Fulda to Prague

Posted on 16th Oct 202615th Oct 2026 by insightndes

Its a bright start at a civilised hour at Fulda station where I catch the inter city train to Nürnberg.

However we do pass through some mist.

But the mist is short lived.

Approaching Würzburg

Change to the regional train service at Nürnberg.

Initially I got onto the wrong train as there were two to choose from at the platform. I realised straight away and then changed to the correct train, which was to Schwandorf.

On the train I shared a space with an electric scooter.

The train is late by six minutes so the time to change trains reduces from a tight nine minutes to a squeeze of three minutes.

The next train is held for us so I make the connection along with 30 others.

We pass through farmland still in sunshine.

Into the Czech Republic.

The Czechs like their architecture.

Having arrived I discovered that Google Maps gives no cycle directions in Prague. But I realise that there is a local station really close to my hotel. I add the extra journey to my Interrail pass and travel the four minutes by train.

I arrived in Prague pleasantly before 5pm.

Travel

Not quite Didcot to Farnham

Posted on 14th Oct 2026 by insightndes

Friday evening I arrive at Didcot station early enough to get an earlier train to Reading than planned. But as I arrive the Trainline app tells me my connecting train to Ash is cancelled. This doesn’t bode well, if one train is cancelled, there may be more cancellations.

I catch the later train, so I am now 30 minutes behind time. Some of the passengers are anxious. Some are trying to get to Gatwick for their flights.

We reach North Camp with no problem. Next stop Ash. The train leaves North Camp and then slows to a stop.

We wait.

The train then reverses back to North Camp. Everyone gets off. There is a community spirit with some offering to share Uber rides.

I am not far from my end point so I am fortunate enough to get picked up.

Did everyone make their flights?

This was the shortest trip on my itinerary and I didn’t complete the journey.

Travel

Chester to the far north

Posted on 8th May 2026 by insightndes

Good luggage on the transport for Wales train.

First train, a transport for Wales train, which shuttles between Chester and Crewe, entirely in England.

Then onto the Caledonian Sleeper, due in at 2345 at Crewe, but arrives late. So make it to bed after midnight.

I wake up in the Highlands.

After a stop in the Sleeper lounge, it’s onto the far north line.

Tourism, Travel

To Chester

Posted on 1st May 2026 by insightndes

I had a realisation on this trip that not all trains have luggage racks and not all trains have toilets.

Didcot to Chester involved four trains, which is strange as I only needed three trains from the far north to Didcot.

Changed at Oxford, no need to change platform.

Change again at Birmingham, the most confusing station that I have come across, not helped by poor signage. Slightly stressful due to a slight delay in arriving. Had to go to platform 4B . Was that a left or right turn at the bottom of the stairs? Guessed correctly as left.

Accents a mixture of brummie and scouse on the train to Chester.

https://videopress.com/v/PazigCW7?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Changed at Crewe.

Only a 1 minute 23 second bike ride from the station to the Premier Inn. Easy.

And even closer is the Shropshire Union Canal.

Had a little explore of Chester.

Near the Little Yellow Pig- Gostall Alley.

Chester is pretty with lots of interesting alleys.

Environment, Tourism, Travel

To Oulu -reflections

Posted on 1st Mar 20261st Mar 2026 by insightndes

That was an amazing trip to Oulu and back.

Negatives: getting food poisoning and train delays. Germany really struggles to get trains to go on time. Eurostar also had its issues. I did have a 77 minute delay on the sleeper to Stockholm, but that worked in my favour. The sleeper Stockholm was also too hot and the curtains were poor allowing flashes of bright light into the cabin while travelling.

Questionable things: seeing people smoke on train platforms in Germany was strange, and also a bit objectionable. The speed that cars drive at in Hamburg is ridiculously high and not suited to the roads. Also objectionable.

