You may be familiar with the excellent BBC TV series, Race Across the World, in which contestants are given a modest budget with which to reach a target destination as soon as possible, no flying allowed. This weekend a similar challenge gets underway – but with no television cameras and, in the words of one participant, nearly 100 “self-selecting nerds”.
Each has paid £99 to a company called Lupine Travel for the chance to Race Across Europe from London to Istanbul, using only public transport – and walking. They will have to reach checkpoints at three mystery locations along the way.
Anything that emphasises the opportunities and rewards of terrestrial long-distance travel using buses, trains and ferries is to be applauded. I love the idea of a race with plenty of jeopardy from missed or made connections. I will follow the quest avidly – many of the contestants will use social media to report on their experiences. But, while I identify as a transport nerd, I will not be taking part. And here is why.
First, the timing. While I relish the prospect of travelling overland between the two greatest European cities, starting on the first Saturday of August would not be my top choice. All the participants have been told the first checkpoint is in Paris (the secret three will be revealed only as the race starts). So they could organise travel to the French capital in advance, which is just as well: the only seats on the first possible Eurostar train from London to Paris are currently selling at £325.
Yet, even when they reach France, they will be competing for space with hundreds of thousands of Parisians leaving for their summer holidays. The obvious eastbound connection for Strasbourg, leaving half an hour after the prime Eurostar arrival, is showing as fully booked, which could flummox contestants early on in the race.
Second, the indeterminate cost. While an Interrail pass costing £303 for seven days’ travel looks a good option (and may even help with the journey home from Istanbul), in France reservations for express trains are essential and require additional payment – as do sleeper trains, where they are available. Where an overnight journey is not feasible, a short-notice hotel booking could prove expensive.
Third, the rules. No taxis, no hitchhiking. I agree it would be ridiculous to allow someone to hire a cab to take them, say, the length of Austria. But in the Balkans, where rail travel is slow and coach departures sometimes sparse, taxis are regarded as a component of public transport for medium-distance journeys – teaming up with others to cut the cost. For example, Nis in southeast Serbia and the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, are less than 100 miles apart. Yet there is no rail connection and only a couple of cross-border buses daily, as far as I can see. A shared taxi is the obvious solution.
I could reluctantly accept the taxi ban, but not the hitchhiking prohibition. Suppose (as I half-expect) the fine Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, is included as a “mystery checkpoint”. There are only three daily trains onward to Zagreb in Croatia. Hitchhiking (still widely practised in the former Yugoslavia) would be the obvious option, with the A2 motorway junction just a half-hour walk south of the city centre.
Hitching would also guarantee interesting encounters with local people, which is an essential ingredient of a trip across Europe by land rather than air.
Maybe the rules will change before the 2024 race – in which case I could join the 100-plus participant who have already signed up for next year’s event. But, in any case, I wish the inaugural contestants happy and exciting journeys and as much luck as they need.
