luggage on board.

Most train services around the world have little, and often no restrictions for what their passengers can bring on board, and they will certainly never charge for extra luggage. Travelling by train offers a more comfortable and relaxing experience due to spacious leg room and the option to stretch your legs at your leisure.

If you are unsure where you would like to visit in England, here are some options that could be exactly what you are looking for:

Norwich and the Norfolk Broads

Image: www.flickr.com/photos/miqspix/

Norwich is home to changeless seaside towns, historic stately homes and nostalgic steam trains. Travel to this area explores the picturesque city that is dominated by two stunning cathedrals, intriguing heritage, historic buildings and a Norman Castle. Visit the coastal town of Sheringham before departing on a steam hauled railway line to journey to the lovely country retreat of Sandringham where Her Majesty the Queen regularly visits. Another port of call is the idyllic market town of Wymondham, which is a great destination to explore before enjoying a scenic journey to the Norfolk Broads. The Norfolk Broads is a place of outstanding natural beauty, where a boat cruise along the beautiful waterways reveals a great array of wildlife.

Yorkshire and Northumberland

Yorkshire and Northumbria has an abundance of history alongside wild and natural beauty. A popular railway tour to explore begins in one of England’s most attractive towns, Harrogate, at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. Harrogate still boasts many Georgian and Victorian features, one of which is its original spa buildings. A trip to historic York will unveil the gothic cathedral, which is one of Europe’s largest, amongst other interesting attractions. Other tour highlights include The North Yorkshire Moors Railway, The Settle and Carlisle Line, Hadrian’s Wall Line, Chester’s Roman Fort, Ainwick Gardens, Bamburgh Castle and the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

Railways and Castles of Wales

This adventure integrates delightful mountain railways and castles of Wales into a spectacular railway tour. The tour begins in the Victorian seaside resort of Llandudno, where visitors join the famous Snowdon Mountain Railway, before travelling to reach the summit of Wales’ highest mountain, revealing spectacular views. The Caernarfon Castle and Conwy Castle are great examples of Norman Castle building.

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InterRail celebrates its 40th birthday this year. Hard to believe that such a fixture of many a gap year is now staring down the barrel of middle age itself.

No self respecting InterRailer would attempt to criss-cross the European railway map without an ipod judiciously packed to the gunwales with some choice tunes, so to celebrate I have composed this playlist route, which takes you around the InterRail map in 40 songs.

Those of you who – like me -  are nearing 40 (or already past that millstone, I mean milestone) will probably remember the significance of ‘the Top 40′ chart, which always used to enliven otherwise humdrum Sunday afternoons, so the 40th anniversary of InterRail carries a nice bit of serendipity with it.

This isn’t a Top 40 rundown though. The tracks have been ordered simply to create a vaguely plausible route map, departing from my home city of Edinburgh.

The Rules I’ve Applied

Songs must mention a city or town on the InterRail map, either in the title or in the lyrics of the song. They must also be sung in English. I’m sure there are many, many more songs about all of these cities and more besides in their native tongues. If you know a few, please share them with a comment below and perhaps I’ll add them on to the map. One track per artist.

Many of these songs are well-known of course, but where there are multiple options for a city, I have tried to avoid the most obvious one. There are a few obscurities in here – some which reflect my taste, some which really don’t – and a fair few which I had never heard myself before researching this post. And there is one ‘wild card’ too.

Well, finding 40 tracks has not been that easy, but I had a little help. A big thanks to everyone who made suggestions on twitter!

The 40 Tracks

1. Glasgow

Killermont Street – Aztec Camera

For the sake of convenience, our journey sets off from Glasgow, which one man bag of jangly guitars and lovelorn melodies Roddy Frame eulogises in this low key, acoustic ballad.  From Love, 1988.

2. Belfast

Belfast Child – Simple Minds
Belfast – Boney M

I’m not sure which song is the less excusable diatribe on ‘the troubles’:  Simple Minds’ pompous bombast or the ruminations of Germany’s leading late 70s studio disco poppets Boney M, so I’ve included both for bad measure! And did someone mention the Cranberries? No, please don’t.

3. Dublin

Dublin – Prefab Sprout

Plenty of local songsters have memorialised their fair city of course, but I have soft spot for the wistful romanticism found in this song from one of the North East’s most unfairly maligned troubadours. From Protest Songs, 1985.

4. Galway

Galway Girl – Steve Earle

Texan Steve Earle is probably best described as a ‘roots rocker’. His voice is unmistakably ‘country’, but he’s just as preoccupied with blues, rock and folk, including that of the Celtic variety. The Irish fiddle comes courtesy of County Clare’s premier bowfingerer, Sharon Shannon, who is often credited with the song. Few transatlantic mash-ups sound so joyous. It could be hokey, but somehow it just works. Magners used it for their ad campaign a few summers back.

