Green Traveller - Dec-Jan23 - issue3

greentraveller

December/January 2024 Issue 3

THE MAGAZINE

SNOW

tracks

Take the train to Europe’s ski resorts this winter – it’s the low carbon route to the slopes

+

Alternative winter sports How to travel overland to Morocco The latest global news for greener travel

ALTERNATIVE ATHENS

MENU FROM SOMERSET

WILDLIFE HERITAGE AREAS

FAMILY TRAVEL

2 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2023 | greentraveller.co.uk

WELCOME

Welcome to

greentraveller

greentraveller

Welcome to the third issue of Green Traveller magazine. After the particularly fabulous colours of autumn this year, our attention now turns to winter holidays and we’ve got a handy guide on how to travel

©GREENTRAVELLER 2023.

GREEN TRAVELLER and CHARITABLE TRAVEL of Fundraising Futures Community Interest Company, Contingent Works, Broadway Buildings, Elmfield Road, Bromley, BR1 1LW, UK have a memorandum of understanding to create this magazine as publisher.

For any enquiries please call T: 020 3092 1288 E: help@charitable.travel W: greentraveller.co.uk

Our regular feature about local, seasonal food is a brilliant new micro-dining experience in Somerset

While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, GREENTRAVELLER and CHARITABLE TRAVEL cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.

by train to the slopes, as well as a guide to alternative winter sports where your footprint will be only snow deep.

Keep an eye out for the flight-free and positive impact icons throughout the magazine that distinguish between those trips that can be reached overland with those that bring genuine benefits to

FRONT COVER: Switzerland Tourism; Richard Hammond; Chris Bailey; Bruno D’Amicis.

ICONS: flaticon.com.

GRAPHICS: freepik.com MAPS: freevectormaps.com & freepik.com

Happy green travelling this winter!

CEO: Melissa Tilling; SALES: Alison Nicholls; MAGAZINE EDITOR: Richard Hammond; DEPUTY EDITOR: Rebecca Miles (editor@ charitable.travel); MAGAZINE DESIGNER: Claire Gates

GOOD TO KNOW

POSITIVE IM

FLIGHT FREE

Where you see these symbols throughout the magazine you can be assured that the destinations featured can be reached without flying or that the activities featured will have a positive impact for the community, environment or wildlife in the region.

CT PA

destinations through nature conservation and local community empowerment.

Our regular feature about local, seasonal food is a brilliant new micro-dining experience in Somerset on p15, and we’ve got the low down on eco labels that can help you distinguish the green from the greenwash p10.

Our overland feature this issue is one of my favourite journeys, travelling by train across France and Spain to catch the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco. Plus we have a feature on eight places that are part of the newly launched Wildlife Heritage Areas (pp28), a new global benchmark from World Animal Protection and World Cetacean Alliance that is showcasing how more responsible wildlife watching can create a better future for places, nature, and people.

Editor, Green Traveller Magazine

Contents December/January 2024 4

Get the picture in Horsey

15 The menu from... Somerset

6

Global green news

9

WIN Lonely Planet Food’s Gourmet Trails of Europe

16 3 of the best alternative winter sports 20 Travel overland to Morocco

10 How to be a green traveller

22 Low-carbon travel to the slopes

12 An eco spotlight on: Kent

28 New wildlife heritage areas

FLIGHT-FREE

13 A postcard from... Athens

34 Little green traveller

POSITIVE IMPACT

14 Armchair travel

35 Five tips for wildlife watching greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

3

GET THE PICTURE

Get the PICTURE

4 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

Like stepping into a scene from a wildlife documentary, watching the colony of Atlantic grey seals at Horsey Beach in Norfolk is an exhilarating experience.

Thousands of them emerge from the water to give birth among the sand dunes between October and January every year.

GET THE PICTURE

3

views of

HORSEY SEALS Words & pictures by Diana Jarvis (dianajarvis.co.uk)

Wardens from Friends of Horsey Seals do a brilliant job of educating visitors as well as maintaining viewing cordons that ensure safety for both visitors and the seals. There will often be someone on hand to furnish you with seal facts or for insider knowledge about the best places to watch.

Observation is the key to great wildlife photography.

It’s worth spending some time watching the seals’ behaviour, visualising the kinds of photos you might take, before you even get your camera out. They’re affectionate, they fight, they loll about and they occasionally strike a comedic pose. But you will need a long zoom or telephoto lens to get close to them.

Because Horsey is a well-known seal-watching spot with plenty of safety measures in place to protect both the delicate sand dune ecosystem and animals, it’s OK to share and geotag your images on social media: it can help amplify the conservation message as well as allow seal fans from further afield to keep up-to-date with latest developments.

‘Seal selfies’, however, are best avoided because you should always remain more than 10 metres away from a seal. greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

5

NEWS

Global good news Tom Joy

OFF-GRID IN ST ALBANS

Tom Joy

FOR SMARTER TRAVEL

Tom Joy

A new off-grid cabin has opened in St Albans, just 25 minutes on the train from London. Designed for two people and known as ‘Re’ (a place to reconnect), the owners say the cabin has been made with the “highest-grade sustainable materials”, including British-made Foresso worktops, cork flooring and sustainably and locally sourced timber. Solar power supplies almost all of the cabin’s electricity and it “can be totally dismantled without creating any waste, and can be re-used and reconfigured without compromise”.

Wilderness Ireland has introduced a range of new trips for 2024, including a new e-bike itinerary along the breathtaking landscape of the Wild Atlantic Way, as well as women-only trips offering deluxe hiking and island hopping. They’re designed to empower and encourage more women to build adventure confidence, hone outdoor skills, and participate in activities such as hiking and cycling which, says the operator, “have long been male-dominated”.

6 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

Wilderness Ireland

WOMEN-ONLY WILDERNESS TRIPS TO IRELAND

Following the success of Germany’s Deutschlandticket, France is set to launch its own €49 public transport ticket in the summer of 2024, offering unlimited travel on TER regional services and intercity trains.

Popular routes include Paris to Toulouse (€94 if booked on the day) so passengers with a pass look set to save significantly.

Travel between France and Ireland will be simplified in 2024 with a single ticket combining train and ferry for the entire rail and sea journey. Book via Brittany Ferries, Irish Ferries, Rail Europe and Trainline.

EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE

A programme of over 1,000 events is planned for when the Estonian city of Tartu becomes the European Capital of Culture in 2024. Inspired by the artistic concept ‘Arts of Survival’, they’ll focus on the knowledge, skills, and values that will help humankind “lead a good life in the future, shining a spotlight on innovative approaches to sustainability, co-creation, local uniqueness, science, and technology”.

Andrus Liivamae Toomemäe

€49 TRAINS IN FRANCE

Mana Kaasik

NEWS

CONNEMARA, COUNTY GALWAY

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

7

NEWS

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is offering free entry to its 21 reserves for 16-24 years olds as part of a two-year pilot.

