Time to think

We are not talking posh cruises here, but thinking rather of the regular ferries that ply the seas and inshore waters of Europe. Boats are a chance to take time out and think. We love boat trips.

It may be a simple hop on a ferry from Calais in France to Dover in England – where shipping stalwarts P&O bring cruise ship luxury to a 90-minute journey which in good weather is a sheer delight. Those famous white cliffs at Dover are quite something. (Read our previous post about P&O’s ferry service from England to France.)

Or it may be the long haul, such as the weekly voyage with the Smyril Line vessel Norröna from Denmark to Iceland. Depending on the time of year, the voyage to Iceland takes two or three days.

Shipping links

Europe is a continent that has been shaped by its maritime heritage and shipping links. Ferries are still a major component of the continent’s transport network, taking heavy freight off crowded highways and allowing discerning travelers a chance to swap the rush of modern life for a few quiet hours on board a comfortable ship.

For many island communities, of course, ferries provide lifeline links to the wider world. And, at this time of year, the weather is quick to remind us of the fragility of those links. This week, for example, shipping services from the Scottish mainland to Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides have all been heavily disrupted by storms.

Ferry schedules

Sadly, there is no comprehensive guide to Europe’s passenger shipping and ferry routes, but the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable (ERT) does cover more than just trains. Each monthly edition of this wonderful book includes details of several hundred ferry routes in European waters.

For the majority of these routes, the ERT gives the full schedules but for a few routes it is no more than a tantalizing hint of a connection. The vessels of Bumerang Shipping, the ERT advises, sail irregularly from Yalta (in the Crimea) to Novorossisk (in Russia). The timetable tracks the twice weekly sailings of Siremar to Stromboli, and it waves the flag for the Virtu catamaran to Valletta.

Back in the more familiar waters of western Europe, the ERT gives the schedules for most major ferry routes. But still there are gaps. There is simply no space to include small routes of real character. Kintyre Express runs a year-round passenger link between Campbeltown in Scotland (on the Mull of Kintyre) and Ballycastle (in Northern Ireland). This is a route to clear the head. Life jackets are compulsory as the 11-metre RIB speeds over the North Channel on its two-hour run. Not for everyone, perhaps, but it’s certainly an antidote to the deadening boredom of air travel.

A taste of the sea

On longer journeys around Europe, an overnight hop on a ferry makes perfect sense. Here is our pick of a handful of long routes that run all year round. These are all routes run by leading shipping operators with vessels that offer every possible creature comfort.

Each of these five routes feature in this month’s ERT. But they are just five of a vast range of maritime connections that help keep Europe on the move:

Oslo (Norway) to Kiel (Germany):
Every night — 20 hrs — Color Line — ERT Table 2372

Hirtshals (Denmark) to Bergen (Norway):
Thrice-weekly overnight service — 19 hrs — Fjord Line — ERT Table 2237

Rotterdam (Holland) to Hull (England):
Every night— 12 hrs — P&O — ERT Table 2245

Stockholm (Sweden) to Tallinn (Estonia):
Every night — 16 hrs — Tallink Silja — ERT Table 2475

Civitavecchia (Italy) to Barcelona (Spain):
Nightly ex Sundays — 20 hrs — Grimaldi Lines — ERT Table 2520

The post Traveling by Ferry in Europe: Down to the seas again appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

This year, everyone here at EuroCheapo HQ has made a pact to aspire to both personal and office-wide resolutions. The former is listed below and at each individual Cheapo’s discretion, while the latter is also listed below and the result of both heated debate and thumb-wrestling.

Here we go, yo!

Office-wide Resolutions

1.) Only use WiFi at any hotel if it is free

2.) Spend as little as possible on airline baggage fees (and know what the fees are in advance, natch.)

3.) Be smarter about racking up points on credit and debit cards that can be used toward future travel.

4.) Take overnight trains more often.

5.) Remember how to properly use our iPhones abroad. And we reserve the right to just leave the things at home and get over our bad tech selves.

6.) Use public transportation to get in from the airport, no matter how tired we feel or if we overindulged on the free in-flight sauce.

Personal New Year’s Resolutions

Kari’s Resolutions

1.) Sip fruit soup in Budapest.

2.) Buy a welcome mat in Marrakesh.

3.) Find my grandmother’s roots on Mount Blanc.

4.) Step aboard a Viking ship in Bygdoy, Oslo.

5.) Listen to locals debate history along Serbian borders.

Pete’s Resolutions

1.) Take my 1-year-old daughter on an overseas trip and try to keep my flight anxiety to a minimum.

2.) Stay at least one night on a botel.

3.) I resolve to embrace the bidet.

4.) Karaoke at a youth hostel.

5.) Get involved in the paddle boarding conversation.

Suzanne’s Resolutions

1.) Read a book written or set in the destinations I visit.

2.) Attend a reenactment (and get someone to break character).

3.) Set up a travel fund.

4.) Take a class (cooking, dance, fill-in-the-blank…) in a place known for that specialty, even if for only a day.

5.) Give something back: volunteer for a day, bring supplies to a poor country, share conversation with locals…

Meredith’s Resolutions

1.) Keep a journal of my travels.

2.) Take the bus more.

3.) Go into a restaurant, forgo the menu and ask the chef to make me “whatever.”

4.) Find a baby-friendly budget hotel in Paris.

5.) Stop faking my knowledge of foreign languages.

What New Year’s travel resolutions do you have for 2011, Cheapos? Tell us in the comments below!

And to help make your resolutions a reality, consider some of these fab tips for Europe to get started.

The post The Cheapos’ 2011 New Year’s Travel Resolutions appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.