5. London

London – The Smiths

Few bands are as rooted in their geography as the Smiths, who also sprinkled their songs with more than their fair share of train references. This furious rockabilly stomper witnesses the departure of a feckless boyfriend from the mean streets of Manchester, heading for the bright lights of London Willage:

‘You left your girlfriend on the platform with some really ragged notion that you’ll return. But she knows when he goes, he really goes. And do you think you’ve made the right decision this time?’ asks an accusatory Morrissey, long before he deserted ‘dear old Blighty’ for the glamorous climes or Rome, Paris and LA.

6. Paris

Paris – Friendly Fires

‘One day we’re gonna live in Paris. I promise. I’m on it’

I wonder how many well-meaning romantic types have uttered these very words to their beau? It’s hard not to get carried away by the sentiment and the euphoric ‘rave rock’ rush with which it’s belted out here.

7. Nantes

Nantes – Beirut

Effortlessly louche multi instrumentalist, Zach Condon is from neither Nantes nor Beirut, but actually hails from Santa Fe, New Mexico. No matter, this song with its strange, vaguely Germanic, halting waltz rhythm conjures up Old Europe rather well. From The Flying Cub Cup, 2007.

8. Lisbon

Lisbon – The Walkmen

9. Madrid

Madrid Song – Julian Plenti

Julian Plenti is actually Interpol frontman Paul Banks’ solo outing, who pitches Bowie vocals over a plaintive piano backing. From Julian Plenti is Skyscraper, 2009.

10. Barcelona

Barcelona – Weezer

No, not the Freddie Mercury number!

11. Nice

So Nice in Nice – The Stranglers

Like the Police, the Stranglers waded from choppy New Wave waters into the arena-friendly rock remarkably swiftly. This from their mid-80s pomp is not their finest moment.

12. Milan

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick – Ian Dury & The Blockheads

‘From Milan, to Yucatan, every woman and every man..’

13. Rome

Giapponese a Roma – Momus

I realise I’m breaking a rule here, but I think I can wing it, given that the song’s author is no Roman. Scottish polymath, ‘unreliable tour guide’ and hyper-literate songwriter Nicholas Currie is the sort of guy who writes a song in Italian, just because he can. This one was penned for Japanese pop star Kahimi Karie, but her vocals are a little too coquettish for me, so I prefer to plump for the camp Caledonian phrasing of the ‘one man Pet Shop Boy’ instead. From 20 Vodka Jellies, 2000.

14. Naples

19 in Naples – Jonathan Richman

A piece of wide-eyed transatlantic travelogue pie, from the eccentric Bostonian proto-punk behind Egyptian Reggae, That Summer Feeling and Roadrunner. From I’m So Confused, 1998

15. Sorrento

Sorrento Moon – Tina Arena

Whatever happened to Tori Amos-Lite? Oh this. Nuff said then.

16. Sarajevo

Ms Sarajevo – The Passengers

The Passengers was the pseudonym adopted by U2 and Brian Eno for a record hastily produced to raise funds for those besieged in Bosnia during the Balkan war. Bono has never been one to shy away from a charity record charabanc, but credit’s due here also for putting the region on the song map.  Pavarotti lends his considerable lungs to the endeavour too.

17. Belgrade

Sexuality – Billy Bragg

‘I had an uncle who once played, for Red Star Belgrade. He said that some things are really best left unspoken, but I prefer it all to be out in the open.’ .

I have no idea what this line means in the context of the song, celebrating sexual tolerance and openness, but for some reason it’s lodged itself firmly in my brain. From Don’t Try This At Home, 1991.

18. Istanbul

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – They Might Be Giants

TMBG were wordy princes of American geek chic – long before such a thing was remotely hispterish. With its quirky wit and educational lyrics, one could easily believe that TMBG wrote this. Actually it’s a cover of a novelty song from 1930, when the Turks had only just re-named their city. From Flood, 1990.

19. Budapest

Budapest – Jethro Tull

Apparently something of a ‘live favourite’, this song appears to be about a ‘hot night in Budapest’ with a silently obliging groupie. Take a look at the blatantly sexist lyrics. Makes you realise that Spinal Tap was not that all that far from reality! Living in the past indeed…

20. Bratislava

Girl Vii – St Etienne

This breezy piece of post-club summer shimmer from the band’s debut album Foxbase Alpha (1990) namechecks dozens of cities across the globe, interspersed with the names of London tube stops and enclaves. A sure-fire winner for anyone taken with the simple romance of faraway-sounding place names on maps.

21. Vienna

Vienna – Ultravox

Obvious I know, but I couldn’t really leave it out. For some it represents the apotheosis of empty New Romantic posturing. ‘It means nothing to me’, sang Midge Ure and he was not alone on that. But Ultravox were one of the first bands I became besotted with and I loved the song so much that I remember sitting in the bathtub, bawling my eyes raw at the injustice of the song being denied the number one slot by Joe Dolce’s Shaddupaya Face, of all things. I was 7 at the time. From Vienna, 1980.

22. Prague

Radio Prague – OMD

From the same era, this was the opening track of OMD’s Dazzle Ships (1983) album, a wildly experimental (and commercially suicidal) thinly veiled homage to Kraftwerk, bursting with speaking clocks, industrial ambient clanking, speak and spell machines and fragments of radio broadcasts, such as this very evocative jingle, from a time when anywhere east of the Iron Curtain seemed like an impossibly remote part of the world.

