# Travelling back to UK over land/sea?



## Ed_C (Apr 28, 2010)

Has anyone travelled back to Europe without flying? 

I will probably be moving back to the UK next year some time and I really don't want to fly. I have always hated flying and my flight here was pretty horrendous so I was wondering if there was any other way. I have had a quick look on google and there don't seem to be any trains that go out of the UAE. Is there a bus that goes up to Egypt or Lebanon or somewhere like that? I'm sure it would be possible to get back over land or sea from there. Or are there any cruise ships that stop in Dubai and go back to the UK? 

Would be interested to know if anyone else has done this.


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## B-Bear (Jan 29, 2010)

Ed_C said:


> Has anyone travelled back to Europe without flying?
> 
> I will probably be moving back to the UK next year some time and I really don't want to fly. I have always hated flying and my flight here was pretty horrendous so I was wondering if there was any other way. I have had a quick look on google and there don't seem to be any trains that go out of the UAE. Is there a bus that goes up to Egypt or Lebanon or somewhere like that? I'm sure it would be possible to get back over land or sea from there. Or are there any cruise ships that stop in Dubai and go back to the UK?
> 
> Would be interested to know if anyone else has done this.


Not sure if it would work. However, it may be worth considering approaching a shipping company and hitch a lift back to Uk / Europe on a container vessel! - I know it is possible to do this from UK, so would comment that it is worth a try. - Would be a great experience!


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## HamishUK (Oct 20, 2009)

I'm no expert but my first idea would be to first go on a cruise from Dubai, through the Suez Canal to Cairo, then find another cruise that goes from Cairo to somewhere like Italy or Sourthern France. After this you could probably get a couple of trains through europe, then the eurostar to the UK. 

However you do it it probably won't be fast or cheap!


edit: or: http://www.cruisecompete.com/itins/dawn_princess_cruises_cghb.html 30 days but what a way to leave Dubai!!


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## Dannysigma (Feb 22, 2009)

You are unlikely to be able to travel through Saudi (I believe that the rules are that you can only travel in Saudi if you are either part of a Saudi-organised tour or you are going to somewhere to where you would not otherwise be able to get) so by sea would be the only route.


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## jimbean (May 4, 2010)

Dannysigma said:


> You are unlikely to be able to travel through Saudi (I believe that the rules are that you can only travel in Saudi if you are either part of a Saudi-organised tour or you are going to somewhere to where you would not otherwise be able to get) so by sea would be the only route.



You can get a KSA transit visa fairly easily but its only valid for a few days. There are certainly no trains out of the UAE so you'd need to find a bus and not sure there will be any scheduled services. Have heard of plenty of people driving their own cars between the UAE and Europe - through KSA, Jordan, Syria, Turkey.


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## Ed_C (Apr 28, 2010)

Thanks. I would quite like to drive back actually. I don't have a car yet but I may get one in the future. Would probably be better to do it with other people though. If anyone is planning to drive back some time next year, please let me know.


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## sophie2009 (Nov 24, 2009)

my dad and uncles have driven from Pakistan to England and they had an amazing adventure, so good luck! also, if you hate flying have you tried tranqulisers to calm you down? might be an idea rather than travelling for so long


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

It's a long complicated journey, so have you thought about trying to overcome your fear of flying? I can let you have details of a hypnotist who should be able to help.

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## Ed_C (Apr 28, 2010)

Elphaba said:


> It's a long complicated journey, so have you thought about trying to overcome your fear of flying? I can let you have details of a hypnotist who should be able to help.
> 
> -


I have had Health Kinesiology in the past to help with this but it didn't seem to do anything. I have also tried hypnotherapy for another issue and it didn't work at all so I don't really have any faith in that. I don't think a fear of flying can really be cured (at least not for me) as I think it is a perfectly rational fear and to be perfectly honest I don't really want to be cured of it. When you look at the statistics properly you see that it is by far the most dangerous form of transport, and aside from that one of the most horrific ways to die.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

Stastistically, flying commercially is one of the safest ways to travel. It's just that when there is an accident lots of people are affected and it is news headlines. Far more dangerous to drive a car, esp in the UAE.

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## Ed_C (Apr 28, 2010)

Elphaba said:


> Stastistically, flying commercially is one of the safest ways to travel. It's just that when there is an accident lots of people are affected and it is news headlines. Far more dangerous to drive a car, esp in the UAE.
> 
> -


Nooo this is the problem. Of course far fewer people die in plane crashes than on the road but this is because air travel is relatively much less common than road travel. There seems to be around 25 million flights per year in the world, 30 of which crash. I don't know the exact figure but there must be something in the order of 60 million car journeys per DAY in the UK alone (asuming half the population drive somewhere then drive home) and there are about 10 fatalities on the road per day there. This means that any given plane journey is a lot more likely to end in disaster than any given car journey. Also, you are more likely to die in a plane crash than winning the lottery but people still play the lottery and get excited about winning. Surely the same should then apply to flying. It is a death lottery. And no one would ever enter the lottery if they knew that although there was a chance of winning there was also an equal or greater chance of death.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

You have failed to factor in that most people travel by car, or other morotorised vehicle several times a week, but only fly a few times a year.

I appreciate that you have an irrational phobia, but you are wrong. Do a google search on 'safest way to travel' and you will see the evidence is over-whelming.

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