The extreme day trip organiser tackling Europe

A West Sussex man's Facebook group sharing extreme day trips from the UK has gained more than 250,000 members.

Michael Cracknell, from Haywards Heath, has been to destinations including Athens, Berlin and Gibraltar just for the day to save on accommodation and annual leave.

On his Facebook group, Extreme Day Trips, members share their experiences and tips from trips both within the UK and further afield.

He said: "People these days, especially now, are on quite tight budgets and they want to do something, they want to take the kids out somewhere different, somewhere unique."

Mr Cracknell, who organises day trips for groups, said the total cost of a previous trip to Athens was £149, while a train ticket from Gatwick to Edinburgh the same day was £189.

He explained: "You can just get on a plane and and go somewhere hot or [with] mountains or ancient ruins like the Acropolis or the Coliseum of Rome."

The online group does accept posts about overnight trips, as with some airports it is not possible to return the same day.

A two-day trip is also allowed if someone's response to the idea is "that's ridiculous".

Mr Cracknell told BBC Radio Sussex his passion started with a day trip to Zurich in Switzerland in 2001.

The country is now one of his favourite places to visit and he has been more than 20 times in 2024.

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