23. Munich

Pop Music – M

‘New York, London, Paris, Munich, everybody talk about..’

24. St Moritz

Where Do You Go To My Lovely? – Peter Sarstedt

‘And when the snow falls you’re found in Saint Moritz. With the others of the jet-set.’

Much like the Windmills of your Mind, one hit wonder Peter Sarstedt’s 1969 smash is so much of its time that it could easily be a parody of it. It positively aches with self conscious, sixties sophistication. I’ve always liked it though. Yes I do, no I don’t, yes I do.

25. Montreux

Bonzo’s Montreux – Led Zeppelin

This studio outtake is basically an extended instrumental workout from drummer Jon Bonham, recorded in Montreux’s Mountain Studio in 1976.

26. Brussels

23 Minutes in Brussels – Luna

Probably another ‘madness of whirlwind touring’ song, from one of the more underrated dispensers of easy-going Americana in recent years. Like their time in the city, the song is way too short.

27. Düsseldorf

Trans Europe Express – Kraftwerk

‘Rendezvous in Dusseldorf city, meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie.’ To omit Kraftwerk from this list would just not be cricket, so we’ll place them at the logical start of their journey in hometown Dusseldorf. The entire Trans Europe Express album (1977) is really the perfect soundtrack for shuttling your way across Europe.

28. Rotterdam

Rotterdam – The Beautiful South

Liverpool and Rome also get branded as anonymous anywheres, in the gloomy spotlight cast by a lonely Paul Heaton, who had maybe hopped over the waters on a ferry from his native Hull to find a similarly industrial city lacking human warmth. Or maybe he’d stayed at one too many Travellodges.

29. Amsterdam

Hello Amsterdam – American Music Club

San Fransisco’s leading exponents of ‘Sadcore’ specialise in brewing songs brimming with painfully intense misery and self loathing. In true self referential fashion, this one’s a wry aside on the touring frontman’s sorry lot when greeted with an apathetic audience in a strange town.  It’s more upbeat than most of their back catalogue. From San Fransisco, 1994.

30. Hamburg

Hamburg Song – Keane

Keane? I never have been myself. What can I say? Like the apologetic, lukewarm, squished offering served from the ubiquitous golden arches, it filled a gap.

31. Berlin

Drowning in Berlin – The Mobiles

There are no shortage of songs associated with Berlin, but I’ve chosen this one mainly for its chart rundown nostalgia. As far as what it’s about, I’d put this one in the Ultravox Vienna camp, but it has an intriguing atmosphere about it and a powerful Toyahesque chorus. Plus the creepy voice enquiring  ‘Sind Sie Allein in Berlin?’ (are you alone in Berlin?) over the slightly nightmarish fairground organ makes it a memorable number in my book. From 1982.

32. Warsaw

Warszawa – David Bowie

A  track  from the largely instrumental side of  Bowie’s first ‘Berlin album’, Low (1973) which was inspired by the desolation Bowie witnessed in the city and includes a melody from a Polish folk choir.

33. Gdańsk

Gdansk – Test Dept

More industrial, ‘essi-stential’ angst from early eighties politically charged panel beaters of New Cross. From Ecstasy Under Duress, 1982.

34. Copenhagen

Lucinda Williams – Copenhagen

35. Aarhus

Our House – Madness

I know, sorry Denmark!

36. Gothenburg

Gothenburg – Maia Hirasawa

Maia Hirasawa is a reasonably successful Swedish singer songwriter who sometimes sings in English. Unbelievably, Sweden is now the world’s third biggest exporter of music, so she may well become better known over here before too long.

37. Oslo

Oslo in the Summertime – Of Montreal

This song’s author Kevin Barnes married a Norwegian, but still sounds suitably adrift: ‘I practice my Norwegian on poor befuddled waitresses. Who shake their heads completely at a loss.’  Well, we’ve all been there!

38. Stockholm

Stockholm – The New Fast Automatic Daffodils

The New FADs were one of the many bands that threatened to explode out of Manchester in the wake of the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, like an angrier, angular Inspiral Carpets. One of the few half decent bands to grace the Student Union of Kent University  during my time there. From Exit Body, Exit Mind, 1992.

39. Helsinki

HKI – Gracias

Gracias is a Kinshasa-born rapper based in Helsinki. He seems to like it there if this track is anything to go by.

40. Riga

Riga Girls – The Weepies

So is it even possible to visit all of the places on the map with an InterRail pass?

The longest pass is valid for 30 days. Admittedly it would probably not be the best way to experience these places, but I think it may just be possible  for those sufficiently gripped by a challenge to tick off all 8,500 miles of this journey with a 30 day pass, by taking a few ferries and visiting multiple cities in a single day.

Maybe I’ll even attempt it myself and perhaps delve into some of the stories behind these songs?

