Latest news with #slowtravel
The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
The best European walking trails you should try this year
As the weather (finally) heats up, many travellers are itching to get outdoors and soak up some much-needed vitamin D. Rediscovering the joys of slow travel is one of the best ways to enjoy the beauty of a landscape. Walking allows you to take time to observe your surroundings and stop to admire the views. This spring and summer, consider exploring some of Europe 's most iconic hiking trails, paths trod for centuries by pilgrims, traders, and travellers, connecting historical sites and breathtaking landscapes. As the days lengthen, it's the perfect time to lace up your boots and experience the continent's beauty on foot. Here are some of Europe's best walking trails to try: The Camino de Santiago, Spain For centuries, pilgrims have traversed the ancient pathways leading to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the burial site of St. James the Apostle. The most renowned of these routes, the 500-mile Camino Francés, or French Way, begins in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, nestled in the French Pyrenees. Marked by the ubiquitous scallop shell, the Camino winds through medieval towns, vineyards, and picturesque countryside, echoing the journeys of countless pilgrims over millennia. Modern-day walkers continue the tradition, carrying pilgrim passports and collecting stamps at albergues (hostels) along the route. For those seeking a less arduous experience, numerous companies offer organised tours, handling luggage transport between accommodations. While the Camino's origins are steeped in religious tradition, today's pilgrims embark on the journey for a variety of reasons. Beyond the spiritual aspect, the Camino offers a unique opportunity to forge connections and experience the camaraderie of fellow travellers, creating a shared experience of challenge and discovery. The South West Coast Path, UK Britain's longest National Trail stretches 630 miles, offering breathtaking coastal scenery from Minehead in Somerset to Poole in Dorset. Originally carved out by coastguards patrolling for smugglers, the path hugs the coastline, traversing through Devon and Cornwall before reaching its final destination. Hikers can experience a diverse range of landscapes, from the dramatic cliffs of North Devon and the historic tin mines of Botallack, Cornwall, to the lush tropical gardens of the Cornish Riviera and the iconic limestone arch of Durdle Door in Dorset. The trail also boasts numerous beaches and secluded coves, perfect for rest and reflection. For those planning to explore this extensive route, the South West Coast Path website provides detailed information on different sections, along with recommendations for accommodation along the way. Cinque Terre Coastal Trail, Italy Connecting five colourful fishing villages on the Ligurian coast, this trail attracts more than 2.5 million visitors per year. Originating in medieval times, these paths were once the only way local people could travel between the villages before the railway was built in the 1870s. Sections of the trail range in length, starting at just a few miles. The most popular Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Trail) runs for seven miles, where the Via dell'Amore (Lovers' Lane) section delivers sweeping views of the Mediterranean. Take time to stop in the key villages – gasp at Riomaggiore's houses cascading to the sea; sip wine on Manarola's terraces; and explore Vernazza's natural harbour dominated by its medieval castle. West Highland Way, Scotland Journey through the heart of the Scottish Highlands on the iconic West Highland Way, a 96-mile trek from Glasgow to Fort William showcasing breathtaking scenery. This popular route offers hikers a diverse landscape of pristine lochs, desolate moorlands, and glacier-carved valleys like the dramatic Glencoe, all while offering glimpses of local wildlife such as red deer and golden eagles. Starting in Milngavie, the trail skirts the shores of Loch Lomond, Britain's largest lake, before traversing the vast wilderness of Rannoch Moor. The path then leads through Glencoe, a valley steeped in history and marked by the tragic 1692 massacre, where hikers can admire the distinctive pyramid-shaped mountains. A challenging climb up the Devil's Staircase, the highest point on the trail at 539metres, rewards hikers with panoramic views.