INGHAMS LAUNCHES SKI TRAIN PACKAGES Inghams Ski is to run weeklong rail packages this winter to 18 resorts in France, Austria and Switzerland. Departing on Saturdays and returning on the following Sundays, customers will be transferred on Saturday evenings to accommodation close to the station in Bourg-SaintMaurice, ready for their return journey on Sunday morning.

Inghams is also selling seven-day lift passes for the price of six to customers booking this package.

Christian Pfammatter Fotografie

FREE TRIAL FOR RSPB

Watch a video about the new brand: https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZSl st4ZZYLA&t=21s Video produced

by Green Traveller productions for Ramble Worldwide

RAMBLE INTO THE FUTURE Walking holiday specialists, Ramblers Walking Holidays has changed its name to Ramble Worldwide in a brand overhaul that includes splitting its holidays into four distinct types: ‘Classic’, featuring iconic trails and lesser-known paths; ‘Discover’, delving deep into the culture in inspiring destinations worldwide; ‘Adagio’, blending culture, guided walking and sightseeing at a leisurely pace; and ‘Self-guided’, tailoring independent walking holidays 8 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

with accommodation, route planning and baggage handling organised in advance.

Kevin O’Regan, managing director, said: “Building on our heritage of delivering unforgettable walking adventures across the globe and appreciating that ‘Ramble’ means different things to different people, the aim is to reflect this through our wide-ranging selection of holidays – from gentle strolls, national trails, and worldwide journeys to snowshoeing adventures and ending a day’s

walk at a vineyard sampling local wine.

“And as a company committed to a wholly charitable ethos, there is also the added satisfaction for customers to know they are helping to give something back when booking with Ramble Worldwide as our profits are channelled back to our Charitable Trust who, since 2000, have invested £5 million into preserving the great outdoors and helping to make it more accessible to others.”

ARMCHAIR COMPETITION TRAVEL

WIN A COPY OF LONELY PLANET’S

JOY OF WILD SWIMMING

The latest guidebook dives head first into the best spots to try wild swimming Covering 180 of the world’s most enticing wild swimming spots, this joyful book provides all the inspiration you need to jump in. Featuring fascinating insights from wild swimming expert Freya Bromley and real-life experiences from swimming writers and local voices including Jo Tinsley, Oral Thomas and Adam Skolnick, each page transports you to another place.

In the Lonely Planet Joy of Wild Swimming, you’ll also find beautiful photography, maps and essential planning tips. Browse this delightful guidebook and you’ll discover the uplifting effect of water, how swimming in nature can bring joy to life and explore enchanting places to reinvigorate or simply relax.

Covering some seriously special places

across the globe, choose from Lake Tanganyika in Africa or the sea of Monterey Peninsula in California, or closer to home pick England’s romantic River Wye, Constable country at Fen Bridge in Suffolk, or a swim around the sacred Welsh island of Llanddwyn.

It’s the perfect book for mindfulness seekers, fitness enthusiasts, experienced swimmers, and those who are simply intrigued by the whole idea of wild swimming and want to give it a try.

WIN!

We’ve got 10 copies of Lonely Planet’s Joy of Wild Swimming to give away – to be in with a chance of winning one, visit charitable.travel/lonely-planet to enter our competition

Lonely Planet’s Joy of Wild Swimming is out now in hardback for £19.99, available where all good books are sold.

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

9

HOW TO BE A GREENER TRAVELLER

BORDEAUX’S GRAND HOTEL FRANCAIS HAS GREEN KEY STATUS

How to be a

greener traveller Richard Hammond unravels the complicated world of eco labels and environmental certification to help you know what to look for on your next holiday

T

ype in ‘eco travel’ to a search engine and you’ll be provided with thousands of results of businesses claiming their eco credentials.

But how can you tell the green from the green wash?

Checking whether a business, be it an operator, accommodation type or transport provider, has been awarded an accredited certification scheme is one of the methods that can help you figure out if it is walking the talk on its green initiatives. The most reliable schemes send a trained professional technician out to the business to assess its environmental performance, both for front of house and behind the scenes. Some focus on particular technical aspects, while others grade the business based on a whole gamut of environmental and social responsibility, including waste management, biodiversity conservation and the human rights and conditions of workers.

10 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

FLIGHT FREE

HOW TO BE A GREENER TRAVELLER

WELL-ESTABLISHED SCHEMES FOR ECOFRIENDLY HOLIDAYS IN THE UK AND IRELAND BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) evaluates all aspects of a building’s sustainability, from the initial siting and design, to how they are used in the context of local environmental, social and economic issues. It can be applied to individual buildings, such as the Gibson Hotel in the centre of Dublin, and to multi-use developments, such as Kings Place on the Regent’s Canal in London. breeam.com

Green Tourism is a sustainability grading scheme for the travel and hospitality industry that awards businesses bronze, silver and gold grades based on how green they perform in its audits. It also offers businesses practical technical advice on how to be greener. Examples of gold businesses are Fenham Farm, a B&B in Northumberland (fenhamfarm.co.uk), and the self-catering River Cabin at Trericket Mill in the Brecon Beacons (rivercabin.co.uk). green-tourism.com

EU Ecolabel is an European-wide environmental label managed by the EU Commission for a range of industries, from manufacturing to hospitality, including hotels and campsites. ecolabel.eu

Green Hospitality Awards, recognised by GSTC, covers the Irish hospitality industry. Running since 2004 it requires businesses to initially focus on energy, carbon, waste and water before getting a full award. sustainabletravelireland.ie

Greener Camping Club is the symbol for low-impact campsites. The scheme was started by four campsite owners who wanted to bring together a resource for campsites that ‘share a common theme of high quality, environment-friendly camping, in truly beautiful settings.’ They started the scheme in Pembrokeshire but are expanding throughout Wales and England. There are now over 75 campsites, most are in West Wales but the number of sites in England is growing all the time. greenercamping.org

“The most reliable schemes send a trained professional technician out to the business to assess its environmental performance”

Richard Hammond

Green Key is an international environmental ecolabel whose global office is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) in Copenhagen, Denmark, with nearly 3,000 members in over 55 countries, from boutique hotels to B&Bs, campsites and visitor attractions. In Wales, Green Key is managed by the environmental charity Keep Wales Tidy.

An example of a business with the Green Key Award is the Larkhill Yurt and Tipis in Carmarthenshire whose owners have been using wind, solar and water power to create electricity for 25 years. greenkey.global

WELL-ESTABLISHED SCHEMES FOR ECOFRIENDLY HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD Global Sustainable Tourism Council is an independent accreditation scheme that has established international standards for sustainable tourism certification whose criteria are designed to be adapted to fit the context of local conditions and activities. gstcouncil.org B Corp is a legally-bound certification scheme for businesses in general (not just the travel industry) that certifies companies for their social and environmental performance, public transparency and accountability to balance profit and purpose.

