Five Amazing Destinations for the Eco-Conscious Traveller

Being a conscious traveller does not mean you have to sacrifice on luxury or new experiences. Sustainable travel is at the forefront of the travel industry, with more and more destinations making conscious changes to help the environment and people around them. These destinations should be celebrated and placed at the top of our bucket lists, not least to encourage other counties to take up arms and follow in their footsteps.

Finland

One important destination to mention is Finland, as it paves the way for clean energy and fresh air. By 2030, Finland aims to ban the use of coal in power generation and reduce its dependency on imported fossil fuels by 50 percent. As it currently stands, the launch of the Sustainable Finland program acknowledges the positive impact of sustainable tourism on society, nature, and the economy, and so encourages this through fantastically informative tourist information guides and boards.

Travellers are given detailed knowledge of environmentally friendly modes of travel, locally produced and ethically made food, eco-friendly escapes, and activities that engage with and help the local culture. The sustainability efforts are working wonderfully, with Finland having some of the cleanest lakes and air in the world, according to the World Health organisation. With this in mind, Finland is one of the best places to visit to get in touch with nature.

But the experiences you can have will be very different depending on the time of year you decide to embark on your journey. This is due to the extraordinary fact that, in the most northern parts of the country, the sun does not set in the summer months. This is where the nickname ‘The Land of the Midnight Sun’ comes from! If you wish to visit during the summertime, the rural country of Finland is your oyster, with lighthouse islands to explore, a multitude of UNESCO sites, and an almost silly number of national parks. Finland’s ‘Everymans rights” mean that travellers can venture almost anywhere in these parks, as long as they clean up after themselves and respect the nature around them.

Another thing that Finland is not lacking in are saunas and lakes. The Finnish past-time of sweating it out in a sauna and jumping in a chilly lake works wonders for the body and mind, but you can do this in winter too! Simply follow the Finnish and jump through a hole in the ice!

On a personal note, a more favourable activity for wintertime in my eyes is skiing. To many people’s astonishment, Finland has some beautiful skiing, with gorgeous scenery and guaranteed snow. But what makes this experience special is the likelihood of skiing under the Northern lights, with the lights appearing almost every other night in the northernmost parts of the country.

Skiing with the Northern Lights to guide your way in one of the world’s most sustainable countries- yes please!

Palau

For eco-conscious travellers looking for the warm, tropical climate of an island paradise, they must look no further than Palau in the North Pacific. First and foremost, this was the first destination in the world to produce a mandatory eco-pledge for their visitors to sign, ensuring that they will be good environmental stewards for their stay at the picturesque island.

Palau has also made massive conservation efforts with its highly praised marine sanctuary that encompasses 80% of the island’s territorial waters- this is around twice the size of Mexico! This movement guarantees protection from commercial fishing and mining, with the remaining 20% being used by local fishing communities, keeping everything local and protecting from high, unsustainable food-prints caused by commercial fishing. This conscious effort to protect marine wildlife also means that Palau is consistently ranked as one of the world’s most spectacular places to scuba dive.

Palau’s shark sanctuary prevents commercial shark fishing, meaning that travellers will watch a show of diverse marine life unfold, with Grey reef sharks, schools of tropical fish, barracudas, eels, cuttlefish, non-stinging jellyfish, the list goes on! The beautiful coral gardens are second to none, and there is an abundance of caverns, caves, and drop-offs, with some of the best wall dives in the world. As if that was not enough to interest any eager divers, there are also WW2 wrecks to be explored!

Palau also puts its environment and local community first, being very mindful of eco-tourism, and ensuring that the island does not let an unsustainable amount of tourists in.

Copenhagen

Number 3 on my list is Copenhagen! 

Climate change is affected by many different aspects of our lives, with big cities causing the worst damage, producing more than 60% of the world’s greenhouse gasses, but accounting for less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, according to UN-Habitat. This needs to change, with Copenhagen leading the way, being set to become the worlds’ first carbon-neutral capital by 2025.

The city’s buses are switching from diesel to electric, with the efficient public transport network encouraging citizens and tourists to ditch the cars and travel more sustainably. Even with the greener vehicles, this is a city where the bicycle comes first, with travellers often opting for the low-cost electric rental bikes. Copenhagen also has a fantastic waste-to-energy power plant called Copenhill which supplies green energy to tens and thousands of homes and businesses. Travellers may also be surprised to learn that the power plant is covered by an artificial ski and snowboard slope all year round, which makes for an interesting visit!