Times
6 days ago
- Times
I've found Europe's best sleeper train — and at just £62 you'll need to be quick
What does 'dolce vita' mean to you? Maybe it's the film — Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg giving 1960s glamour in the Trevi Fountain. Maybe it's a state of mind — effortless elegance with a side of excellent food. Or maybe it's slow travel through the bel paese — April marked the launch of La Dolce Vita Orient Express, an overnight train as luxurious as it is expensive, from £3,605 for 24 hours. But I know another dolce vita train. It's significantly cheaper (from £62 for 18 hours) and a little less plush. Yet stepping on to it — my bags carried by a burgundy-jacketed carriage attendant — I still gasped with delight. As we trundled alongside Roman walls and emerged into the Lazio countryside, I found myself inexplicably emotional. Maybe it was watching eager travellers clink glasses in the scarlet-chaired restaurant as jazz tinkled in the background. Maybe it was nostalgia on this retro train, studded with vintage photos from the glory days of travel. Maybe it was listening to the multilingual announcements — Italian, French, then English — narrating our journey up the Mediterranean coastline. Or it could, I suppose, have been the prosecco. This time-travelling train, the Espresso Riviera, is a limited edition. It'll run weekly until the end of August from Rome to Marseille and back. It leaves Rome just before 8pm each Friday, proceeds up the Tyrrhenian coastline overnight and reaches Genoa at dawn. Then it continues along the Italian Riviera, before crossing the French border and sweeping along the Côte d'Azur, arriving at Marseille just before 2pm on Saturday. Turning straight around, it reaches Sanremo for sunset and is back in Rome at 6.48am on Sunday. Eighteen hours on a single train sounds like a lower circle of purgatory and — as a reluctant regular on the Rome-Palermo Intercity Notte — my general opinion of sleepers is to avoid them whenever possible. But this? This is different. It's an unabashed wallow in the golden era of train travel, so is railway heaven. The operator, FS Treni Turistici Italiani, launched in 2023 as the luxury, leisure-focused arm of FS Italiane, the Italian state railway organisation. It runs a handful of routes a year and, until now, hadn't appealed to me — a Rome-Dolomites weekend jaunt (nice for Romans); Milan-Nice (beautiful but short). But Rome to Marseille? Waking up on the Italian Riviera? Chugging along the Cote d'Azur? Count me in — especially if I could build it into a no-fly journey from Italy to the UK. At Termini, the gargantuan station in Rome, the departures board glowed with extra joie de vivre. Salerno, Venezia, Milano … Marseille! On platform 22 stood a hulking diesel locomotive — so far, so Intercity. But the carriages attached to it were more Orient Express — striped navy and jade; those burgundy-blazered attendants (one for each carriage) welcoming passengers aboard. These are 1990s Intercity carriages, rescued from retirement and refurbished, with five classes pairing 21st-century standards with mid-century style. I took these trains in my youth — they were horrid, even to a penniless student; but horrid no more. Second class alone makes a mockery of first class on UK trains — individual compartments of six plush armchairs, upholstered in royal blue (get one to yourself, raise the arms and sleep across them, as one couple did). • Discover our full guide to France The first-class compartments are great for daytime — four velvet armchairs separated by elegant tables, with magazine racks and USB points (regular first class is a velvety version of second). The couchettes are six-seaters that fold down into beds, while the private cabins (sold out at present, but keep checking) are just gorgeous — a wide, blue-velvet armchair, foldout desk, basin and bunkbeds that unfurl into yet more armchairs in the morning. At the end of each carriage is a unisex toilet with art deco-like ribbing on the ceiling (a cheerful cleaning team kept things spotless). The carriages are carpeted in scarlet. • Discover our full guide to Italy But back to the journey. From Termini we crossed Rome underground, emerging into rural Lazio to chase the sun as it set over the Ostia coast. As we turned north, flashing past golden beaches and marinas twinkling in the dusk, I hit the restaurant. How brilliantly old-school to be seated opposite a stranger and served ragu-swirled pasta, pepper-doused chicken and lashings of Ligurian red as we put the world to rights. By the time we staggered out we were rattling round the Maremma coast; in bed — a real mattress and topper, no less, though it's still a rickety, noisy sleeper — I watched on Google Maps as the train inched towards Livorno. Later I opened the curtains to find us slipping through Cinque Terre, the moon reflecting in the sea like a torch, spotlighting