The outdoors adventure company, TYF Adventure, was the founding UK member of B Corp. Since then, the small group adventure operator Intrepid has gained B Corp membership, so too have others including accommodation specialists Sawday’s, Lovat Holiday Parks in southern England, adventure travel specialists Flooglebinder and Joro Experiences, and Pura Aventura. All have collaborated to form Travel by B Corp to share best practice. travelbybcorp.co.uk Travelife is operated by the UK Travel Association (ABTA) and operates in over 50 countries certifying hotels in the mainstream travel industry, so you’re most likely to see its logo in the travel brochures of the large tour operators, such as TUI, SAGA and Travelbag. In order to be certified, a hotel will have been evaluated by an independent auditor based on an on-site assessment of a series of criteria, from energy efficiency and conservation to human rights, cultural impacts and animal welfare. Top performing properties are awarded Travelife Gold Certification, which is valid for two years. travelife.info

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 11

eco activities

IN KENT

Living up to its name as the ‘Garden of England’, Kent has an abundance of beautiful countryside, natural habitats and local produce to explore. Offering ways to conserve, protect and celebrate this bountiful county, Katy Mason, Girl About Kent, shares five rewarding activities to make the most of your next staycation

Discover some of Kent’s spectacular array of wild foods on one of Forth & Forage’s friendly foraging walking tours through the coast, woodlands and towns of Herne Bay, Whitstable and Canterbury. A brilliant way of engaging with nature, on one of Amy’s fabulous tours you’ll learn how to identify some of the hidden gems in our environment, from the edible flowers and healing herbs, to wild spices and seasonal fruits. forthandforage.co.uk 12 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

James Davis

Set in the heart of the High Weald’s AONB, Bedgebury Pinetum is home to a worldleading collection of conifers and over 12,000 specimen trees. Spanning 350 acres, this magnificent Forestry England site boasts spectacular views, serene trails and natural play areas for youngsters. If you’re keen to really immerse yourself in forest life, there is the fabulous, family-run Stay At Forest Edge glamping site nearby. forestryengland.uk/bedgebury

JOIN A COMMUNITY BEACH CLEAN IN MARGATE

‘Rise Up. Clean Up’ is a community-driven movement that hosts regular beach cleans in the seaside town of Margate. With sessions on weekends and evenings, join a group to help clear up any rubbish left behind on the beach and bask in the glow of joining this sociable and rewarding activity. Litter pickers and bin bags are provided; visit the website for upcoming dates. riseupcleanup.co.uk mianthebrand24 at Freepik

Amy Hitchcock

Spend a blissful couple of hours exploring the waterways of Canterbury’s River Stour by kayak, canoe or paddle board with Canoe Wild.

Based just 2.5 miles outside of Canterbury, Canoe Wild run both guided tours and private hire of their water equipment throughout the year from their base in Fordwich – England’s smallest town. It’s a tranquil way to see some of Kent’s natural habitats. canoewild.co.uk

GO FORAGING WITH FORTH & FORAGE

ESCAPE INTO THE FOREST AT BEDGEBURY PINETUM

Canoe Wild

PADDLE DOWN THE RIVER STOUR WITH CANOE WILD

Katie Mason

Girl About is a collec tive of female travel blogge rs based across the UK .

Visit girlabouttravel.c o.uk to find out more

FLIGHT FREE

5

GIRL ABOUT

FOLLOW A NATURE TRAIL AT ROMNEY MARSH

Boasting a diverse range of wildlife, nature trails and an award-winning visitor centre (thanks to its host of sustainable features), Romney Marsh Nature Reserve is a prime spot for a day out on the Kent coast. Managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust, conservation is at the heart of the reserve and it’s a designated Site of Scientific Interest. Spend some time here and you’ll come away with a deeper understanding of the region’s rich history and diverse habitats. kentwildlifetrust.org.uk

Richard Hammond

POSTCARD FROM...

Postcard from

S N E H T A E IV T A N R E T L A Clare Hargreave

I

’m part of a group cycling along a wide track beneath the Acropolis, marvelling at the majestic structure and wondering where all the crowds are. It’s a perfect, bluesky day in October and Athens’ car-free zones are a joy to visit, whether from the comfort of a saddle or on foot.

The tour is led by a guide from Alternative

s

Words by Richard Hammond

Athens, a company whose purpose is to show you the secret corners, creative hotspots, and working-class neighbourhoods the guidebooks don’t tell you about. The previous day, I’d been taken on foot by a local street artist on an alternative tour of the city, starting at Monastiraki Square – from where I

Don’t miss the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, a shimmering glass-cased building above Faliro bay, designed by architect Renzo Piano of London’s Shard

saw both the Parthenon and the colonnaded remains of Roman emperor Hadrian’s Library – west to the area of Keramikos, and on to the city’s port of Piraeus.

Today, we cycle the shady pathways of the National Gardens to the tune of birdsong before reaching the Presidential Mansion and the magnificent neo-classical Zappeion Hall, ending at the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch.

On the third day, I joined Alternative Athens’ food tour that started with tasting olives and olive oil at Malotira Deli, on Apollonos Street, followed by a string of wonderful street food outlets and other eateries selling everything from nut-packed baklava oozing with honey, cheese pies and pastries to deep fried dough balls and award-winning ice-cream. Lunch was at Kostas (pictured above) in the picturesque Agias Irinis Square, where Kostas has been making superb kebabs for over 65 years, including oregano-perfumed pork souvlaki, topped with yogurt and hot chilli sauce. Yum! For more information, see Green Traveller’s Guide to Athens greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

13

ARMCHAIR TRAVEL

Armchair

READ: SLOW TRAVEL IN THE UK FOR FAMILIES

TRAVEL

ONLINE: MOUNTAIN REFUGES

WATCH: RACE ACROSS THE WORLD

Now that the third series of the BBC’s popular series ‘Race Across the World’ has reached its conclusion there’s another series in the offing in early 2024, plus the BBC has announced that a second series of ‘Celebrity Race Across the World’ is returning. In a frenetic race across the world, travellers choose any route they like, but no flights are allowed. You can watch all 24 episodes from the three series – as well as the Celerity version – on BBC iPlayer.

Freepik

Looking for a mountain refuge to stay in this winter?

The website outdooractive.com lists thousands of mountain huts and refuges across Europe, from simple shelters to serviced cabins. Another good source of information is mountainhuts.info, which features over 670 mountains huts in central Europe, and gives hut reviews based on the feedback and experience of hikers who have stayed there.

Freepik

This month, we’ve got a great website to check train travel across Europe, Bradt’s book on family slow travel ideas in the UK, handy websites for finding mountain huts and refuges across Europe, and flight-free inspiration from the BBC’s ‘Race Across the World’ series.

