Having the Peak District National Park pretty much on the doorstep is a great bonus. It is just a shame that even though it is close getting a chance to enjoy the wide open space is not always easy to fit into a busy lifestyle and also get a glorious weather day too. That said, with a good forecast and a a spare day it seemed opportune to catch the train and explore at least part of the Hope Valley on foot. The Hope Valley line (trains running between Sheffield ...

I do like a whirlwind trip and with just ninety minutes in Edinburgh it was going to be a tall order to do it justice - but I did try! Having travelled from Derby on the 0713 CrossCountry service to York I then had just over a five minute connection onto the 0855 Virgin East Coast service to Edinburgh. This had me arriving a couple of minutes early at 1120 in the scottish capital giving me a whole 91 minutes before I headed south via the West Coast Main Line to C...

A day at the coast in Devon seemed like a great idea and despite the odd rain shower it really was a lovely day out. The trip with CrossCountry Trains from Derby to Newton Abbot was on board a High Speed Train - always a great way to travel - and we were speeding along the famous sea wall section of railway in Devon about three hours after leaving Derby. This really is a great piece of railway to travel along especially when on board a train that you can open the...

So this where the 'Crazy Weekend Down Under' really begins! With a morning flight from Manchester it seemed sensible to stop close to the airport ahead of jetting off 'down under' as I would be heading through to the departure at around 0730. The Hilton at Manchester Airport was just a few steps from both the railway station and airport terminal so fitted the bill perfectly. We also had a voucher at Christmas from my uncle and aunt that paid a good slug of the ho...

Yes, this is the rather crazy plan I have hatched and in just two weeks time I will be boarding Etihad Airways flight EY16 at Manchester to start the journey to Melbourne, Australia travelling via Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The journey there will take a little over twenty three hours leaving Manchester at 0910 on Thursday 30th April arriving into Melbourne at 1720 on the Friday afternoon. Whilst in Melbourne I will have a chance to catch up with a fe...