Meanderings of Marques

Stena Hollandica at sail I've travelled on Stena Line's Harwich to Hook of Holland service a few times before, but it's fair to say Eurostar's introduction of direct London to Amsterdam trains in 2018 took away the shine of the old 'dutchflyer'. It falls short on both travel time and ticket integration.  Whilst the overnight sailing has a unique selling point, the day sailing can feel quite arduous, requiring an early start in London to achieve an evening arrival time in Amsterdam. The rail and sail offer from Liverpool Street used to be replicated on the Dutch side with onward travel anywhere in the Netherlands included in a single ticket. Unfortunately NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) withdrew from this arrangement a few years ago, and the track from the port has been converted into a line of the Rotterdam Metro. But a recent flash sale from Stena Line offering £15 foot passenger fares on all of their Irish and North Sea routes piqued my interest. As I was looking...

Ryanair at  Memmingen Airport Following a travel mishap over the weekend, I found myself in the position of booking a flight back to London with only two days notice. I try to avoid flights as much as possible and had been due to return to the UK from Bavaria using a combination of train and ferry. After having to abandon those plans, my only reasonable option from a cost perspective was a Ryanair flight from the small low-cost airport at Memmingen back to old favourite (note the sarcasm) Stansted.  The flight price was surprisingly cheap: €19.90, plus €18.99 for my check-in bag (the cheapest luggage option in this case). That made a total of £33.25, which would have been decent if booking months in advance. However the sting comes at Stansted Airport with the costs for last minute options back to London being rather excessive, especially for a a one-way trip.  Stansted Express comes in at £25 with no railcard discount available on their website. If you're savvy enou...

Callconnect demand responsive bus outside The Barley Mow pub in Friskney As I make further progress on my hike along the King Charles III England Coast Path  - which continues to be established unevenly across the country - I have been matching areas where the trail is officially open in substantive chunks with the availability of cheap accommodation and suitable travel options.  In early March those criteria aligned to bring me to the resort town of Skegness in Lincolnshire. As the northern starting point it would take me around The Wash, England’s largest natural bay, into the neighbouring county of Norfolk. As standard I am attempting to rely on public transport to access the coast path. This is a particular challenge in this part of the country as only a scarce network of scheduled bus services exist, with almost nothing to serve the few coastal communities between Boston and King's Lynn. Indeed the area is so remote that the Ministry of Defence operate the Holbeach A...