On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:23:25 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 25/08/2011 09:11, Andy Breen wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:52:13 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 24/08/2011 09:50, Neil Williams wrote:
On Aug 24, 10:11 am, wrote:

And this is the main
platform for the Heathrow Connect - welcome to London hapless
airline tourists.

"You should have used Heathrow Express, you cheapskate"?

Is there anywhere on the planet where the whole experience of arriving
by air gives a good impression?

Arlanda.

Don't they rig the train service so you have to use airport trains at
inflated prices?

Dunno. The prices didn't seen at all unreasonable when I last went through
there (admittedly, about 6 years ago now.. I've not been getting up into
..se, .no or .fi nearly enough recently...). The airport was clean, pleasant,
pretty quiet, the station was well signed, good to use, the trains into
Stockholm comfortable. I dare say I could have found a way to slum it and
save a little bit, but at a bit less than the mid-point of a long journey
that would have been a silly thing to do.

Gardermoen.

Not done that.

Architectually amazing. If only /any/ railway stations were as handsome
inside..
I last went through there when it was new (most of my Oslo travel had been
via Fornebu), and it may have accumulated clutter since then, but I liked
it a lot.
I'm told the train service into Oslo is good. I didn't use it. Passing through.

Copenhagen's pretty good, too.

OK, I guess so.

Certainly my first choice of long-haul departure point.

Tromso, of course.

Not done that.

It's probably developed and expanded (it was pretty basic when I first
used it), but it had turned into a really nice airport to use by about
10 years ago. Missed my chance to sample it again last year, dammit. Had
to cancel on the morning of the flight. Grr.

Yes, I have, in the past, gone to Tromso not-flying. Drove there twice,
twice got the train to Narvik and the bus on from there. Flying it was
easier. I do plan on getting there by Hurtigruten one of these days,
though. That's the proper way to do it.

--
From the Model M of Andy Breen, speaking only for himself

On 25 Aug, 21:36, Andy Breen wrote:
.. I do plan on getting there by Hurtigruten one of these days,
though. That's the proper way to do it.

--

Indeed, and very highly recommended.

John

On Aug 25, 9:11*am, Andy Breen wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:52:13 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 24/08/2011 09:50, Neil Williams wrote:
On Aug 24, 10:11 am, *wrote:

And this is the main
platform for the Heathrow Connect - welcome to London hapless airline
tourists.

"You should have used Heathrow Express, you cheapskate"?

Is there anywhere on the planet where the whole experience of arriving
by air gives a good impression?

Arlanda.
Gardermoen.
Copenhagen's pretty good, too.
Tromso, of course.

Hmm. A pattern starts to emerge..

--
From the Model M of Andy Breen, speaking only for himself

Hmmm, where have I been by air (relatively) recently?

Vancouver's not bad. When I went there in 2004, you had to get an
(expensive-ish) bus from the airport to downtown, but the area you
went through was quite pleasant.

Madeira airport's probably on the least attractive part of the island.

The train from Barcelona airport to the city centre goes through some
of the less-attractive suburbs.

The area you go through from New York JFK to Manhattan wasn't too bad,
if nothing special.

Can't comment on Vienna, as I went there by train - and the approach
from the W through the Wienerwald was rather nice.

Nick

On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:39:57 -0700, JohnW wrote:

On 25 Aug, 21:36, Andy Breen wrote: . I do plan on
getting there by Hurtigruten one of these days,
though. That's the proper way to do it.

--

Indeed, and very highly recommended.

Thanks.

I really must do it while the old Lofoten is still in service, too. I'd
much rather to the trip in a ship that looks like a ship (old romantic
that I am.. with many things I just want them to be functional, but ships
are special..) than the more recent stuff, more comfortable though they
certainly will be. Besides, Lofoten is the same age as I am..

--
From the Model M of Andy Breen, speaking only for himself

On Aug 25, 1:44*pm, Nick wrote:
On Aug 25, 9:11*am, Andy Breen wrote:





On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:52:13 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 24/08/2011 09:50, Neil Williams wrote:
On Aug 24, 10:11 am, *wrote:

And this is the main
platform for the Heathrow Connect - welcome to London hapless airline
tourists.

"You should have used Heathrow Express, you cheapskate"?

Is there anywhere on the planet where the whole experience of arriving
by air gives a good impression?

Arlanda.
Gardermoen.
Copenhagen's pretty good, too.
Tromso, of course.

Hmm. A pattern starts to emerge..


Hmmm, where have I been by air (relatively) recently?

Vancouver's not bad. When I went there in 2004, you had to get an
(expensive-ish) bus from the airport to downtown, but the area you
went through was quite pleasant.

Madeira airport's probably on the least attractive part of the island.

The train from Barcelona airport to the city centre goes through some
of the less-attractive suburbs.

The area you go through from New York JFK to Manhattan wasn't too bad,
if nothing special.

Can't comment on Vienna, as I went there by train - and the approach
from the W through the Wienerwald was rather nice.

Very few airports are pleasent places to be. But, I regularly utilize
two that must qualify as the word's worst, LHR and LAX.

On Aug 26, 8:46*am, 1506 wrote:

Very few airports are pleasent places to be. *But, I regularly utilize
two that must qualify as the word's worst, LHR and LAX.

I don't find them massively unpleasant places - they can be good for
people watching and buying a book before your flight. But nothing
quite beats the atmosphere of a railway station in the evening,
particularly when what's left of the night trains is due.

I changed at Lausanne at about 10:30pm last Tuesday, and on the route
of the real Orient-Express I still got to see a Solari proudly
proclaiming something like "2235 - EuroNight - Lyon Dijon BARCELONA" -
had me sad to be taking the delayed stopper to Puidoux and on to
Vevey, and wanting a proper international adventure...

