This International World Water Day (22 March 2012), tourists are being urged to remain water aware while on holiday. The call comes from campaigning groups Tourism Concern and Water Wise, who have produced a set of water-saving tips for tourists – whether they are holidaying in the UK or overseas.
“The current drought in the UK highlights the need for us all to use less water in our daily lives. This should extend to our holidays, whether we’re visiting Bognor Regis or the Balearics. Generally, there’s a tendency for our water consumption to increase while we’re away”, says Mark Watson, Executive Director of Tourism Concern.
Many of our favourite holiday destinations are in hot and dry regions of the world, where water is scarce due to low rainfall levels. In poorer countries, such as Kenya, The Gambia, India and Bali in Indonesia, lack of infrastructure and poverty means communities often struggle to meet their daily water needs, even if seasonal rains are plentiful. Tourist high season usually falls during the summer months, which can place additional pressure on water supplies. Meanwhile, neighbouring resorts consume vast quantities of water for guest rooms, landscaped gardens, swimming pools and golf courses. This can lead to the depletion of groundwater resources and place additional strain on public supplies.
While governments and the tourism industry must lead in managing water resources more sustainably, Tourism Concern and Water Wise point out that tourists also have a vital role to play. Their top tips for a water friendly holiday include:
Take a shower instead of a bath. This uses about a third of the amount of water.
Opt in to towel and sheet re-use schemes and report dripping taps
Turn off the water while lathering the soap, brushing teeth or shaving. A running tap uses 6 litres of water a minute.
Ask your hotel what it’s doing to save water and find out about the water situation in the area where you’re staying
Tourists can also get involved by taking the online WET Pledge in support of Tourism Concern’s Water Equity in Tourism Campaign. The campaign aims to ensure that the water rights of communities in tourism destinations are not compromised by tourism development.
Enjoying an outdoor shower at Kingfisher Camp, Herefordshire http://www.canopyandstars.co.uk/find-a-place/grove-farm/kingfisher-camp
For example, research to be published by Tourism Concern next month indicates that in the Indian state of Goa, a popular destination with British holidaymakers, the hotel industry is consuming vast amounts of water from the public supply, while local communities only have limited access. In the tourist hub of Calangute, some households reportedly only receive piped water for two hours every other day, while aging infrastructure and frequent power cuts mean that even then it can be unreliable.
Meanwhile, the depletion and pollution of groundwater and waterways, caused in large part by the tourism sector, means that some traditional community wells are becoming unusable. This in turn is forcing households to become increasingly dependent upon the erratic public piped supply.
Back in the UK, southern and eastern regions are facing their worst drought for many years. The UK actually has less water per person than Greece, Italy or Spain; London has less rainfall than Istanbul, and Manchester has just half the rainfall of Sydney”, says Jacob Tompkins, Managing Director of Water Wise. “We can all do our bit to use less water and still have a fantastic holiday”, says Tompkins.
People just don’t believe me when I tell them it is often cheaper for me to go back to my home country of Ireland, from London, by train and ferry. But the last time we travelled to Dublin as a family was at Christmas it cost us £258 (for two adults and two kids) including return tickets from our home in London to Euston station.
We usually take the same journey every time, catching the Virgin Trains service leaving London Euston at 9.10am as it is direct to Holyhead, allowing you to relax the whole way and enjoy the coastline of North Wales at the same time. We have about an hour’s wait in Holyhead, catch an early afternoon ferry and are in Dublin Port in the city of centre by 5.30pm, and home to Granny for tea. Any airline equivalent at this Christmas rip off period was minimum £600 not including transport to and from the airport. SailRail offers consistent prices, and I always book it through Raileasy, although most ferry companies offer the same package. Sailrail makes train and ferry travel affordable, with similar packages to Holland now, and hopefully other destinations will start offering this as an option soon. Still waiting for news on the London to Northern Ireland Sailrail (via Liverpool) to open up, hopefully by the end of this year.