the sleeping villages. By 6.30am we were rumbling into Genoa. An hour later, a white-jacketed waiter was serving me a cappuccino and croissant in the restaurant as the Italian Riviera raced past — all never-ending beach and 8am swimmers. Accordion music filled the restaurant car, the onboard musician signalling that we were approaching France. Ah yes, the border. Ventimiglia stands just east of it but is a world away in rail terms. France and Italy use different voltages for their railways, which meant that our carriages would have to be detached from the Italian locomotive and hitched to a French one. This was a project of cross-border co-operation. For an hour I watched as the locomotives waltzed around each other. Off came the Intercity head, revving off towards France before it switched tracks and slid into a siding; from that siding emerged an SNCF locomotive, which shimmied over the tracks and reversed into us, hitting the second-class carriage with a satisfying clunk. And then, stress in two languages. Nobody was sure what happened. Did that clunk break a brake? Did the French have an outdated manual? Official recollections vary, but one thing was certain, we left Italy two hours late. How passengers felt about this depended on their plans. Returning French holidaymakers gleefully made for the restaurant carriage for a long lunch as the Côte d'Azur unspooled. On a five-stage journey to Devon and about to miss parts two, three and four, I appreciated the views (the red cliffs around St Raphaël were particularly ravishing) but was most struck by the nonstop tunnels that stymied my increasingly desperate calls to my travel insurance company. Here is where cross-border travel is less fun — despite its staff having caused the delay, SNCF wouldn't reroute me because this was an Italian train. The upshot: about £750 on new trains, a hotel and a 6am taxi to make my ferry. Pretty hellish, sure, yet nothing can demote this train from railway heaven: real beds, a restaurant carriage, snapshots of summer at every stop, names that shiver with glamour — Cinque Terre, Monte Carlo, Nice, Menton. I've never been on a super-lux sleeper (I'd rather pay my mortgage than ride the Orient Express), but this is as glamorous as anyone needs a train to Buckley was a guest of FS Treni Turistici Italiani, which has shared couchettes from £62 ( The Espresso Riviera runs until August 30. Fly to Rome By Siobhan Grogan Le Train Rouge clatters along 100-year-old tracks over gravity-defying suspension bridges, through tunnels and across flower-filled French Pyrenean meadows on its 35-mile journey from Rivesaltes to the small town of Axat. This journey is one of the day trips in this weeklong break to Catalonia, travelling by rail from London and staying in the Costa Brava resort of Roses. Rail fans will also revel in the day on the Nuria Rack Railway, which travels eight miles to the Nuria Valley, where mountain pastures surround a blue-green lake. Visits to Girona and Figueres, for the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, provide a culture Seven nights' half-board from £1,299pp, including all rail and coach travel, excursions and wine with dinner ( Reach the French Alpine resort of Chambéry before gunning through the mountains to charming Turin, where sightseeing options include the old Fiat factory, which was immortalised in The Italian Job (1969) and now hosts the largest rooftop garden in Europe. A snaking run to the Adriatic deposits travellers in historic Bari, your base for catching a sleeper ferry to Albania, a land of eagles, hidden beaches and striking socialist architecture. The trip ends with a two-night stay in buzzy Four nights' B&B and two nights' room only from £1,436pp, including all rail travel ( Journey across wintry landscapes on the night train from Stockholm to Kiruna, the northernmost Swedish city, deep inside the Arctic Circle on the banks of frozen Lake Luossajarvi. Activities include snowshoe treks through forests, dog sledding, ice fishing and riding a snowmobile across the tundra, while keeping an eye on the sky for the northern lights. You have three days for Arctic adventures after travelling by train from London via the German city of Münster and Copenhagen, plus two days in Stockholm. Summertime adventures on the same tour take in the midnight sun. Details Eight nights' B&B from £1,149pp ( Fly from Kiruna It's easy and rewarding to explore Slovenia, a tiny land of glacial lakes, ice-capped mountains, vineyards, meadows and a sliver of Adriatic coast, by rail. Your journey takes you from Lake Bled, through a landscape of vineyards and cherry orchards to Bohinjska Bistrica, near the Italian border, before heading south to Ljubljana. After two nights exploring the markets, intriguing streets and riverside cafés of the leafy capital, you're off to the improbably picturesque coastal city of Piran, with its Venetian façades, pretty squares and seafood restaurants. Details Six nights' B&B from £1,080pp, including rail and transfers ( Fly to Ljubljana The graceful baroque heart of Vienna is easy to explore by bike, foot and tram. This eight-night holiday by rail gives you three nights each in the Austrian capital and dreamy Salzburg, with stops in Frankfurt and Zurich. While in Vienna check out the Hofburg Palace and the State Opera, get your art fix at the MuseumsQuartier and gorge on coffee topped with whipped cream in 19th-century cafés. In Salzburg, two hours and 20 minutes from the capital on the speedy Railjet service, there are the legacies of Mozart and the von Trapps to Eight nights' B&B from £1,495pp, including first-class rail travel (