Bradt Guides book Slow Travel Family Breaks: Perfect Escapes in Britain’s Special Places pulls together months of adventuring around the UK by seasoned travel writers Jane Anderson and Holly Tuppen, discovering the best small-scale, sustainable, and local experiences, from wildlife and stargazing on The Scilly Isles to foraging and wild swimming in the Cairngorms.

LEARN: WHERE CAN YOU REACH BY TRAIN?

See how far you can travel by train from any city in Europe on the handy interactive map at chronotrains.com. The calculations assume interchanges are 20 minutes and transit between stations is a little greater than walking speed. For more info, see the threads on X (formerly Twitter) by the software developer @benjamintd.

A comprehensive, jargon-free guide to sustainable travel and how to navigate it Pavilion Books (£18.99)

Chris Bailey

OUTSIDE-INSIDE DINING

Neil White

STEVE AND JULES

Neil White

MENU FROM...

CELEBRATING LOCAL SOMERSET FOOD

The menu from

SOMERSET

Rhiannon Batten reports on a new micro-dining experience that celebrates Somerset’s local larder Words by Rhiannon Batten

I

t’s surely the closest Somerset gets to the North Pole. Not because we happen to visit on a night when the temperature has dipped but because the barn in which Jules and Steve Horrell and their children, Harvey and Lauren, are scurrying around like cheerful elves is hung with baskets, lit by candles, warmed by a wood-burner and festooned with seasonal foliage. The magical former cow byre may be the setting for Horrell & Horrell, the family’s new micro-dining experience at their home in Sparkford, but if Santa was ever looking for a stylish new grotto it would be a shoo-in.

Jules and Steve, who previously worked together at Bruton’s Roth Bar & Grill, have honed their cooking and hosting skills over many years and their experience shows.

Seating just 30 diners at one long table, the approach may be rustic, with much of the menu cooked over fire, but it’s done with real polish. A snapshot of Somerset’s farmto-fork food scene in three courses, we graze our way through plates of homegrown

beetroot with buffalo mozzarella and sesame-sprinkled Persian bread, slowcooked beef brisket with celeriac gratin and

spectrum creates culinary alchemy in this rural county, where growers and diners are so closely connected.

Jules and Steve, who previously worked together at Bruton’s Roth Bar & Grill, have honed their cooking and hosting skills over many years cavolo nero, and flaky quince and apple turnovers. Almost all of the ingredients have been grown on site, or sourced from small-scale local producers.

Delicious and decadent in equal measure, it feels the right way to eat in Somerset, packed as it is with regenerative farms, cider orchards and cheesemakers. Shifting the focus from more formal dining experiences to those that are closer to the farming end of the

This ethos reaches its pinnacle in July, when the Somerset Food Trail champions the county’s farmers and producers. Yet micro-dining operators like Horrell & Horrell, Pennard Hill Farm near Glastonbury (which has launched a series of winter feasts made with wild, foraged or sustainably farmed local ingredients), Margot in Bruton and Pomona Supperclub in Frome are now making this more muddy-booted style of eating available year-round.

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

15

3 3 OF THE BEST...

of the best

ALTERNATIVE WINTER ACTIVITIES

Vemdalen, Sweden; SkiStar.com

Next time you’re on the snow, why not try one of these wintersports instead? They’re exhilarating yet peaceful and offer an escape into the wild

16 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

3 OF THE BEST...

F

winter sports industry has put a great strain on mountain ecosystems, including the levelling of wildlife-friendly pine forests in order to make way for long, gently sloping pistes, while local water supplies have been drained to provide billions of gallons of water for artificial snowmaking machines at purpose-built resorts.

In recent years, many ski areas have sought to lessen their environmental impact, using

renewable energy to operate chairlifts and power accommodation, and improving their public transport network to reduce the need for cars. But you can do your bit too, by travelling to resorts by train (see p22) to reduce your holiday’s carbon emissions and by choosing alternative low-impact winter activities where your footprint on the mountains will be only snow deep.

Rebecca Miles

ew winter holidays can beat the exhilaration of skiing through fresh powdered snow in the clean mountain air, surrounded by spectacular mountain views, followed by feasting on a fondue with friends in a cosy, fireside chalet at the end of a muscle-aching day.

But historically, the infrastructure that’s been put in place to cater for the downhill

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

Using skis that are thinner, lighter and longer than downhill skis, with a free-heel binding system that you use with lightweight boots, crosscountry skiing typically takes place on prepared tracks on the valley floor, often alongside mountain rivers and through pine forests.

The skis have scales on the underside to help stop you slipping backwards so that you can push and glide quickly and smoothly across the snow. The technique involves sliding one foot directly forwards followed by the other foot, using poles alternately. It’s a great way to travel quickly across long distances on the flat. As with all forms of skiing, while fitness is important, balance and co-ordination are crucial if you’re to enjoy this strenuous form of exercise.

Many popular ski resorts have groomed pistes for cross-country skiers, so it is widely available across the Alps (particularly in Switzerland and the Dolomites), but there are also excellent tracks in other areas, such as Poland and Slovakia. In Norway, Finland and Sweden (including Vemdalen, pictured left) cross-country skiing is a national sport.

SNOWSHOEING

The gentlest way to enjoy the powder and pine trees is to go snowshoeing. Wonderfully straightforward, it means attaching specialised outer footwear (‘snowshoes’) to your shoes or boots that distribute your weight over a larger area to prevent your feet from sinking into the snow. Snowshoes are in the shape of tennis rackets, hence why the French call them raquettes.

Think of it as simply a winter walk made easier. Kitting up with just the usual ski clothing, gloves and poles is all you need to head into the wintry landscape, where you’re far more likely to see mountain wildlife and appreciate the beauty of the mountain environment than you would hurtling down a manicured slope on skis.

The Swiss Alps and the Italian Dolomites are popular locations for snowshoeing (or snow trekking), though one of the best places is the Pyrenees. Spanning 270 miles (435km) across the south-west of France, northern Spain and Andorra, the region lacks the scale and crowds of the Alps but it’s no less rewarding.

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

17

3 OF THE BEST...

SKI TOURING

conditions. It’s highly recommended to go with a qualified mountain guide.

There are many organisations that offer courses in ski touring where you’ll learn how to skin and kick-turn efficiently, how to avoid avalanche terrain, and use essential safety equipment. Once you’re proficient in ski touring, it opens up a whole new dimension to skiing where you can stay overnight in mountain huts and continue touring day after day in the glorious wild hinterland.

In Scotland, there are lots of ski touring routes that traverse many of the Munros (mountains over 3,000ft/914m high), such as the 6¼-mile (10km) traverse of the Pass of Drumochter, the main mountain route between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands, and the 10-mile (16km) traverse of Ben Macdui in the Cairngorms, where you can take the longer tour of the five 4,000ft (1,219m) peaks that takes in Cairn Gorm, Ben Macdui, Angel’s

Peak, Cairn Toul and Braeriach.

