Gorey to Rome (Mastodon Travel Blog)
OK so I might be completely insane but we’re all booked up to travel to Rome from Ireland for a short three night visit to the eternal city.
Not so insane? We’re taking the ferry and train!
#SlowTravel #GoreyToRome #IrishFerries #DublinPort #Cherbourg #Paris #Rome
Day 1!
Bags packed and ready to take the slow boat and fast train to Rome.
House and animals in the capable hands of our son and his girlfriend.
We could be in Rome by afternoon if we flew but instead we will hopefully be there Monday evening.
The following chart shows what we’re saving in carbon emissions by taking the slow approach. (Plus I really like boats and trains!)
https://www.directferries.co.uk/carbon_footprint_calculator.htm
First leg underway: Wexford Bus from Gorey to Custom House Quay in Dublin. Nice comfortable clean bus.
88.5km, diesel bus, ~80% occupancy, 8.85co2e per person
Dublin Port’s ferry terminals aren’t the easiest to get to as a foot passenger.
There is a Dublin Bus service, route 53, but I saw a comment that it’s not very reliable.
There are shuttle buses to the Holyhead crossings but not it seems for the Cherbourg sailings.
https://nolancoaches.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Irish-Ferries-Timetable-V1.pdf
Car parking at the terminal is very limited and as we return by plane that’s not good for us either.
So a taxi from the city centre to the port it will be.
Refuelling at the CHQ before striking out for the port.
And it’s a shuttle bus to take us from the terminal on the quayside to the ferry docked alongside!!!
Painless, if convoluted, boarding. Much easier than the airport but definitely not glamorous
Day 2! On time arrival to Cherbourg and now it’s a case of waiting for a shuttle bus to the terminal.
628km, heavy diesel fuel, maybe 50% occupancy, 11.933kg co2e
http://ports.com/sea-route/dublin-port,ireland/port-of-cherbourg,france/
0.019g CO2/KM https://ferrygogo.com/carbon-footprint/
Took a taxi to the train station. No taxis at the ferry terminal rank but phone number displayed. 15.50€ for 3 people and 3 small suitcases. (Dublin taxi was 14.50€)
Called the number and taxi arrived in 10 minutes.
It’s definitely a 30min plus walk. Cycling would be ok but there don’t seem to be many dedicated cycling tracks near the station
Gare De Cherbourg has a small modern station building. Only vending machines available here today. Toilets are out of service.
Fun and games boarding. Settled in to our assigned seats only for an announcement in French which we think said to move from the rear train to the front one - many other passengers were switching from the front to the back! The two train sets are coupled together.
The Cherbourg - Paris St Lazare trains are modern double deckers with some luggage racks. Probably not enough if the train was full.
We’re on an upper deck and the ride is quite bouncy! Lower deck would probably be a better choice if you’re prone to motion sickness
Very nice bike racks between cars 3 and 4. No food service on board - just a coffee vending machine. Luckily we have our packed lunch with us.
Cherbourg - Paris
370km, low carbon French electricity (nuclear!), 2.368 Co2e, occupancy - 100% “complet” according to the conductors announcement
One really nice thing that SNCF does is showing the carbon emissions for the journey in their quote engines. I’d really like to see this information prominently displayed on quote engines for all travel modes. It’s probably something governments could mandate
Of course if you try calculating the carbon footprint for any journey you will find many sources and possible final figures.
370km https://signal.eu.org/osm/#locs=49.633347,-1.620735;48.876530,2.325237
https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-ch/help/calculation-co2-emissions-your-train-journey
TGV train: 3.2 g of CO2 per kilometre
Intercity train: 11.8 g of CO2 per kilometre
TER train:
29.2 g of CO2 per kilometre
Transilien train: 6.4 g of CO2 per kilometre
10.2Kg CO2e https://www.sncf-connect.com/train/comparateurco2
2.6Kg CO2 https://www.ecopassenger.org/
2.5 Kg CO2 SNCF booking engine journey details
On time arrival into Paris St Lazare. All said, ferry and train to Paris is very civilised (apart from shuttle buses on/off the ferry)
It’s very cheap on co2 emissions: ~16kg co2e pp (Dublin city centre to Paris centre)
But expensive on the pocket ~177.50€ pp but that includes a private overnight cabin on the ferry for three.
Day 3!
Frecciarossa train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Milano Centrale
Luggage space mostly just overhead and best suited to small cases.
Modane - last station in France! Beautiful scenery from Chambéry to here.
Paris Gare de Lyon - Milano Centrale
881km, low carbon French electricity and Italian grid electricity, 24.668 Co2e, ~80% occupancy over full journey
On time arrival to Milano, easy connection to onward train to Roma Termini.
One tip: look for the train number as the final destination is the one most prominently displayed. In our case we needed to look for 9639, Reggio Calabria rather than Roma Termini
Again, calculating the carbon emissions is a moveable feast. My number for this leg came out a full 10kg co2e higher than that of ecopassenger.
881.6km https://signal.eu.org/osm/#locs=48.844806,2.373479;45.760573,4.860163;45.485879,9.204262
28g per passnger km https://www.fsitaliane.it/content/fsitaliane/en/innovation/transport-technology/frecciarossa-1000.html
15.5 Kg CO2 https://www.ecopassenger.org
Milano Centrale - Roma Termini
565km, Italian grid electricity, 19.775 Co2e, ~70% occupancy over full journey
Buonasera Roma!
Three minutes late arrival to Roma Termini! Not much to see for large parts of the journey between Bologna and Roma - so many tunnels!
54 hours and 2500km after leaving home in Gorey we arrive in the Eternal City
As the coffee cup says “The journey, a taste of discovery”
Home from Rome (and Paris) and reflecting on our first (mostly) slow travel holiday.
First and foremost, we had a fantastic time.
But it’s strange how holiday memories that stick can be of the most unexpected moments and fleeting interactions:
the Eastern European (maybe Ukrainian) family boarding the ferry - four small cute children and their weary overburdened young parents;
the chatty American college graduate couple on the train to Milan;
(1/3)
the super assertive older American man who boarded in Bologna and declared we were in his seats and then turned out to be super apologetic when he realised his mistake;
the forlorn young men plucked from the train in desolate Modane station “en raison d'un contrôle douanier”;
(2/3)
the delayed train speeding to Paris at 295km/h engulfed by nightfall, wind turbine warning beacons saluting it’s progress, and it’s weary occupants in a liminal space - already at their destination in their minds but physically not quite there.
And many more memories. Memories that I’d argue were only possible by taking the slow travel option. Trains in particular put you up close with a diverse array of people and lives. We can’t wait for our next adventure!
(3/3)