UKC

When we are allowed out into more European countries again, this is an option for holidays.

(This applies to walking trips as well, really, of course.)

This was an interesting and well written article about travelling by train for climbing trips in Europe.  Train travel can be enjoyable in itself, there's things to see out of the windows to give us ideas for future trips.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/a_guide_to_climbing_trips_...

The Seat61 website shows how train journeys (e.g. from London into Europe) can have 75 to 90% lower CO2 emissions than the same journey by plane.

https://www.seat61.com/CO2flights.htm

An article on train times and costs:

https://www.dw.com/en/trains-vs-planes-whats-the-real-cost-of-travel/a-4520...

I thought about this following a long weekend trip to the South of France by 'plane a couple of years ago. Of course the train takes longer, though not necessarily by too much in real terms.

For example I could knock off work at lunchtime on Friday in Edinburgh, and be in the Pyrenees by half eight the following morning:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Edinburgh+Waverley,+Edinburgh/Ax-les-Therme...

OTOH I don't really need to go to Europe to climb...

I've had a couple of trips to Europe in the last couple of years by coach, and I thought that was pretty good as well. You just get on a bus - maybe change at London Victoria and Paris, time for a beer and a meal maybe - and you're there! 

I wonder how the covid risk compare for a 4 hr flight vs an equivalent 12?hr train journey?

I would imagine that an airport is higher risk than a station as airports are enclosed, stations are not. Flight, short term, very high exposure, train long term, high exposure. The results of a detailed analysis could be surprising.