Airports? Who needs 'em! Forget delayed flights and crowded departure lounges — here are ten of the best holidays with absolutely no flying at all

  • Tourists can reach destinations including France and Berlin without flying
  • Holidaymakers can travel to cities by car, train, ferry and even cruise ship 
  • Daily Mail lists ten of the best international holidays that require no flying

Fed up of busy airports, delays and aeroplane food? 

Thanks to modern day transport holidaymakers can now reach destinations including France, Berlin and even Morocco without having to deal with late flights and crowded departure lounges.

Here Daily Mail list the top ten best plane-free holidays that require no flying at all. 

Snooze ferry to France 

Celebrity favourite: Menton (above) on the French Riviera is easily accessible by Eurostar and the train

Celebrity favourite: Menton (above) on the French Riviera is easily accessible by Eurostar and the train

Load up the car and board an overnight Brittany Ferries’ sailing from Portsmouth to Caen. The Mont St Michel vessel, for example, has a good choice of restaurants and bars. Book a cabin and you’ll wake up in Caen rested and ready to go.

In Medieval Poitiers, a five-hour drive, is the Mercure hotel, a converted chapel in the centre of the old town.

Futuroscope theme park is nearby and its new attractions include an outdoor evening show featuring Cirque du Soleil.

Continue your journey to Brittany and stay in one of the excellent properties that can be booked through Gites de France. Le Gite du Capitaine, between Paimpol and Brehat, is within walking distance of the beach, sleeps up to 14 people and even allows you to bring along the dog.

How to do it: Fares between Portsmouth and Caen start from £79 one way for a car and two passengers, aferry.co.uk. Mercure in Poitiers offers rooms from £65 a night, mercure.com. Gites de France offers a week at Le Gites du Capitaine, which sleeps 15, from £1,016, gites-de-france.com.

Motor to Berlin and Antwerp

Take the Dover-to-Dunkirk cross-Channel route and you will be able to catch the stunning nightscape in Berlin (above) after a stop in Antwerp

Take the Dover-to-Dunkirk cross-Channel route and you will be able to catch the stunning nightscape in Berlin (above) after a stop in Antwerp

Take the Dover-to-Dunkirk cross-Channel route and head for the Hilton Antwerp Old Town on Groenplaats in Antwerp’s historic town square. 

Continue to Berlin and Hotel Adlon on Unter den Linden, by the Brandenburg Gate. Oranienburgerstrasse has fashionable bars and restaurants.

How to do it: Dover-to-Dunkirk ferries cost from £49 return for two passengers and a car, aferry.co.uk. The Hilton Antwerp Old Town has rooms from £126 per night, hilton.com, and the Kempinski Hotel Adlon rooms from £210, kempinski.com.

Cote D'Azur by Express Train

Take the Euro-star (pictured) to Lille or Paris and then let the TGV whisk you all the way to Marseilles and along the coast

Take the Euro-star (pictured) to Lille or Paris and then let the TGV whisk you all the way to Marseilles and along the coast

The South of France has no shortage of celebrities posing on some of the world’s most exclusive private beaches. So why not join them.

Take the Euro-star to Lille or Paris and then let the TGV whisk you all the way to Marseilles and along the coast.

Stay at the Royal Antibes Hotel right by the best beach in the fabulous resort of Antibes, within walking distance of the historic old town.

Or opt for a private villa such as Villa Le Mas des Oliviers close to St Raphael and the beautiful bay of Theoule sur Mer.

How to do it: Eurostar and TGV fares between London and Nice return start from £121, voyages-sncf.com.

Rooms at the Royal Antibes Hotel cost from £90, hotelroyal-antibes.com. More details from cotedazur-tourisme.com and http://ift.tt/1TbB0xK.

The Villa Le Mas des Oliviers can be booked through James Villas via jamesvillas.co.uk from £2,662 for a week for up to nine people.

Marrakech Express 

Sign up to Great Rail Journeys’ 13-day Imperial Cities of Morocco tour travelling by rail and ship you could find yourself shopping at the famous markets in Marrakech (above)

Sign up to Great Rail Journeys’ 13-day Imperial Cities of Morocco tour travelling by rail and ship you could find yourself shopping at the famous markets in Marrakech (above)

Sign up to Great Rail Journeys’ 13-day Imperial Cities of Morocco tour travelling by rail and ship.

Start at London’s St Pancras station for the first leg by Eurostar. Your journey includes sightseeing tours of Barcelona, Seville, Chefchauoen, Rabat, Fes, Casablanca and Marrakech, as well as visits to Meknes and Roman Volubilis and a full-day excursion into the Atlas Mountains to meet the nomadic Berber people.

As well as the Eurostar, travel is by TGV, Spain’s AVE high-speed trains and ferry from Tarifa across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco.

How to do it: The 13-day tour costs from £2,495 per person and includes travel, most meals, excursions and guided tours, greatrail.com.

