My route

Travelling by surface from the UK to North Africa has always been and will always be geographically possible. But some of the most geographically obvious routes have been barricaded by human activity. Since 1994, the border between Morocco and Algeria has been closed, making passage to Egypt via the Strait of Gibraltar next to impossible. The ongoing revolution in Syria means that coming through Turkey and via the Middle East is also not a safe option.

So, as for the Mediterranean, I couldn't go over it, I couldn't go round it; I'd have to go through it. Passenger ferry services used to exist to Egypt but since the revolution in 2011 demand has decreased so much that they no longer run. The only remaining option for me (and boy! was it an exciting one) was to use one of the world's most steady but also most overlooked forms of transport: the cargo ship.

The closest port-of-call for any freighters passing through Egypt was Trieste, in north-east Italy, and I designed the rest of my route around that. Travel by rail and coach is so well-established on mainland Europe that it wasn't hard to plan. In fact the entire journey could have theoretically taken a matter of days rather than weeks. But reducing carbon emissions isn't my only motivation for overland travel.

The other motivation is to enjoy to the land that I'm travelling through, on a journey that starts as soon as I leave my door. You'll notice on the map above that there are a number of little loops in my route that represent detours. These were the moments when I visited friends I hadn't seen in years (who help to slash my accommodation budget) and places, both the famous and the less heard-of, which form the patchwork of cultures and landscapes that we call Europe.

Day 1:	Northampton → London (train) London → Paris (coach)
Day 3:	Paris → Chambéry (train) Chambéry → Grénoble (coach)
Day 5:	Grénoble → Chambéry (coach) Chambéry → Milan (train) Milan → Pavia → Belgioioso (car)
Day 7:	Beligioso → Milan (car) Milan → Verona (train)
Day 8:	Verona → Trento (train) Trento → Spiazzo (car)
Day 9:	Spiazzo → Verona (coach) Verona → Venice (train)
Day 11:	Venice → Trieste (train) Trieste → Postojna (coach)
Day 12:	Postojna → Trieste (coach)
Day 13:	Trieste → Port Said (cargo ship)
Day 20:	Port Said → Alexandria (coach)

Of course, this was just my route, but there is no limit to the number of routes you can take overland. Unlike flying, whereby the passenger gets in at one end and emerges, grumpy and disorientated, several hours later at the other end, overland routes are tailored to the traveller's interests. The more daring overland travellers make no plans at all and rely on fate to take them somewhere special.

Either way, the holiday doesn't start at the destination but develops with the journey, and some would say that the journey never ends. Have a look at the useful links page for resources on plotting your own overland route.