In Europe, one of the most popular ski touring routes is the Haute Route – a seven-day 75-mile (120km) tour traversing sections of two of the highest Alpine ranges between Zermatt and Chamonix. But there are many other equally rewarding ski tours in Europe, including the Silvretta Traverse in the Austrian Alps, south of the ski resort of St Anton, which is a great tour for those just starting out as the summits are lower than in the West Alps; the Bernese Oberland Traverse in central Switzerland, with superb views of the Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger; the Dolomites Circuit, which passes through remote valleys, dominated by the iconic towering limestone cliffs and pinnacles; and the Gran Paradiso Traverse, which includes a strenuous trek up to the summit of the Paradiso itself (13,323ft/4,061m), followed by a thrilling descent of over 6,500ft (2,000m).

Tim Martin

At first glance, ski touring can seem odd. It involves attaching synthetic ‘skins’ to the underside of your skis to give you traction to walk up a snowy slope. Then, once you’ve gained some height, you detach and pack away the skins and start your descent, enjoying the exhilaration of skiing down deserted untracked snow.

To any seasoned downhill skier, it can be baffling as to why you wouldn’t simply take a lift up, then venture off piste if you so wished. Yet aficionados of ski touring (known as ski de randonnée in France) say the climb up can often be more enjoyable and rewarding than the ski down.

It’s worth noting going off piste can be dangerous and should only be done once you have attained an appropriate level of skill, fitness and familiarity with navigating in the mountains, including the ability to read weather systems and the variable snow

This is an edited extract from The Green Traveller (£18.99 Pavilion Books) by Richard Hammond 18 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

CLEAN WATER ANYWHERE WATER-TO-GO ENSURES YOU CAN TRAVEL SAFELY, SUSTAINABLY AND RESPONSIBLY Water-to-Go is a portable water filtration system that eliminates up to 99.99% of all microbiological contaminants including viruses, bacteria, chemicals and heavy metals from any tap or nonsaltwater source in the world. This means that you access clean, safe drinking water wherever you are, without needing to use single-use plastic bottles.

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LOW CARBON TRAVELLING

overland HOW TO TRAVEL

TO MOROCCO

FLIGHT-FREE JOURNEY PLA NNER

greentravel ler.co.uk/ flight-freejourney-pla nner

Here’s Green Traveller’s guide to getting to Morocco without setting foot on a plane – instead travelling overland by train and ferry from London St Pancras via Barcelona and Algeciras to Tangier

SUMMARY

Train via Paris and Barcelona to Algeciras in southern Spain then catch the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier Journey Time: about 48 hours Approximate cost (one way): Eurostar to Paris from £52 Train from Paris to Barcelona from €39 Train from Barcelona to Algeciras via Madrid from €51 Ferry from Algeciras to Tangier from €25

HOW CAN I BOOK THIS?

If you want someone to book the whole journey for you, get in touch with Byway.travel. If you’re happy to book it yourself, visit Eurostar. com or either of the two main pan-European ticketing agencies – thetrainline.com and RailEurope. com. Both charge a small booking fee but allow you to buy tickets for multiple train operators in multiple European countries. They also offer a free email alert service to let you know as soon as bookings open for your chosen route so you can snap up the cheapest tickets when they become available. To book ferry tickets, visit ferryhopper.com.

20 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

1

LONDON TO PARIS

Our journey starts with the Eurostar, the UK’s international high-speed rail service that runs from the magnificently renovated London St Pancras International Railway Station.

On board, there’s no weight limit for your luggage, but you should be able to carry and lift your bags safely.

To get to Barcelona on the same day, take an earlyish Eurostar, e.g. the 9.24am departure, arriving Paris just before 1pm, in order to catch the mid-afternoon train down to Barcelona to arrive early evening.

2

In Paris, you change stations from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon to take the train south to Barcelona. Crossing Paris to change stations is only two stops on the Paris RER D line, though we recommend you leave at least 50 minutes for the entire transfer. See our guide on How to transfer between train stations across Paris.

If you want to break the journey and stay overnight to see a bit more of Paris while you’re travelling through, there are lots of great places to stay near both Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon.

ONWARD TO BARCELONA, MADRID AND ALGECIRAS

At Gare de Lyon, board a TGV high-speed train to Barcelona Sants station. The best thing about overland train travel is that you have the time and space to walk around the train, visit the buffet carriage, play cards, read the newspaper or a book, catch up on emails and text, watch a film, enjoy a meal, or just gaze out of the window and enjoy the views out of the large windows as the train whizzes across the picturesque French and Spanish countryside. You’ll arrive in to the heart of Barcelona, so no need to take a transfer from an out-of-the-way airport to the city centre; and fortunately there are many hotels very close to the railway station.

Stay overnight in Barcelona – it’s a proud

Mediterranean metropolis and a city of many faces. From the gracious avenues of Gracia with their chic boutiques, to the atmospheric, winding lanes of the Barri Gòtic, the city’s patchwork of neighbourhoods entices visitors with their distinct characters.

The following morning take the highspeed AVE train to Madrid (it leaves about 11am and arrives at about 1.45pm) from where you take the train down to Algeciras in southern Spain (it leaves about 3pm and arrives at about 8.30pm). It’s a glorious journey that gives you an appreciation of how southern Spain becomes progressively Moorish as you whizz down across the mountains to Cordoba and onward to the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula.

FLIGHT FREE

LOW CARBON TRAVELLING

LONDON

Frederic Köberl at Unsplash

PARIS

Stay overnight in Algeciras (there are some lovely tapas bars that open late), then in the morning walk over to the modern ferry passenger terminal where the fast ferry company FRS provides a free transit bus to its ferry terminal departure in the nearby town of Tarifa (it’s about a 30-minute drive). Here, you take the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier, a journey of about an hour. It’s an epic journey; look left from the ferry as you pass the awesome Rock of Gibraltar, and then ahead of you looms the continent of Africa.

Richard Hammond

ST PANCRAS INTERNATIONAL STATION

TAFIRA

ALGECIRAS TANGIER

4

ARRIVING IN TANGIER

The ferry conveniently arrives in the heart of Tangier’s old town – you’ll be met off the ferry by lots of taxi drivers but you’re only a few minute’s walk to Tangier’s railway station and the medina. For onward trains to Meknès, Fez, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech, see: oncf-voyages.ma.

