Tour specific travel advice to cut carbon emissions – for your tour starting in Bormio (Ortler)
The Eagles now has a target to emit net zero carbon from its activities within two full seasons, by cutting emissions by swapping from air to train, for example; and by offsetting. Current net carbon emissions from club tours are about 280 tonnes per year. (To keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees by 2100, each person should emit on average no more than 1.5 tonnes per year.) If you would like to help reach the club’s target, there are two main things you can do:
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Choose lower emission mode(s) of transport for all or part of your trip. (Taking a direct flight from say Edinburgh to Munich then continuing to Innsbruck by train, instead of taking connecting flights, will still cut emissions. Or travel by train in one direction and plane the other.) And/or;
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Offset your travel (by whatever mode) by buying from the Club’s emissions offset scheme at a cost of around £3.50 for an average return flight within Europe and less for other modes.
Per passenger, the rough CO2 emissions for a return from London to Geneva are as follows
Direct flight, Economy Class 400kg
Large car, 4 passengers 160kg
Small car, 4 passengers 80kg
Coach 50kg
Train (e.g. Eurostar ) 25kg
(Source of data: here)
This document gives a few tips on booking lower carbon travel to the start/end point of your tour, Bormio, from London.
Train. The most feasible route is from London via Paris to Milan (10-11 hours), and then onward by train to Tirano (www.trenitalia.com) and from there by bus (see https://www.livigno.eu/en/public-transports). For train times see www.bahn.co.uk – just enter origin London, or your local GB station, and your final destination, pretty much anywhere in Europe. It is possible to reach Milan in a day from London, but not Bormio. Alternatively you could travel by train to Zurich in an easy day, via Paris; then by spectacular Swiss train from Zurich to Tirano (Italy) – see www.sbb.ch for tickets and times - and then finally by regular bus to Bormio.
Eurostar does not offer through London-Milan or London-Zurich tickets. You can buy a ticket to Paris on www.eurostar.com, and another onwards from Paris www.oui.sncf.com. To be on the safe side allow 60 minutes in Paris. Booked well ahead Eurostar charge around £60 for a single from London to Paris and SNCF charge as little as €49 from Paris to Milan or Zurich. From Milan to Tirano is €11.50 for a ticket on the day at www.trenitalia.com; from Zurich to Tirano is 46 CHF at www.sbb.ch.
Eurostar and German Rail (DB) tickets go on sale 6 months in advance and SNCF 4 months. More train travel info at https://www.eagleskiclub.org.uk/plan-your-trip/low-carbon-travel/train-travel-tips-and-hints.
Bus. By bus it is possible to get from London to Milan with one change in Paris in about 22 hours for about £80 one way. You can look at times and prices at www.flixbus.co.uk.
Car. The Michelin route planner www.viamichelin.com suggests a drive time from London to Bormio of around 15 hours, a distance of 1300km/820 miles and tolls of €27 one way (plus Swiss vignette, 40CHF/year). It also calculates fuel costs for your car, though not Euroshuttle. Note that all Michelin’s routes cross from Switzerland – these routes may be blocked by snow.
Carshare. Blablacar is a carsharing app, heavily used in continental Europe. You pay for a lift – www.blablacar.com. If driving, register to offer lifts and make money - €70 Lyon-Calais, for example.
Travelling from outside London? Apologies if this info all seems a bit London-centric but pretty much all rail and bus travel from the UK to the continent is via London, though when driving, the Hull-Zeebrugge or Newcastle Amsterdam ferries may be good (though still carbon intensive) alternatives to Euroshuttle. By train, it is possible to return as far north as Edinburgh in one day from some stations in the western Alps (Modane, for example; or from Zurich), though more difficult on the outward due to the time difference. See www.bahn.co.uk