Mad List

Mike Peake takes off on a globetrotting tour

PHOTO © CORBIS

6 Phileas Fogg Moments

CHUFFING IN HOLLAND

The website at www.stoomtrein.org is all in Dutch, but it has some cracking pictures of proper old-fashioned steam trains on it, which we’re assured you can ride. We think you depart from somewhere called “Beekbergen” but, to be honest, that may just be Dutch for: “Sorry, this railway has now closed.”

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STROKING ELEPHANTS IN LONDON

Fogg famously clambered onto the back of a hulking pachyderm on his Indian journey. Today, you can get close-ish with the Keeper for a Day experience at Whipsnade Zoo: £270 (€324) buys you the chance to hang out with the wrinkly grey beasts. www.ZSL.ORG

FLY TO LONDON (GATWICK, LUTON AND STANSTED) FROM OVER 100 DESTINATIONS, INCLUDING MADRID,OSLO (RYGGE) AND SEVILLE. VISIT www.RYANAIR.COM

SLEDGING IN SCOTLAND

Fogg takes a wind-powered sledge across Nebraska after his train is hijacked by Native Americans. And while we’ll be damned if we can find anywhere in Europe you can do that, you can go sledging with dogs in Norway, Sweden or even Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park. It’s puppy power instead of puff power, but apart from the occasional smell, it’s exactly the same. www.SLED-DOGS.CO.UK

FLY TO ABERDEEN FROM DUBLIN. VISIT www.RYANAIR.COM

PADDLE-STEAMING DOWN THE ELBE

Our globetrotting British chum used the steamboat for a good half of his travels. Yet while you can no longer cross the Atlantic on such a rickety vessel, you can pootle up and down the Elbe river in one. Dresden’s where your steamy adventure starts, thanks to Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt and its handsome fleet. www.SAECHSISCHE-DAMPFSCHIFFAHRT.DE

FLY TO ALTENBURG (LEIPZIG) FROM THREE DESTINATIONS, INCLUDING LONDON (STANSTED). VISIT www.RYANAIR.COM

THE GOOD LIFE IN CROATIA

In another fix, Fogg makes use of a yacht called the Tankadere, which cuts him through the seas around China. They may not throw in an Indian Princess (by now Fogg is with some hanger-on called Aouda), but the nice people at Croatia Yacht Charter will lend you a majestic craft for anything up to a jaw-dropping €26,000 a week. www.CROATIA-YACHT-CHARTER.COM

FLY TO PULA FROM FRANKFURT (HAHN) AND LONDON (STANSTED). VISIT www.RYANAIR.COM

BALLOONING NEAR BARCA

Everyone knows that Mr Fogg didn’t use a balloon in Jules Verne’s 1873 novel – it was actually an addition to the 1956 film version. But take your top hat and, erm, a nice bottle of Rioja, to Barcelona and a company called Baló Tour will fly you across Catalonia. www.BALOTOUR.COM

FLY TO BARCELONA (EL PRAT, GIRONA AND REUS) FROM 69 DESTINATIONS, INCLUDING CAGLIARI, MALAGA AND ROME (CIAMPINO). VISIT www.RYANAIR.COM