Which ones did I miss?  Share your favourite InterRail tracks with a comment below

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OK I’ll admit it. I haven’t seen as much of Scotland as I could have in the decade that I’ve been living here.  It was high time for a highland fling, and a big birthday recently lent us the perfect pretext for doing just that.

My last post on the West Highland Railway left us at Fort William station, not a place that graces many bucket lists and so let’s not shilly shally there a moment longer, and move on instead to Strontian’s Kilcamb Lodge Hotel on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, Argyllshire.

Getting There

Despite being pretty remote, even by Highland standards, getting to Strontian by public transport is perfectly doable, providing you time it right. The Sheil Bus company run two daily services (Mon-Sat only) from the Fort William Bus Stance, which is directly opposite the train station, outside Morrison’s.  The 1.25pm bus will drop you right at the top of the hotel’s drive.

The Bus Journey

The bus is an experience in itself. As the driver helps the old ladies put their shopping in the boot, it soon becomes apparent that everyone on the bus knows everyone else. So that’s one cliché neatly ticked off. I also discover that the Plus Bus tickets I bought with my train ticket online are useless on this private service.

The bus bobs its way along the shore of Loch Linnhe until it reaches the Corran Ferry – at under 2 minutes, it’s possibly the shortest ferry crossing I’ve ever experienced. The ferryman performs a little bow as we bump our way off the ramp.

Kilcamb Lodge Hotel

Our destination for this weekend hop is the Kilcamb Lodge Hotel, a homely country house hotel blissfully isolated on the banks of Loch Sunart, with a first-rate fine dining restaurant, and a local otter and seal population which can sometimes outnumber people.

It’s the sort of place where the owners are more concerned with keeping the cosy fires lit and the bar well stocked with single malts than with keeping up with the latest fashions in hotel room decor. It feels more like visiting your eccentric aunt and uncle in the country than staying at a hotel.

We were the only guests staying on the night we arrived, which was a pleasant surprise.

Venturing out to Strontian

Strontian doesn’t offer much in the way of diversions, but then that’s the whole point of coming here. In the village there’s a Police Station, a Tourist Info office and possibly the most optimistically named ‘Shopping Centre’ in the northern hemisphere. Basically it’s a corner shop, a pottery shop and a bistro, open for lunch only.

Seeing as we’re dining at Kilcamb on our second night, we venture out to try one of  the 3 viable alternatives, the Strontian Hotel. We’d heard from the taxi driver earlier that afternoon that it was  ‘a little bit rough.’  Tracing a flicker of concern on our faces at hearing this news he qualified the statement a little, ‘Well, you know, just typical village life I suppose. It’s nothing fancy. Everyone in the village goes there.’

Once at the Strontian, we eventually find our way in to the bar – through the restaurant, then through a door marked ‘Gents’ hidden in the corner – to find that ‘everyone in the village’ means five old-timers, two other dining couples and one young barmaid. Walking into the dark wood-panelled interior with wood-burning stove felt like stumbling into a hillbilly cabin somewhere in the Appalachians, but the locals were friendly enough and the home-cooked food was tasty – particularly the venison braesola.

It’s only 9.30pm when we leave but once we’re away from the lights of the pub, we’re pitched into total darkness along a pavementless country lane. If it wasn’t for Mrs Jools’ Mini-Maglite, we may not have made the 10-minute journey back to Kilcamb unscathed. But we do, and we’re greeted by the dramatic sight of the huge lime tree outside the lodge illuminated with ghostly white spotlights, making it look almost like a stage set.

Nature Walks

There are several walks you can access without a car near Kilcalmb and many more with, including one which takes you to an animal hide, where you can stake out otters, seals, red squirrels and ospreys.  There’s an easy one from the village, Fermie’s Walk, which goes in a 40 minute loop.

We opt instead  for the Aruindle Nature Reserve walk. This medium difficulty walk can be turned into something more challenging, with the option of scrambling down boggy terrain and past an abandoned mine where lead and strontium (which gave the village its name) were once extracted.

Our walking notes advise ‘non-navigators’ against tackling it. There’s also talk of ‘fording a river’, which Mrs Jools insists on repeating as ‘fjording a river.’ Given these linguistic obstacles, we agree it’s beyond our capabilities and opt instead for the easier version.

This circular walk takes around 2 hours in total. It’s extremely well marked by a series of gate posts painted with bright green oak leaves. Following it takes you through oak woods, where water seems to ooze out of every rock and mossy tree trunks resemble crocodiles and other beasts, frozen in stasis.

The walk takes us through Pine Marten country too, or so the boards tell us. We fail to spot any but encounter plenty of their tar-like output along the boardwalk which weaves its way through densely packed birch trees. We pass a series of hillocks which we learn are actually abandoned huts of crofers. The crofters finally gave up on the unyielding soil in the 19th century when it gave up on them.

Afterwards, you can reward yourself with a stop at the Ariundle Centre, a family friendly place which serves a modest selection of home cooked food and has a pleasant outdoor terrace. Wood turning and other local crafts are sometimes practiced here too.