A couple of my other favourites include Bargain Berths on the Caledonian Sleeper from London to the Scottish Highlands. Blogger Simon Varwell is the font of information on how to bag one of these elusive tickets – definitely worth a read. The other is the underrated Train des Pignes which goes from Nice into the Alpes, terminating at Dignes les Bains. A tiny metre gauge train which rattles its way through mountain villages, this is a tourist route, but we took it up to Entrevaux to start a hiking holiday across the Mercantour, with a donkey to carry our bags from auberge to auberge. Catch it at the Chemins de Fer de Provence station iin Nice, €18 adults, €9 children, one way.
I have asked a few of my favourite train brains to give their top tips on getting bargains when choosing to travel abroad by train, as listed below. Some of them suggest the same things, but all have great points, so many thanks to all of them for taking the time to contribute and spread the train.
As with booking UK train tickets, the best deals are often found on the national operator’s own site, instead of one of the third
Jules Stone en route from Montreal to Quebec See http://www.trainsonthebrain.com/2011/03/25/via-rail-review-whats-train-travel-in-canada-like/
parties. Germany’s www.bahn.de usually has great deals and if you can book up a few months in advance, you can get tickets for €49 from the UK or €39 within Europe. Their system covers journeys across most of Europe and the site is easy to navigate. For some reason you have to put in passenger ages or it won’t let you proceed and view prices, but this little quirk aside, it works pretty well.
Sleepers services vary in comfort and price but offer you a good way to save both time, by speeding you through the night to the heart of your destination, and money on lacklustre hotels. There are some good deals to be had. For example, the recently launched, and rather swish looking Thello night train can whisk you from Paris to Milan, Verona or Venice from as little as €35 in a shared couchette.
If you’re considering using night trains while InterRailing you’ll need to buy sleeper supplements. In most countries east of Germany these can often be found for €20 or less. If you want to get to Scandinavia, a part of Europe not usually associated with budget travel, the Berlin Express is one night train worth looking at. This runs from April to November, zipping you cross the Øresundsbron Bridge from Berlin to Malmo, a short hop to Stockholm. Sleeper supplements start at €19.
RailDude is a handy site which lists practically all of the sleeper supplement prices. Of course it’s always worth doing the maths before you book your InterRail pass, especially if you’re heading east. Add up the costs of the single journeys you’re planning to take, as sometimes it can work out cheaper than the pass, though there’s a lot to be said for the flexibility the pass gives you of course.
Split ticketing would be my top tip. For example, always book London to Paris/Brussels/Lille then separately book the onward portion of the trip, from Paris/Brussels/Lille to the final destination.
The direct train to Avignon is from £109 return, which is pretty good value. See our Greentraveller video of this fantastic rail journey
The further in advance you can book international rail travel, the better bargains you can get. Eurostar services can be booked 120 days in advance, and most other European services 90 days in advance. Most operators work on a yield managed system and so the cheapest fares are available the earlier you book. If you leave making your booking until a week or two before departure you’ll find you’ll pay much more for your tickets than if you book as soon as the tickets go on sale.
If you’re planning lots of rail journeys during one trip, it’s worth looking into rail passes. InterRail passes come in Global or single country versions and can offer great value, particularly if you’re booking close to the date of travel when point to point tickets will be more expensive. It’s always a good idea to check the cost of point to point versus pass plus seat reservation costs before booking.
Seat reservations also work on a sliding scale, so again, the earlier you book these the lower cost they will be.
Children under 4 travel free on most European trains and, in some cases, children under 6 travel for free. This tends to be in northern European countries such as Belgium, Germany and Denmark (scroll down to table below for more details of this and general discounts for kids).
Mark Smith, The Man in Seat 61, on the Glacier Express with his son. Copyright: Mark Smith
The Dutch Flyer, London (or any station on Greater Anglia) to Amsterdam (or any Dutch station) from £39 plus cabin cost (single cabin £30, double cabin £43 per cabin). Can save expensive accommodation costs in London or Amsterdam too!
DB’s (Deutsche Bahn) ‘London Spezials’ cost from €49 from London to anywhere in Germany. Limited availability, but I have certainly returned from Berlin to London for €49 myself! Book at www.bahn.de, which will also book sleeper trains from Paris to Berlin, Hamburg or Munich, or from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, Prague, Warsaw or Zurich, from €59 with couchette, €99 with a bed in a 2-bed sleeper, or journeys such as Berlin-Prague from €29, Amsterdam to Berlin from €29.
