Manchán Magan: How I travelled from Ireland to Portugal without setting foot on a plane

Having vowed to give up flying for holidays Manchán Magan took the ferry to northern Spain to explore Portugal by train

After vowing to give up flying, Manchán Magan shares his method of travelling abroad for some winter sun

When I vowed to give up flying for holidays and travel articles in 2019 my biggest fear was having to contend with the bleak months of winter darkness. For the last 30 years I’ve spent a few weeks or months in latitudes far south of Ireland each winter and I was worried how I’d cope without them. 

I still take the odd flight for work if necessary, but they are never to somewhere warm in winter, and so I’ve opted instead to take a ferry and train south to warmer or brighter skies each January.