Neil

On 25/08/2011 21:36, Andy Breen wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:23:25 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 25/08/2011 09:11, Andy Breen wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:52:13 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 24/08/2011 09:50, Neil Williams wrote:
On Aug 24, 10:11 am, wrote:

And this is the main
platform for the Heathrow Connect - welcome to London hapless
airline tourists.

"You should have used Heathrow Express, you cheapskate"?

Is there anywhere on the planet where the whole experience of arriving
by air gives a good impression?

Arlanda.

Don't they rig the train service so you have to use airport trains at
inflated prices?

Dunno. The prices didn't seen at all unreasonable when I last went through
there (admittedly, about 6 years ago now.. I've not been getting up into
.se, .no or .fi nearly enough recently...). The airport was clean, pleasant,
pretty quiet, the station was well signed, good to use, the trains into
Stockholm comfortable. I dare say I could have found a way to slum it and
save a little bit,

I'm pretty certain I couldn't figure out a way, at least withing the aim
of getting into Stockholm by rail. There is no Gatwick style option to
get a "normal" train - at least one other person tried asking as well.

And the bog was broken on the train I got.





--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

On Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:02:17 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 25/08/2011 21:36, Andy Breen wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:23:25 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 25/08/2011 09:11, Andy Breen wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:52:13 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 24/08/2011 09:50, Neil Williams wrote:
On Aug 24, 10:11 am, wrote:

And this is the main
platform for the Heathrow Connect - welcome to London hapless
airline tourists.

"You should have used Heathrow Express, you cheapskate"?

Is there anywhere on the planet where the whole experience of
arriving by air gives a good impression?

Arlanda.

Don't they rig the train service so you have to use airport trains at
inflated prices?

Dunno. The prices didn't seen at all unreasonable when I last went
through there (admittedly, about 6 years ago now.. I've not been
getting up into .se, .no or .fi nearly enough recently...). The airport
was clean, pleasant, pretty quiet, the station was well signed, good to
use, the trains into Stockholm comfortable. I dare say I could have
found a way to slum it and save a little bit,

I'm pretty certain I couldn't figure out a way, at least withing the aim
of getting into Stockholm by rail. There is no Gatwick style option to
get a "normal" train - at least one other person tried asking as well.

I refer you to:

http://www.arlanda.se/en/Information...m-the-airport/

and to the map of transport links, which suggests that airport coaches,
buses, SJ commuter trains and long-haul trains and Tagkopaniet trains
all provide a service between Arlanda airport and the centre of Stockholm.

http://www.arlanda.se/upload/dokumen...Eng_110613.pdf

For the SJ commuter trains, you'd need to change at Upplands-Visby. That
option was certainly in place when I went through Arlanda in '05 on
my way to Kiruna, but as I said it seemed silly to make life more difficult
for the sake of saving a small amount.

Plenty of airport coaches and buses too - and were even back then. See above
point about not being silly.

The Tagkopaniet service is new, mind, but there are only two departures/day,
which doesn't really make a lot of difference to anything.

And the bog was broken on the train I got.



--
From the Model M of Andy Breen, speaking only for himself

On 26/08/2011 21:11, Andy Breen wrote:
On Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:02:17 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 25/08/2011 21:36, Andy Breen wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:23:25 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 25/08/2011 09:11, Andy Breen wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:52:13 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 24/08/2011 09:50, Neil Williams wrote:
On Aug 24, 10:11 am, wrote:

And this is the main
platform for the Heathrow Connect - welcome to London hapless
airline tourists.

"You should have used Heathrow Express, you cheapskate"?

Is there anywhere on the planet where the whole experience of
arriving by air gives a good impression?

Arlanda.

Don't they rig the train service so you have to use airport trains at
inflated prices?

Dunno. The prices didn't seen at all unreasonable when I last went
through there (admittedly, about 6 years ago now.. I've not been
getting up into .se, .no or .fi nearly enough recently...). The airport
was clean, pleasant, pretty quiet, the station was well signed, good to
use, the trains into Stockholm comfortable. I dare say I could have
found a way to slum it and save a little bit,

I'm pretty certain I couldn't figure out a way, at least withing the aim
of getting into Stockholm by rail. There is no Gatwick style option to
get a "normal" train - at least one other person tried asking as well.

I refer you to:

http://www.arlanda.se/en/Information...m-the-airport/

and to the map of transport links, which suggests that airport coaches,
buses, SJ commuter trains and long-haul trains and Tagkopaniet trains
all provide a service between Arlanda airport and the centre of Stockholm.

http://www.arlanda.se/upload/dokumen...Eng_110613.pdf

For the SJ commuter trains, you'd need to change at Upplands-Visby. That
option was certainly in place when I went through Arlanda in '05 on
my way to Kiruna, but as I said it seemed silly to make life more difficult
for the sake of saving a small amount.

It was after 2005 that that I went. I didn't find a local train option,
and the airport information desk explicitly denied that it was possible
- it was airport shuttle trains or road.


--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

On Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:52:38 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 26/08/2011 21:11, Andy Breen wrote:

For the SJ commuter trains, you'd need to change at Upplands-Visby.
That option was certainly in place when I went through Arlanda in '05
on my way to Kiruna, but as I said it seemed silly to make life more
difficult for the sake of saving a small amount.

It was after 2005 that that I went. I didn't find a local train option,
and the airport information desk explicitly denied that it was possible
- it was airport shuttle trains or road.

So you asked about trains to Upplands-Visby, then?

The Swedes are wonderful, but they do tend to give you the answer to the
question you've asked :-) "Are there trains to Stockholm" = N. "Can
I get a train which will take me to somewhere I can get a connection to
Stockholm" = Y..

I do like Sweden.

--
From the Model M of Andy Breen, speaking only for himself