Andres Giusto at Unsplash

BARCELONA MADRID

BARCELONA SANTS STATION

3

BUS FROM ALGECIRAS TO TARIFA; FERRY FROM TARIFA TO TANGIER

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 21

LOW CARBON TRAVELLING

SNOW

tracks

Switzerland Tourism

Take the train to Europe’s ski resorts this winter – it’s the low carbon route to the slopes, says Daniel Elkan and Katie Bamber

22 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

FLIGHT FREE

LOW CARBON TRAVELLING

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 23

LOW CARBON TRAVELLING

© eurostar

I

f you’re looking for a quick win to reduce the carbon footprint of your ski holiday this winter, the good news is that it’s possible to reach many European ski areas by train instead of plane. While Eurostar may no longer be running its direct ski train to Bourg St Maurice for access to the popular Tarentaise valley resorts, in its place is an indirect service that involves simply a platform change at Lille Europe. And plenty more ski resorts can be accessed by taking regular scheduled crosschannel services and changing in Paris for high-speed TGV connections.

Or, after travelling to Brussels or Paris, you can board a NightJet sleeper train bound for destinations in Austria.

Some resorts in France and Italy can be accessed by sleeper-trains too, with more overnight services planned over the coming years. If you travel to the Alps on the Friday overnight (and back on the Saturday night), you can fit in two extra days’ skiing on the relatively quieter Saturday changeover days without having to pay for the extra nights’ accommodation. When you arrive on the Saturday morning, once you’ve wiped the sleep from your eyes, you can hit the slopes before lunch; and on the final Saturday, the departing train isn’t until the evening so you can fit in a full days’ skiing. With a generous baggage allowance and free ski carriage, the train is a great lowcarbon way to travel to the slopes.

And then there’s the scenery. You’ll be swapping airport queues and baggage reclaim for café bar carriages and comfortable seats to enjoy views of the countryside and mountain vistas – it’s a surefire way to make the journey part of the holiday.

For more information on how to reach the Alps by train, visit snowcarbon.co.uk.

5

resorts REACHABLE BY TRAIN

ANZÈRE, SWITZERLAND

Daniel Elkan

The French-speaking Swiss canton of Valais is frequently bathed in sunshine and has panoramic views, ranging from the Mont Blanc massif to the Bietschhorn. Here, you’ll find the south-facing Anzère, a relatively modern mountain-village with a family-friendly feel.

There are 13 ski lifts giving access to 58km of pistes, which stay uncrowded and peaceful.

STAY A clever pellet-fired heating system heats 80% of Anzere’s accommodation, including the three-star apart-hotel Hotel Eden (edenresort.ch). This friendly property gets five-star reviews and has its own Escape Room activity to try, too.

EAT La Boîte à Fromage (restaurantlaposte.ch/ le-boite-a-fromage) is a cave-like restaurant serving Swiss-cheese specialities produced by herds that graze the local slopes. The cheeses for the fondues, for example, are from cows on the Serin mountain pasture and Ayent dairy, and it’s all accompanied by Valais wines.

DO With the famous panorama of Anzère as a backdrop, use axes to climb the unpredictable face of the icefall in the resort’s Icepark.

There’s expert guidance from experienced climbers and 12 different routes to try.

GET THERE BY TRAIN Depart London St Pancras on Saturday on the 09:31 Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord. Change to Paris Gare de Lyon and take the 14:18 TGV, changing at Lausanne to arrive at Sion at 19:24.

From there it’s 20 minutes by bus or taxi.

24 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

LES GETS, FRANCE

Les Gets is a family favourite resort that shares a lift pass with neighbouring Morzine, both part of the vast 650km Portes du Soleil ski area that straddles the French-Swiss border. Loved for its wide, cruisey pistes, Les Gets has slopes for every skier and big mountain views all round. The village is pretty with a pleasant mix of restaurants and bars. The resort has a new illuminated night walk, Alta Lumina (Altalumina.com), that takes you on an immersive adventure through the forest.

STAY Cosy Hotel Marmotte (hotel-marmotte. com) at the foot of the slopes has an Edelweiss label, awarded for exemplary management of energy, water, waste and noise.

EAT Restaurant La Piste Noire (restaurantlapistenoire.com) has reinvented itself by moving from French classic bistro food to 100% vegetarian cuisine, with dishes such as butternut ravioli and homemade lemon linguini.

DO In the company of their Nordic dogs, Justine and Didier organise excursions suitable for anyone keen to be at one with both nature and canine company (lapattenordic.fr).

GET THERE BY TRAIN Depart London St Pancras on the 09.31 Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord; change to Paris Gare de Lyon and take the 12.14 TGV to Bellegarde, then the 17.15 TER train to Cluses, arriving at 18.52. From there it’s 40 minutes by bus or taxi.

LOW CARBON TRAVELLING

How to TRAVEL TO THE FRENCH ALPS

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ÉVIAN LES BAINS

PARIS GARE D’AUSTERLITZ Metro line 5 from Gare du Nord

THONON LES BAINS La Chapelle d’Abondance

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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Ax 3 Domaines LA TOUR DE CAROL

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PERPIGNAN Cerbère / Barcelona

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© 2023 Snowcarbon / France Montagnes / Explore France | All rights reserved Map designed by David Cooper

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 25

LOW CARBON TRAVELLING

LES MENUIRES, FRANCE

STAY Residence W2050 (w2050-belleplagne. com) in Belle Plagne is a new high-end accommodation renovated from a former hotel, using locally sourced materials with a focus on insulation to minimise heat loss.

EAT Created by brother and sister Damien and Soizic, Joya in La Plagne Centre (joyalaplagne.com) specialises in sourcing products from as close to home as possible, including Tomme, Beaufort and Raclette cheese created on the slopes of neighbouring Peisey-Vallandry and honey from Aime la Plagne beekeeper Hugo Pellicier

Celebrating its 60th anniversary this winter, Les Menuires boasts high-altitude ski-in/ski-out accommodation and a convenient starting point for exploring the 600km Three Valleys ski area. With 85% of local slopes above 1,800 metres, it’s a snowsure bet and has gained a reputation as an affordable resort. The entire snow grooming fleet now runs on HVO synthetic fuel – gleaned from 100% renewable sources, it’s palm-oil free and is manufactured from waste fats and used vegetable oils.

ALPBACH, AUSTRIA

Some years ago, postcard-pretty Alpbach was voted the most beautiful village in Austria in a TV poll. Arrive here and it’s obvious why: charming, rustic, wooden chalets line the streets, and the effect is stunning. There’s a laid-back vibe with wintersports aficionados loyal to an authentic village that has never forgotten its farming roots. The sizeable 145km of ski terrain is ideal for intermediates looking for fun on the mountain fuelled by hearty lunches. In the evenings, the town has some cute, friendly bars and plenty of Tyrolean eateries.

26 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

DO At La Plagne’s Olympic bobsleigh track, holidaymakers can try piloting a bobsleigh. This thrilling experience lasts a full day and includes instruction from French former bobsleigh champions.

GET THERE BY TRAIN Depart London St Pancras at 09:01 on the new Eurostar Snow service, changing at Lille Europe to arrive at Aime la Plagne at 17:58. From there the transfer takes 20-40 minutes by bus or taxi.

STAY Stylish hostel Ho36 (ho36.com), in Les Menuires, has ski-in/ski-out access and is well rated for its eco-friendly approach to mountain accommodation.