Having negotiated a 12pm check out, we while away our final hours in the drawing room, watching the sun play peekabo with the clouds over the slumbering waters of the Loch, while reading books from the well-stocked shelves, including one about the history of the Orient Express.

Eventually our taxi rolls up to return us to the rigours of the real world and an ill-advised afternoon in Fort William. Our brief and tranquil re-aquaintance with nature has recharged our cells enough to deal with that, just about!

Kilcamb’s Spring reak offer includes 2 nights, bed, breakfast and dinner, plus afternoon tea and a £20 wine voucher, for £460.

This post comes courtesy of Best Loved Hotels. We’re extremely grateful to them for kindly accommodating us at such short notice.

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It’s been voted the ‘world’s most scenic train journey’ for 3 consecutive years by readers of Wanderlust magazine, so it’s high time I checked out the West Highland Line, since it’s practically on my doorstep after all.

The Basics

The West Highland Line starts from Glasgow Queen Street and goes either to Oban or Mallaig on the west coast of Scotland. From Mallaig you can get the ferry to Skye or one of the ‘small islands’. There are only a few departures per day, and with a total journey time of over 5 hours to Mallaig, the 8.21 departure is your best bet. The line is run by Scotrail with return tickets starting from around £30 if booked in advance.

So what’s the train like?

Is it truly worthy of the accolade foisted on it by no doubt staycation crazy Wanderlust readers? Does it live up to all the hype? Well, pretty much, though there is room for improvement.

First of all, it’s important to know that this is not a luxury train service. I knew this before I took it, but still couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed by the train itself. Run on stock from the late 80s or maybe early 90s, it looks like a typical intercity or commuter service. The seats are narrower and less comfortable than what you might find on say the East Coast Mainline and other British rail journeys of a similar length.

No Dining Service

The other let down is that there’s no dining car on board. There are menu cards circulated early in the journey, but don’t let this fool you, it’s trolley service only. The  trolley comes around at regular intervals, stocked with  standard fare, pre-packaged sandwiches, crisps and snacks. The coffee was decent enough though and there are a few healthy options, including Stoats Apple & Cinnamon Spiced Porridge, which my partner enjoyed.

I’m not saying it should be a luxury train you understand, it’s a vaguely affordable (by British standards) working service, ferrying hikers and bikers up to the Highlands, alongside the tourists, and so it should remain. But just because the views outside the window are spectacular this doesn’t mean that a little more effort inside the car would go amiss.

What about the journey itself?

It’s reliably and consistently scenic, no doubt about that. If great glens and glistening lochs are your thing, you’re in for a treat. Once you’ve left Glasgow’s urban sprawl behind, less than thirty minutes into the journey, it’s pretty phenomenal eye candy for the duration. In fact, even before things get all scenic on your ass, there’s still enough to capture your attention: there’s a graveyard of wooden ship skeletons around Bowling Harbour, the mudflats of Helensburgh and the Clyde Estuary, the strangely imposing mound at Dunbarton Station, all of which makes for interesting viewing.

Things pick up in earnest around Garelochhead. The train sweeps high above the banks of the Clyde, with little clusters of white cottages looking impossibly small on the opposite shore and the sloping treeline fringed with pines. Soon after, the views switch to the right side of the train as the edge of Loch Lomond appears through rows of corkscrewed, still bare branches which look like gnarly hands reaching out to scoop the silvery waters below.

Wha’s like us?

The scenery gets more dramatic as the station names become more staunchly Gaelic sounding – and harder to pronounce for us Sassernachs. The place names conjure up no small measure of romance and you can easily imagine how intoxicating they sound to visitors from the New World who yearn to trace their ancestors’ tracks.

All Scottish stations are bi-lingual these days, a legacy of devolution perhaps, but you notice that the Gaelic names are given equal billing as you head further north.  Understandably, this confuses some visitors. We stifle a chuckle as one of  elderly American ladies in the window seat opposite us says to the other and says, ‘Oh my, I wonder why they’ve put all the station names in Welsh?’

My best picture, sadly!

Highland Springs

Coming up to Ardlui, the wilds of the Highlands get into their stride. The hillsides have that suedey textured scrub, their khaki colours are patched with the odd splash of orange and mustard, even at this time of year when winter has more or less faded but spring has yet to burst into life. The burns and waterfalls carve paths down the hillside. They rush so fast that they could almost be mistaken for skinny ski runs from this distance. A random ‘we apologise for the delay’ announcement comes through the tannoy for no apparent reason. A passenger behind us supposes that it’s force of habit.

At Crianlarich the train divides, giving you a chance to stretch your legs and take in some mountain air. Around this point of the journey you begin to feel woven into the landscape, as you find yourself in amongst the craggy rocks rather than seeing them from afar.

Station Outposts

Soon the stations become the only outposts of civilisation, some of which double up as bunkhouses for hikers stopping off. They’re uniformly charming too, with low level station cabins with brightly painted windowframes, flower baskets and gravel platforms, you could almost be in the Alps. One is put use as a restaurant in the evenings. The Old Station Restaurant invites you to ‘Dine on the Line’ at Spean Bridge Station.

