Like you, I book trains, boats and planes with excitement about the discoveries to come: an unseen landscape or sea view, a fresh menu at a pavement café, a new array of city streets or a complex history to untangle. Very occasionally, though, I buy travel because I need to report from a particular location. That is how I came to book a flight last Monday morning from London Stansted to Bergamo in northern Italy. The criteria: to find a cut-price Ryanair flight that would allow me to test out the airline's new "100 per cent digital boarding passes" policy.
Day one was scheduled for Monday 3 November. I needed a cheap morning flight; the destination was immaterial. The optimal departure turned out to be Bergamo in northern Italy. There was time before the flight to assess how smoothly the new rule was going, and how passengers felt about migrating en masse to the Ryanair app. I would then step aboard the plane for a day in Italy, before a late-night flight back on which I could sample the Italian attitude to the policy. What could possibly go wrong? Well, Ryanair postponed the launch date from 3 to 12 November. Waste the ticket? Never. I headed for Stansted anyway.
Bergamo turned out to deliver a textbook example of a city break. Emerging from Arrivals, a huge arrow points you straight to the airport tourist office. Here, you are offered a map of Bergamo, with a brief exposition of its unusual geography and the city highlights; a list of opening times for churches and museums; and the public transport basics. A day pass for all buses – and the city's two funicular railways – costs a princely €8.25 (£7) and yes, the lady will sell you one. Bus 1 is waiting outside for the quick trip to the city centre(s). This is a tale of two-and-a-bit cities. Start in the handsome lower town, where grandiose architecture and smart shops are complemented by piazze great and small. Then ascend by funicular to the upper town, wrapped in ancient walls and strewn with medieval monuments – plus a wealth of places to eat and drink. A British couple who had been in town for a proper long weekend steered me to Minuscoli – a bakery dating from 1948. Vast slabs of pizza and focaccia are cut like tailor's cloth to match your hunger. Replenished, venture beyond the northern gate to a second funicular serving the "upper-upper-town" – were it not closed this month for "extraordinary maintenance". No matter: a brisk uphill hike is rewarded with the chance to clamber among the ruins of a castle and gaze across through the reds and golds of autumn to the Alpine foothills.
For the amended Ryanair roll-out date, 12 November, I have booked another test flight – destination, Baden-Baden in Germany. It has a hard act to follow. Ryanair's new smartphone boarding pass plan
Spoons stay: Living the dream at the Wetherspoon Hotel in Wigan Drone ranger: Your rights if a rogue UAV grounds your flight
Border bother: How is the EU entry-exit system roll-out going?
Wonder world: Seven modern travel wonders | |
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Work trip? The view from the "upper-upper-town" of Bergamo in northern Italy |
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| James March explores how Berlin's complicated past informs its unbridled present. Read more. |
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| The latest Princess Cruises offering dazzles with expansive panoramas and immersive performances. Read more. |
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| As Marrakech swells with tourists, cave paintings, vast desert and delightful markets sit further east. Read more. |
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LNER train crew and passengers experienced a terrifying ordeal aboard last Saturday's 6.25pm from Doncaster to London. After the train left Peterborough, a knife-wielding attacker went on a rampage. Crew member Sam Zitouni was seriously injured shielding passengers, while train driver Andrew Johnson worked with the Network Rail signaller to make an unscheduled stop at the first opportunity, Huntingdon. The bloodshed could have been far worse. Since then some have called for airport-style security at railway stations. Yet, as I wrote, there is not the space, the money nor the willingness for passengers on domestic trains in the UK to be searched before boarding. A passenger's best friends are train crew, other travellers and statistics: the railways are extremely safe. The rail industry's healthy obsession with safety was demonstrated on Monday when the 4.28am from Glasgow to London hit a landslip in Cumbria at over 80mph and derailed. The train stayed upright, as it was designed to do, and everyone survived. Network Rail and Avanti West Coast worked wonders to remove the stricken 11-car train and reopen the line in less than 48 hours. Trains can only get better: that was the government's refrain on Wednesday, as it published the Railways Bill. The legislation sets out plans for Great British Railways (GBR) – son-of-British Rail, which ran the nation's trains and infrastructure before privatisation in the 1990s. Unifying the tracks and trains will work wonders to improve services and cope better with disruption, ministers believe. I very much hope they are proved right, and that the "spiralling taxpayer subsidy" for the railway is indeed reduced from its current, unsustainable £400 per second.
