Green Blog

05 March 2011

Morocco without flying

I love to travel. But I've spent almost six years communicating environmental issues for Friends of the Earth. And I'm all too aware of the impact of flying - aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of climate-changing gases and if left unchecked could account for 15-20% of global emissions by 2050. So I've cut back drastically.

I take most of my holidays in the UK and France - travelling by train, car or occasionally in the little camper van that I share with my mum and sister. With only very occasional flights abroad (the last was well over a year ago).

I heard about the man in seat 61 - an award-winning website about how to get to Europe (and beyond) by train and boat - a couple of years ago. And I've been on the website a few times before, dreaming of all the exotic places I could visit without stepping foot on a plane. But I've never actually done it. Until now that it is.

Half an hour on the site and my boyfriend and I have mapped out our journey to Morocco - travelling by train from London to Paris and then on to Madrid and Algeciras, Southern Spain. From there it's a short boat ride to Tangiers, the northern most tip of Morocco. And a sleeper train will take us the rest of the way to Marrakech - where we'll start our journey into the Atlas Mountains.

Okay so it's not as quick as flying - it takes about two days if you don't stop over on route. And it costs a bit more. But it's about a third of the emissions of flying. The scenery is meant to be beautiful. And there's definitely something romantic about arriving in Africa by boat at sunset.

I'll be blogging during the trip. So keep an eye out for more Morocco posts over Easter.

If you fancy staying closer to home - check out Rita's post about holiday house exchanges.

Vicki Felgate, Publishing and New Media team