A visitor’s trip would not be complete without an extensive dip into the New Nordic cuisine Copenhagen is famous for, with its focus on seasonal, organic ingredients making for tasty, sustainable meals. There are many options for climate-friendly foods, with some restaurants growing their own vegetables and re-thinking their energy consumption to reduce their carbon footprint.

Being a bustling city also means that travellers will have their choice of activities to take part in, with excellent nightlife, scenery, and countless attractions and tours- you can even brew your own beer!

Costa Rica

Let's take a trip now to number 4 -  wonderful Costa Rica! 

When we look to the future, we must pay attention to countries going above and beyond to achieve carbon-neutrality, with one of the world’s leading pioneers being Costa Rica. As one of the first countries to turn their climate change pledges into proper policies, Costa Rica plans to complete decarbonise the economy. The country is working tirelessly to reverse decades of deforestation, having already returned their forest cover to around 53%, with 27% of the country’s landmass dedicated to protected parks and reserves.

This makes Costa Rica a perfect place for travellers looking to get in touch with their eco side, with carbon-neutral organic coffee farms, environmentally friendly tours, fountains of youth, volcano hike and bike tours, and schemes to help you off-set the carbon you used to fly there.

In Liberia, you can even saddle up in a cowboy outfit and combine a horse ride with some fantastic wildlife watching, with the park boasting up to 300 species of birds, pumas, jaguars, sloths, spider monkeys, and so much more! If you would like to learn more about the efforts to maintain Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve offers a vast array of programs which aim to educate visitors on the local environmental, economic, and social challenges along with the initiatives in place to address them.

Combine this with ziplining, night tours and extreme adventure canopy tours and you have a destination perfect for conscious traveller’s keen for adventure and excitement.

Iceland

And for travellers who favour a colder climate, Iceland is my number 5 destination, as it continues to impress the world with its environmental conscience. If a product can be environmentally friendly, the hotels and resorts in Iceland will make sure they use it, along with common charges for ‘takeaway’ items to protect against the use of single-use items such as plastic cups.

This chilly country also has a renewable energy program which supplies nearly every single resident with hot water and clean electricity from hydropower and geothermal power. This geothermal power is also used to heat the environmentally-friendly greenhouses, illuminated wonderfully by hydro-electricity, in order to supply the Icelanders with the considerable amount of fruit and vegetables that they consume. Bees are even imported to help fertilize the plants naturally!

Travellers can have guided tours of these impressive greenhouses on the Golden Circle tour, which focuses on showing visitors Iceland's most iconic sites, including the golden Gullfoss waterfall and the scenic Geysir geothermal area with bubbling and erupting geysers. The Blue Lagoon is a must-see for tourists, with the heated waters enriched with silica, algae, and minerals leaving skin soft, smooth, and invigorated. This self-cleaning ecosystem is 100% sustainable, and, when combined with a rest at one of the serene sanctuary hotels, is considered one of the most relaxing and tranquil places in the world.

Nowhere quite compares to this place of lava fields and blue waters, with in-water massages and even an in-water bar where you can quench your thirst. This place is a personal favourite of mine!

For someone who loves to travel, wrestling with the internal conflict of exploring the world but also being responsible for my own carbon footprint can get a bit much. The emergence of more sustainable travel has made this easier, but so much of the world is yet to prioritise initiatives to crack down on the climate problem.

This is why we, as travellers, must take it upon ourselves to plan our trips wisely, to give back to the community and environment, and to support local cultures. We must push for eco-tourism, and not allow tourism to cripple the countries we so love to visit. In the past, tourism has lead to deforestation, erosion, overcrowding and pollution, and local inflation.

Thankfully, due to the push of local communities and environmental organisations, times are changing for the better, allowing us to immerse ourselves in different cultures and environments without harming our collective home- the world.

To plan your next eco-friendly trip do give me a shout. Baby steps towards a completely eco-friendly holiday could be the way to go – let's explore your options together. I'm looking forwards to working with you to save the planet.