Green Travel Links

United Kingdom:

Green Tourism Business Scheme: The UK certification scheme that rates tourism-related businesses on their green credentials. www.green-business.co.uk.

UK Transport links:

Sustrans: The UK's sustainable transport charity whose vision is "a world in which people can choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment." It co-ordinates the National Cycle Network, which provides over 9,000 miles of signed cycle routes in the UK. www.sustrans.org.uk.

Kynance Cove, Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall

Traveline: The UK's national portal for bus, coach and train information. www.traveline.org.uk.

SailRail: Take the train and ferry to Ireland, it's not half the slog is used to be! If you're travelling from London, there's a fast train to the ferry terminal at Hollyhead and the ferry crossing to Dublin can be less than two hours. SailRail is a partnership between a number of the UK’s train companies, ferry operators and Irish Rail: www.sailrail.co.uk.

The Man in Seat Sixty-One: The best place on the net for information on train travel to the continent. www.seat61.com.

RailEurope: For booking international train travel. www.raileurope.co.uk.  

InterRail: For train passes in Europe, plus includes info on which ferry services you can use with your InterRail pass: www.interrail.net.

For UK travellers, there's also this useful site: www.internationalrail.com.

Aferrytocom: For booking ferry travel within the UK and abroad. www.aferry.to.

Car Share: Directory of car-sharing sites in the UK. www.carshare.com.

www.tfl.gov.uk: Find the most direct route across London by bike, bus or train. Features walking and cycling routes to the main attractions, including London’s many green spaces. www.tfl.gov.uk

www.green-car-guide.com: Online magazine with road-test reviews as well as articles and features on greener driving. www.green-car-guide.com

Gogreencar.co.uk: Toyota Prius and Lexus RX hybrid vehicles in London. www.gogreencar.co.uk

Important stuff for Holidays Abroad:

European Health Insurance Card: The EHIC entitles you to reduced cost (or sometimes free) healthcare treatment where treatment becomes necessary during a temporary visit to other countries of the European Economic Area or Switzerland. It has replaced the E111 form. For more details, including a full list of countries covered along with details of their 'health systems' go to: www.dh.gov.uk/travellers.

For up to date travel advice and tips for British travellers including travel advice by country, visa information and entry requirements, have a look at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) website: www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas.

Travel Health: The following two sites provide information on recommended vaccinations and other health tips for travelling abroad: www.traveldoctor.co.uk and www.masta-travel-health.com.

For specific information on Malaria: www.malariahotspots.co.uk.

International: The Association of Independent Tour Operators: AITO is an association of over 150 of the UK's independent tour operators, including ethical travel companies such as NatureTrek, Rainbow Tours, and Tribes Travel. Read AITO's responsible tourism policy here: www.aito.co.uk/corporate_Responsible-Tourism.asp.

The Travel Foundation: The UK charity set up to manage tourism more sustainably. www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk. Looking for a clean beach? More than 3,200 beaches and marinas in 37 countries currently have Blue Flag certification: www.blueflag.org.

Costa Rica's Certificate for Sustainable Tourism: A well-respected eco label for green accommodation in Costa Rica: www.turismo-sostenible.co.cr/EN/home.shtml.

Greenbox, Ireland: A collection of eco holidays in North West Ireland. Tip: if you look for 'Greenbox' via a search engine and come across "a unique range of plastic plate heat exchangers targeted at the heat recovery and air conditioning market"... you've gone wrong! Go here instead: www.greenbox.ie.

Fair Trade in Tourism, South Africa: A stringently applied trademark awarded to ethical South African tourism businesses that adhere to Fair Trade criteria such as decent wages and working conditions for their staff, and can show they promote local culture and try to limit their impact on the environment. www.fairtourismsa.org.za.

Green Resort Guide: A searchable directory which lists the green initiatives of over 200 resorts worldwide, so you can see which ones are doing their bit for the environment and which ones offer little more than tokenism.

www.maketravelfair.com - Cutting-edge online magazine that covers the latest innovations and issues in environmentally and socially aware travel. 

www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/resorts/greenresorts/default.asp.

