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Use this map to find blog posts about destinations you are interested in. Simply click on a country and you will be directed to all my relevant routes, stories and guides.

Recent posts

  • Eco hotel review: The Usual
  • Hiking in La Palma
  • Travel the Scottish Highlands on the Ember bus
  • Is the Caledonian Sleeper train worth it?
  • Rotterdam Vegan Food A-Z

the.sustainable.travel.guide

Changing the way we travel

How often do you revisit places? ✅ Modern society How often do you revisit places?

✅ Modern society pushes a mindset of more, more, more that reinforces checklist tourism rather than travelling to places you actually like.

💚 Altough I also love going to countries/regions I haven’t been to before, I think it can be just as nice to revisit somewhere you know you love.

🌍 Some of the countries I’m most eager to visit are ones I’ve been to before, such as Italy and Germany.

❔How do you feel about revisiting places? Where do you keep coming back to?

#SustainableTravel #ResponsibleTourism #FavouriteDestinations #EuroSummer
[ Sustainable travel | Revisiting the same travel destinations | Travelling responsibly ]
Would you stay here? 💚 It’s not often you come ac Would you stay here?

💚 It’s not often you come across a truly sustainable hotel, but @theusual.social is one of them! Or rather, 2 of them: there is a location in both Bruxelles and Rotterdam (with a third opening in Firenze in 2027).

👌 Instead of seeing sustainability as an add-on, The Usual took sustainability as a starting point.

Find the full review on my blog!

🛏️ I personally really like the design of the rooms. The smallest room felt cozy without being cramped. And the bed was comfy, with a good view from the window!

#SustainableTravel #EcoHotel #TheUsual #TheUsualRotterdam #TheUsualBrussels
[ Sustainable travel | Eco hotel review | The Usual hotel Brussels Rotterdam | Europe hotel sustainbility | Euro summer destinations ]
I would have liked to know these things before try I would have liked to know these things before trying to get on a train in Spain! 🇪🇸

🎟️ Just a ticket is not enough… I didn’t expect needing to show my passport before boarding the train from Barcelona to Madrid. 

My passport was of course all the way at the bottom of my bag, so I held up the entire queue of people, which I found super embarrassing. 🙈

🧳 Madrid Atocha station looked to me like an airport in terms of layout. Here, I also had my bags scanned. Luckily I didn’t need to take devices or liquids out, so it was quick & easy!

Then lastly, a movie being played on the screens on long distance trains made me feel a bit nostalgic. It reminded me of school bus trips abroad. 

🎧 To get the full experience, you need to plug in earphones for the sound. I didn’t bring earphone cables with the old AUX plug, but I would have if I knew.

Have you had the same experiences with Spanish high-speed trains? 🇪🇸

#SustainableTravel #SpainByTrain #HighSpeedTrain #EuroSummer #SpainTrip
[ Sustainable travel | Train travel in Spain | Euro summer | Public transport | Spain tourism ]
✨ Time for a reintroduction ✨ If you’re new here: ✨ Time for a reintroduction ✨

If you’re new here: welcome! And if you’ve been following me for a while – THANK YOU 💚💚

The Sustainable Travel Guide is all about inspiration and tips for more sustainable travel. This means trying to travel in a way that does as little harm to the environment as possible, as well as boosting local economies and small businesses at your destination.

It’s not about being ‘perfectly sustainable’ (spoiler: that’s impossible), but about making a positive impact where you can. 💪

On here and on my blog, I post sustainable travel tips, highlight flight-free routes and anything else related to responsible tourism. 🌍
 
If you want to make sure you never miss anything, you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter via my website. Or comment ‘newsletter’ and I’ll send you the link. 🌱

x Lotte 🫶
Let me convince you… ⚡️ Ember is a 100% electric Let me convince you…

⚡️ Ember is a 100% electric bus operator in Scotland, and this is why you should choose their buses over renting a car:

💚 It’s cheaper, as you can get from for example Oban to Inverness for only £2
💚 It’s more sustainable
💚 You can fully focus on the views
💚 Using Ember supports these bus routes to remain available to locals
💚 Frequent services, also overnight
💚 Children under 5 travel for free and those between 5 and 18 travel for half price
💚 Scottish bus passes apply, too
💚 Generous luggage allowance
💚 You can bring a bike or pet for free
💚 Onboard toilets, USB chargers and WiFi
💚 Wheelchair spaces on every bus

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The £2 fare cap is subsidised by the Scottish government and will last at least until March 2027.

#NoSpon #EmberBus #ScotlandRoadtrip #SustainableTravel #BusTravel
[ Sustainable travel | Scotland roadtrip | Ember bus Scottish Highlands | Affordable public transport in Cairngorms National Park | Car-free travel through Scotland ]
New guide on positive impact tours in Europe 🇪🇺 ✨ New guide on positive impact tours in Europe 🇪🇺

✨ Newsletter subscribers will know already: I published a list of impact tours in cities across Europe!

🗺️ It will forever be a work in progress, where I add new tours I come across and delete ones that are no longer running. 

😇 It looks similar to my guide full of independent gift shops. You can find both under “guides” on my website.

👉 Head over to thesustainabletravelguide.com for the full list.

Which positive impact tour would you add?

#SustainableTravel #PositiveImpactTravel #CityTours #EuroSummer
[ Sustainable travel | Positive impact travel | Responsible tourism | European city trip ]
My honest opinion 👇 Is it a cool experience? Yes. My honest opinion 👇

Is it a cool experience? Yes.
Is it (too) expensive? Also yes.

