The Right Week Independent travel guides Get the Field Note

Collection 03

Journeys Worth Planning

Sleeper trains, island ferries and longer journeys, with routes and booking advice.

Travel guides
5 finished guides
Routes and practical advice
Travellers walking beside an unbranded sleeper train at a European station in blue-hour winter light

The newest trip file

Christmas markets by night train: Vienna or Prague?

Two sleepers from Brussels can create three useful market days. The connection margin is what makes the route work.

Market-first pickVienna
Clearest timetablePrague
A turquoise crater lake ringed by green pasture and forest on São Miguel in the Azores, seen from the caldera rim

The mid-Atlantic file

Azores: São Miguel or island-hop?

Stay on São Miguel for a first week, or plan a separate ferry trip through Faial, Pico and São Jorge.

Best forA first Atlantic week
Not forGuaranteed sunshine

Five finished trip files

Keep following the route.

Compare the routes, allow time for connections and decide where to spend the nights.

Finished guide

Greek island hopping: June or September?

June has the longer days. September has the warmer sea. The useful first route still needs fewer islands.

 Finished guide

The Amazon decision: Manaus, Iquitos or the river itself?

A public passenger boat, a forest lodge and an expedition vessel are three different trips.

 Finished guide

Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales: ferry, flight or the long way round?

Four days through the fjords, one fast day or weeks on the Carretera Austral. The same endpoints make three different trips.