I Went from Scotland to Italy Using Public Transports Only
Why I travelled approximately 3200km by land using public transports and my take on this experience.
Some people thought the trip I was about to do was absolute madness and sometimes it made me feel unsure whether it was a good idea. But that’s me, I love doing things that aren’t necessarily common because I want to experience as much as I can in life. The confirmation that this trip was exactly what I what I wanted came from my grandma.
The first leg of the trip was to go from Edinburgh to Europe mainland. Initially I was considering the coach to London, stay overnight and then take the Eurostar train to Amsterdam. While doing my research, my best friend found an overnight journey Edinburgh-Amsterdam with a two and half hours stop in London to change coach. This way I didn’t need to find a hostel in London and wake up at 4:30am the morning after to catch the Eurostar at 6am. The whole journey was also the same cost of the Eurostar on its own and it was getting me there at the same time. It was a no-brainer for me but understandably close people around me started telling me it was insane to sit on a coach for 23 hours and 40 minutes. By the time they started making comments I had already booked my ticket so there was no going back.
However, I also stopped sometimes and told myself “what the hell are you going to do for 24 hours on a bus by yourself?!” But then I told my grandma and instead of giving me the expected judgemental opinion of someone 2 generations older than me, she said “oh well, I wouldn’t expect anything else from you. Are you excited?” That moment I felt goosebumps. Of course I was excited. How could I not be? I always talk about how much I love exploring, going to new places and meet new people. I’m doing exactly what I love!
While going to London, on the first coach of my journey, I received an email from LinkedIn Editors about a post regarding Responsible Traveling and how the percentage of people looking to travel responsibly has gone up in recent years. I decided to take this as a sign that I should put myself out there more and share my stories and experiences to start a conversation. I don’t like sharing too much on social media because I am afraid of judgement (something I’m working on), but after all it’s my profile and my friends follow me and I love having them involved in my adventures.
I will try to be as transparent as possible about my trip and if anyone reading has any question I’ll be happy to answer those and add more details.
I am going to start with a map and a list first before digging deeper into the journey.
Edinburgh-London - coach, 660km
London-Dover - coach, 127km
Dover-Dunkirk - ferry, 96km
Dunkir-Amsterdam - coach, 368km
Amsterdam-Groningen - coach, 189km
Groningen-Amsterdam - coach, 189km
Amsterdam-Luxembourg - coach, 413km
Luxembourg-Basel - coach, 354km
Basel-Zurich - train, 83km
Zurich-Chur - train, 120km
Chur-Tirano - train, 122km
Tirano-Sondrio - coach, 26km
Tirano-Milano - train, 132km
Milano-Venezia Mestre - train, 236km
Venezia Mestre-Cervignano - train, 94km
Cervignano-Palmanova - car, 10km
A total of 3219km, 35.5 hours travelled by coach, 10.5 hours travelled by train, 2 hours on the ferry to cross the English Channel, and the last 10 minutes by car to come from the last train station to the doorstep of my childhood home. I stopped in four countries, travelled through five more (if you consider Scotland and England two separate countries, hehe) and reconnected with ten friends, some that I hadn’t seen in seven years.
It’s been an incredible journey, I’d like to say with ups and downs but I’ve actually experienced no downs. The past few months were full of unexpected changes for me, and I had to rearrange a lot in my life and in my head, so spending a lot of hours on a bus or train was actually relaxing. It forced me to sit still with my own thoughts and even if I wanted to be productive, I couldn’t do it. I didn't know this before starting my trip, but that was what I was longing for - just be. I hope I’ll be able to remember this when I’ll go back to life-as-usual.
I booked all the transports and hostels beforehand, about two weeks before the first day of traveling. As I was traveling alone, I didn't want to find myself in a situation where I arrived somewhere and I didn’t have an accommodation for the night. I also checked bus prices for different dates and by booking at least five days in advance the price was still at its lowest, then it would start to increase.
I did all the coach trips with Flixbus - my new bff - as I thought it was the cheapest company and the one that covered most routes. Every transport method has its pros and cons - the cons of coach travel is that the journey length can be impacted by traffic. My first coach was delayed one and half hours - what a great way to start. I had two and a half hours at Victoria Station in London to change from one coach to the other so I started panicking and thinking that if I was to come across traffic on the way to London I wasn’t gonna make the connection. I know these things can happen and it’s no ones fault so I wasn’t angry but I was thinking of what would be the best next thing to do. I seriously thought about canceling the first part of the trip and fly straight to Amsterdam, meaning I’d cheat on my goal of not taking a plane. I texted my best friend about this and his reply was a simple “don’t be silly”. He knows I am a panicker. In the end I made it London with one and half hours to spare. Panic over.
The other times I had a delay were from Amsterdam to Luxembourg - one hour delay due to traffic around Liege, Belgium - and from Luxembourg to Basel - thirty minutes longer wait in Luxembourg. Both these times I wasn't rushing as I was going to spend the night in these cities. There were other people waiting for the same bus to Basel and they were starting to feel impatient as they had other connections to take and were complaining that the scheduled times should keep traffic into account. I think these thoughts and frustrations are common but like it happened to me in Edinburgh, it’s no-one’s fault. I decided this time to enjoy the delay and I started chatting with fellow travellers. I found out that the woman sat next to me was from Paris and used to study in Edinburgh over 10 years ago. It was fun to find out about Edinburgh before I moved there, and we laughed about the never ending tram works. The tram works started before she moved there, and I was happy to let her know that in June this year they were finally done. She couldn’t believe they had been going on for so long.
After Switzerland I ditched my beloved Flixbus - soz, love you - for trains. Trains were much cheaper from there onwards, and the longest parts of my trip were over.
I have three highlights of this trip - Luxembourg is a hidden gem. Its capital is beautiful and so is the rest of the country - disclaimer, I only drove through the country but it looked lovely - and public transports are free so you could get to Luxembourg City and then take trains all around for free. The second highlight was to meet again all the friends I had not seen in a long time. I met four in the Netherlands, one in Luxembourg, one in Switzerland and four in Milan. There was a lot of catching up involved and with all my heart I hope it won’t be this long before we reunite again. The third highlight was the Bernina Express through the Swiss Alps. This is one of the three train rides in the world that are part of the UNESCO and it was a wonderful experience. The windows were huge to accommodate the natural beauty. The weather was gloomy which made me worry at first that I wasn’t going to be able to see much outside, but in the end the view was awesome and the gloomy weather created an even better atmosphere. The ride was four hours long and the train was going slowly enough to allow for a great view and experience.
I arrived back home a couple of days ago, and it took me a good night’s sleep to realise all the things I have experienced and how grateful I am for doing this. As I already mentioned, I chose to do my trip this way for many reasons. I love doing things that aren’t necessarily the norm; I wanted to reconnect with many friends that I had not seen in years; I wanted to travel in a way that’s more environmentally friendly. I won’t be able to do this every time - I am flying back to Edinburgh - but it was a fun thing to try (at least for me).
I am so grateful for all the experiences and for trusting once again the unknown. Too often we are scared of stepping out of our comfort zone and trust people/places we don’t know. Traveling always helps me remember that love is everywhere.
I have always considered myself as someone who is chilled and enjoys the present moment but I am aware that lately I was struggling to act the way I preach. The past 10 days helped me reconnect with my inner self, my most authentic self. Who I am and who I want to be. After this trip I still have lots of unanswered questions about my future and my plans, but the difference is that now I am okay with it.
Breathe.
Just be.
Thank you once again for reading my blog. I am finishing this post from my hometown, Palmanova, Italy, where the sun is shining bright.
Donatella