We decided to do another European rail journey and try out an Interrail Pass, on special offer for Black Friday last November. After lots of research about how the Pass works and where we might want to go, we started planning how to reach Athens. Neither of us has ever been there and we hope it might be a bit warmer than here. We’ll try to visit some of the places on the Orient Express route, our Christmas jigsaw present from Simon & Ricarda. Sadly the Budapest – Belgrade – Athens route isn’t such a straightforward option now so we’re planning to get to Greece on the overnight ferry from Bari . . . with a first stop in Venice this weekend.
The Interrail card allows two ‘home country’ travel days. To get further on our first ‘travel day’, we booked cheap advance tickets to London for an overnight at Kings Cross. We’ll then set out early on Thursday for the trip from London all the way to Venice as our first ‘travel day’! Deciding what to take (or not!) for a month away has been quite a challenge, involving the purchase of some new ‘train-travel friendly’ luggage! As departure time draws near, the bags are (almost) packed, reservations stored on the phone and the Interrail app ready for activation. We’re taking sketchbooks as well as cameras to capture the adventures and keep these pages updated . . .
Our local train arrives into St Pancras and we’ll stay at the Great Northern Hotel, Kings Cross. These two iconic stations from the days of steam make a great starting point for the trip. The Great Northern Hotel opened in 1854 at the start of London’s railway revolution. It was the most grand of the hotels built by the Great Northern Railway along its route to York. Designed to be eye-catching by Lewis Cubitt, its slender curve of yellow London brick still makes a bold statement on the busy concourse shared with the equally iconic Midland Grand Hotel, St Pancras. Built by the rival Midland Railway Company and designed by George Gilbert Scott, it opened in 1876.