In Praise of Driving Holidays

You’re struggling with your over-flowing suitcase, trying to decide what you really don’t need so as to meet the airline’s baggage limit. Then it’s off to the airport to catch a flight at some unearthly hour. Of course it’s a low-cost no-frills flight, so no chance of a comfortable journey. And when you arrive at the destination airport you find it’s another hour or so by coach to the town which carries the airport’s name. And by the time you’ve added the taxes, fuel surcharge, baggage handling surcharge and coach fare, is it really that cheap to fly?

And what about the environmental impact of all these flights? As well as the carbon dioxide that flights pump into the atmosphere, there’s growing concern about the effect of aircraft contrails. These are the trails of vapour and particulates left in the sky by planes. These are thought to contribute to global warming by adding to the “blanket” around the earth which stops heat escaping from the planet.

But for many people the growth of low-cost flights within Europe, has meant that they’ve become so accustomed to flying that they don’t really consider the alternatives. For example, the many high-speed train services throughout Europe mean that this environmentally friendly way of travelling can often be almost as quick as flying, with the benefit of being delivered right to the centre of your chosen destination.

But what about driving there in your own car. Some of my best childhood memories are of being driven in my Dad’s Ford Anglia through France to our favourite campsite on the Italian Riviera. It was my job to navigate, and my brother kept the journey log; great fun. It gave us a real insight into the countries and regions we were passing through. We saw the landscape and architecture change as we moved south, giving a real sense of having been on a journey. And when I had children of my own, we did it all over again, and always had a great time.

As well as this sense of adventure, there’s the freedom of being in charge of your own itinerary. You can stop when and where you like, take a detour to check out that interesting hill village, stay longer than you’d planned at that hotel fronting the fabulous beach, hardly ever visited by Brits because there’s no convenient airport. And of course you can take pretty much what you like – no more struggling with bulging suitcases, just fling it all in the boot!

And if you’re nervous about driving abroad, don’t be. After a few miles of driving on the “wrong” side of the road, you’ll find you take to it like a duck to water. And there are many excellent websites that offer plenty of advice on the rules and regulations you’ll need to know. Perhaps you’re concerned about planning a complex itinerary. Here again, a trawl around the internet will bring up plenty of route planners which give you distances, journey times, toll charges and detailed driving directions.

Try taking your car abroad, and become a traveller rather than a tourist and wave goodbye to those airport blues.

www.drive-alive.co.uk

Flying versus Driving? Want to comment on this click here

6 July 2006