Positives: the trains in Finland, Sweden and Denmark were great, excluding the sleeper. In time. The rolling stock was high quality throughout including Germany. Met some great people. The cycle facilities in Copenhagen and seeing so many cyclists was incredible. We should be doing this in the UK.

Exceeding expectations: The ferries between Stockholm and Helsinki were amazing, good prices, amazing views, great facilities. Finland in winter, incredible, stunning snowy landscapes.

Tips:

Don’t plan to catch the last train of the day.

Don’t make connections too tight.

Travel in your sports gear, make it multi purpose. (Sensibly)

Travel as light as possible.

Plan for the weather.

Don’t arrive late and leave early, it’s exhausting.

Staying for more than one night is more pleasant .

Rucksacks are better than wheelie luggage.

Make use of the late checkouts in hotels.

Carry just in case food and drink.

Make use of sleeper services.

Double check reservations.

Download apps for local public transport. They can be used to get the correct tickets and give directions.

Double check routes given by apps, sometimes they are sending you to the wrong place.

If in doubt, ask a local.

Chat to people on the trains.

Use tracking apps so friends and family can follow your progress. It’s fun and good for safety.

Give someone your itinerary- routes, hotels etc.

Look at and enjoy the landscape, as you travel through.

Travel

Hamburg-Far North Scotland via Cologne, Brussels, London and Inverness.

Posted on 28th Feb 202626th Feb 2026 by insightndes

I was fit to travel the next day. Decided to reduce the odds of missing connections by catching an early train than planned.

I was traveling to Cologne, we were told there had been a problem with the staff arriving from a previous train. The train departed 40 minutes late. Following the announcements was interesting, as one train to München leapfrogged the other. They were going different routes.

https://videopress.com/v/tc5zOXcT?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

https://videopress.com/v/MoWxDLDz?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Had time to stroll to the cathedral.

And watch aircraft flying by.

https://videopress.com/v/m98mzdKN?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Back to the next delayed train, again 40 minutes and a platform change. Now heading towards Brussels.

The lateness of the train meant that the comfortable cushion to get through border control was disappearing.

I discovered another issue. Somehow the Interrail app had booked the wrong date for the Eurostar, and I had not spotted this, so no seat on the train. Thankfully the very helpful Eurostar employee got me on with a ticket, which strangely had no meal guarantee written on it. I was not sure what this meant.

Then another delay, by possibly an hour, dueto problems in the Netherlands. This would make my next connection in London very tight.

We left 44 minutes late.

I pointed out my non guarantee of meal when I received this meal.

Not very large portion but ideal as my appetite was not back.

It was now dark so no pictures.

The reduction in delay from an hour to 45 minutes meant I made the Caledonian Sleeper well on time. A quick walk from St Pancras to Euston.

And next morning in the Highlands…

Then heading further north.

Almost home.

Travel

The Far North, London, Moreton-in-Marsh, Oxford

Posted on 7th Feb 20267th Feb 2026 by insightndes

A February far flung journey, starting in the north,

The downside to travelling this time of year is that it is dark for most of the journey, so not many views.

I had a really good nights sleep, waking up for breakfast in the buffet car.

Caledonian sleeper have added a new stop at Birmingham International. This looks potentially very useful. I saw the airport just after sitting down for breakfast.

No bike with me this time. I had an appointment in London within walking distance. The time to get there was pretty similar either by foot or public transport, so off I walked.

Then it was off to Marylebone Station, for my first ever visit. Also by foot.

Also first time I had seen the BBC buildings.

Things went a bit awry at this point. A goods train had broken down so the route was blocked.

The notice board with the delays.

Take a picture or filming shows how much the boards must flicker.

The intention is to get to Oxford to change trains. Eventually a train is provided with loads of carriages to enable taking all the passengers from the cancelled trains. The route to avoid the blockage involved travelling to Princess Risborough, the train then reversed heading to Bicester Village, where again it reversed, eventually arriving in Oxford.

