I added the five minute rail journey to my Interrail ticket get to the Prague main station to then catch the train to Dresden. This was my first Czech train, which was on a long journey to terminate at Hamburg Altona. I was only travelling on the early part of it’s journey.
Onto the train.
Crossing the river leaving Prague, it splits.
We cross the border into Germany.
And arrive in Dresden
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.
Setting off early Sunday morning means the trains are a bit spass. No trains from Farnham early enough so I am dropped off to get the first train of the day from Woking.
Lots of runners get on the train on the way to a half marathon.
The Brompton is essential for me to make it to St Pancras on time. The Interrail App does not even provide a connecting route from Woking to the Eurostar train that I am catching. It turns out that this is due to a number of underground trains not running due to maintenance work.
A quiet cycle ride gets me to St Pancras well in time.
The Eurostar leaves 14 minutes late due to a technical issue with the train. We get underway.
We are still ten minutes behind schedule when we arrive in Brussels but somehow I make a very tight change on to the train to Frankfurt Am Main. I did not expect to make this connection so I am two hours ahead of schedule.
I conveniently have chosen a hotel 200m from the station.
There are plenty of pretty buildings in Fulda.
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.
The Flow Country is an area of blanket peat bog. I saw a lot of deer.
Got up for breakfast near Birmingham International.
Arrived ten minutes early in Euston.
The cycle across London was slowed up by the traffic, first time in a while. Does this mean that more less polluting cars are coming in to London ?
It demonstrates that cars slow up the traffic, including the other cars, delivery vehicles, emergency vehicles, buses and cycles.
The speed profile shows the waiting for traffic lights and the slower speeds are when the traffic got in the way.
The bus lanes enable buses and cyclists to avoid most of the traffic, but there are some points with no bus lane. Cycling is the fastest way to get from Euston to Paddington.
Managed to make the 0832 train from Paddington.
It’s raining on arrival in Didcot.
Cheapest, most time effective and least stressful way to attend a meeting near Manchester in the south is using the Caledonian Sleeper. Travel while you sleep and no hotel needed.
I go to sleep in the Highlands.
And I wake up near Birmingham.
I get off the sleeper at 0620 at Birmingham International.
The only time a train was late on the trip was the train from Birmingham International to Birmingham New Street. I did not miss my next connection so no harm done. I eat my sleeper breakfast while waiting.
Glad I had the bike with me.
On to my destination.
After a day of work I catch the train to Manchester, with a stop for food.
The train that I am on takes me down to Birmingham International where I wait for the sleeper which comes in at 2240. Then to bed and sleep.
I grab breakfast in Inverness.
Then it’s back to the north.
I chose to get off and on to the sleeper at Birmingham international rather than Crewe as I got an hours more sleep in both directions. I did have to travel further but this was preferable to getting off the sleeper really early and getting on really late.
Why is this cheaper than other methods of travel? I saved two hotel nights, no airport parking no miles in the car, no flights. Easy win.
My carbon footprint was far lower than if I had taken a flight.
And I was relaxed. I had an Ok sleep on the way down and a really good sleep on the way back.
A trip to the south, or the northwest of England as it is known, and then to the northeast of Scotland. This got off to a bad start when the ScotRail app told me at nine in the evening, before I was due to go, that the 0650 train was cancelled as it had broken down. Good that I was informed, bad that it was late in the day. The ScotRail app works well.
Could I catch the later train, and arrive late in Manchester or find an alternative? I went for the alternative, booking the Ember electric bus, meaning an earlier start, arriving an hour earlier in Inverness. The Ember bus is easy to book onto via the web.
The ride experience in the Ember bus was good, but still prefer the train. Early start meant packing a breakfast sandwich for the journey.
The elevation of the bus meant I could see far more than what I normally see from a car.
A wait in Inverness and then on to the next leg, back on track.
It is on to Edinburgh, where I changed trains. The temperature is far higher than further north.
Changed trains at Carlisle. The forecast temperature here is 24 degrees but the temperature in the glass roofed station is more like the mid 30s. It’s a greenhouse.
It was a twelve hour journey.
I am staying at the Premier Inn near the station, which is extremely close and convenient. I am on the ninth floor, a room with a view.
There are lots of canals in the centre of Manchester.
Manchester is an interesting city.
It is off to Crewe to catch the sleeper.
The Caledonian Sleeper is due at 2345, but as ever it arrives late at Crewe. I get to bed just after midnight and I wake up in Scotland.
The longest leg of the journey.
The trains became a bit chaotic as demonstrated by this notice.
The 2006 to Milton Keynes , which I had planned to take, was eventually cancelled. I caught the slower, local train to Birmingham International, but not before its platform was changed.
The Birmingham International station is clean and modern. I had an extended wait due to delays caused by a lorry damaging a bridge near Bedford. This is probably why the Milton Keynes train had been delayed. This was the first time that I caught the sleeper service from Birmingham International.
The notice boards showed the chaos caused by lorry.
I went down to the platform and worked out that my carriage was near the front of the train, so I moved to the correct end, having found out the direction of travel.
When I boarded, I was asked by a trainee Caledonian Sleeper host how I knew to be in the right place.
Straight to bed.
Waked up to breakfast in the Highlands.
I had to wait for the rail replacement bus north. No trains due to work on the far north line. I took some photos from the bus.
This was the shortest leg of my journey.
The cycle to the hotel of about a mile took an age due to traffic lights and traffic. Cars really hold cyclists up but not as much as they hold each other up.
While I was packing I had some visitors.
