With improved routes and a nostalgic allure, trains are a practical
alternative to flying, with the added bonus of no immigration
queues or restricting baggage allowance. Whether attempting to ease
a hangover with a sandwich from the carriage café while
interrailing, sipping on a Guilty 12 – the Express’s signature
cocktail – in the Piano Bar aboard the Simplon-Orient Express to
Venice or riding the overnight
service from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, trains make good on the
cliche that the journey is the destination.

Road trips are the bread and
butter of travel; cheap, convenient and self-reliant. Whether it’s
Cornwall for the weekend, camping along the way from Cape Town to Namibia or making the
trip from SF to LA by way of Monterey, the open road presents
endless opportunity for making memories. Just the thought of a long
drive makes us feel excited; packed in a car for umpteen hours
without WiFi and no real idea of where you are. It’s time to fill
her up and go.

Cycling is a brilliant way to experience your surroundings,
helping you to get under the skin of a destination and off the
standard tourist route. Fast enough to cover ground quickly but not
so speedy that scenery is a blur, cycling hits that sweet spot in
slow-but-not-too-slow travel. Apps like Map My
Ride and Strava have made plotting your own path easier
than ever. Try out Duvine’s Chef On Wheels tour, which
takes you on a relatively gentle journey through bucolic Tuscany,
where cycling is punctuated with first-class meals and five-star
accommodation. Alternatively, more advanced cyclists can travel
with Skedaddle on a venture into the
heart of Borneo; traversing ground from wild jungle to palm-fringed
beaches and mountains.

Walking slows your pace of travel to a crawl, encouraging you to
adopt a more pensive approach to exploring. While you certainly
won’t get as far on foot as you will aboard an A380, with no border
between you and your surroundings, travelling takes on a whole new
meaning. An opportunity to discover the liminal spots between point
A and B which don’t make it onto mainstream itineraries. If you’re
serious about depending on your legs as the sole form of
transportation, multi-day treks, spiritual-group pilgrimages and
self-guided ambles are worth looking into.

The word “cruise” makes us shudder, conjuring up images of
overcrowded pools, gaudy performances at every meal and heaving
port cities without a moment of privacy in sight – not to mention
their large environmental footprint. But with luxury liners and
more affordable rental options coming on to the scene, it’s time to
get back on board with boat travel. Thanks to the emergence of
Incrediblue (the Airbnb of boating) you can set sail
for as little as £30 a night. For the pioneers, boats present a way
to access the roads (or waters) less trodden; Silversea’s Silver Discoverer
takes you on an 18-day venture through Russia’s remote and largely
inaccessible Kamchatka Peninsula, getting you
up close and personal with the region’s dramatic landscapes (think
wolverines, volcanoes and lots of brown bears). For those with six
months (and a lot of money) to spare, Oceania’s Around the World in 180
Days is an incomparable adventure, yours for a cool
£29,775.