Lonely Planet Flight Free Europe Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Shetho
I was delighted to receive the book and to see that it was packaged in only brown paper. The book measures 17cm x 21.5cm x 3cm and weighs 838 grams. It is hard backed and has a lovely graphic of a sea view on the cover.
Immediately this looks so tempting and I couldn’t wait to dip into it. I love to travel and one of the things I enjoy most is planning my trips so this book could open up so many opportunities for me.
The website says “ if you’re motivated to travel more sustainably while still enjoying the best experiences that Europe has to offer, this book will show you how to discover Europe’s edges and everywhere in between via more climate-friendly forms of travel.” The countries covered are Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Morocco, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Wales?
The premise of the book as the title says is to suggest itineraries for holidays in Europe which do not include flying. Recommended forms of transport include train, bus, ferry, bicycle and electric/hybrid car. The book includes 80 suggestions for exciting and interesting trips.
The books contents page splits the itineraries into trips of “About One Week” and ”Around Two Weeks Or More”. I like this as it makes it easier to select the most suitable possible trips for the duration of time available. The contents page also has a key to the modes of transport i.e. train, bus, ferry etc and food, activities, sight etc. The introduction includes a guide on how to use the book, rules of low carbon travel and tips on cycling and trains.
Each itinerary gives a brief summary of the trip, has a departure point, cities and towns to visit and transport options. In addition there are hotel and restaurant suggestions, day trips and a fact box which helpfully shows distance in kms, number of nights, transport budget and carbon in kgs per person. There are also beautiful photographs of the area to tempt you and to give a flavour of what can be expected.
I find the book interesting and inspirational and have enjoyed reading about some of the places I have already been lucky to have visited and lets me dream about the many places I would love to travel to in the future. I would use this book to form the outline of a trip to enable me to carry out more detailed research to put together full itinerary for future trips. The travel information included will be so useful.
This book would make a great Christmas gift for anyone who loves to travel. It gives a flavour of what is possible without taking a plane and reducing the carbon footprint. If you have a traveller or potential traveller on your Christmas list then this book could be the solution to their gift this year.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £19.99
This product can be purchased from Amazon here.