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.

Had time to stroll to the cathedral.

And watch aircraft flying by.

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.

Travel

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Posted on 6th Nov 2025 by insightndes

The problem with catching the late afternoon train in autumn is that it’s dark. No views.

The ride from Euston to Paddington was less affected by the traffic lights than normal. As a result I managed to catch an earlier train to Reading.

Then on to Mortimer.

What a smooth journey, all the trains on time. No overcrowding. I had slept very well on the sleeper. A good journey.

And then……

On to the train at Reading to Manchester Piccadilly. It was rammed. Totally overcrowded.

Things started going really wrong and confusing as we went to Oxford. Announced that we would have to change trains. Then announced we would not have to change trains but we needed to go past Oxford into a siding and then come back. A long wait in the siding then back to the station. Then it was announced we would have to change trains after all.

There was a signal failure near Banbury.

We crossed Oxford Station and caught a train towards Hereford, changed at Worcester, heading to Birmingham. This was bad as now I was due to be in Manchester two hours late.

Change at Birmingham New Street. This is a very badly designed station. The signage is poor. Very confusing, The ugly side of architecture.

More delay due to trespassers on the track. The train had to go slow as a precaution.

Manchester Piccadilly two and a half hours late

The Premier Inn is a quarter mile from the station.

Environment, Travel

South by train – with a non-folding bicycle

Posted on 10th Sep 2025 by insightndes

First time traveling in a long while with a non-folding bike. The chief difference is that I had to book the bike on most of the trains, including the far north line and the sleeper.

A stunning train ride to Inverness.

The bike went into a room on a carriage for bikes and large luggage. Not sure about the way the bike is hung up.

Interesting ride, an impressive number of cyclists on route to work, some with no road sense. One, who was on my right, turned left across my path without looking or signalling.

Nice to be the fastest for a change. Faster than the bikes and the cars 🙂.

Some jeopardy getting onto the SWR train, as they don’t do bookings for bikes. Will I get a space?

It only required three trains to get from the north coast of Scotland to the south coast of England. Weather good all the way,

Travel

North

Posted on 7th Jun 2025 by insightndes

No window seat on the way to Paddington, so no photos.

Dinner at the Great Nepalese Tandor next to Euston station.

And we’re off

Still had a four hour journey north and the sleeper breakfast is not sufficient. So..

Too much chatting to take pictures. I reach my destination only ten minutes late.

Travel

North to the south

Posted on 1st Jun 2025 by insightndes

Blue skies and a few clouds heading south.

Changed from the far north line to the sleeper at Inverness.

Speeding away from Inverness.

Near Kingussie

Not sure this breakfast looks appetising. It tasted ok. A few issues on the train. The lock on the cabin was not fully functioning, no pull out table in cabin, coffee machine in buffet car not working. There are some maintenance issues it appears.

Arrival in Euston is 20 minutes late due to work in the line. I had been forewarned by text.

Then headed back east

I witnessed an old couple falling over on the escalator just after getting on. while they were heading up. I was heading down. A woman at the top shouted for someone to hit the emergency stop. A hapless woman holding a dog appeared transfixed and unable to hit the button. After what appeared to be an age someone finally hit the button. Chaos. No staff about.

It’s sunny again

https://videopress.com/v/249gmvXk?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Ash

https://videopress.com/v/Iu5wpKT9?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Farnham

Travel

UK north coast to South coast and back a bit

Posted on 7th May 20257th May 2025 by insightndes

The far north is a joy when the views are clear and the days are long.

The breakfast did leave me hungry.

15 mins of delay at Waterloo due to incoming train being late, there was an obstacle on the line.

I had to get myself into the front five carriages as the train splits at Bournemouth.

Barriers going down

Train arriving at Wool

I am about to start my minor backtrack.

Environment, Tourism, Travel

Thurso to Bucharest and back- the summary

Posted on 6th Mar 20256th Mar 2025 by insightndes

The journey

The map taken from the Interrail app shows just how far the journey was, but misses the far north line and the detour to Oxfordshire.

From the Interrail app: 5784 km distance

15 trains on the Interrail ticket, 20 in total.

Seven countries.

Weather

Sunny almost throughout, but a big variation in temperature. Highest ,around 14 centigrade in Augsburg, lowest -10 in Bucharest.

Food

The food was good, but had to get creative in the meat centric countries. I had my first experience of a Lebanese restaurant in Bucharest, the very good Coin-Vert Libanez.

I had to fight through the snow and ice to get to it. A week later I had my second Lebanese restaurant experience in Paris.

Plenty of good food on this trip.

Hotels

I stayed in three Premier Inn plus rooms, three varieties of Ibis: budget, styles and no moniker, a Radisdon Individuals Schiller Park in Linz and Ramada by Wyndham in Bucharest.

Best bed:Premier Inn plus

Best shower: Premier Inn plus

Best view: Ramada by Wyndham

Best location: Hotel Schiller Park- in central location near the railway station.

Best breakfast: Ramada by Wyndham

Best rooms: Premier Inn plus

Most expensive: Premier Inn St Pancras

Best check out times: Ibis / check out by noon.

I like the simplicity of the Ibis Budget.

Locations

Both Augsburg and Linz were amazing places to visit. Smaller and not as busy as Vienna but interesting buildings and history. Bucharest lacked the beautiful buildings but the lake was beautiful.

Travelling by train emphasised the change in landscape and buildings. Farmhouses are tiny and ramshackled in Romanian but huge and well maintained in Austria and Germany.

People

As well as meeting the natives of each country that I visited I was surprised to meet people from so many other countries. I had conversations with Qataris, Russians, Albanians, Norwegians, New Zealanders, Moldovans, Canadians, Taiwanese and probably more. Talking to Austrians in German with their local accents was a joy, including a woman in her 90s from Vienna,

Cycling

Cycling was awful in Bucharest, but faster than cars. Driving in Bucharest also looks awful. Paris cycle way provision is good in Paris, but blocked by vehicles on the Sunday. Vienna was busy, Augsburg pleasant. I heard a tram hitting a car in Vienna and saw the massive crumpled side of the car, the tram just drove off. The closest I came to an accident was Inverness, where a car was being driven at 60 mph in a 30 zone, as I was turning right. The bike gave a good way to cross cities between stations and to get to hotels. It was also a great luggage trolley.

Travel