When it comes to school trips, one of the best ways to reduce the carbon footprint of your tour is to take a coach rather than fly, where possible.
Why should we choose to travel by coach rather than fly?
It's greener
For distances under 700 miles, coach travel is far greener than air travel. It's estimated that, on average, coaches emit 10% less carbon dioxide than planes.
Take school trip favourite, Paris, for example. Depending on where you’re travelling from, the journey by coach could produce around 0.02 tonnes of CO2 emissions. The same journey by air could produce around 0.09 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
With road vehicles there has been a real concerted push towards greener solutions, such as the development of electric cars, and fuel economy.
And coach engines are constantly optimised for more economic fuel consumption and to produce lower emissions of diesel particles.
But there’s yet to be found an effective greener alternative to jet fuel.
It's more convenient
One of the reasons many group leaders may choose to fly instead of travel by coach is the idea that it's quicker and more convenient. That's not always true, especially if you're planning a ski trip.
As an example, take a school ski trip to one of our resorts in Piedmont. If you travel by coach, you can expect the journey to take 18 hours, door-to-door. You could leave school at a sensible time and arrive in resort mid-afternoon the next day (giving you time for ski fit so you don't have to squeeze that in before lessons start the following day).
If you flew, the journey would probably take a little less time door-to-door (around 13 hours). But because of flight times, you'd probably need to leave home in the middle of the night (which is unlikely to be super popular with parents who'll have to run them to the school or airport at that time and potentially still get up for work the next day).
Flight groups also tend to arrive into their ski resorts later in the afternoon, after the ski hire shop has closed, meaning another early start is on the cards to squeeze in ski fit before lessons start the next day.
Coach groups usually return home before flight groups too, giving everyone more time to recover before going back to school.
Choosing to travel to your ski trip by coach will also open up more accommodation options, as you'll be able to consider options that require a short transfer from the slopes. These hotels are often in small, welcoming villages, where students will have the chance to immerse themselves in the local culture (which isn't always possible slopeside).
And being slightly out of the resort will probably mean you can afford a better standard of accommodation. Plus, it's worth remembering that 'doorstep skiing' isn't always as convenient as it sounds - it can often mean a bit of a schlep to the lifts while carrying fairly heavy skis.
Even for non-ski groups, coach can actually be the more convenient option. The journey itself is so much more straightforward. You can literally hop on the coach at school and hop off at your accommodation. Which makes group management and supervision so much easier.
Plus, if you travel by coach, your coach will stay with you throughout the trip. So, you can use it to get to visits and activities. You will need to be mindful that drivers get their rest breaks as required by law, but your Itinerary Coordinator will have made sure they've taken account of that when planning your trip.
It's cheaper
Aside from being more environmentally friendly, coach travel is generally cheaper, so it’s a great option if you’re trying to keep costs down.
In fact, the average price difference between a ski trip by air and one by coach (for example) is around £250 - £300. This could make all the difference to how accessible your trip is to students.
You can make the journey part of the experience
If you fly, you'll share the airport and plane with members of the public. Your group will need to be considerate of them, so you'll likely all just quietly occupy yourselves reading books, watching your favourite show or playing games on your phone.
If you go by coach, you'll have the entire coach to yourself, so you can do what you want (as long as you all stay seated and don't distract the driver, of course). So, you could watch a film together, have a singalong, or even have a coach quiz.
Thinking about a school trip?
If you’re thinking about a school trip and would like more information on the transport available, or destinations which are easily reached by coach, then please don’t hesitate to contact us, as we’ll be very pleased to help.