Six wild rail adventures just 48 hours away from the UK by train

You can still visit glaciers and coral reefs, and see active volcanoes or wolves without getting on a plane. The journey from the UK is all part of the fun …

Conscientious travel choices in a time of global warming are not easy. The ethically driven, non-flying British traveller, you might think, will have to accept a life of self-denial: no snorkelling over coral reefs, no wolf watching or walking on glaciers. And what about other wonders, both natural and human-made? Will we never again explore an active volcano, burrow into a bazaar, or lie on a palm-fringed beach beside a warm turquoise sea? I don’t think I’m the only one who recoils in horror at the thought of every summer holiday being a UK washout, counting your goosebumps while sheltering in the bandstand.

Over the past two decades, in our rush to embrace budget airlines, other transport systems were allowed to wither, further limiting choices. All ferry routes to Scandinavia, for example, have disappeared, which is a scandalous state of affairs. Getting to Gothenberg, Bergen, Oslo and Esbjerg now entangles the traveller in complex railway journeys through several countries – hence the lack of Scandinavian alternatives in our list.