No plane, huge gain: the best flight-free spots in Europe

The allure of flying, for some, has faded of late, with holidaymakers embracing the unhurried charm of slow travel – and the prospect of reducing their carbon footprint. So it’s no surprise that second-home buyers are increasingly opting for no-fly locations too.

A new network of rail routes across Europe is helping the train take the strain – after all, waking up for coffee as dawn breaks across the Swiss Alps or Tuscany is far more civilised than joining the snaking queue at airport security. Locations accessed by good motorway networks are also attracting househunters. France has long been popular with drivers, and now many families want to bring the dog on holiday too.

“The changes to the architecture, the crops, the landscape, all become way markers,” says Judith Whitlow, director of prestige sales at Beaux Villages Immobilier, Savills associate in southwest France. “The pandemic broke the flying habit for people who rediscovered the ease of driving in France and the convenience of being able to stop off – and to save on the high cost of car rental.”

Whitlow points out that, for those travelling from the UK, whether you choose to cross the Channel through the tunnel or by ferry, much of southwest France is accessible in a day’s drive: from Calais, it’s five or six hours to the Loire or the Vienne, eight to the Dordogne, nine to the Lot et Garonne, and 10 to Carcassonne or Limoux. Hop on a ferry to Caen and those driving times are shorter still.

Eurostar also offers low-effort access to many parts of France. Change at Lille or Paris for a superb choice of onward trains – the TGV ride from the capital to elegant Bordeaux or Angoulême, hub of the popular Charente department, takes just over two hours. The train will also take you from Paris to Provence or the French Riviera in less than four hours – some remote-working home owners relish the opportunity to do business as they whizz past vineyards and lavender fields.

And why not travel on to Italy, and the stunning coastline of precipitous cliffs that dip down to the Med in Liguria? Consider one of the region’s ice cream-coloured villages, such as Portofino or the Cinque Terre. The Milanese love driving over, but the area’s easy accessibility is attracting a wider range of buyers.

“More people are choosing to buy here with the idea of driving,” says Chris Ostet, managing director of Ar92, Savills associate in Liguria. “Some like to get here with pets, others to drive along the Riviera in their classic car. Some international families based in Switzerland for schools stay in Liguria during the weekends and holidays, being freer to work remotely.” The coastline from Genoa to Santa Margherita Ligure is well connected by motorway to the south of France, Milan and Tuscany.

There are also great rail connections. Genoa has two main stations that link to intercity routes, and trains stop at Camogli, Santa Margherita and Rapallo on the Ligurian coast. The new Nightjet sleeper train runs from Vienna and Munich to Genoa, allowing travellers to arrive in the Cinque Terre in time for lunch. The region’s glamorous lifestyle is an obvious pull, but it’s not just a summer playground – steep mountain valleys make it a popular hiking and biking destination.

Other exciting new sleeper routes include Paris to Vienna, Stuttgart to the Adriatic coast and Brussels to Berlin via Amsterdam. For those with a chalet in mind, ski trains to the French Alps this winter will run from Lille – and Méribel is among the resorts easily reached by rail or road (a nine-hour drive from Calais). That’s got to beat waiting around at airport check-in.

Pictures from top: a train ride through the Swiss countryside (unsplash); Portofino, in Italy, is easily accessible by rail (unsplash); a journey along the Ligurian Riviera (Getty); and the ice-cream terraces of the Cinque Terre (Getty)