I love traveling and there are a bunch of ways to do it especially in Europe but they are situational and each have trade offs; cost, time, convenience….the holy trinity of travel.
I love trains, in general, and the train network in Europe is especially enticing and to be honest, just fun and enjoyable. Whether it is the Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) in Italy, the TGV in France or the new AVE in Spain, hurtling along at 330 kilometers per hour is exhilarating, especially as you are sitting in First or Business Class, sipping on a champagne…this is no Amtrak. Plus, you get to see some of the countryside which is a nice bonus. Also, one of the great things is that you go from city center to city center and thus, you eliminate some of the extra costs associated with city to city air travel.
I have found that air transportation within Europe is a bargain (they actually have the trains to compete against…imagine that) especially if you have minimal luggage so you can avoid relatively steep luggage charges. There are several bargain airlines that service Europe and they are all better than Spirit Air in the US….for those that have flown that “Greyhound of the Skies”. Granted, you don’t really see anything except the cities but for those on a time budget, it can be a good way to maximize your time.
I love the beauty of the countryside and Europe is full of some of the most picturesque landscape to be seen and I have rented many cars to go from place to place and while they aren’t always the cheapest way to go, it is what us Americans love to do…get behind the wheel and set out on our own with a boat load of luggage in the back and not an airport security checkpoint in sight.
But what if I told you there was another way to do this…..that offers exceptional service, comfort, the ability to see the beautiful landscapes of Italy, French Provence, Spain or Portugal and perhaps many other countries? I am writing this travel note moving along the A-5 Highway in west central Spain on my way from Lisbon to Madrid at 130 kilometers per hour; in the back of a silver Mercedes E300 Hybrid Wagon with Ricardo ably at the helm. We just stopped at a beautiful town call Evora in eastern Portugal…it was my choice to see this town but I had other options…I wanted Evora because it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, a walled city full of Romanesque, Gothic and Moorish architecture and Roman ruins as well; but I had 5 other very worthy places to choose from….I could have chosen up to two. I used this service from Seville to Lisbon as well, with Ricardo also at my service, and we stopped at Italicus (a Roman city used in the filming of the ubiquitous Game of Thrones) and Palmela to enjoy a very fine Portuguese winery tour and tasting as well as a nice, local lunch in a border town called Elvas at a little restaurant that I could not have found in a million years on my own…but Ricardo did. Ricardo was also my guide through all these stops as well, accompanying me when appropriate and provided commentary on the sites. Additionally, Ricardo provided me with a voluminous amount of places to see and things to do and exceptional restaurants to enjoy in Lisbon, his town….all above and beyond the service. I went to places within Lisbon that I would never have known about otherwise…he is doing the same for Madrid to enhance my experience.
So, when is this the right thing to do? Well, financially, if you are traveling place to place and want to see the countryside and have a unique experience, this is perfect and is financially equivalent to a one way rental car (plus, drop off and transfers to your hotel somewhere downtown and fuel) or air travel for 2 people with transfers and luggage costs. And in the case of my Lisbon to Madrid leg, train service between those two cities is a long haul on a slow train…not a good combination.
The bottom line for me is this….you get to see something you would certainly miss otherwise….you are invested in being here for just that purpose so why wouldn’t you find a different way…a better way? Side note, my travel partner for today’s trip was a lovely, shapely bottle of Portuguese red wine, courtesy of Ricardo. It is the details that make the difference isn’t it?
Note:
If you are curious: mydaytrip.com www.instagram.com/mydaytrip
It is an exceptionally easy site to navigate and was as easy to buy services as any website I have ever used, period.