What is the best way to get from France to Croatia?

Q Can you tell me the best way to travel from Etaples-Le Touquet train station to Rijeka?

Melissa W

A You won’t be amazed to learn I have not been asked this intriguing question before. I hope you like the answer, which will take you through five great cities along the way – with options to stop off, depending on how much time you have.

The railway station that serves the lovely northern French resort of Le Touquet is two hours and 10 minutes from Paris Gare du Nord by train. From here you could be at Charles de Gaulle airport in half an hour – but with no direct flights to Rijeka, I suggest you instead change at Gare du Nord (possibly breaking your journey in Paris) before boarding the train direct to Dusseldorf airport.

While the Thalys high-speed train can get you to the German airport in just under four hours from Paris, it takes an appealing route via Brussels, Liege, Aachen and Cologne. You could stop off at any, or ideally all of these – and of course you can use a range of trains to suit your trip, with no need to stick to the relatively expensive Thalys to Dusseldorf airport station.

From Dusseldorf, you can fly direct to Rijeka for under £50 with Condor, even in August. If these flight timings don’t work, then you could instead fly from Cologne – which has non-stop links on Eurowings, for slightly higher fares.

If, though, you prefer to make the whole journey overland, this is what I suggest from Paris: the afternoon TGV high-speed train to Zurich; the Nightjet sleeper train from there to Ljubljana; then the beautiful trip across the mountains to Rijeka. But I fear the train and plane option will be significantly cheaper as well as faster. Whichever you choose, I hope you will be able to make the most of the stops en route.

open image in gallery

Q Why is US car hire so expensive? I am going to the Carolinas and Georgia in August and early September. I have been quoted £900 for 13 days. Will prices drop?

“Coopon”

A In 2019, as with so many aspects of travel, value in car rental had never been better thanks to ferocious competition. Then the coronavirus pandemic proved extremely traumatic for the US car rental industry. In the early months of 2020, when rental firms would normally be expanding their fleets to make the most of peak summer, instead demand collapsed. They were abruptly left with billions of dollars worth of shiny vehicles that almost no one wanted.

Rather than keep these depreciating assets on their books and in their parking lots, they took advantage of a healthy market for nearly new cars and sold them off in their tens of thousands.

Eventually, customers started to return – and once European visitors were allowed back in November 2021 demand soared. I paid about £60 a day for a fairly standard car in Orlando, Florida, during that month. That is significantly more than I paid three years earlier. I imagine you feel much the same, with a rate that works out at £69 per day: not bad, I reckon, for use of an asset worth £15,000, but more than you would like. And you’ll be paying record fuel prices too.

In the long term, supply will increase and rates start to fall. Meanwhile, two recommendations that may help. The first is to avoid airport pickups: the concession fee always means you pay more, and rental firms find they can also ramp up rates for newly arrived travellers. Instead, get a bus, train or taxi to a downtown depot.

The second: minimise the duration of your rental. Perhaps you are arriving in Atlanta or Charleston for the start of your trip? If so, then forego a vehicle for the first couple of days of your stay: both cities deserve exploration on foot (and Atlanta has a good rail system). And if there is a long, dull stretch of motoring – such as Atlanta to Augusta – consider taking the Greyhound bus. More relaxing and probably significantly cheaper.

Via the latest Ask Me Anything at independent.co.uk/travel

open image in gallery

Q I fly several times a week between England and Berlin but my passport expires soon. What is the fastest way to get it renewed? I cannot be without it for my business.

Lola

A What an intriguing travel arrangement. While in principle you could hope to secure a premium appointment for an on-the-day passport, and grab the document between flights, you seem an excellent candidate for a second British passport. The cost of an additional document works out about the same as the cost of a premium appointment – but a second passport will solve your imminent problem and prove much more useful for the next 10 years.

The UK is fairly relaxed about second passports for British travellers who need them for professional or personal reasons. HM Passport Office routinely issues them to people who meet one of three criteria.

You clearly make the grade as a “frequent traveller”. Just make an ordinary passport application with a bit of extra information. The Passport Office says: “The customer should make their requirement clear on their application and the need must also be clearly seen in the production of documentation, for example, a supporting letter from their employer to demonstrate and evidence their need for an additional passport.” Boarding passes could be quite sufficient. There is no requirement to send off your existing passport (this would defeat the purpose).

For completeness: the other professional motive is for people who need to get visas to travel on business (eg a sales executive who has to apply weeks ahead for, say, an African nation, while still travelling regularly to Europe). A third category is for people who want to travel to “incompatible countries”. The standard example is for people who have travelled to Israel who then wish to visit one of several Islamic nations that do not recognise Israel. While Israel itself is generally happy to avoid stamping visitors’ passports, stamps from crossing borders from Egypt or Jordan state the location and therefore give evidence of a visit.

Finally, if you by any chance are entitled to a passport from an EU nation – for example by reason of Irish ancestry – this will prove even more useful in years to come than a second British document.

open image in gallery

Q Our flight left Manchester for Naples three hours behind schedule and arrived in Naples two hours 50 minutes late. As a result of the delay, we reached the city centre at 12.30am. Unfortunately, our B&B had a strict rule on no check-in after 11pm, and we were forced to quickly book somewhere else. I believe we are 10 minutes short of compensation. Is this correct?

Christine C

A Sorry to hear of your frustrating experience at the start of a trip to Naples, which I regard as Italy’s most alluring city. The flight was due to leave Manchester at 5pm and to arrive at the civilised time of 9pm. But instead your plane actually left at 8pm and arrived at 11.50pm.

The first annoyance is that you do not qualify for delay compensation because the test is: how far behind schedule did your plane arrive? The boundary is three hours, and you were 10 minutes short.

Next, one of the many virtues of Naples is that an ambitious cab driver can get you from the airport to the centre in 15 minutes flat. But as far as I know they are not yet capable of time travel. After the slower passport checks due to Brexit there was no way to reach the city until 90 minutes after the deadline. At least you were able to find somewhere else to stay. There is nothing I can offer to recoup the cash you lost (I don’t believe a travel insurer would pay a claim) but perhaps I can help plan future trips.

The later in the day you decide to fly, the more delayed you can expect to be. A couple of weeks ago I took the very late (10.25pm) Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Cologne; the plane had picked up delays in Spain, Italy and Germany during the day, and departed (and arrived) 90 minutes behind schedule.

While there is some chance with evening flights that you might arrive ahead of time, because of the eagerness of the flight crew to get home, with an evening flight I would not make any time-critical plans such as reaching a B&B before its curfew. Neither would I book a fixed advance ticket for onward travel.

Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder