If anyone is thinking of doing something similar, it does require forward planning, something of which I did not do nearly enough. This was because I foolishly expected that there would be information centres in, or at least within a reasonable distance of, the airports and train stations at which I would arrive in the various cities. I don't know whether it was because it was off-season or not, but I was amazed by the number of places that offer no information services at all to the arriving traveller, particularly after 6 or so in the evening. And, given the cost of maps and guidebooks to individual attractions, it is worth getting a guidebook to the city before you go, even you're only going to be there three or four days.

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The rather bizarre itinerary was: Mainz; Pisa/Florence/Siena; Liege/Aywailles; Treviso/Padua/Venice; London; Oslo/Andelsnes/Bodo/Trondheim/Bergen/Flam; Glasgow; Paris; Limerick/Ennis/Lahinch/Ennistymon; Brussels/Charleroi; Dublin.

The cost of the flights (i.e., the taxes) worked out at just over 90 quid for 12 flights. Getting to and from the airport cost an average of something like 10 Euros a time, but that's hard to estimate as sometimes I travelled around a bit. Doing this sort of thing has some advantages over Interrailing or something similar, but there are also several disadvantages. In terms of the cost of travel, I think it works out cheaper; if you stay in the one city for each leg, it almost certainly does. It is also, for all but the shortest journeys, quicker. I know you have to add on the time to get to the airport, check in, pick up your baggage when you arrive and then get to your destination city, but usually it still works out quicker. And it certainly does if you have to cross a body of water (with the possible exception of some journeys using the Channel Tunnel). On the other hand, you are limited as to where you can go, and when, using the plane. Travelling by train gives you the chance to visit almost any city in the countries for which your ticket is valid, and if you miss a train you can either get another, usually on the same day, or simply go somewhere else. You can also save a lot on accommodation by sleeping on the train. That was the biggest expense, actually; even if you only stay in youth hostels the cost still mounts up if you're travelling for any substantial length of time.