The International Ecotourism Society: Long-established US-based membership organisation, which provides useful information and guidelines on ecotourism around the world. www.ecotourism.org.

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms: The idea is that you work for several hours a day in return for board and lodging. Not for dossers! But if you're prepared to put the work in it's a great way to travel around on a budget: www.wwoof.org.

International Transport links:

www.mylifts.com: Provides a carbon calculator so you can see the emissions you save by sharing a lift.

www.avego.com: Uses GPS satellite technology to track cars and mobiles.

www.drive2day.com: German site (in five languages) best used for searching lifts in continental Europe, though it does have members worldwide.

www.enterprise.com: Enterprise Rent-a-Car - the largest car rental company in the US - hires out hybrid vehicles, including the Ford Escape, Toyota Prius and Toyota Camry, at selected locations in 30 states.

www.hertz.com: Hertz offers a ‘Green Collection’ of over 6,000 cars with a CO2 output level of less than 140g/km in 50 selected locations across Europe; in the US, it hires out low emission cars at 50 major airport locations.

www.avis.com: Avis has introduced a natural-gas VW Tourans for hire at 15 of its city-centre outlets in Germany and 50 hybrid petrol/electric four-door vehicles at Faro, Lisbon and O Porto airports in Portugal. Its most comprehensive low emissions fleet is in Scandinavia, where it hires out the medium-sized 75 Ford Flexi-fuel and 20 Toyota Prius as well as over 400 of the large-sized ethanol-powered Saab 9-5 BioPower cars for hire from Gothenburg airport.

Round the world without flying
See how others have planned it: bike2oz.com: Kevin Doye and Lowanna King cycled from the UK to Australia via Europe, Pakistan, India, Iran and Singapore.

www.worldinslowmotion.com: Lara Lockwood and Tom Fewins are travelling around the world from the UK via Scandinavia, Asia and North America.

www.3mphroundtheworld.com: Holly Gee and Nick Tuppen are circumnavigating the world from the UK via the Caribbean, North America and Asia.

www.lowcarbontravel.com: In 2007, Ed Gillespie and his girlfriend Fiona King took a sabbatical and headed off on a round the world trip without flying. Read about their trip as well as the travel blogs Ed has written since coming home.

Inns and Bed and Breakfasts
www.bedandbreakfast.com
www.innsite.com
www.organicholidays.co.uk

Farm holidays and agriturismo

www.eceat.org: The website of the European Centre for Ecological and Agricultural Tourism, a network of over 1,300 small-scale accommodations and tourist services in rural areas throughout Europe.

Fish Find out if the fish on the menu is sustainable to eat... UK and Europe
www.fishonline.org

US www.montereybayaquarium.org
South Africa www.wwfsassi.co.za
Australia www.marineconservation.org.au
New Zealand www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/sos/red-list
UK www.nationalparks.gov.uk: The website of the UK national parks service.
http://whc.unesco.org: A list of all UNESCO’s natural and manmade World Heritage Sites. Each entry comes with a map showing its location relative to other sites, brief description and an overview of the threats it faces. Pledge to fly less in the future: Take a 12 month pledge to not fly for 12 months at www.lowflyzone.org.
www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo: The website of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has travel tips for every country in the world, including the latest information on health risks and whether any areas may be unsafe for travel.

WORLDWIDE
www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/swiat.htm: A directory of links to national parks worldwide.
www.icrtourism.org: Runs conferences and courses on responsible tourism, based at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. www.travelersphilanthropy.org: Washington-based organisation (a project of the Center for Ecotourism and Sustainable Development – www.ecotourismcesd.org), which encourages travellers to fund community and conservation projects in holiday destinations. 

Interesting stuff for green businesses: NetRegs provides free environmental guidance for small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, including hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses. NetRegs is a partnership between the UK environmental regulators – the Environment Agency in England and Wales, SEPA in Scotland and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) in Northern Ireland: www.netregs.gov.uk.

Recommend Reading:

Ecotourism and Sustainable Development. Who owns Paradise? by Martha Honey (Island Press, Washington, DC). A well-written and recently updated survey of the issues.