Flight free travel guide
Fallen out of love with flying? You’re not the only one. From the moment you enter the airport it’s a painful experience. Slow-moving check-in queues, liquid bans, irritating weight limits, security checks, delays, the joy of trying to find space in the overhead lockers. And that’s before we get on to the carbon footprint of air travel. So why bother?
Going flight free isn’t just more eco-friendly and less of a hassle. It restores a sense of romance and adventure to travel.![]()
When you treat the journey to your destination as part of the holiday, getting there becomes far more relaxed and pleasant. In this guide we’ll show you how easy it can be to travel around Europe – and beyond – from the UK, with expert advice from our responsible tourism partners and inspiring itinerary ideas. The sky’s the limit when you stay on the ground.
Read our flight free holidays travel guide for more details.
Flight free holidays are…
eco-friendly, fun and easier to organise than you might think.
Flight free holidays aren’t…
about ‘shaming’, but fast and cheap aren’t always best.
What does flight free travel entail?
Aha, you cry, the clue is in the name! And you’d be right. But it’s not quite as simple as cutting out the flights; it’s also about thinking how you can still get to where you want to go without flying. These are holidays where you reach your destination by road, rail or boat rather than going by air.
Now, we’re not expecting this travel guide to convince you never to fly again. But if you’re reading this, then the chances are that you’re already thinking about at least reducing the amount you fly, quite possibly for environmental reasons. While this might seem a bit odd and counterproductive for a travel company – we actually think it would be great if everyone flew less.
So we hope this guide will do three things: 1) assure you that flying less is a great thing to accomplish; 2) show you that going flight free doesn’t mean limiting your travel ambitions; 3) give you some practical advice on where and how to get started.
Now, we’re not expecting this travel guide to convince you never to fly again. But if you’re reading this, then the chances are that you’re already thinking about at least reducing the amount you fly, quite possibly for environmental reasons. While this might seem a bit odd and counterproductive for a travel company – we actually think it would be great if everyone flew less.
So we hope this guide will do three things: 1) assure you that flying less is a great thing to accomplish; 2) show you that going flight free doesn’t mean limiting your travel ambitions; 3) give you some practical advice on where and how to get started.
Getting ahead of yourself
Our flight free holidays are for the most part to destinations across Europe that can be reached within 72 hours at a leisurely pace. After all, if you’re committing to going flight free, why rush it? But as you’ll see when reading about long-haul rail journeys, there’s nothing to stop the more ambitious among you from setting your sights a little higher. If you’re confident with getting around Spain by rail, who’s to say you can’t add on a boat transfer to the Balearics or Morocco? Or if you’re comfortable with taking the iconic Trans Mongolian Railway then why not continue on past Beijing?
How our responsible tour operators can help
Many of the holidays on our website offer discounts to travellers who can prove that they’ve arrived by train, as part of their own commitments to sustainability. We also have travel partners, several of whom you’ll hear from in this guide, that go one step further. They can help you get to your holiday by rail, road or boat with expert advice you can rely on, and in some cases they’ll make all the booking arrangements for you. You can opt for Grand Tour-like train odysseys around the great European capitals with an Interrailing holiday, or a well off-the-beaten-track adventure to Georgia, Iran, or even the Arctic that will have you regaling dinner parties for years to come.
London to the Balkans and back by rail & sea
Flight free return trip to Albania, Balkans & Italy
From
£4795
14 days
including return by train
London to the Baltics and back by train
Travel the Baltic States by rail and sea
From
£4995
14 days
including return by train
Yoga Retreats in Valencia, Spain
Yoga and meditation in the magical countryside of Valencia
From
€695
6 days
ex flights
Family adventure holiday to France
Life enhancing family adventure & yoga in the French Alps
From
£1200
8 days
ex flights
Wild Atlantic Way guided rail tour in Ireland
A fully guided tour around Ireland's famous touring route
From
£2695 to £2750
8 days
ex flights
Around the world tour without flying
Around the world by train & boat in 100 days
From
£89950
14 weeks
ex flights
Contact Us
Call us for a chat about our holidays. We are happy to discuss your holiday and help in any way we can. No bots, queues or awful hold music.
01273 823 700
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Flight free family holidays
The more kids you have, the less economical flying starts to look. Flight free holidays can be fab for families: you can easily get younger kids deep into France and beyond, breaking up the journey with a hotel stay here and there. They can wander (adult in tow) safely up and down the train corridors to their hearts’ content. Kids aged nine and upwards should be fine travelling longer distances, and watching scenery drift by over a few games of cards is a much preferable way to spend time together as a family instead of sitting bored in the departures lounge at the airport.Very moreish
Yes, it’s almost always cheaper and faster to fly. But this guide aims to show you that it’s rarely the best way to travel. Going flight free is more comfortable, more relaxing, more adventurous, more scenic, more fun and more romantic. It is for those who want to savour the journey just as much as the holiday itself.More Flight free articles
Thinking about going flight free? You might be surprised at how far you can get, and how easy it is.
Flight free holidays to Spain are easy, with rail connections from the UK through Paris, or by sea.
Our flight free holidays to Portugal can get you from the UK to Lisbon in 24 hours by train.
Enjoy stopovers in European cities on the way on flight free holidays to Sweden.
On long-haul holidays, it’s about the journey, not the destination, and you don't have to fly to enjoy them.
We’ve put together some tips and advice for flight free holidays from our specialist tour operators.
We explore some of the key issues around responsible travel on flight free holidays.
Our best flight free holidays give travellers the chance to do just that: travel without flying.