Cruise from Southampton

Cruise ships from Southampton often head for the soaring joys of Norway, where ports of call include Bergen (pictured), Flam, Geiranger, Alesund and Stavanger

Cruise ships from Southampton often head for the soaring joys of Norway, where ports of call include Bergen (pictured), Flam, Geiranger, Alesund and Stavanger

Step on board a luxury cruise ship in Southampton and head for the soaring joys of Norway, where ports of call include Bergen, Flam, Geiranger, Alesund and Stavanger.

When you’re not admiring the scenery, you can dine in a choice of excellent restaurants or simply sit back and enjoy the free entertainment.

How to do it: Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Eclipse sails from Southampton for the eight-night Norwegian Fjords Cruise, costing from £1,250 per person for two sharing an interior stateroom, celebritycruises.co.uk.

Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Eclipse sails from Southampton for the eight-night Norwegian Fjords Cruise

Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Eclipse sails from Southampton for the eight-night Norwegian Fjords Cruise

French style canal chic

Float through the French countryside as one of just four passengers on board the luxurious Belmond Alouette as it glides along the Canal du Midi from Beziers to Carcassonne.

Take in the sights and sounds of French life, with plenty of excursions included. Accommodation is in en-suite cabins and virtually everything from food and drinks to excursions is part of the deal.

How to do it: Eurostar from London to Paris, from where the Belmond package includes first-class travel on the TGV to Beziers and private transfer to the barge. Seven-day cruise from £4,116 per person, belmond.com.

A grand old drive

Ferry from Dover to Calais, then point the bonnet of the Bentley (or perhaps the Fiesta) south in true European Grand Tour style.

Push the boat out by starting at the Four Seasons George V in Paris for French chic at its best.

Then move on to the Lausanne Palace hotel in the Swiss town of the same name, where the views are of the Alps in one direction and Lake Geneva in the other.

Cross into Italy for some dolce vita at the Hotel Eden in Rome, a short walk from the Eternal City’s Spanish Steps and the elegant Via Veneto.

How to do it: Dover-Calais ferries cost from £55 return for a car and two passengers, aferry.co.uk. Rooms at the Four Seasons George V in Paris cost from £860, fourseasons.com. Rooms at the Lausanne Palace hotel cost from £255, lausanne-palace.com. The Hotel Eden has rooms from £324, hotel-eden.it.

Culture and the Costa

From Seville it’s a short drive to the Costa del Sol (harbour pictured above) and the Marbella Club

From Seville it’s a short drive to the Costa del Sol (harbour pictured above) and the Marbella Club

Sail overnight from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Bilbao or Santander, then speed along to wonderful Seville, the capital of Andalucia, where unmissable sights include the cathedral and its bell tower, the Giralda.

Don’t miss the Barrio Santa Cruz quarter, made up of countless tiny streets lined with trendy bars and shops.

How to do it: Brittany Ferries’ sailings to Bilbao or Santander cost from £558 return for two people and a car, brittany-ferries.co.uk.

Stay at the Apartment Alcazar in Seville, a three-bedroom duplex in a 19th-century listed building, in the heart of the city.

A seven-night stay costs from £1,529 for up to five people, theluxurytravelbook.com.

From Seville it’s a short drive to the Costa del Sol and the Marbella Club, from £250 per night for two people, marbellaclub.com.

Stars of central Europe

Put Cologne, Vienna, Budapest, Prague (above) and Berlin on the itinerary and let the train navigate as you explore Central Europe’s often turbulent history, with treats such as dinner on the Danube, a visit to the Schonbrunn Palace and a slice of sachertorte — chocolate tart — in a traditional Viennese cafe

Put Cologne, Vienna, Budapest, Prague (above) and Berlin on the itinerary and let the train navigate as you explore Central Europe’s often turbulent history, with treats such as dinner on the Danube, a visit to the Schonbrunn Palace and a slice of sachertorte — chocolate tart — in a traditional Viennese cafe

Pack your smartest clothes and head for some of Europe’s greatest imperial cities. 

Put Cologne, Vienna, Budapest, Prague and Berlin on the itinerary and let the train navigate as you explore Central Europe’s often turbulent history, with treats such as dinner on the Danube, a visit to the Schonbrunn Palace and a slice of sachertorte — chocolate tart — in a traditional Viennese cafe.

How to do it: Great Rail Journeys has 13-day trips from £1,995 per person including rail travel and accommodation with breakfast in four-star hotels as well as some evening meals, greatrail.com.

Battlefields of the Somme

Mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme (July 1 to November 18) with a pilgrimage.

Travel from London’s St Pancras to Lille, where you stay at the Novotel Lille Centre for four nights.

You can take a series of excursions to Ypres and Poperinge, the best-known town behind the lines, where the famous Talbot House, known as Toc H, was established as a club for all ranks.

You can also visit Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth cemetery, and Langemark, where thousands of German soldiers are buried.

How to do it: Take a ferry and drive or book through Great Rail Journeys, which has five-day trips from £475 per person, greatrail.com.

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