EAT La Trantsa in neighbouring Saint Martin de Belleville serves home-produced tomme and ricotta cheeses from its farm.

DO Freedive in the 1ºC water under the ice of Lac du Lou (you can even do it at night by headtorch), then head inside the mountain refuge for a warming dinner.

STAY Alpbach has 12 eco-certified places to stay. One of these is the four-star Superior Hotel Der Böglerhof (boeglerhof.at), whose outdoor pool has magnificent mountainside views and an infrared cabin, Finnish sauna, bio sauna and steam bath.

EAT Hotel Post (post-alpbach.at) has a menu that focusses on fresh products from the region, including butter, eggs, cheese and bread, in recipes that have been loved and eaten in Alpbach for generations, and now given an innovative twist.

GET THERE BY TRAIN Depart London St Pancras at 09.01 on the new Eurostar Snow service, changing at Lille Europe to arrive at Moutiers at 17.30. From there it’s 25 minutes by bus or taxi.

DO Alpbach has several tantalising toboggan runs. The longest leads from the Reither Kogel via the Panorama Trail to Reith im Alpbachtal, a distance of 6.9km.

GET THERE BY TRAIN Take the 15.04 Eurostar to BrusselsMidi, arriving 18.05, then the 18.25 ICE to Cologne, arriving 20.15. Then take the 21:45 Nightjet sleeper train to Jenbach arriving 08:53. From there it’s 20 minutes by bus or taxi.

© les3vallees/David Andre

LA PLAGNE, FRANCE

Made up of no less than 11 villages, La Plagne is a resort with huge appeal. The ski area is shared with neighbouring Les Arcs and PeiseyVallandry, giving 425km of slopes to explore, where even beginners can enjoy gentlebut-high-altitude blue runs. For advanced powder hounds, there’s excellent off-piste tree skiing, too. Sustainable initiatives include a partnership between recycling centre Antropia and up-cycled clothing specialists One Tree, repurposing winter jackets previously used by mountain professionals for skiers to use again (onetreeatatime.fr).

POSITIVE IMPACT TRAVEL

28 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2023 | greentraveller.co.uk

POSITIVE IM

POSITIVE IMPACT TRAVEL

CT PA

Richard Hammond introduces the Wildlife Heritage Areas, a new global programme for responsible wildlife-watching that works to support both local communities and the animals

Wildlife

watching

with a heart

Bruno D’Amicis

N

o matter how many wildlife documentaries you see, nothing compares to being up close to animals in their natural habitat.

Whether it’s seeing a 40-tonne whale breaching out of the sea off the coast of Ireland or coming face-to-face with an adult silverback mountain gorilla in the forests of Rwanda, once you’ve reeled from the terror of being so close to such awesome creatures, the shock turns to awe.

Yet there are concerns that getting up close to wildlife can cause distress to these beautiful animals if the encounter is not managed responsibly. To counter this a global programme has been launched to make wildlife-watching more accountable.

The Wildlife Heritage Areas programme highlights those areas where tourists ‘can be assured of outstanding and responsible wildlife tourism experiences’. The initiative will enable travellers to discover destinations where local communities care for and protect the wildlife in their environment and support these communities through incredible tourism experiences that are sustainable in the long-term.

This global benchmark has been organised by World Animal Protection and World Cetacean Alliance, working with a coalition of responsible travel businesses and wildlife charities.

“The travel industry currently has no means of identifying destinations that greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 29

POSITIVE IMPACT TRAVEL

APENNINES MARSICAN BEAR HERITAGE AREA

WATCH GREEN TRAVELLER’S VIDEO INTRODUCTION TO WILDLIFE HERITAGE AREAS

Video produced by Green Traveller productions

30 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

Bruno Kelly

POSITIVE IMPACT TRAVEL

PLETTENBERG BAY WHALE HERITAGE AREA

Barry Skinstad

ENGAGING VISITORS IN LOCAL COMMUNITY’S WILDLIFE

Ravi N Jah at Unsplash

Bruno D’Amicis

AMAZON UAKARI HERITAGE AREA

“Wildlife Heritage Areas will create new opportunities for visitors to engage with the unique culture, heritage and biodiversity that underpins each local community’s wildlife offering” meet high standards of responsible wildlife watching”, explains Dylan Walker (pictured left), from Wildlife Heritage Areas.

He hopes the Wildlife Heritage Area programme will change this: “We believe Wildlife Heritage Areas will benefit both the local community and the wildlife in responsible wildlife watching destinations.

By working in partnership with locals, and charitable and responsible tourism experts, we can showcase how culture, responsible tourism and ideas for coexistence can create a better future for places, nature and people.”

There are currently eight Wildlife Heritage Areas in Europe, Australia, South America, the United States and South Africa, with plans for many more globally.

Angela Maldonado (pictured left), founder of Entropika, a conservation NGO and part of the Wildlife Heritage Network, said: “The Amazon Night Monkey Heritage

Area covers 640 km2 in Vista Alegre on the Colombian-Peruvian border. It offers low-impact nature activities, such as jungle hikes, wildlife-watching tourism and experiential tourism, which are all guided by knowledgeable locals. These local stewards of the forest are critically important in helping to alleviate outside pressure that the monkeys face from a range of issues including trafficking for biomedical research and deforestation.”

Nick Stewart, wildlife campaign director at World Animal Protection, said: “We’re delighted to have co-founded Wildlife Heritage Areas as a solution to exploitative wildlife tourism. We invite travel companies around the world to drop the elephant rides, ditch the dolphin shows and any of the other demeaning wildlife entertainment experiences out there and instead, get behind truly responsible wildlife tourism that meets the needs of local communities, visitors and of course wild animal welfare.”

In addition, Wildlife Heritage Areas will create new opportunities for visitors to engage with the unique culture, heritage and biodiversity that underpins each local community’s wildlife offering. This will help to generate pride and income for the responsible protection of wildlife and habitats.

Find out more wildlifeheritageareas.org greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 31

8

The

POSITIVE IMPACT TRAVEL

WILDLIFE HERITAGE AREAS, so far...

SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL WHALE HERITAGE AREA, USA The waters within the Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary are teeming with marine wildlife, from one of the healthiest blue whale populations in the world to plenty of playful common and bottlenose dolphins. The Santa Barbara Channel is also an important living laboratory with research and conservation initiatives to protect these natural treasures.

Education and community engagement programmes aim to raise awareness about the importance of whale conservation.

MADEIRA WHALE HERITAGE AREA, PORTUGAL The waters around Madeira, between the Azores and the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic, include Marine Protected Areas which are characterised by steep slopes, deep underwater canyons and plateaus attracting cetaceans that normally appear in the open ocean close to the coast. Year-round whale watching has become an important part of Madeira’s tourism industry, with tourists attracted to the region’s mild climate and continuous abundance of cetaceans.

