Traveller’s Tales: Where will we go to this year?

Roger Wheeler January 16, 2022

The world has cautiously opened up again and we can go almost anywhere including of course our closest friend, France. With all French government pronouncements there always has to be a health warning as they are quite capable of closing their frontiers at a moment’s notice without much warning.

The hoops we have to jump through for all international travel have been drastically reduced down to just one reasonably simple lateral flow test which most countries seem happy to accept, so long as you are vaccinated. Plus you no longer need any tests on your return to UK.

Plenty of countries require you to declare whether you have been in contact with someone infected with coronavirus. France, for example, asks you to certify: “I hereby declare on my honour that I have no knowledge of having been in contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 during the last 14 days prior to departure”. That is a tricky declaration to make, with a truthful answer demanding the sort of semantics that keeps lawyers in business.

Spain warns you must not travel; “If you have had close contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 within the last two weeks”. Again, a difficult one, because it depends how you define ‘close contact’. On a typical day I travel by bus, go shopping and possibly go to a pub or restaurant. Statistically, there is a likelihood I have been in reasonably close contact with someone who has the virus. But I don’t know so I can honestly say that I haven’t been in ‘close’ contact with anyone, who can prove otherwise.

Prices have been quite drastically reduced to get us travelling again, so where in the world shall we go. Gay holiday companies are offering some very good deals with the Greek islands, the Maldives and even French Polynesia at £2,000+ from those nice people at Out of Office.

Not surprisingly the US has become very popular again as they are happy to take our cash. But to avoid any problems why not stay in the UK? We spent the New Year weekend in a great hotel in London, of all places. It used to be called the Mondrian Hotel, right on the south bank of the Thames, but they changed its name to Sea Containers Hotel – one of the strangest names for a hotel I have ever come across.

But it is quite lovely, all very art deco based on the interior of the old Queen Mary liner. We had a room on the sixteenth floor, very comfortable with great views of the river and the city. Bed, a huge breakfast buffet cost just £230 for the two of us. This for a five-star hotel in the centre of London is incredible. But similar deals are available at most the capital’s 55 five-star hotels with more opening every week.

Next time we go to town we will be exploring the now very fashionable Shoreditch area with its latest six ultra-modern hotels and now they have a new Mondrian Hotel, definitely worth a weekend.

Flying ?

easyJet has very quietly improved their cabin luggage dimensions. They will now allow you to take a 'standard' size case on board - 56x45x25. They also have a 'no weight limit' condition, so long as you can lift the case into the overhead locker, then there is no problem. This is really good news for for those travelling with carry-on luggage only.

Avoid Ryanair at all costs. They have abolished all check–in desks and will only allow online check-in. If you don’t have a boarding card on arrival at the airport you will be charged £40.00. Taking luggage, don’t. You will charged £30 per bag per flight. Paying by any card apart from a Visa Electron will cost £10.00 per person per flight. And they have the highest charges for in-flight food and drink. I expect they will soon be charging extra to actually sit down. They may appear to be the cheapest but you must read the site extremely carefully, don’t ‘scan’ you will end up paying more.

There are dozens of flight comparison sites; too much choice (some of it unreliable) doesn’t make life easier - just more confusing. Skyscanner.net and Travelsupermarket.com are about the best there are, but the advice is the same as it has always been – shop around and read all the conditions very carefully then read them again.

Trains

All these fares are available to everyone regardless of age. The following may seem complex - but it’s not. All train companies - including Southern Trains (the same company that runs Brighton & Hove Buses) have to offer just three types of fare : Advance; Off-Peak and Anytime. We need only concern ourselves with the Advance. You can only buy these online or one of the One Stop shops either in North Road or the Travel Centre at the Station.

For long journeys splitting your tickets is usually cheaper. For example if you want to take a train to, say, Bristol from Brighton, buy a ticket to Portsmouth, then one from Portsmouth to Bath and so on. You will be on the same train, you don’t have to get off or change but it will be much cheaper than buying a direct ticket.

Travel Notes 29^th March 2021

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Memories are made of this

International Travel: Are we really back to square one? As usual all the various travel ‘experts’ are giving us conflicting advice, can we go, should we go, is Europe really totally off the menu. What about all the talk about travel green passports etc., are they going to happen and which countries will accept them.

Cruise lines seem to think that we can get on board, but HMG seems to think otherwise, the airlines are gearing up for departure in May, so many uncertainties and unanswered questions. My overall opinion is that we can just forget about leaving the Country this year, many people are booking for August, although some are trying for May, hope springs eternal.

As usual the travel press is in overdrive, who can blame them, the carrot being dangled in front of them and then snatched away at the last minute.

I will give you a totally random summary of my overflowing inbox. Some of it is interesting some isn’t, but here it is anyway. Trying to be positive about travel becomes more difficult all the time.

The Thai authorities have agreed to shorten quarantine periods to 10 days for arrivals without a vaccination certificate and to 7 days for those with it, beginning on April 1.

The European Commission has emphasised that the proposed Green Certificates will facilitate free movement within the EU. The certificates are temporary and will be cancelled when the COVID-19 pandemic is over. I’m not certain what that means to us if anything. But they will recognise any pass that the UK issues.

