All eyes are on the Strait of Hormuz. What happens there over the next couple of weeks could affect millions of holidays this summer. Airports Council International warned last week that Europe seemed weeks away from jet fuel shortages and flight cancellations because of Iran’s chokehold on the Strait.
Though the timing could hardly be worse, all is not lost for those looking to get off our island. New rail routes and ferry services have shrunk the Continent for overland travellers. Here are 10 flight-free holidays that could save the summer.
1. Île de Ré, France
Fuel shortages will be the last thing on your mind when you’re quaffing freshly shucked shellfish and a cold glass of sauvignon blanc at a beachside oyster shack on Île de Ré.
Thanks to France’s HS2-shaming high-speed trains, this pretty, west-coast island is a little over three hours from Paris, itself only a couple of hours from London on the Eurostar.
More than a beach destination, Île de Ré serves up winsome fishing villages, rolling vineyards (though the local wine is so-so) and shimmering salt flats – all of which are linked by scenic cycle paths thronging with holidaymakers whose only obligations for two weeks are table reservations.
Where to stay
The island’s Hôtel Atalante offers rooms from £208 per night. Our reviewer says: “Removed from the world and its worries, this wellness retreat does everything to make you feel like nothing else but your relaxation matters.” Perfect for our times.
2. Santander, Spain
A cooler, less crowded alternative to the fly-and-flop Costas, “Green Spain” is only a ferry ride from Portsmouth – the catch being that it takes, ahem, 31 hours. Bring a good book.
Brittany Ferries sails to both Santander and Bilbao, though the former is prettier. Long favoured by Spanish royalty, its aristocratic architecture provides a handsome backdrop to beach visits and afternoons touring the local pintxos bars, which serve gourmet snacks for pocket change.
When you’re bored of the beach, head inland for dramatic mountain scenery, traditional villages and ancient cave art – or to Bilbao for the Guggenheim.
Where to stay
The Eurostars Hotel Real is surrounded by quiet gardens high above the city, with unbeatable views across the bay. Rooms from £121 per night.
3. Texel, Netherlands
A beach holiday in the Netherlands? Stick with me, because Texel’s white, powdery shores could dupe your Instagram followers into thinking you’ve escaped to the Caribbean.
The largest of the Wadden Islands – a wildlife-rich archipelago in the country’s north – Texel is scattered with arty villages, modern restaurants and oddball attractions, among them the Shipwreck and Beachcombing Museum – a tribute to strange things that have washed ashore.
For now, it’s mostly domestic tourists and German holidaymakers who are in on the Texel secret, but don’t expect that to last. Getting there is simple enough: It’s a 20-minute ferry from Den Helder, which is roughly an hour by car or train from Amsterdam, which you can reach on the Eurostar.
What to book
A five-day bird-watching holiday, visiting Texel and the national parks of Friesland and Flevoland, costs from £1,295 per person with Naturetrek.
4. Roscoff, France
The one-time departure point for Onion Johnnies – those Breton farmers who crossed the Channel to flog onions in England – Roscoff is a charming town dominated by a grand Gothic church and surrounded by sandy beaches. There are brilliant restaurants aplenty doing wonderful things with seafood, plus a pretty botanical garden overlooking the Atlantic to walk off any overindulgence.
Getting here is a cinch on Brittany Ferries’ overnight service from Plymouth, which chugs across the Channel while most passengers are asleep, docking as the smell of freshly baked pastry wafts across town the next morning.
Where to stay
The three-star Hotel la Résidence has doubles from around £80, a spa, and free bicycle storage.
5. The Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland
As if fuel shortages weren’t enough, travellers will also have to contend with extra border faff this summer as the EU’s entry-exit system is rolled out – but not at the UK’s frontier with Ireland.
All the more reason to take the ferry (Stena Line or Irish Ferries) to the Emerald Isle. Go by car and drive along the Wild Atlantic Way, a scenic coastal route taking in dreamy beaches, rolling hills and enchanting villages, plus lively Londonderry and Galway.
