How to travel more sustainably in 2024, according to our expert
The evidence is there: travel is at a tipping point, with more people crisscrossing the globe than ever before at a time when climate change is making itself felt at a much faster and more dramatic rate than anticipated. Seemingly in conflict with this is the fact that tourism supports many communities around the globe – especially in further-flung destinations – and is also generally a force for good, fostering tolerance and progress by helping us all learn to understand both others and ourselves better.
What to do to travel better in 2025? Slow travel – taking our time and immersing ourselves in our destinations – is one factor, choosing holidays by rail is another. We also need to be mindful of places that are being affected by overtourism and consider going to other places where our tourist spend may be more needed.
We’ve explored these and other strategies and looked at some of our favourite sustainable holidays for 2025 and beyond...
Choose one long-haul trip over a few shorter journeys
It’s unreasonable to expect people never to fly, and it’s desirable to visit distant destinations – to help support their communities through our tourist spend, and also to experience and learn from cultures very different to our own, as well as meet people with different viewpoints and ways of life.
One approach is to take one 'big' holiday a year as opposed to several shorter trips. By spending more time in one destination, you have to scope to connect more with with locals and get more involved in the community, and to see off-the-beaten track places – easing overcrowding at popular attractions.
Big trips can take you to far corners of the world, help you feel like a local, and even be life-changing. Country Living's Rocky Mountaineer and Alaska cruise holiday, for instance, combines two of Canada and Alaska’s most pristine areas of wilderness over two thrilling weeks. You start in style and sustainable luxury with a first-class train journey into the heart of the Rockies of British Columbia, before sailing Alaska's Inside Passage, moving through the awe-inspiring fjords and forests of USA's largest state, spotting glaciers, bears and seals.
Or a Ganges and Golden Triangle tour of northern India takes you deep into the heart of this most complex and compelling of countries, introducing you to major sites such as the Taj Mahal as well as including a seven-night cruise down India’s holiest river, stopping off at Hindu temples and artisan villages.
Alternatively, you could follow the Mekong River through Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam on our 15-day tour, which includes visits to several floating markets to mingle with locals going about their daily business.
Choose companies that are doing better for the environment
While there are many firms playing lip service to sustainability and some actually greenwashing consumers, there are others that are going beyond marketing buzzwords to truly engage with the idea of tourism as a positive source for the conservation of the world we live in and its natural wonders.
One such company is HX Expeditions (formerly Hurtigruten), which operates in more remote destinations including Greenland, Galapagos and Arctic Canada. Its expeditions are science-based and include the chance to attend expert lectures and take part in Citizen Science activities collecting data while out in zodiac boats with researchers.
On Country Living's 12-day Antarctica holiday with HX, you can help collect plankton samples that go to scientists monitoring the effects of climate change in the area, while revelling in sightings of humpback whales, penguins, seals and other extraordinary wildlife. Some of HX’s revenue goes towards funding places for research scientists aboard its cruises and at research stations. And the custom-built hybrid expedition ships used for its Antarctica adventures (MS Fridtjof Nansen and MS Roald Amundsen) are among the most environmentally friendly cruise ships in the world.
Support local communities
Among companies working intensely on making travel sustainable is Intrepid, which has verifiable science-based targets to reduce its emissions, follows stringent animal welfare guidelines, and, crucially has a big focus on keeping the economic benefits of travel where they belong. This means locally based leaders for every trip, community-led experiences, and community-based tourism experiences including homestays.
As consumers, we need to think about destinations, types of holidays and forms of travel that ensure our spend goes to local workers and communities. rather than global chains and corporates. Supporting small native businesses not only fights against the homogenisation of so many places around the world; it also makes locals more welcoming, because we’re helping them have a better quality of life.
Intrepid and Country Living’s women-only adventure in Morocco shows you a side of this captivating country rarely conveyed by guidebooks.
It includes four days hiking through the M'Goun valley, meeting locals in their villages and seeing at first hand the impact of a female-led artist co-op empowering rug-weavers in small villages. The trip is also led by the region's first female guide.
Visit less-crowded destinations and avoid overtourism
The combination of soaring traveller numbers (2024 set records for the highest ever number of people travelling, and 2025 looks to be even busier) has shown that it’s time to reevaluate our travel priorities and widen our horizons. The answer, according to BBC Travel Show presenter and overtourism expert Rajan Datar in his three-part Radio 3 series The Tourist Trap, is destination management and dispersal.
With 80% of people going to just 10% of the world’s destinations, we should be choosing our holidays more wisely, with an eye for places and people that need us more – with the caveat that our spend goes to local workers and communities rather than ‘leaking out’ to multinationals and foreign investors.
Countries you might consider include Slovenia with its spectacular mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes (perfect for hiking, biking, kayaking, paddleboarding and whitewater rafting), its slice of Adriatic coastline, and its fairytale-like capital Ljubljana. Country Living's six-day Slovenia trip includes Ljubljana, Lake Bled, Triglav National Park, wine tastings in the Vipava Valley and truffle-hunting in Istria.
Or flee the crowds of Tuscany with our six-day tour of Italy’s Puglia region, with its vineyards, olive farms, and bakeries. Exploring less-touristy sights including ancient cave dwellings and rock churches, you’ll also stay in an iconic trullo - a house made of limestone boulders, with a pyramidal roof.
Take the train all the way
The change might not be lightning-paced, but no-fly travel in Europe is getting easier over time thanks to the introduction of new overnight and other long-distance services such as the European Sleeper. Specialist Byway Travel can also get you to destinations as far away as Greece by 100% flight-free means.
Or course, getting from A to B can be a huge part of your holidays. One of the best destinations for leisurely train travel is Switzerland, where particularly jaw-dropping train journeys include the Bernina Express and the Glacier Express through the Swiss Alps. Country Living's escorted tour invites you to take in views of the Matterhorn, chestnut forests, tumbling waterfalls and quaint villages, as well as including a cruise on Italy’s Lake Maggiore for the ultimate in slow travel.
And despite our diminutive size, the UK can also be a brilliant place for train journeys and even sleepers, with Belmond’s luxurious new overnight Britannic Explorer embracing curated on- and off-board experiences that celebrate the art of slow travel as you discover gorgeous destinations including the Lake District and Cornwall.
Choose the UK over going abroad
With so much variety in the UK, ‘staying home’ and incurring zero air miles doesn’t ever have to be a consolation prize or second-best option. You could, for instance, discover the present dark skies of Northumberland on an astronomy break or enjoy the botanic gardens and powder-soft beaches of Britain’s most idyllic archipelago on an Isles of Scilly holiday.
Other great suggestions including touring Sandringham with history expert Lucy Worsley as part of a rail tour of Norfolk, or joining Lucy on a four-day break delving deep into Jane Austen’s Bath. Alternatively, learn the the secrets of some of England’s finest country gardens with Sarah Raven on a Kent and Sussex jaunt.
Scotland never disappoints: the Edinburgh Tattoo in all its pageantry is one of the highlights of our holiday to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Loch Lomond and the Trossochs, or you might think about exploring the Scottish Highlands by steam on a four-day escorted journey past lochs and mountains, or riding the luxury Northern Belle to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia, travelling in restored 1930s carriages with liveried stewards pouring you a sparkling mimosa cocktail as you browse the menu.
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