Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 11 December 2024

MARVELLOUS EUROPE

Tour operator Travelmarvel has announced its Europe itineraries for 2026, with new tours and the debut of a new river ship, Travelmarvel Rigel. And there is an earlybird deal, with 2026 journeys at 2025 prices for bookings made by December 13, 2024.

Travelmarvel Rigel is named after the brightest star in the constellation of Orion. As part of its fleet expansion, this premium ship will incorporate advanced environmental systems to achieve Green Award “gold” status. The Green Award is a big international certification program for ships that are more environmentally friendly and sustainable. greenaward.org

Rigel, a sister ship to Capella, Vega and Polaris, has French balcony suites with electronic slide-down windows. It has a sun deck, whirlpool, Sky Deck Terrace and Bar, and the much-loved McGeary’s Bar.

Travelmarvel Rigel will launch with an eight-day Rhine and Moselle voyage between Amsterdam and Basel. Sailing the Moselle River during the summer season is a first for Travelmarvel. Travellers will visit the fairytale town of Cochem. It costs from $3695 per person. 1300 300 036 and travelmarvel.com.au

CHANGES AHEAD

The UK and EU will introduce electronic travel authorisations for visa-exempt travellers next year, in a bid to improve border security. You can read more about the changes ahead in our Trends Guide here.

UNDER THE CHANNEL

It’s 30 years since the UK was connected to mainland Europe by a rail tunnel under the English Channel — fulfilling a dream that dated back pretty much to the 18th century.

In 1802, French mining engineer Albert Mathieu-Favier dreamt up the idea of such a tunnel, lit with oil lamps and with horse-drawn stagecoaches rather than trains. He proposed boring a two-level tunnel — the top level for the stagecoaches and the bottom one for groundwater flows. He even suggested that an island be built in the middle of the channel, where horses could be kept and used when it was necessary to change teams.

In 1803 Englishman Henry Mottray proposed a submerged tunnel made from prefabricated iron sections.

TICKETING PARTNER

Rail Europe, a leading distributor of European train tickets, is a committed partner of Eurostar, promoting its trains and the benefits of rail travel across Europe. Speaking of the 30th anniversary, its CEO, Bjorn Bender, says: “Eurostar has revolutionised travel between the UK and continental Europe and set a new standard for sustainable, high-speed rail travel. We are proud to support this groundbreaking anniversary while embracing the environmental benefits of rail travel.”

TRAINS TO EVERYWHERE

Rail Europe has just announced increased coverage of rail travel with RailAPI, RailFlash and RailPortal. It will give travel agencies access to the domestic Belgian rail services and international routes to and from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, in addition to new routes within Hungary, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

A Rail Europe spokesperson says: “Whether travellers are considering a journey from Brussels to Bruges or Antwerp, or from Amsterdam to Maastricht or The Hague, Rail Europe now has them covered. New cross-border routes also include connections such as Maastricht to Brussels and Bruges to Amsterdam, among many others.” raileurope.com

BIG RAIL DISCOUNT

Eurail Passes has 25 per cent off some train passes until December 18.

Savings include:

+ A Eurail Global Pass, for seven days travel in one month (flexible), adult, second-class, for $468.75 (it is usually $625).

+ A three-month (continuous) Eurail Global Pass for an adult, first-class, for $1493.25 (usually $1991). That’s a saving of $497.75.

Rail passes can be tricky to work out, and Eurail has a lot of experience in doing that.

The Eurail Pass was actually introduced in 1959 as a one-off ticket for unlimited train travel through 13 countries. Today, Eurail.com is a gateway to more than 30,000 destinations in 33 countries, used by tens of thousands of travellers from across the globe to explore. The site takes travellers through four steps — plan your route, find your pass, reserve your seats, and activate your pass. eurail.com.

BACKING INTREPID

For every pass bought before December 18 (4pm WA time), Eurail will donate €5 ($8) to Intrepid Travel’s non-profit The Intrepid Foundation, up to a maximum donation of €100,000.

A Eurail spokesperson says: “Travel has the power to fundamentally shape our perspective and leave long-lasting impressions. Eurail believes the benefits of travel can go both ways, enriching both the traveller and the destinations they encounter.” It is the second year of the partnership. In 2024, donations will benefit organisations including:

+ Cooperativa Agricola Coraggio, promoting sustainable agriculture in Italy.

+ Humana Zagreb, which supports sustainable fashion in Croatia.

+ REFOOD, which is tackling the food waste crisis.

+ Open Arms, aiming to protect people fleeing their homes by sea to Europe.

HISTORIC TUNNEL

A big family day out used to be to take the train from Perth to John Forrest National Park. People used to catch the train to Hovea station, on the eastern edge of the park, and carry their picnics back along the line for about 2km to the park’s main facilities. The Swan View Tunnel, which helped the train get through the park, was designed by C.Y. O’Connor and built in 1894.

It took more than a year for 300 workers to build it using picks, shovels and dynamite. More than 330,000 bricks were used to seal the roof of the 340m-long tunnel. It was considered a major engineering achievement in its day and visitors can walk through it as part of the Railway Reserves Heritage Trail, which follows 59km of the former Eastern Railway route which linked Fremantle and York in the 1880s. experienceperthhills.com.au and railwayreserves.com.au

OLDEST PARK UPGRADE

John Forrest National Park is WA’s oldest national park — and was the second declared in Australia, after Royal National Park near Sydney. Interestingly, the area that is now John Forrest was first proclaimed a national park in November 1900 (interesting, when you think the gold rush was still on).

The land was reserved for conservation and recreation in 1898, was named Greenmount National Park two years later and the name was changed to commemorate Sir John Forrest in 1947.

John Forrest National Park has a series of upgrades:

Noolbenger Trail A 16km off-road trail for cyclists and trail runners.

Little Eagle Trail An 8km loop walk trail with big views.

Upgraded trails Eagle View, Wildflower and Glen Brook trails have all had improvements.

There are also new landscaped gardens, accessible picnic and barbecue areas.

Get into the park from Park Road, off Great Eastern Highway — about 10km from the eastern outskirts of Midland. exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au