Running from the Inishowen peninsula in the north to pretty Kinsale in County Cork in the south, the route is lined with legends, and soundtracked by session nights at the many pubs along the way.
What to book
Luxury operator Adams and Butler offers a one-week Hiking & Biking Tour of Ireland’s Wild West from £2,909 per person.
6. Lake Como, Italy
From this summer, Britons can travel to Lake Como while they dream thanks to European Sleeper’s new Brussels-Milan night train.
Dovetailing nicely with Eurostar services to the Belgian capital, the route follows Switzerland’s scenic Simplon line (as used by the Orient Express), skirting alpine peaks before rattling across the border into Italy, where it stops at the shimmering shores of Lake Como (then on to Milan).
Plugging a north-south gap in Europe’s burgeoning night-train network, the service has faced delays but is now scheduled to launch on Sept 9 – too late if you have school-age children, but worth waiting for if you don’t.
Where to stay
Relais Villa Vittoria, on Como’s western shore, exudes a calm and secluded air, with a cosy terraced garden with romantic little pockets to hide away. Rooms from £330 per night.
7. Scheveningen, Netherlands
A fun local pastime in this seaside town is getting tourists to pronounce the place: It’s notoriously difficult, with the Dutch said to have used Scheveningen’s name to identify German spies during the Second World War (it’s “Skhay-vuh-ning-uhn”).
Don’t let all the tongue-twisting put you off, though, for this place is an underrated summer destination that’s easily reached on Stena Line’s ferry from Harwich, Essex.
Set among the dunes along a broad sandy beach, Scheveningen has a bygone seaside charm without slipping into kiss-me-quick nostalgia. There’s a pier, a Ferris wheel and hip beach bars along the front. A 20-minute metro ride away is The Hague and its heavyweight cultural institutions, among them Mauritshuis, home to Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Where to stay
It has to be the monumental Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus, a five-star behemoth, right on the seafront, that dates back to 1818. Rooms from around £170 per night.
8. Tetouan, Morocco
You’d need the patience of a saint to travel overland to North Africa under your own steam, but letting a cruise ship do the heavy lifting is a different proposition.
Enter Ambassador’s “Escape to Spain and Portugal” itinerary – a 13-night cruise to Iberia and, briefly, North Africa.
Departing from Essex in mid-August, the cruise skirts the Spanish and Portuguese coastlines with stops at Vigo (near Santiago de Compostela), Cádiz (“Little Havana”), Porto, Gibraltar, Málaga and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in Africa, from which guests can head to Tetouan, an atmospheric city in the foothills of Morocco’s Rif mountains.
What to book
Ambassador’s “Escape to Spain and Portugal” cruise costs from £1,349 per person.
9. The Norwegian fjords
If the modern world makes you nostalgic for the bygone charm of a simpler time, then you may find comfort in a cruise to the Norwegian fjords this summer.
Nature humbles in this corner of Europe, where plunging waterfalls, shimmering glaciers and middle-of-nowhere mountain villages are among the dramatic highlights.
Fred Olsen whisks passengers there and back with ample stop-offs in just a week. Renowned for its intimate ships, which hark back to a golden age of sea travel, the company has departures from Southampton, Edinburgh and Newcastle.
What to book
A five-night Norwegian fjords cruise with Fred Olsen, sailing from Newcastle, costs from £1,199.
10. Boulogne-sur-Mer (and beyond), France
A wind-powered ferry launched between Dover and Boulogne-sur-Mer last year, offering travellers a fun new route to the Continent – and the chance to take the helm across the world’s busiest shipping lane.
Dolphins, seabirds and hulking cargo ships are among the distractions on the journey, which takes four hours with a fair wind. You can even take your bike.
SailLink was founded by Andrew Simons, a Yorkshireman who spent five years navigating “rolls of red tape” to get the sail-powered catamaran going – a prescient move given the current fuel crisis. An added bonus is the easy border crossing, which involves a Frenchman stamping your passport on a pontoon.
Where to stay
Hôtel La Matelote in Boulogne-sur-Mer has an indoor pool, a garden, an elegant dining room – and rooms from around £120 per night.