At the French Railways English language website www.tgv-europe.com, Paris-Geneva/Basel/Zurich starts at €25; Paris to Turin or Milan start at €25; Paris to Barcelona from € 72 with sleeper; Paris to Amsterdam from €35.
And for ever-popular Italy, book at www.trenitalia.com looking for a cheap ‘Mini’ fare. Rome to Florence from €19
The trick is really to book direct with the operator, using the right website for that route. The rule of thumb is to start with the train operator for the country in which an international train starts, e.g. tgv-europe.com for France, trenitalia.com for Italy, bahn.de for Germany, oebb.at for Austria, and so on. Although the first exceptions have appeared: The Paris-Venice ‘Thello’ train needs to be booked at www.thello.com or www.trenitalia.com in either direction, and the Paris-Milan TGVs need to be booked at www.tgv-europe.com in either direction.
Any Dutch station – You can travel from London through to any station in Holland for the same price, this is detailed more here. The good thing is you can stop en route in Brussels for a day and not pay any more.
Trenitalia mini-fares – the Italian rail network is now using a system more like the UK where if you book in advance you can profit from very cheap fares, what they call MiniFares. True they are non-exchangeable and refundable and only standard class but are unbeaten on price.
Renfe Turistas fares – Renfe, in Spain, has a 2nd class of tickets called Turista which offer 40-60% discounts on journeys. It’s hard to give an estimate on price because the network is pretty big, but this is worth researching though!
Catherine on the Train des Pignes between Nice and Dignes Les Bains
Age limits for children travelling by rail in Europe Source: RailEurope March 2012
One of the yurts by the lake at Mount Druid, Westmeath. Photo: Catherine Mack
‘The Hundred Acre Wood’ is Winnie the Pooh’s home, my younger son reminds me as we start to explore the pathways leading through the 200,000 trees planted by the owners of this extraordinary 100 acre farm in Castletown Geoghegan, County Westmeath. Although Pooh, Tigger and Roo are nowhere to be seen, there are streams and bridges to throw Pooh sticks from, endless spots for Owl to hang out but, happily, nowhere for Eyeore to feel gloomy. In fact, he would be positively jumping for joy if he could take part in the yurt hunt here, with ten of these magnificent Mongolian tents carefully concealed around its 100 acres.
The landscaping here is about as perfect as the famous map of AA Milne’s fantasy world, except this is a reality and certainly not just to be enjoyed by children. Boutique Camping was opened just over a year ago, by owners Adrian and Deirdre Murphy, although they have been developing their dream landscape, called Mount Druid (and yes, it does have a mount with a druid) for the last five years, and the many broadleaf trees which thrive all around us providing evidence of this long term planning. With carefully thought out pathways which follow the natural undulations of their hills and the recently opened up streams and lakes which were concealed underground until the Murphys went a digging, this is definitely not a case of someone just making a quick dash to jump on board an eco bandwagon.
I am a fan of yurts anyway, but have never seen anything as extensive as this in Ireland, and with so much land to explore, everyone has space to themselves. And space was just what the doctor ordered after a week of Christmas cabin fever. ‘Why on earth would you go camping in December?’ one of the curious villagers asked me at the gorgeous local pub, Claffeys, two minutes’ walk away from the farm, and just one of three lovely pubs in this village. I explain that it has a large central, wood burning stove, warm beds raised off the floor, enough insulation to cope with a Mongolian snowstorm, and that it feels lovely waking up in the ‘fresh air’ with a toasty body and a chilly nose peeking out over the top of the winter tog duvets. The only problem, I add, is working out who gets up first to stick some wood or turf on the fire to warm us up in the morning. ‘But where do you make the breakfast?’ he asks, and I reassure him that there is a beautifully restored barn for the use of all guests, with giant stove, comfy sofas, a large communal dining table and cooking facilities.
The communal barn Photo: Catherine Mack
The only thing missing in the yurt is a kettle, as it would be lovely to stick one on the stove to get your day off to an even cosier start, so bring a camping one with you if you are a ‘tea before you can move a muscle’ sort of a person, like me. And if you travel with a hot water jar, then you’d have something to fill it from, without having to embarrass yourself in the communal barn. Not speaking from experience of course. They also like you to bring towels, although all bed linen is provided.