At Oxford some of the tracks are sectioned off. There are no trains to Didcot, only rail replacement buses. This is why I went via Marylebone rather than Paddington.

The train arrives

Smooth onward journey to Moreton-in-Marsh.

After my appointment in Moreton-in-Marsh it’s back to Oxford in the dark.

The Thames at Osney Bridge is fast flowing.

Safety, Travel

Manchester, Birchwood, Inverness – drama in Edinburgh

Posted on 7th Nov 20256th Nov 2025 by insightndes

Back to Birchwood, the leaves have been cleared.

The train is delayed by trespassers.

The delay meant I could not get a decent lunch.

A short ride between Warrington train stations

The train to Edinburgh was delayed due to trespassers. However there was plenty of leeway to catch the connecting train, especially if I changed at Haymarket.

As we headed north the delayed train lost time rather than catching up.

We arrived at Haymarket. As I got off the train. I heard the Inverness train leaving. That added another hour to the journey. Why can’t the trains cooperate to avoid these problems. It was minutes. And why was the Edinburgh train continually slowed down.

Time to kill so time to grab food.

Now this is when things got crazy.

I was looking at the display times for the trains on platform four. A man stumbled down the stairs grabbed hold of one my belt loops, span round out of control, falling off the platform, onto the train track. At that point my thoughts were , was a train coming, how do we get this man off the tracks, going down onto the tracks was not an option, too risky. We coaxed the man to his feet, and four complete strangers hauled the man onto the platform.. We restrained the man to stop a further incident.

I thought that the next train was mine, got on discovered it wasn’t. After getting on the correct train I realised just how traumatic I had found the incident.

Environment, Travel

Bikes hold up traffic❌Cars hold up traffic✅

Posted on 10th Jun 2025 by insightndes

You are driving along and there’s a bike in front of you going at a slower speed. Impatience builds, you can‘t get past. Bl**dy cyclist🤬.

In reality you may have a perceived delay of a few tens of seconds. But as you speed on to the next queue of vehicles , where you lose minutes, the bike made no difference. And why can’t you overtake the bike? Because of the oncoming traffic. The problem is the excessive number cars not the bike.

But it’s worse! In 2024 the average UK driver lost 62 hours due to traffic congestion. That’s more than two and a half days. In London that’s 101 hours. That’s a lot of time spent staring at someone‘s rear bumper. Look for INREX 2024. This is due to excessive number of motorised vehicles.

Traffic also delays pedestrians, you can’t get across the road due to the traffic wizzing past. Cars also delay cyclists, sometimes it’s impossible to get out of junction due to the traffic. The congestion also gets in the way of emergency vehicles.

I have had cars overtake me while I was cycling, stopping just in front of me, to turn right, which they can’t due to the oncoming traffic. Its then tricky to get past the immobile blockage on the road. Waste of my time and very rude.

There is another cost of congestion. Pollution! Shortens the lives of the drivers and the non drivers.☠️

The way to reduce that wasted 62 hours or 101 hours in London is to get on your bike. Reduced delays for you riding the bike, reduced traffic because you are riding your bicycle instead of driving. Less congestion, reduced delays for those in the cars. Everyone is happy.

It is Bike Week 2025. https://www.cyclinguk.org/bikeweek.

There are a lot of misconceptions out there. This bike week I thought that I would address a few of them.

Tourism, Travel

Surrey and beyond

Posted on 2nd Jun 2025 by insightndes

The worst cycle infrastructure on Epsom Road in Guildford.

The cycle lanes marked out in Guildford are beyond useless. No segregation, suggesting a totally inappropriate position for the cyclists to take on the road. I would cycle at least at the line. I actually cycled in the mostly in the middle of the lane to take the decision away from the drivers, so they did not attempt to overtake at the frequent traffic islands. Of course I was hooted at, but ironically I was going faster than the motorised vehicles. Guildford suffers from pollution,