At Rannoch you’re pitched into true wilderness, the landscape opens wide, with just the lumpy gorse clad earth and the odd startled deer or sheep for company. You can practically smell the peat in the air outside. A lone tree sprouts from a mossy rock, as if posing deliberately for a VisitScotland brochure photo opp, the shell of a single grey, ruined church looks lonely and God forsaken in this wilderness, making you wonder just how far its devout congregation had to trudge to reach it.

Before long we pass through Corrour Summit, where groups of weary, rosy-cheeked hikers stumble on with their backpacks, amid clouds of midges and eventually we reach Fort William, the terminus of our rail journey this time around.

Beyond Fort William lies the extraordinary feat of engineering that is the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which is famous for its role in the Harry Potter films. Here you can flit back in time and take the Jacobite Express, a glorious steam locomotive service, which doubled up as the Hogwarts Express and runs daily from Fort William and Mallaig during the summer months.

But Fort William is our journey’s end. ‘Outdoor Capital of the UK’  it may be, but beyond Ben Nevis, I think it’s fair to say it’s not much of a destination. First impressions from stepping out of the station are underwhelming. It looks like a particularly unloved retail park, with its vast car park, the obligatory MacDonalds and a huge Morrison’s Supermarket.

Fortunately we weren’t staying long. It was merely our jumping off point for a lazy weekend at the gorgeous and homely Kilcamb Lodge Hotel, in Strontian, on the remote and considerably lovelier Ardnamurchan Peninsula, Argyllshire. More on that shortly.

Scotrail Deals

There are  a number of good deals available through Scotrail. A regular partnership with Sainsbury’s means that you can travel on this line – and in fact anywhere in Scotland – from just £19 return when you make a purchase in store.

If you’re over 54, then you could join Club 55, which can bag you tickets at £19 between 16 January and 31 March.

Finally, do check out this exhaustive list of British bargain rail tickets and railcards.

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The following post was sponsored and written by Travel Medical Insurance.
Europe is a truly unique continent, with vastly different countries with their own cultures and traditions sitting side by side, just a short train ride away. This means that people choosing to explore the continent are treated to an extremely rich experience, with so many world-renowned attractions and cultural gems packed into a relatively small area.

For travellers longing to see Europe, there really isn’t a better way to do it than by rail. The main part of the continent is landlocked, and choosing to explore the sights on a train will allow tourists to experience the unique sights and sounds of the countries that they would not catch a glimpse of if they were jetting around.

A Eurail pass lets travellers outside of Europe traverse up to 23 different European destinations for up to three months. There are different options available with the pass, so you can tailor your experience accordingly. Focus on just one country with a single country pass or between 3 and 5 with a Eurail Select Pass.  Adventurers wanting to go the whole hog can opt for the Global Pass and explore 23 countries across Europe, with highlights including France, Italy and the Czech Republic.

France is a favourite among travellers and it is not hard to see why; with its romantic capital Paris encompassing a number of world-famous landmarks – the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame cathedral to name just a few. Art fans are in for a treat in the French capital, with its myriad of art galleries including the Dali Museum, the Rodin Museum and the Maurice Denis Museum dotted around the city, and the famous Louvre taking pride of place.
As fantastic as Paris undoubtedly is, it is certainly not the only place worth visiting in France. The French Riviera, famous for its bustling open markets, white sandy beaches and delightful local Bellet wine provides the perfect destination for a relaxing few days.

For romance and culture, travellers will be hard pressed to find anywhere superior to Italy. There really is something for everyone; whether it’s history, fashion, city sights or just a relaxing nature they are after. There are numerous cities well worth visiting, from the capital of Rome with its historical architecture and ancient beauty, to Venice with its “olde worlde” designer shops, towering landmarks and famous waterways. Florence is undoubtedly the best destination for art lovers, with sculptures around every corner and numerous galleries on offer which contain some of the world’s most famous masterpieces.

Prague in the Czech Republic has seen a real surge in popularity with tourists in the past few years – and not without good reason. Widely touted as one of the most stunning cities in the world, Prague’s historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where visitors will enjoy a night-time trip down the Vlatva River or paying a visit to the largest ancient castle in the world. Other charming attractions include Holasovice, a 13th century South-Bohemian village where people can find out about the country’s bohemian past.

People wanting to venture to eastern Europe are also in luck as other destinations on the route include Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as Scandinavian countries and other holiday favourites like the Netherlands, Spain, Greece and Switzerland.

Anyone heading off on the trip of a lifetime will want to ensure they have the appropriate travel medical insurance. Policies that cover the individual for pre-existing medical conditions are essential, especially for extended trips, as this means that should something flare up travellers can be treated and get back to enjoying their holiday as soon as possible. Travel medical insurance should also cover theft, which can be a real worry for backpackers. There is little worse than being stranded in a foreign country with no money, and such policies will ensure that should the traveller be the victim of crime they won’t be left out of pocket.