AMAZON NIGHT MONKEY HERITAGE AREA, PERU/COLOMBIA Musmuki Tourism Association is a community-based project from Vista Alegre, Peru, on the Peru-Colombia border. Vista Alegre is surrounded by diverse Amazonian ecosystems, including flooded forests, lakes and creeks, with species including the Musmuki monkey, as well as pink and tucuxi river dolphins. Musmuki Tourism Association offers low-impact nature activities, all guided by knowledgeable locals (many of whom were previously involved in the illegal trade of Musmuki monkeys for medical research).

32 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 | greentraveller.co.uk

AMAZON UAKARI HERITAGE AREA, BRAZIL Mamirauá Reserve is the largest protected floodplain area in the world. Abundant in natural resources, it is home to several species, including jaguar, Amazon river dolphins, black caimen, manatees, baldheaded Uakari and an endemic primate, the black-headed squirrel monkey. Mamirauá is also an example of community conservation, where residents can use natural resources in a sustainable way.

PLETTENBERG BAY WHALE HERITAGE AREA, SOUTH AFRICA Flanked by Tsitsikamma and Robberg Marine Protected Areas, Plettenberg Bay is home to Bryde’s whales, southern right whales, humpback whales, killer whales, bottlenose dolphins, and many other marine animals.

It is also host to the Plett Ocean Festival, which brings together marine scientists, researchers and conservationists celebrating marine life and the sustainability of the oceans.

AMAZON UAKA

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Bernardo Oliviera

POSITIVE IMPACT TRAVEL

MADEIRA WHALE HERITAGE AREA

APENNINES MARSICAN BEAR HERITAGE AREA, ITALY The Central Apennines – or the wild heart of Italy, as it’s often known – is home to swathes of naturally and deliberately rewilded habitats. Among thriving biodiversity lives the endangered Marsican brown bear, of which there are only 60 left in the world and are a central part of local history and culture. A new bear-smart project, based on successful pilots in British Columbia, Canada, is helping the local community coexist with the bears and benefit from the tourism they bring.

WHITSUNDAYS WHALE HERITAGE AREA, AUSTRALIA

A group of islands with fringing reefs that follows the existing Whale Protection Area defined by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, four species of dolphin and six species of whale have been officially recorded in the area. Cetaceans are a vital part of the ecosystem and from July to September, humpback whales pass through to breed and calve, and dwarf minke whales also pass through the waters at this time.

ALGOA BAY WHALE HERITAGE AREA, SOUTH AFRICA In these warm shallow waters, the Southern right whales mate and have their calves, and humpback whales use it as a nursery before they migrate south to their feeding grounds.

In 2016, Algoa Bay was named the Bottlenose Dolphin Capital of the World, with pods of over 600 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins regularly present.

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

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FAMILY TRAVEL

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Stay green

Eat green

AT THE GRUB KITCHEN, PEMBROKESHIRE

The fabulous South Downs Way is practically on the hostel’s doorstep, so too is Southease railway station (25 minutes from Brighton). There’s storage space for cycles and the rooms are either dorms or private rooms (some are en suite), plus a campground for your own pitch. If you want to take things up a notch, there are camping pods, land pods and bell tents that are great for families. The hostel building is in a pretty, former farm courtyard and the dining room opens out on to an enclosed field so, when you’ve finished breakfast, you can sit out with a free top-up of coffee while the kids run around letting off steam. yha.org.uk

Little

Could the Grub Kitchen be a glimpse of the future? Insects can be a wonderful source of protein and it’s thought they could be used as a food source for the world’s growing population. Grub Kitchen is based on a 300-year-old farm near St Davids that is also home to an invertebrate zoo, wildlife walks and guided bug safaris. After becoming more familiar with the world of insects, feast on dishes such as cricket falafels, black ant and olive crusted goat’s cheese, and smoked chipotle cricket. grubkitchen.co.uk

greentraveller The latest news, tips and places to stay to help the whole family travel green

Travel green

ON TRAINS IN EUROPE

Did you know? The age limits for children vary from country to cou ntry. On Eurostar and most European trains , children under four go free, children age d four to 11 pay a reduced fare, and childr en 12 and over pay the adult fare. On many routes, there are special discounted fares for anyone under 26. Do always che ck the conditions when you buy tickets.

Cycle green

ON DISUSED RAILWAY LINES

Greentraveller

AT YHA SOUTH DOWNS, EAST SUSSEX

About one-third of Britain’s rail network closed in the 1960s, but since then there has been a concerted country-wide effort to repurpose hundreds of these disused railway lines into walking and cycle paths. They’re great for families as they are usually fairly flat, and are safe, well-maintained and often run along the banks of beautiful rivers and provide a convenient link between towns and villages.

Tunnels add to the sense of adventure and bridges can give wonderful, elevated views of the countryside. Some of these green corridors are just a few miles long and take only an hour or two to complete, some are great for a whole day out, while others stretch over great distances and can be cycled as part of a multi-day itinerary. In Europe they’re often known as ‘greenways’ – Vias Verdes in Spanish, Voies Vertes in French, Ecopistas in Portuguese. sustrans.org.uk

This is an edited extract from The Green Traveller (£18.99 Pavilion Books) by Richard Hammond 34 DECEMBER/JANUARY 202 | greentraveller.co.uk

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FLIGHT FREE

5 THINGS...

DISTANCE Keep a sensible distance: take a pair of binoculars if you can, and if you’re at a reserve, keep to designated viewing areas and avoid getting near – especially between – mothers and their young.

DRESS

Wear clothes that have colours appropriate to the habitat – dark green or brown for woodlands or seashore, white or light grey for snowy hillsides.

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tips for

RESPONSIBLE WILDLIFE WATCHING

In any interaction with nature, there’s a balance between marvelling at wildlife and not disturbing it.

Increase your chances of getting that balance right with these tips, and learn as much as you can about what flora and fauna you might see before you head out to help improve your chances of seeing it

FIND OUT MORE

In Scotland, all tour operator members of Wild Scotland (wild-scotland.org.uk) have signed up to its code of conduct on how to watch wildlife sustainably. If you’re going to see marine life, choose an operator that has undergone training through the Wise Scheme for minimising disturbance to marine wildlife, or is certified by Marine Life (marine-life.org.uk) or the Seawatch Foundation (seawatchfoundation.org.uk).

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SMELL

Avoid wearing strong smelling fragrances – many animals and birds depend on a keen sense of smell and may run (or fly) a mile if they come across unusual scents.

LEAVE NO TRACE

Take away any litter and make sure you haven’t left anything else behind.

RESPONSIBLE OPERATORS

If you are booking a wildlife watching experience with an activity provider or operator, choose one that can demonstrate its commitment to sustainable wildlife watching (see Wildlife Heritage Areas, pp XX-XX).

greentraveller.co.uk | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

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