Beer & Rail - Trip Reports

April 2012 - Belgium. A long weekend break featuring a Mercia Charters tour and the Zythos beer festival in Leuven.

February 2012 - India. A fortnight in the winter sun, our second trip to Goa.

December 2011 - Germany and Belgium. Our annual trek to Germany for the Christmas markets, featuring two railtours and travelling back overland via Belgium.

November 2011 - Belgium. A short weekend trip to Belgium featuring two Mercia Charters railtours.

October 2011 - Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Germany and Belgium. A week long rail trip starting with a flight to Ljubljana before making my way back across Europe by rail and home on the Eurostar.

October 2011 - UK, Cider trip An educational visit arranged by Hereford CAMRA to Broome Farm, home of the Ross-on-Wye Cider Company, followed by a mini pub crawl.

September 2011 - Poland and Germany A brief visit to Warszawa followed by two nights in Rostock - compensation for a failed trip during our April holiday.

September 2011 - Ukraine and Hungary Our first visit to Ukraine followed by a few nights in Hungary to enjoy the second part of our honeymoon.

July 2011 - Czech Rep A week in the Czech Republic and the first part of our honeymoon!

April 2011 - Germany A week in Germany for a railtour followed by a few days in the former East for a visit to the HSB narrow gauge steam railway and a few brewpubs.

February 2011 - Austria. A short visit to Austria (mainly for me to visit the GKB railway network) although a relaxed journey to Stansted included a few UK pubs for a change!

January 2011 - Germany. June's first visit to Dresden and an enjoyable trip although not the Winter sun that we'd originally planned!

December 2010 - Germany. Our annual trip to Germany for the Christmas markets including a day in Erfurt, my first visit for many years.

November 2010 - Egypt. My first "proper" visit to this North African country (my previous visit was during a school educational cruise on the SS Uganda!!), mainly travelling around by train with friends but also including a trip to the pyramids.

October 2010 - Germany. Work in progress - will be uploaded soon!

October 2010 - UK, Clun Valley Beer Festival. Work in progress - will be uploaded soon!

September 2010 - UK, A day at Hereford Brewery. Work in progress - will be uploaded soon!

September 2010 - Austria. Work in progress - will be uploaded soon!

August 2010 - Croatia & Slovenia. A six day trip to Croatia, including a night in Ljubljana. This was mainly planned as a relaxing beach holiday, although we travelled from Pula to Split by rail and also had a trip to the island of Brac by ferry.

July 2010 - Belgium. A double trip to Belgium, the first for the Mercia Charters railtour and the second for a relaxing break without a railtour!

July 2010 - Czech Republic & Austria. A long weekend to the Czech Republic for the annual Pernstejn gala followed by a night in June's favourite city, Wien.

June 2010 - Tunisia. A weeks holiday on Tunisia's north coast for some sun, sightseeing and rail travel in the Tunis area.

May 2010 - UK, Lake District. A beer festival in Preston and overnight stay in Lancaster followed by a trip to Lake Windermere, a very enjoyable trip spoilt at the end by a rather unsavoury incident at my local, the Three Elms.

April 2010 - UK, Shrewsbury pub crawl. A day trip to Shrewsbury for a walking tour of Shrewsbury pubs, organised by two Hereford CAMRA members.

April 2010 - Germany. A return trip to Germany followed by Switzerland and France based around a couple of railtours, the first featuring Harz diesels and the second featuring a French CC6500 with a visit to the RhB in between.

April 2010 - Germany. A weekend trip to Germany and June's first holiday after her op so nothing too intensive although I did track down a few of the Easter Dampfspektekal specials.

February 2010 - Germany. A short trip to Germany to hunt down some of the hired electrics currently working passenger services in Germany in addition to visiting a few brewpubs.

January 2010 - Sri Lanka. Another new country for June and myself. Following on from our trip to India last year with Helen & Nigel, we again booked a package deal with them for two weeks in the sun but also including some travelling around the country.

December 2009 - Germany. Our annual Christmas market trip, featuring a mix of railways, beers and of course the excellent German Christmas markets.

October 2009 - Germany. A week long solo bash in Germany with a bit of Belgium & Poland thrown in.

September 2009 - Belgium & Netherlands. A Benelux birthday bash featuring special trains, boats, brewery visits, delays, cancellations and lots of good beer!

July 2009 - Czech Republic. My first trip to the Czech Republic for about five years (except for passing through en route to Austria last year) and this time I was equipped with the Czech beer guide :o)

April 2009 - Morocco. My second trip to Africa and my first to Morocco.

February 2009 - UK, Pennine pub crawl. A trip across the Pennines with an overnight stop in Sheffield.

January 2009 - India. Hot on the heels of my Swiss trip was another holiday but this time a package holiday to India, somewhere that neither of us had been to before.

January 2009 - Switzerland. A short return visit to Switzerland to meet up with some friends.

December 2008 - Germany. Our "proper" trip to Germany for the Christmas markets combined with some rail travel and brewpubs.

November 2008 - Germany. A short weekend trip based around a railtour to Leipzig Christmas market that also saw us visiting several brewpubs as well as Christmas markets.

November 2008 - Switzerland. A solo trip to Switzerland, originally for research into my Swiss beer guide but ending up as a rail trip including a glorious day of snow and sun on the Rhaetische Bahn.

October 2008 - Albania. A new country for me, along with Chris Spinks & Denzil Morgan. A fascinating place that's bound to change in the future so go sooner rather than later.

October 2008 - Belgium. A weekend trip to Belgium for a Mercia Charters railour although June and I then headed into Luxembourg for a night in Vianden.

August 2008 - Austria. A week long trip to Austria with June including several brewpubs, a trip to Wien zoo and Desperate Railtours third railtour.

July 2008 - Czech Republic. A solo weekend trip to the Czech Republic, my first visit for a couple of years but worth it as it was the get together of four of the prototype "Bardotka" 751's.

June 2008 - Netherlands. A short trip to the Netherlands with June for Mercia Charters second railtour using ACTS locomotives.

May 2008 - Austria. A weekend trip to Austria with June for a visit to the Eipeltauer Brauerei for their Kraft Bier Festival.

April 2008 - Germany. A long weekend in Germany with June geared around Mercia Charters' first full railtour in Germany.

March 2008 - Bulgaria & Romania. A week long trip touring Bulgaria & Romania by train with Denzil Morgan, countries that he hadn't been to before and my first visit to Bulgaria for over ten years.