Coastal Rail Journeys; UK and near Europe: Norwich to Aarhus

Writing in First Class on NXEA

I’ve planned my trip today using Traveline (www.travelineeastanglia.org.uk). The site has come on apace in recent years and it correctly lists my journey, including my bus connections in Norwich and the fact, being Sunday, there is a bus replacement service from Ipswich to Manningtree.

Everything works exactly as Traveline predicts although I do find it odd that National Express have programmed the bus to arrive just a few minutes after the train to Harwich has left. It’s not the first time I have spent an hour at Manningtree waiting for a connection and it’s not something I recommend.

I’ve had to leave my big Live Luggage bag (www.live-luggage.co.uk) as the tyre came off one of the wheels last week.

Boarding at Harwich is very easy, especially as the ferry seems to be pretty quiet. Dana Sirena is, in any case, not principally a cruise ship. She was built as a cargo vessel and was converted in

Poland

seven years ago to carry passengers. But she still carries more trailers than cars, something that’s essential when, in winter, the leisure market can drop to forty passengers per crossing.

I would describe the four-berth ‘Seaways-Class’ cabins as functional, more than anything and that is possibly the best word to describe the ship. Certainly the catering is not up to the often lavishly- presented smorgasbord buffets you may remember from former ships on the line such as the Dana Anglia. At around £26 for dinner and £13 for breakfast, it’s also not exactly cheap.

As an ardent non-smoker, I am not hugely impressed by the smoking area inside the Columbus Lounge but the charming and warmly-welcoming Henrik at reception points out that sending smokers onto the open deck in the North Sea in winter is not really an option.

DFDS (www.dfds.co.uk), unlike many other lines, still allows visits to the bridge. Andreas, who lives in Aarhus, the same town to which I am headed, tells me that officers work a two-week on, two-week off routine which allows some planning towards, if not a normal, family life.

We dock at Esbjerg exactly on time after an impressive pirouette and reverse into our berth. It’s a brisk 20-minute walk right through the town centre to the station. I have to change at Kolding and was planning to do so again at Fredericia, but the guard, who’s been the only person so far to ask for ID with my InterRail ticket, says our regional express train will get into Aarhus ahead of the following Inter City train.

At Vejle, I sit in the train waiting for our departure, while a lot of my fellow passengers rush across the platform to catch the Inter City train, which pulls out ahead of us.

At Aarhus, after waiting for a bus for twenty minutes, I discover that I am waiting on the wrong side of the road. If I’d been told the stop was right outside the tourist office, it might have helped.

The bus driver tells me where to get off and I luckily find a lady who knows the location of my hotel.

The Helnan Marselis (www.helnan.info) looks to be in a splendid location, right on the beach, although the North Sea is looking very cold and grey, with a positive gale blowing.

I’m slightly worried that I am a bit out of town, but I’ll find out the lie of the land in the morning.

I’ve just thought. In nearly a month of writing about coastal rail trips, this is the first place I have stayed that actually overlooks the sea.

All the photos from the trip are at http://picasaweb.google.com/MDSouter/2010CoastalRailJourney#