💶 I think efficient train journeys do not need to be luxury experiences, especially since Highland residents also use the Caledonian Sleeper to get to other parts of the UK.

🛌 That’s not to say the luxurious feel of the Caledonian Sleeper isn’t nice, it’s just that I’d rather see a cheaper overnight service I wouldn’t hesitate to take more often.

So is the Calendonian Sleeper really worth it? That depends. 😬

🚅 For most people, the price makes it a once-in-a-lifetime journey, whereas it has potential to be a convenient train for everyone to use regularly. 

What are your thoughts? 🧐

Read my full review on the blog (thesustainabletravelguide.com)

#NoSpon #SustainableTravel #CaledonianSleeper #ScottishHighlands #SleeperTrain
[ Sustainable travel | London to Inverness on the Caledonian Sleeper train | Overnight train | International train travel in Europe | Visit Scotland | Cairngorms | Scottish Highlands experience ]
Are museums sustainable? 🏛️ Happy International M Are museums sustainable?

🏛️ Happy International Museum Day! Museums are popular tourist attractions, but how do they relate to sustainability?

🌿 Aside from incorporating sustainable practices into their operations, museums play an important role in education, conservation, community building and research. 

💚 Different types of museums contribute to society in different ways, but all of them have to carefully consider their ethics and potential negative impact. Overall, in my opinion, museums are often a force for good and therefore worth visiting.

👇 What is your favourite museum?

#SustainableTravel #InternationalMuseumDay #SustainabilityMuseum #VisitAMuseum
Where to find the best (vegan) food in Rotterdam? Where to find the best (vegan) food in Rotterdam?

📥 Save this for your next trip to the Netherlands

🌱 From cheap & cheerful to fine dining and everything in between — Rotterdam has it all!

💚 My favourite places that I keep coming back to are Backyard, Rozey, Spirit & SUE, but there are plenty more vegan-friendly places worth a visit.

🥦 Head to my blog to find the full A-Z list.

Which restaurant in Rotterdam would you like to try?

#SustainableTravel #VisitRotterdam #VeganInRotterdam #RotterdamVegan #FoodieTravel
I love train travel, but… Not all routes are equa I love train travel, but…

Not all routes are equally nice 😬 What are your most and least favourite train journeys in Europe? Mine are 👇

London 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 > Barcelona 🇪🇸
Very doable and stress-free. Plenty of time to have lunch in Paris and still arrive in Barcelona before 22:00.

👍 Pro tip: you can easily make it in one day from the north of England! I travelled from Sheffield to Barcelona in 1 day.

Den Haag 🇳🇱 > København 🇩🇰
A few changes to stretch your legs and enough flexibility to adapt the route in the case of delays.

👍 Pro tip: sleep in København for a night or take a night train and travel onwards to Sweden or Norway the next day. 

Wien 🇦🇹 > Bruxelles 🇧🇪
Only 1 change in Frankfurt and lovely views of the Donau along the route. Comfortable trains, too.

👍 Pro tip: depending on where your ho(s)tel is, you can also board and exit the train at a different station on either end.

Amsterdam 🇳🇱 > Praha 🇨🇿
The 2nd train of the journey got cancelled just 2 weeks before the journey. On the day, the 1st also got cancelled.

👎 Instead: take the night train on this route or split the journey over 2 days.

Břeclav 🇨🇿 > Kraków 🇵🇱
The train stands still and moves slowly for a long time. Seat reservations were confusing as the train splits in 2.

👎 Instead: still a fine route to take, it just seems to take longer than it should.

Sheffield 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 > Glasgow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Normally 4,5 hours, so it should not be a long journey, but it took me 8. The direct option no longer runs.

👎 Instead: travel via Edinburgh rather than via Manchester/Warrington.

#SustainableTravel #TrainTravel #EuroSummer #Interrail #ResponsibleTravel
What you need to know before visiting a tulip fiel What you need to know before visiting a tulip field

🌷 When the flowers bloom differs per year and per location, depending on the weather.

🌷 Never walk into fields or pick flowers without permission from the owner.

Sadly, the way tulips are grown is often not sustainable, at least not in the enormous fields that are so typically Dutch.

👎 Tulip fields are monocultures, often sprayed with lots of pesticides and therefore bad for biodiversity.

👎 Flower trade involves mass shipping of tulips (both the flowers and bulbs) by airplane.

In turn, climate change is making it increasingly difficult to have a reliable tulip harvest. 

So what can you do?

🌷 Support small-scale organic farms and growers
🌷 Travel sustainably and locally
🌷 Enjoy the view, but buy dried flowers instead
🌷 Share this post to spread the word

#SustainableTravel #TulipSeason #Netherlands #Keukenhof #ResponsibleTravel
[Sustainable travel | Visiting tulip fields | Tourism Netherlands | Alternatives to Keukenhof | Visit lesser known places | Local travel destinations ]
What makes Orkney unique? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Orkney isla What makes Orkney unique?

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Orkney islands are a group of islands off the northeast coast of Scotland. 

💙 I have now travelled there 4 times, as my parents-in-law moved there 3 years ago. So it’s time to answer some questions about what Orkney is like!

❔If there’s anything else you’d like to know, feel free to leave a comment or send me DM.

⛴️ The flight-free route to get to Orkney is on my blog! I’ve updated some details on the ferry crossing.

#SustainableTravel #FlightFreeUK #VisitOrkney #OrkneyIslands #FerryTravel
[ Sustainable travel | Scottisch Orkney islands | Visit Orkney | Things to know before travelling to Orkney | Lesser know destinations in the UK ]
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