Motel One Manchester-Piccadilly, Manchester

Motel One is about as handy as you can get if you arrive in Manchester by train. It is directly across the road from Piccadilly train station. The rooms are quite small, but they are cleverly laid out and well appointed. The windows are big, so even on a grey day the room feels bright. The bathrooms are new and modern and the shower is excellent. The bed is big and comfortable, all rooms have free wi-fi that is efficient, the code only works for 3 items though – so if you are as gadget fuelled as we are, you may have to sweet talk the reception staff into giving you more codes.  Motel One is German hotel brand and the TV comes with many European channels as standard.

The breakfast is good, but continental only, it is not included in the price and not particularly great value in a part of town that is full of great brunch venues. Head to Hilton Street which is less than a ten minute walk away and has a number of interesting cafes, including  The Pen and Pencil, 57 Hilton St, Manchester which we really liked.

Also, you need to be aware that, despite its name, Motel One, does not have a car park, so you are at the mercy of private car parks if you have driven to Manchester and parking in town is not cheap. Having said that, central Manchester is a great city to walk around and public transport is pretty good, so a car would not be essential for your time here.

The bar on the ground floor is decorated in a modern European style; flash furniture and muted colours, pleasant enough to sit and have a drink in while waiting for friends. The music is at a nice level for conversation and they have pleasant bar staff.

Overall, Motel One Piccadilly is a very good budget hotel, right in the heart of town and I will happily stay here again next time I come to Manchester.

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Clapham Junction Station, London SW11.

Whether you are travelling from Brighton to Basingstoke, Mortlake to Milton Keynes, or from Hove to Harrow, Clapham Junction Station is your friend. With around 2000 trains a day going through, it is the busiest station in Europe. It is also the busiest in the UK as an interchange with close to half a million people changing trains here per day during the week.

It is not particularly pretty, nor is it as architecturally interesting as some of the other main stations in London, but it is efficient. There are 17 platforms and there is an underpass or overhead concourse to travel between them. Personally, I like the tunnel, old and busy with shops and food vendors, as the means of movement, but it does get crowded at peak times and there are no escalators or lifts, so stairs are the only way down. The raised pathway has lifts and it is more modern. It is also brighter and it feels less claustrophobic at peak times.

Surprisingly, Clapham Junction is not connected to the tube, but it is served by many buses and has parking for a couple of hundred bicycles. Should you require step free access, make sure that you are dropped off at the Brighton Yard entrance, rather than the shopping centre side in Grant road.

Time Out Online has Clapham Junction Station listed under “things to do”. I’m not sure that I would go quite that far, however, if you spend any time travelling around in London, you are likely to change trains here. When you do, it is worth taking a moment to think about the number of trains and people going through, and then marvel at the level of competence required to run, what is effectively, one of the biggest train sets in the world.

Trans Alpine Express, Christchurch to Greymouth

Today we took the Trans Alpine Express from Christchurch to Greymouth. It leaves at 8.15 am each day and takes a little under 5 hours. It was a dull, grey, rainy day and still the views were spectacular. On gorgeous sunny days I can only imagine that they will be even better.

The seats are comfortable and the carriages bright. The windows curve round the edge of the roof to let in extra light. There is a commentary that talks you through the history of the train line and there are two carriages that have open sides to allow better photographs.

A kia came and sat on the engine while we stopped at Adams Peak.

Greymouth is about a two hour drive from Franz Joseph glacier and there are coaches that meet the train. We hired a car.