All posts tagged: carfree

Wales on rails: a car-free break in Carmarthenshire | Public transport trips

Wales on rails: a car-free break in Carmarthenshire | Public transport trips

Published by Sam Flores

Sit on the left when you catch the train from Swansea to Carmarthen, and you can watch huge sandy estuaries unspool outside the window. There’s a curlew standing by the water, an egret-haunted pool in the wetlands, and a boardwalk along the foreshore, part of the 870-mile Wales Coast Path. It has been a six-hour, four-train journey to get here from Essex, but I’ll soon be on foot. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Carmarthenshire has picturesque railways, a network of buses, and some epic long-distance paths, so it makes for an ideal car-free break. The 13-mile Tywi Valley Path (officially opening in time for Easter) will link Abergwili near Carmarthen and Ffairfach near Llandeilo, helping walkers and cyclists access some lovely scenery. I’m visiting just before Saint David’s Day, and there are daffodils everywhere. Carmarthenshire offers a quintessentially Welsh experience, packed with castles, cockles and cawl (stew). As I set off from Ferryside station, there’s a view of the ruined 12th-century …

Rolling hills, rich heritage and great pubs: a car-free break in Leicestershire | England holidays

Rolling hills, rich heritage and great pubs: a car-free break in Leicestershire | England holidays

Published by Sam Flores

Fallow deer are grazing under ruined brick walls in the house where Lady Jane Grey was born. It’s a moody spring day at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire and there are few visitors. Instead, there are fieldfares in the hedges and skylarks singing in the mist. I’m walking, through bracken and craggy outcrops, towards Old John Tower, a folly that looks like a giant beer mug on the hill ahead. It sometimes feels as though England’s much-photographed beauty spots get more booked up and overpriced every day. But there are scenic corners of the country that still fly under the insta-radar and Charnwood, around Loughborough, is one of these. The largest borough in Leicestershire, Charnwood is the area between Leicester and the Nottinghamshire border. Its gentle wooded hills and well-kept villages offer country walks to gourmet pubs and cafes. It’s like a cheaper, quieter Cotswolds with better transport links. The Navigation Inn in Barrow upon Soar. Photograph: Terence Wright/Alamy An hour and a quarter by train from London or 50 minutes from Sheffield, Loughborough is easy …

‘Waves break right on to the bus windscreen’: a car-free trip along County Antrim’s dramatic coast | Northern Ireland holidays

‘Waves break right on to the bus windscreen’: a car-free trip along County Antrim’s dramatic coast | Northern Ireland holidays

Published by Sam Flores

Oystercatchers fly off as I step through stalks of storm-racked kelp for an icy dip in the winter-grey sea. Actually, the water feels unexpectedly warm, perhaps in contrast to the freezing wind. But it’s cold enough to do its job: every nerve is singing and I feel euphoric. I’m exploring the Antrim coast, which has some of the UK’s finest beaches, and proves excellent for a sustainable break – even in the stormy depths of winter. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Ballygally Castle is a great place to start and offers a Sea Dips and Hot Sips package that includes dry robes, hot-water bottles and flasks. The affordable castle, celebrating its 400th birthday this year, is perhaps Northern Ireland’s only 17th-century hotel. Across the water from Ballygally Castle hotel. Photograph: Paul Lindsay/Alamy The landscape outside is wild and green, but nearby Larne is well connected with a railway station and regular boats from Scotland. Getting here without flying or driving from …