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Image: http://www.chartertrains.co.uk

This post comes courtesy of our old pal the devil’s advocate. In response to Catherine Mack’s recent one about finding cheap international train tickets I was inspired to have another go at finding some myself. In her post on Ethical Traveller, I’m quoted alongside other ‘train brains’, as Catherine has us, such as Mark Smith (AKA the Man in Seat 61) Rail Europe, Loco2 and Richard Hammond of Green Traveller.

We dispense our top tips for finding the best rail fares in Europe and it’s certainly well worth a read. Catherine does a great job in proving that finding bargain train fares abroad is not quite as impossible as some might think, but that’s just half the story…

It’s not impossible to find these fares, but let’s be honest, it’s not exactly easy either. And  it’s certainly nowhere near as simple as finding cheap airfares… and therein lies the problem. I decided to test this out.

As an experiment, I took Deutsche Bahn’s London Spezial fares as an example and went in search of the e49 tickets advertised on their site and mentioned in the post. I started looking from tomorrow’s date onwards for the best train fares from London to Cologne, the closest German rail hub for UK travellers.

Now e49 is a cracking deal, I’m sure you’ll agree. OK, there are cheaper flights out there, but once you factor in the 20 – 30 euros you’d pay for transfers,  I’d bet that most people would happily stump up an extra twenty quid or so for the convenience and comfort that rail travel brings.

No need to pack your toiletries separately, take your shoes off, be put through a series of patience-sapping queues, be hememd into your seat and generally patronised into infantile submission by constant announcements and safety checks, or schlep to and from the aiports to the city centre.

And with a journey time now at a scorching 4.5 hours you wouldn’t be sacrificing much of your precious travelling time either, once you’ve factored in airport check in and transfer time there’s probably less than half an hour in it, if that.  So wouldn’t it be great to find some of these special fares readily available?

Having nothing better to do with my Saturday night (apart from try to think up Morrissey-related MozRank memes) I looked at every single day over the following 90 day period (the furthest ahead that fares are released online). Reader, I found none. The best I found was e69 single or e159 return. At least these e69 fares were plentiful enough. There were a few per week for almost every week.

I’ll admit that I limited my search to the first half of the day, for departures spanning between 9am – 3pm, so it’s possible there may have been the odd supercheap fare after these times. The reason I did this is largely down to DBahn’s booking system. It’s pretty easy to flick forward to the next day and search again, changing the time slot would significantly slow the search.

But this is a simple usability problem which is surely easily solved?

Why make us search again for every possible day and time option for the Holy Grail of affordable rail travel?

Just show us the cheapest fares in our chosen date range – how hard can it be?

What this exercise proved, much to my dismay, is that there are two main problems with cheap European train fares, especially those originating from the UK:

1. They’re few and far between

2. They’re just too hard to find

If you think this is just unhelpful carping, then compare it to airfares for a moment. There’s hundreds of third party flight agreggators out there dedicated to finding you the cheapest flight. For the most part, they’re a breeze to use.

I did a quick search for flights between London and Cologne on Skyscanner (other flight aggregators are available of course folks, but they’re a local business and the one I’ve always used first!). In a matter of seconds I found one in April for e48. Skyscanner make things easy by showing you a nice, graphic bar chart of the cheapest fare available on each day of any one month.

So why can’t Rail Europe and others do this?

I’m sure there’s a good reason, but I can’t be the only one demanding an answer. Crossing Canada by train with Via Rail is not exactly cheap, but at least they have a section on their site dedicated to promoting their best discount deals.

I genuinely want to know what barriers exist. Obviously there is greater competition on air routes, whereas you are mostly tied into using the national operator for most train journeys.

Are there complex data issues that need to be resolved, convoluted issues around integrating different national railway systems? Or are the rail companies simply just too greedy to show their cheapest fares, or is it a combination of all of these factors as I suspect? What’s the problem?

If you’re an industry insider and have some of the answers, I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s another great usability example which rail companies could learn from. When you log on to the homepage of DoHop, you’re given an eye-pleasing overview of all of the cheapest upcoming flight deals to various destinations from your usual departure airport, which it helpfully remembers from your last visit. Howz about we have something similar for train journeys? If someone could work it out it’s bound to be a winner.

Now let’s turn our attention back to Rail Europe for a moment. On their homepage they proudly trumpet their best fares: £69 return to Bruges or Paris, £99 to Amsterdam. Great.  But click on these and instead of taking you to some actual examples of these fares, you get a map of Belgium and a bunch of city gudies. Hmm…

The same is true with Eurostar. It seems that when it comes to finding bargain train fares, they’re all tease and no please.

I’ve talked about Rome2Rio before as they’re one of the few companies who seem to be actively tackling this issue, at least in public. But they’re a small, underexposed company still tweaking their excellent map-based search site which lets you compare multiple modes of transport in terms of price, time and Co2. So far it doesn’t let you browse for the cheapest fares.

Surely it’s time the big guns put their heads together over this? Where there’s a will etc…

FlightFox (run by the people behind the excellent travel buddy site Globe Trooper) have recently started employing travel bloggers to find cheap airfares for ordinary folks who can’t be arsed looking themselves. Maybe they should run a similar challenge for those looking for bargain train fares?  Now that’s one service I’d consider paying for myself.

