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If you want to try and save money and are willing to get a bit more adventurous, you can always over land it using trains. Travelling by train is an exciting alternative to flying. You can take your time stopping over in any interesting cities you pass through, meet interesting people and watch the world go by your window. It's amazing that you can travel the world without leaving the ground once so definitely something worth taking advantage of.
If you decide to travel by train once you are in the country, ask around the locals or other travellers who know the best routes- some train lines are less predictable than others and might only run a few days a week. You might need to book in advance, buy extra tickets for baggage, pay for a seat reservation- these are all things to consider when travelling by train.
The Man in Seat Sixty-One is a brilliant site that tells you how to travel from the UK all the way to Europe and even Asia, America and Australasia.
Investigate different rail cards you can get, the obvious choice for travel in Europe is the Interrail pass from RailEurope but if you are venturing further afield and will be travelling around one country for a while, it's worth looking into rail passes they might offer that you can buy once you are there.
Helping the Environment
An additional pull towards opting for train travel is its positive impact on the environment. It's said that we only have 20 years to change our ways before our soaring carbon emissions irreversibly damage our environment. Air-travel is one of the highest contributors to these dangerous emissions so avoiding a flight wherever possible is the best way of shrinking our carbon footprints.
Eurostar worked out that by taking the train from London- Paris you could cut down your CO2 emissions by a phenomenal 90%. Trains are also playing a major part in the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 with the International Union of Railways putting on a special train from Brussels to Copenhagen to encourage visitors for the conference.
If you are concerned about the impact your travels are having on the environment, check out EcoPassenger; it's a really useful site that tells you exactly how much CO2 your choice of transport will produce for your journey by plane, train or car.