In 2023, I decided to switch a two-hour flight for a two-day journey across land and sea.
As a young(ish) middle-class person living in the Global North, I’ve taken more than my fair share of flights, but each time they were accompanied by an uneasy feeling in my stomach that I couldn’t just put down to turbulence.
Spurred on by the stories of flight-free travellers like Helen Coffey, I decided to take the flight free pledge.
When one of my best friends and travel buddies announced plans to head to a fabulous destination for her 40th birthday I knew I had to get creative. We’ve taken lots of flights together – in fact, we met at an airport, and bonded over our mutual love of travel. Las Vegas was floated. As was Santorini. I had to find a destination that wouldn’t require flying, but would still be exciting enough for my well-travelled girlies.
After some to-ing and fro-ing, and not much inspiration, ‘Ibiza’ popped into our heads right at the same time. It was obviously fate.
Although I’d travelled to Spain many times, the idea of getting there by train and ferry had never crossed my mind. But after scouring the Man in Seat Sixty One’s website, I was surprised to find it was relatively easy to get to Ibiza. Two trains: one to Paris, one to Barcelona, then an overnight ferry. If you book a cabin it’s not that different to spending the night in a hotel.
Even better, I have friends and family in Paris and Barcelona, so on a Sunday night, I hopped on the Eurostar to Paris, where I met my cousin and his wife for a catch-up over dinner and drinks in a classic Parisian bistro. The next morning I enjoyed a delicious French breakfast then headed to Barcelona on a high-speed train.
It was a 6-hour journey and I made the most of the time and did some client work – the benefits of being freelance! The train WiFi made it easy, even though I saved my files to my laptop before the journey just in case. I watched the changing landscapes as we raced through the South of France, Montpellier, the Pyrenees, and into Catalunya and Spain.
The train arrives into Barcelona Sants around 5pm and the ferry leaves at 10pm, so there’s a good amount of time to travel to the port and grab dinner. Unfortunately my friend in Barcelona couldn’t get away from work so we missed out on sharing a sangria before the crossing (she’s a trainee with the Catalan fire service so probably had something more important to do). So I soaked up the atmosphere on La Rambla as the evening set in, and gave Christopher Columbus a little wave before hopping on the ferry.
I was delighted to find my cabin was right in the bow of the ship, giving an unrivalled view of the twinkling stars. One lomo y patatas and kip later and I awoke to an Ibizan sunrise.
It’s possible to book a seat if you want to avoid paying for a cabin – this option was really popular with people who seemed to do the crossing a lot. I’d definitely recommend a cabin, especially if you’re a single passenger, as it gave me peace of mind that no one would be rifling through my bags while I slept, and having a good night’s sleep meant I woke up refreshed and ready for the day in Ibiza.
My friends joined me later that day. We danced, we partied (and no, we were not the oldest people in the clubs by a long shot). We saw Calvin Harris while sipping a piña colada and splashing in the mini pool at Ushuaia, and we got ripped off in the bars and clubs. Standard Ibizan fare.
The return journey was a bit quicker, as the ferry and trains lined up a bit better: a 10pm sailing, disembarking in Barcelona at 7am, then the 10:30am train from Barcelona Sants, arriving at Paris Gare de Lyon at 5:30pm. I made my 8pm Eurostar no problem, even though I got a bit confused with the metro map and it took me a while to find the right line to get from Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord. I got back to London at 8:30pm and was home by around 10pm.
As a mum of two small children, I kept thinking about whether a similar trip would be doable with kids. I concluded that it would. There would be some waiting around at stations and ferry terminals and a bit of walking in between, and you’d need to bring entertainment and loooads of snacks, but I did see quite a few toddlers on the Paris-Barcelona stretch. They all looked pretty happy.
Now I know how easy it is on the train, I’m not sure if I feel I need to fly to Spain, or even most of Europe, again. If I were short on time then perhaps I’d go one way by train and ferry, and fly back. Of course, I acknowledge that I am very privileged to have the time, funds and a very understanding husband ready to pitch in with more childcare, which enabled me to make a trip like this. But then isn’t travel a privilege in itself?
Before I took my trip, many people were sceptical, including my travel buddies. Why would you want to spend two days getting somewhere you can fly to in two hours? I do get that, and initially, I didn’t do a very good job of explaining my motivations. I felt like a party pooper and worried that I’d make my friends and family feel guilty and judged. But on my return, this all changed. The conversations shifted from ‘why would you do that?’ to ‘I’m thinking about switching to the train for an upcoming trip too’.
Another benefit of travelling flight-free? While my main motivation for my Ibizan trip was decreasing my carbon emissions, embracing ‘slow’ travel got me out of my travel rut. After my travel gluttony in my twenties, I’d started to feel like I was ticking places and sights off a list and feeling a bit uninspired.
Taking the train opened my eyes to new possibilities and I can’t wait for my next flight-free trip to Europe.
Itinerary:
- Train London-Paris (stay overnight)
- Train Paris-Barcelona
- Overnight ferry Barcelona-Ibiza
Return
- Overnight ferry Ibiza-Barcelona
- Train Barcelona-Paris
- Train Paris-London