Forbes
6 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
All Aboard A Retail Renaissance: How Luxury Rail Showcases Great Consumer Experience
The service was acquired by LVMH in 2018 (Photo by: Sergi Reboredo/VWPics/Universal Images Group via ... More Getty Images) In an age when algorithms predict desire and over-burdened airport lounges have become little more than fast lanes to fatigue, a slower, more theatrical form of movement is gaining speed and with it, and it is a retail opportunity hiding in plain sight. Luxury train travel is no longer a nostalgic indulgence for a dwindling few. It is becoming a commercial and cultural signal. One that reveals, with surprising clarity, the consumer priorities of our time: immersion over immediacy, curation over chaos, and spending that speaks not just of wealth, but of wisdom. The modern train renaissance has a grand conductor and its name is Belmond. With carriages that feel less like transport and more like time machines, Belmond has rewritten the blueprint for experiential commerce on the move. From the velvet-rich Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, to the highly-Eastern & Oriental Express snaking through Southeast Asia, and Scotland's Royal Scotsman, these are not trains they are stories you board. But this is no pastiche. It's a platform for progressive luxury. When Dior partnered with the Royal Scotsman to create an onboard spa carriage, it wasn't just a ... More brand collaboration it was a provocation. Dior Spa's on-board treatments are curated with luxurious care designed with technique and ingredients inspired by the whimsical and magical Scottish landscape, When Dior partnered with the Royal Scotsman to create an onboard spa carriage, it wasn't just a brand collaboration it was a provocation. Dior Spa's on-board treatments are curated with luxurious care designed with technique and ingredients inspired by the whimsical and magical Scottish landscape, What if wellness, fashion, fine dining and heritage craftsmanship could co-exist in transit, and more importantly, transact in motion? Today's most coveted retail doesn't happen in aisles or on apps it happens in context. It happens where the product meets the moment. And no format is currently delivering that interplay with more potential than the luxury train. Consider the commercial canvas: captive audiences of high-net-worth individuals, undistracted by push notifications or time pressure. Attentive. Immersed. Available in every sense. Onboard trains like the Eastern & Oriental Express, Belmond's 'Tastes of Tomorrow' programme a ... More sensory masterclass led by celebrated chef André Chiang transforms fine dining into brand theatre. Onboard trains like the Eastern & Oriental Express, Belmond's 'Tastes of Tomorrow' programme a sensory masterclass led by celebrated chef André Chiang transforms fine dining into brand theatre. Meanwhile, high-end travel collections, bespoke monogramming services, fragrance discovery sets and artisanal gifting are creeping onto the rails not as novelties, but as natural extensions of experience. This is retail without it's usual walls. And it is working. The appeal of rail isn't speed, it's sensibility. It marks a rebellion against convenience culture in favour of considered consumption. Time, the ultimate luxury, is both spent and savoured. And with it comes an appetite for quality over quantity. Train travel has become the physical manifestation of this shift: deliberate, beautiful, and elevated. It's a space where storytelling holds more sway than stock levels, where the scent of hand-polished wood and fresh linen can outcompete any AI-generated product recommendation. It is the antidote to transactional culture and a roadmap for retailers looking to reconnect with the emotive power of shopping. Every night "feels like fashion week' aboard the VSOE, noting that travellers arrive clad in ... More couture. They walk its corridors in Schiaparelli, Dior, Versace and Simone Rocha a living, breathing runway set to the rhythm of the rails. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage) Fashion, of course, is paying close attention. Whilst there is less of a look-book for flying private, there is for luxury rail. And it is quietly commanding. Wide-leg trousers in raw silk. Cashmere layering. Vintage timepieces. Flat shoes designed for corridor pacing and cocktail standing. These are travellers dressed for narrative, not noise. Luxury trains have become their own style arenas, not performative, but precise. A growing number of travellers are curating their rail wardrobes with the same reverence once reserved for destination weddings or society galas. Retailers who recognise this are beginning to design for the journey. There is an emerging category of travel capsule collections, cabin bags that double as arm candy, and station pop-ups that cater not to last-minute needs but to first impressions. As luxury trains accelerate into the mainstream, so too does the appetite to extend the experience beyond the carriage. In a market saturated with status purchases, the new power move is ownership that feels earned - emotional, specific, and storied. The portfolio for Orient Express, designed by trunk manufacturer Au Départ, is crafted from jacquard ... More woven fabric with Italian calf leather details. The exterior is adorned with the brand's signature three-dimensional monogram, while a spacious interior features a zipper pocket. The Orient Express has leaned into this shift with remarkable precision. Its online retail destination offers a curated world of collectables, homeware, and fashion designed to evoke and monetise the journey. Offering sophisticated commerce, from marble cigar trays to limited-edition luggage tags and leather goods. Every item speaks to a narrative, not just of a brand, but of a time, a place, a feeling. It's not only about souvenirs - or 'resortcore'. The entire model recognises that today's luxury consumer buys with memory, not just money. Whether it's a signature candle that recalls the scent of the dining car or a silk scarf that echoes the train's original marquetry, each item becomes a passport stamp of a different kind: proof of taste, not just travel. Fashion insiders are paying attention too, cultural go-to guide Dazed declared that 'every night feels like fashion week' aboard the VSOE, noting that travellers arrive clad in couture. They walk its corridors in Schiaparelli, Dior, Versace and Simone Rocha a living, breathing runway set to the rhythm of the rails. What this tells us is that luxury trains are no longer content to be mere stages—they are spawning micro‑luxury ecosystems. This is commerce that transcends the carriage, its is combing hot-trends of slow fashion and collectible culture. And it signals a broader lesson: that the most compelling merchandise isn't rushed, but steeped in story. Destination Shopping, Right on Track: All the experience, even before you get onboard. As part of ... More the promotional tour for Wicked - Jon M. Chu and Jeff Goldblum beside the Sir Elton John piano at St Pancras International Station on November 20, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by) The experience doesn't begin when the train departs. It starts in the station. And increasingly, the station itself is being reimagined as a stage for high-impact retail. St Pancras International, once a holding bay for the impatient, now rivals some of London's high streets for heritage gifting and luxury concessions. In Tokyo Station, gourmet zones and high-design corridors are curated with the elegance of department stores. Over at Tokyo Station, you'll find two areas the Tokyo Gift Palette and Tokyo Okashi Land, both ... More fully dedicated to sweets and snacks from Tokyo and Japan. Retailers have long searched for formats that blend storytelling with conversion, reach with relevance. The luxury rail model offers all four, plus the kind of emotional resonance that no pop-up ever truly achieves. While airline lounges saturate and airport terminals commodify, trains humanise. They decelerate just enough to let desire breathe. And in that breath, consumers buy. Moreover, there is a sustainability story here, not in slogans, but in structure. Trains symbolise permanence. They offer a tactile alternative to the 'click and regret' culture. And they position brands as part of a legacy rather than a landfill. 'Railway Retail' is on the move, but this isn't racing ahead. It's rediscovering how to walk through the world with elegance and intent. The rise of luxury rail isn't just a travel trend. It's a cultural correction. A counterpoint to years of noise, waste, and sameness. For brands, this is a moment of invitation. To step aboard not just a train, but a new type of relationship with the consumer, one where emotion, trust, and memory travel together. Because if today's consumer is no longer buying things, but feelings, then the most valuable real estate of all may just be found in a mahogany carriage, somewhere between Paris and Vienna, as the silverware glints and the story begins.