Virus Passports. This is proving to be a very complicated subject with everyone getting n on the act. Last week Grant Schapps said that we would have some sort of pass, now they are looking at something called the Common Pass. The US and Great Britain are among countries currently considering implementing permits that can act as a virus passport. The European Union is also working on a vaccine “green pass” that would allow citizens to travel between member countries and abroad.

A few days after Mr Schapps made the comment above, on 13 March he reiterated his advice that it was too early to book any foreign holidays. Life becomes more confusing every day.

Airlines have also organized themselves to produce a digital health passport that is as uniform as possible to the greatest number of carriers. IATA has announced its Travel Pass, which is already being tested on some airlines and will enter an advanced stage of use on the London-Singapore route starting on March 15.

As the COVID-19 coronavirus appears to winding down with vaccines being administered around the globe, attempts to reignite tourism may actually put a damper on drawing visitors. There are plans to increase entry fees across the board of major attractions in an attempt to recoup lost funds. A bit short sighted perhaps.

UK Cruises:

Boutique is the new buzz word for cruises, they are completing, Riviera is jumping into the pot with this piece of PR.

From the lochs and crags of Scotland, to the heart-melting west of Ireland, see the highlights of the British Isles with two new cruises from Riviera Travel.

Next comes Viking Cruises, starting limited operations with domestic UK voyages. With a very informative website

https://www.vikingcruises.co.uk/oceans/my-trip/current-sailings/index.html

But whatever cruise you chose, you will invariably need to be fully vaccinated, at the moment, however, all sea cruising is banned by DfT and the FO.

Vaccinations around the World, here are some stats and more stats, they could be interesting if we are thinking about a travelling outside Europe.

Based on the total vaccine given as a percentage, Israel did the best job in the world with 100% of its citizens vaccinated, followed by Seychelles (90.2%), UAE 66.7%, Palau 53.8%, Monaco 40.1%, UK 37.8%, Maldives 37.3%, Chile 34.7% Bahrain 32.6, USA 31.8%, Israel counts for 45.61%, UAE 22.39% and USA 11.23%

France: Entry requirements were eased last week, we no longer need a compelling reason to visit. We have to have a negative test certificate and seven days quarantine on arrival. As most of the country is now fully locked down with curfews etc., there can’t be much reason to go.

Zanzibar’s Stone Town Airport has received an average of about 30,000 tourists a month. Locals have been shocked by the appearance and lack of clothing on some of the holidaymakers. Then the authorities decided to introduce a dress code. 30,000 tourists?? As we know quite a lot of people are still travelling, but if you go to Zanzibar you have got to be fully covered or face a fine of £500.

Spain: New analysis has revealed Spain could be set for a cash boost of more than £10 billion from Brits desperate to return to their favourite holiday destination. While travel is still banned for the UK, if restrictions allow vaccinated holidaymakers to visit Spain, data shows Brits could spend more than £10 billion in the country this year. The prediction is based by analysis by travel health experts who analysed 10 years of historic ONS data, looking at every single trip made out of the country by UK citizens and where they were heading.

JetBlue: As and when we do fly again across the pond JetBlue an airline that I know very little about has upgraded their business class on their A321’s to the Mint Studio style. They say that it’s not going to be more expensive the standard business fare. It’s worth having a look at.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/a321neo-jetblue-mint-studio/index.html

Green Eco travel: This is possibly one of the most meaningless phrases ever invented by the travel industry. You can call it Green, Eco, Sustainable or Responsible it doesn’t really exist. Here’s a classic example of a ‘green sustainable camp’ in the Okavango Delta, pure unadulterated luxury and as about a ‘green’ as Piccadilly. Plus of course all so called responsible destinations are right at the top end of cost. These websites are great and give you a few minutes escapism.

https://www.andbeyond.com/our-lodges/africa/botswana/okavango-delta/andbeyond-xaranna-okavango-delta-camp/

https://ourhabitas.com/namibia/

Staycations: Surprisingly away from the traditional hotspots, the Lakes, Cornwall etc., there is still a lot of availability. If camping and glamping are your thing these companies may suit and they have availability.

https://www.canopyandstars.co.uk/

https://www.forestholidays.co.uk/

Portugal is now off the Red List, so long as you’ve been vaccinated you’re free to go with no restrictions as soon as HMG says that you can, who knows when that will be.

I can’t resist telling you about the Tokyo Toilet Project, they have built a public toilet in a park with glass walls, only in Japan.

https://tokyotoilet.jp/en/yoyogifukamachi_mini_park/

https://tokyotoilet.jp/en/

Spring in England: What are we complaining about, yes I also would like to go away. But there are some stunning parks not too far away. There are about 20 or so beautiful parks and gardens right on our doorstep.

Sheffield Park for example

Cuckmere Haven

There are dozens, but we still want to wander round a Greek Island.

The cherry blossom in Greenwich Park is almost as good as Japan, well maybe not quite.

Greenwich Park Cherry Blossom Avenue | Sequins and Cherry Blossom

How about Richmond Park

Richmond Park, Surrey - Human Race

Then there’s Hampstead Heath

hampstead heath park london - Google Search | London park, London, Hampstead

Enough of talking about things we all knew but no harm to remind ourselves.