And then there is the sauna, which would have shed a whole new light on Christopher Robin’s day if he’d have had one, I’m sure. Our kids, who are always banned from such luxuries in leisure centres, were in their element, going from their early morning cycle around the land, on kindly provided high quality mountain bikes, to the sauna. It also gave them a good excuse to use the shower in the barn, rather than running from the yurt to the shower in a ‘shed’ which are scattered in various locations convenient to each accommodation. Albeit fine quality, eco wooden sheds.
I spared my new pal in the pub the details of the compost loos, though, as I thought this might just finish him off altogether, and as he and a few of his welcoming friends, who had joined the chat by now, were full of admiration for what the Murphys had achieved, I didn’t want them to think that we were all just a bunch of hippies hiding up on the hill with the druids. The Murphys live on site, and so are always around to make sure we are warm and comfortable, Adrian popping over to the barn with a freshly made loaf and some of their farm eggs, their boys inviting ours for a game of football, and their daughter keen to show us the recently converted self-catering house. This is a clever addition to their accommodation portfolio, created with the same flair for contemporary design which the Murphys have applied to their own fine house, once a grey Presbytery, now a magnificent home to six kids, dogs, cats and a stream of visitors enquiring about this and that. The self-catering house, known as Kindalin, was the old school master’s home, and has been refurbished with a green oak frame, has an open plan design, mezzanine walkways and three bedrooms. And a telly, for those people who find it difficult to let the screens go completely. There is a yurt just nearby so if you have friends who want to do the indoors thing, while you do the out, then this is ideal. Or bring the grandparents, who won’t get the ‘yurk’ idea, as my mother in law insists on calling it. And if you have a very special birthday or anniversary coming up, rent out the whole place, putting families in yurts, and feed the gang in the barn or Kindalin. The Murphys are happy to help with catering if there is a crowd in.
Just one of many friendly faces at Mount Druid. Photo: Catherine Mack
We did not explore any further than the Hundred Acres or the village during our brief stay, but there is already pressure to return from our kids, and so I note that for a summer week there is plenty to do in the area, with Lough Ennell on the doorstep, where you can rent a boat and go fishing (www.lilliputboathire.com), the Mullingar Cycle Hub which consists of several looped cycles around the Lough and others nearby (www.irishtrails.ie), walking or cycling along the Royal Canal which goes through nearby Mullingar (www.iwai.ie), or day long summer camps with kayaking, orienteering and gorge walking at the nearby Lilliput Adventure Centre from as little as €30 per day. Oh, and because the Murphy’s don’t do things by halves, they also have a Green Village Music and Arts Festival on 29 September 2012, and they are still basking in the success of its 2011 inauguration. In fact, I think the Murphys, with their dynamic, life loving energy, combined with sustainable awareness must have gathered a little of Winnie the Pooh’s wisdom along their way in life. Among many famous quotes, he said, ‘A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.’ And this pretty much sums up Mount Druid. Thoughtful and making a difference. As my friend from the pub said just before he downed his last, ‘Adrian saved that land from being developed into a housing estate, you know. He just couldn’t stand back and let that happen here’. To which I raised my new Year’s pint, and toasted a year of Pooh-like positivity the likes of which lie on the top of a Westmeath hill.
For more information on the yurts and self-catering at Mount Druid, see www.boutiquecamping.ie. Yurts from
€80 per night for a midweek two night stay, otherwise €100 per night.
It’s not often many tourists find themselves travelling through Magherafelt in Northern Ireland, but I was researching Seamus Heaney’s homelands for another article recently, when I found myself staying for a night at Laurel Villa Guest House, an elegant, Victorian house in the heart of this south Derry market town. My stay evolved as one of Heaney’s poems might, starting with a modest, friendly welcome, an unveiling of rich, quality content, some laughs, some tears, beautiful images and then, ultimately, a feeling of sheer satisfaction and pleasure. All in 24 hours in Magherafelt.
This International World Water Day (22 March 2012), tourists are being urged to remain water aware while on holiday. The call comes from campaigning groups Tourism Concern and Water Wise, who have produced a set of water-saving tips for tourists – whether they are holidaying in the UK or overseas.