Condé Nast Traveler
18-07-2025
- Condé Nast Traveler
These 7 Sleeper Trains Are the Best Way to Travel Europe
When it comes to railway adventures, there are few things more exciting than falling asleep in one city and waking in the next, nudging up the blind to see what lies outside. Whether that reveals the golden haze of dawn or a moonlit night still holding on, the moment is one that's always filled with magic. For the last three years I've been journeying around Europe documenting the resurgence in sleeper trains, watching passengers drift back to the romance of the railways, eschewing budget flights and bullet trains for cosy couchettes and a slower mode of travel. For scenery, comfort, and camaraderie, these are the seven best night trains that Europe has to offer. The Good Night Train: Brussels, Belgium to Berlin, Germany Crowdfunded, and launched by a Belgian-Dutch collective named European Sleeper, The Good Night Train made its inaugural run from Brussels to Berlin in May 2023 and has since extended its route to Dresden and Prague, with a winter service to Venice. Set up by two night-train enthusiasts, European Sleeper offers a no-frills service whose hodgepodge of carriages date back to the 1950s—but no one on board is bothered, and raucous groups uncork wine and spread out slabs of pâté and cheese in what feels like a house party on wheels. With a mixture of sleeper and couchette compartments, the train departs Brussels three times a week, clattering out of the Belgian capital at 7.20 p.m. and pulling passengers through Flanders' golden meadows and waterways that turn blush in the setting sun. Stopping at Amsterdam, where canals glimmer through the darkness, the train then runs smoothly through the night, with barely a jolt or jerk, giving passengers a chance to sleep deeply before a dawn arrival in Berlin. Lacquered walls, velvet furnishings, and Art Deco design in the head-turning suites onboard The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Ludovic Balay/Belmond The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a Belmond train: Paris, France to Portofino, Italy With its iconic blue carriages and gold trimming, Belmond's legendary train is a familiar sight to lovers of luxury travel, but this route is a well-kept secret, and the most scenic of them all. Running only once a year in summer, the VSOE departs Paris Austerlitz at 3 p.m., taking passengers to the pastel-colored town of Portofino. To the pop of a bottle of Ruinart champagne served with Petrossian caviar and blinis, the train thumps and clacks south of the French capital, picking up pace through villages and vineyards, warm air billowing through the wind-down windows. Over a black-tie dinner, guests are serenaded before moving piano-side for an all-night singalong, the bar only closing when the last passenger has left. Wisely, Belmond ensures that the train stables at midnight at Avignon, granting passengers five hours of undisturbed sleep in damask bedding until the train departs at dawn. Nudge up the blind and bite into warm croissants as you watch the sun rise over the Mediterranean, paddle boarders on the waters, and purple bougainvillea blooming by the tracks. The rest of the journey is nothing but sparkling ocean, beaches and palms, ending with two nights at the newly renovated Hotel Splendido in Portofino, overlooking the bay. For dinners on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, black tie is not a requirement but tends to be the norm. Karolina Marco/Belmond Menus onboard are designed by Paris-based culinary star Jean Imbert, who was appointed the train's chef in 2022. BOBY/Belmond Santa Claus Express: Helsinki to Rovaniemi, Finland A regular passenger train that runs year-round, the Santa Claus Express is Finland's flagship service carrying riders from Helsinki into Rovaniemi, on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Best ridden in winter, this green and white double-decker beast departs just before 7.30 p.m. and takes 12 hours to wind north through forests of fir sagging under the weight of snow. Filled with young families and tourists keen to meet the big man at Santa Claus Village, the train features some of Europe's most comfortable compartments with wide berths, underfloor heating, and toilets that fold down into showers. Pro tip: Hop on, dump bags, and dash to the tinsel-covered dining car for smoked reindeer stew and steaming bowls of meatballs and mash before it fills up with drinkers who won't shift until dawn. From the windows passengers can watch as nativity scenes twinkle through the woods, foxes dart through empty car parks, and Finland's freshwater lakes gleam like pools of black ink.
France 24
14-07-2025
- France 24
Want to shrink your carbon footprint this summer? Try slow travel!
France 05:03 Issued on: 05:03 min Summer holidays are in full swing, but how can we travel without polluting? One option is sailing across the Mediterranean. A French cooperative is offering an alternative to flying or taking the ferry with a new sailboat route between mainland France and Corsica. It's a long, slow and expensive adventure, but it's the greenest way to get there. Aurore Cloé Dupuis and Alexandra Renard tested "slow travelling" for us in this edition of Down to Earth.
