Tour specific travel advice to cut carbon emissions – for your tour starting in Julier
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. At the moment, we estimate net emissions from club tours at 280 tonnes. (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, Julier La Vaduta (the bus stop at Julierpass), and end point Zernez, to/from London.
Train. Julier is around 16 hours by train from London St Pancras, with changes in Paris (from Gare du Nord to Gare du Lyon, using one fast metro line; tickets are sold at the Eurostar buffet car) and Zurich; or Paris Est (a walk from Gare du Nord) and Basel; and then train to Chur and then bus. For train and local bus times see www.bahn.co.uk (DB) – just enter origin London, or your local GB station, and your final destination. You cannot reach Julier in a day from London but you can reach Chur, stay there and then the 0800 bus will have you in Julier for 1000 the next day. Zernez is an easy day back to London via Landquart and then either Paris, or sometimes Brussels.
Eurostar does not offer through London-Zurich tickets. You can buy a ticket to Paris on www.eurostar.com, and another onwards from Paris to Zurich at the French railways page 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 €29 from Paris to Zurich. Zurich to Julier is 48 CHF, on the day at www.sbb.ch, or less if booked ahead (even less if you split tickets at Chur). Homeward, www.bahn.co.uk Landquart-Brussels tickets (via Germany) start at €60, or you can also return via Paris.
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. It is possible to get from London to Zurich by bus in about 20 hours, changing in Paris and one other city, for as little as £50 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 Julier of around 13 hours, a distance of 1200 km/750 miles and tolls of €36 one way, plus Swiss vignette 40 CHF (lasts a year). It also calculates fuel costs for your car, though not Euroshuttle.
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 ferry may be a good alternative 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