Friday, January 17, 2014

Turn on, tune in, drop out...

It's been a trying week on Planet Bureaucrat. I've had problems over Europe, caused by the inability of people to understand how process works, and problems related to my ability to trust others to behave with some consideration towards their colleagues. In that sense, one could be easily disheartened.

However, having expressed myself clearly, I have resolved to focus on the things that I enjoy rather than stress about things that needn't concern me that much. There is, after all, no point in being a volunteer doing something that one isn't enjoying, when there are things that I do enjoy that could occupy my time instead. So, my political world is Europe and Mid Suffolk for a while, until someone gives me a reason to do something different.

On the other hand, I suddenly find myself with some opportunities to travel and, given that I really do love to travel, and to plan some travel, I have a project. So, what's the best route from London to Copenhagen, leaving London on a Wednesday evening?...

1 comment:

Richard Gadsden said...

Depending what your definition of "evening" is, there's a 22:28 sleeper from Cologne, arriving Copenhagen 10:07 the next morning. DB's City Night Line are very pleasant ways to travel.

The last Brussels departure is the 19:28 Thalys (arr 21:15), which means you can't quite get a connection from the 17:04 Eurostar (arr Brussels 20:05), so you're looking at a 15:04 departure from London.

It's a real shame there isn't a Thalys or an ICE that connects the 17:04 Eurostar to the 22:28 CNL sleeper; a 20:25 ICE would be really great if DB could be persuaded to run one (there are a number of other late-night sleepers from Cologne that would connect from the 17:04 Eurostar too).

So, I'm afraid if you can't get to St Pancras for a 15:04, you'd be looking at a night in a hotel in Brussels (19:34 is the last departure from London) and then spending most of Thursday travelling.

06:25 from Brussels to Cologne, 08:15, 09:08 from Cologne to Hamburg, arriving 13:12, 13:28 from Hamburg to arrive Copenhagen 18:14 is the earliest. Last departure that will get you a same-day arrival in Copenhagen is 10:25.

Alternatively, you could get a train from Liverpool Street (19:32) to Harwich, overnight ferry to Amsterdam, spend all day in Amsterdam, and take the sleeper the next evening to Copenhagen. Much more pleasant way to travel if you're leaving late, but it does take a bit longer.

http://www.seat61.com/Denmark.htm has other surface-travel options for you.

I guess you end up flying, though.