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Terence Cuneo, NRM Pictorial Collection, 1952 - Science and Society Picture Library

See Scotland By Train

National Museum of Scotland

Friday 16 March – Sunday 24 June 2012

A stunning collection of Scottish railway poster art goes on display at the National Museum of Scotland for the first time next week. The See Scotland by Train exhibition showcases 30 striking posters which give a flavour of rail travel over the past century, while being works of art in their own right. Artists featured include Terence Cuneo, Henry Gawthorn and Doris Zinkeisen.

The exhibition shows how railway art – and advertising in general – has evolved over the past 120 years, bringing things bang up to date with recent examples from ScotRail and East Coast.

Changes in the railway service, such as the nationalisation and the formation of British Railways in 1948 and the privatisation of the railways from 1994, which created ScotRail in 1997, had a big effect on the look and feel of the art produced.

NRM Pictorial Collection - Science and Society Picture Library

Although railway art had been used in Britain since the 1890s it was not until 1923 and the merger of the small railway companies into the “Big Four” that the railway poster came of age. Before that railway posters were a muddle of styles and information, the financial muscle of The Big Four made it possible to commission highly skilled artists to create images to promote rail travel.

As you might expect, there’ll be a section devoted to the Forth Rail Bridge, including the remarkable story of Terence Cuneo’s scaling of the impressive structure in high winds, in order to sketch it for a 1952 poster. (Whether or not he needed to sketch it again by the time he finished it, we’re not sure.)

Alongside the posters themselves, you can find railway signs, an 1870 model locomotive and some examples of original artwork. There will also be extracts from films featuring memorable railway scenes, as well as archive footage of rail travel from the Scottish Screen Archive, going back as far as an 1897 film of a train crossing the Tay Bridge.

1928 Forth Rail Bridge HG Gawthorn, 1928, NRM Pictorial Collection - Science and Society Picture Library

The museum has recently re-opened its doors to much fanfare following a £47 million transformation and is in the running for the prestigious Art Fund Prize. While you’re there, make sure you check out the Millennium Clock, an amazing ‘kinetic sculpture’ designed by Russian artist Eduard Besudsky, which springs to life spectacularly on the hour.

For those coming from out of town, NMS is an easy 5 minute walk from Edinburgh’s Waverley Station. If you’re travelling up to Scotland for it and you fancy combining it with something a little more active then you could always consider a luxury golf holiday.

The exhibition promises to be a fitting reminder of the both the halcyon days of rail travel in Scotland and the golden age of poster art. Here’s hoping we see a revival in both.

This post was written by me, with kind support from eurobookings.com.

2010 Scotrail Club 55 poster

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Today’s post is a guest appearance from my friend Ralph Velasco. Ralph runs excellent photographic workshops, and today introduces a forthcoming one on board Mexico’s El Chepe train.

He’ll teach you how to get the most out of taking photos from a moving train, a pretty handy skill to acquire I’m sure you’ll agree. See his post (linked above) from last year’s tour for some examples of what to expect from the course – and some more stunning results from Ralph himself.

Photo Tour of Copper Canyon, Mexico

In conjunction with Jim Cline Photo Workshops, I’m thrilled to announce a new tour that I’ll be leading to Mexico’s Copper Canyon.

The Chihuahua-Pacifico train, also known as El Chepe, is widely regarded as one of the great train rides of the world, and we’ll be enjoying it from the town of El Fuerte, near Los Mochis, up and back down the Copper Canyon in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

The photo opportunities are virtually endless as we wind our way among 3,000-foot cliff walls that are a cross between Yosemite National Park and the Grand Canyon.

WHEN

October 12 – 21, 2012

HIGHLIGHTS

▪    A chance to shoot from El Chepe train in both directions.

▪    Hotel stays in El Fuerte, Divisadero, Batopilas and Creel.

▪    Personal visits with the indigenous Tarahumara people.

▪    Pre-trip planning and photography instruction by Ralph Velasco.

▪    Limited to the first 10 paid participants.

▪    And much, much more…

ADDITIONAL PHOTO GALLERIES

To see more images from my recent trip to Copper Canyon, please visit the following links:

Copper Canyon, Mexico

The Tarahumara People

MORE DETAILS

Please visit Mexico’s Copper Canyon on the Jim Cline Photo Workshops site for all the details about the daily itinerary, equipment suggestions, pricing, testimonials and more.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Have a listen to this recent podcast interview I did on the AmateurTraveler, hosted by Chris Christensen.  In it I discuss the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, as well as the Tarahumara people and the Copper Canyon.

Travel to Chihuahua, Mexico

Also, have a look at this brief video we made in August on El Chepe while riding through the Copper Canyon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzdeR6jwAVc

About the Author

Ralph Velasco is a Southern California-based travel photography instructor, author and international photo tour guide.  He’s an award-winning travel blogger and creator of the My Shot Lists for Travel app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.  Connect with Ralph on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.

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