West Midlands to West Highlands by sleeper train (podcast) |
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Would you rather ski in France or Italy? | |
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As the first snow of the season falls on the French Alps, this week I'm asking where you want to hit the slopes this winter? Do you Al-pine for France's famous pistes? Or are Italy's chairlifts calling your skis? After Virgin Atlantic revealed new flights to Phuket, last week I asked which Indian Ocean paradise tops your list. Mauritius' shimmering coastline or Phuket's palm-draped bays? A landslide 75 per cent of you voted for Mauritius. |
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Cornwall flight link restored |
Cornwall will be reconnected with London Gatwick by air from 23 November. The link from Cornwall Airport Newquay to the Sussex airport was previously operated by Eastern Airways – which collapsed on 27 October. Skybus, the airline of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, has won the "Public Service Obligation" contract and will take over the route. Initially there is just one flight a day, but from 14 February a second service will be added on weekdays. Skybus has chartered an ATR-72 aircraft from Jersey-based Blue Islands to run the service initially. Tickets go on sale this morning. Ryanair continues to fly from London Stansted to Newquay on Sundays, Mondays and Fridays. |
Grand Egyptian Museum finally opens |
Many years behind schedule, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) finally opened fully to the public on Tuesday this week – the 103rd anniversary of the day in 1922 when the British archaeologist Howard Carter opened the lost tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 outside Luxor. The "Golden Pharaoh" collection occupies two of the halls – with his burial mask performing the same magnetising role as the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris. The GEM has immediately become one of the world's foremost cultural attractions. Amid spectacular surroundings, it reveals the mesmerising timeline of Egypt's millennia under the pharaohs. Tourism minister Sherif Fathy calls it "Egypt's gift to the world". I call it Africa's cultural pride and joy. |
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How can I fill a 3h30m wait between planes? |
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I fly Manchester-Madrid, arriving at 9.50pm, and depart for Bogota at 1.20am. Rather than hanging around at the airport, how can I maximise my time? |
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The dystopian world of Terminal 4 at Madrid airport, where you are set to change planes, is my least favourite air hub in Europe. Instead, sample some proper local cuisine before your long flight. Go through passport control, locate the Metro station and take a train one stop to Barajas. The airport itself is named after this village, which has survived its proximity to one of Europe's busiest airports. In about seven minutes you can walk to the Jumbo Restaurant, a favourite of mine for decades. It offers Spanish-Peruvian cuisine; the ceviche (€15/£13) is exquisite. This being Spain, you will be able to dine and drink until midnight, when you can head back to the airport. Yes, you will need to go though passport control and security again, but at that time of night you should have both checkpoints to yourself. Just in case your incoming flight is late and you don't fancy your chances, you could hang out in the Retiro Lounge. It offers some sanctuary for a payment of €46.60 (£41), but you will be chucked out when it closes at midnight. |
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| Dreaming of escape? G Adventures' Black Friday sale is your chance to book that long-awaited getaway, with up to 30% off small-group tours. Hike Machu Picchu, safari in South Africa, sail Thailand's islands, and more unforgettable trips. Various dates available. Learn more. |
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| Upgrade your luggage for less! Get 43% off this sleek Samsonite suitcase at Amazon. |
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| Getting ready for your next getaway? Enjoy up to 70% off men's essentials in the David Gandy Wellwear sale. |
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