There was a time when holidays were just that: holidays. A chance to jet off, kick back and enjoy. But we’re wising up to the impact our travels can have, from carbon footprints to the effects of tourism on communities. Hotels and tour operators are falling over themselves to prove their environmental credentials, but how can we be sure they’re not just greenwashing? Enter nature-positive travel, a gentler, slower way of travelling that strives to benefit destinations — by contributing towards community and environmental projects or making sure our tourist spending ends up in the right pockets. It all adds up one thing: fantastic holidays that let us do good just by being there.
1. Rewilding safari in Sussex
The Autumn Safaris at Knepp (see above), one of England’s most successful rewilding projects, provide a glorious insight to this 3,500-acre estate in West Sussex — and be sure to graze on the estate-to-plate organic and regenerative menu in the new Wilding Kitchen café and restaurant headed up by Ned Burrell. Join an expert ecologist and take in baying red stags, snuffling Tamworth pigs and seasonal winter thrushes as you roam around this wild estate, which has been transformed from an unprofitable intensive farm to a sanctuary of water meadows, woodland, open grassland and reedbeds. There are shepherds’ huts, bell tents, cottages, treehouses and a lovely campsite to bed down in. From £20 per person to camp. Autumn safaris from £65; knepp.co.uk
2. Bears, wolves and forests in Romania
Strike out into Europe’s last tracts of virgin forest with Barbara and Christoph Promberger, conservation pioneers who are rewilding a vast area at a rate of 100 to 150 hectares a year as well as reintroducing endemic species such as bison to the FÄgÄraÈ Mountains. Bison play a vital role in conserving biodiversity, sustaining a balance between forest and grassland ecosystems. This eight-day trip with Journeys With Purpose tracks bison, wolves and brown bears, helps endemic plants and includes a night under the stars. From £9,000 per person, full board, including all transfers and a 20 per cent donation to Foundation Conservation Carpathia; journeyswithpurpose.org
3. Dose up on Vitamin ‘N’ in Scotland
That’s ‘N’ for nature, and you’ll get it in spades on this Slow Adventures trip to Lochaber in Scotland. There’s cold-water swimming, foraging, ecology walks plus the chance to help reintroduce native oysters to the local bay, which improves water quality, creates habitat for other sea life and protects the coastline. Another feel-good bonus: 5 per cent of the trip price goes directly to a selection of vetted local community conservation projects such as the Arkaig Community Forest, which restores and manages woodland habitats. From £1,763 per person including seven nights’ B&B accommodation, transfers, activities, lunch and most dinners; slow-adventure.com
4. Bears and biodiversity in Spain
Yellowwood Adventures offers a 10-night guided walking tour traversing Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country, with gentle walking in the Picos de Europa mountains and guided city tours of Oviedo, Santander, Bilbao and San Sebastian. Part of the tour includes a visit to the FAPAS charity headquarters outside Oviedo, which is working to protect the biodiversity of the Picos de Europa, including the brown bear, the Iberian wolf and reforesting areas of fruit trees to support the wildlife population. Guests can take part in setting up and maintaining wildlife cameras and donate to the projects. Reduce your carbon footprint by taking the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao or Santander. From £1,950 per person, including B&B accommodation, guides and most meals; yellowwoodadventures.com
5. Citizen science in Portugal’s winelands
Play citizen scientist and epicurean on this trip with Exodus touring Portugal’s Basto and Douro regions. The award-winning guide, Madalena Patacho, is a naturalist and oenophile, so you’re in good hands. Part of the trip includes helping collect freshwater samples, adding DNA information to eBioAtlas, the world’s largest repository of species data. Eight days from £2,499 per person, B&B accomodation including wine tastings, flights, transfers and some meals; exodus.co.uk
6. Glamping on the Isle of Wight
Leave the car behind and take the ferry to the Isle of Wight. Visit Isle of Wight provides useful transport tips, and the top nature-first place to stay is Tapnell Farm. A former 800-cow dairy farm, it has been transformed into an eco-tourism business, home to Tom’s Eco Lodge and farm accommodation as well as the Cow Restaurant. Among various conservation efforts, they are reestablishing woodland and hedgerows on their land to create habitat for wildlife, as well as carrying out swallow surveys for the British Trust for Ornithology (which guests can help with). One night in an Eco Pod from £175, sleeping up to four; visitisleofwight.co.uk
7. Eco-sensitive luxury spa time in the Cotswolds
Set in 12 acres of beautifully manicured gardens, Whatley Manor is known for its Michelin-starred restaurant, The Dining Room, as well as the soothing Aquarias Spa. What you might not know is that it’s a trailblazer in sustainability, with the ambitious target to be carbon net zero by 2028 and having been rewarded with a silver accreditation by EarthCheck, a stringent certification body. The grounds also provide a lesson in no-dig kitchen gardening, which reduces soil erosion, nutrient leaching, weeds and emissions and creating higher yields. Doubles from £379 on a B&B basis, including spa access; whatleymanor.com
8. Watersports in Germany’s newest lake district
An area known for open-cast mining doesn’t sound like the ideal holiday spot, but that’s exactly what you’ll find in this corner of Germany between Berlin and Dresden. The entire region is being transformed into a watery holiday paradise, becoming Europe’s largest man-made lakeland area at 14,000 hectares including two dozen lakes and canals to explore, as well as beech forests home to wolves, wild boar and elk. There are sandy beaches, wild swimming, sailing, kayaking, kitesurfing and looping bike trails that wind around the lakes, rich with new birdlife. Visitors can even visit new vineyards, drawing on the area’s vintner tradition that dates back to the 13th century. One night’s glamping in a stylish tipi in the Raus und Gut campsite on Lake Gräbendorf, close to a bird sanctuary, from £59; raus.travel
9. Back-to-basics family fun in Wales
Set in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Bluestone National Park Resort offers 500 acres of beautiful Welsh countryside to explore. This former dairy farm is turning itself into a sustainably run resort with strong rewilding credentials, including more than 60 acres of replanted woodland, wildflower meadows and natural grassland, plus a range of projects from bat boxes and hedgehog rehabilitation to roads paved with asphalt made using fibres from recycled nappies. Activities are available in any weather, from kayaking, biking and woodland workshops to kid-friendly diversions in the indoor Serendome and the biomass-warmed Blue Lagoon Water Park. Four nights from £340 in a two-bedroom lodge including some activities and access to the water park; bluestonewales.com
10. Undiscovered Western Albania
This new trip from eco-minded operators Intrepid is a nine-day expedition around Albania, taking travellers off the beaten track with the Meet Network (Mediterranean Experience of Ecotourism), an association of Mediterranean protected areas working to conserve the region’s natural and cultural heritage through conservation-driven tourism. Visitors learn about conservation efforts at the Karavasta Lagoon in Divjakë-Karavasta National Park, cycle around Pelican Island, spend the night at a locally owned beach hotel and rise for a sunrise breakfast in a bird-watching tower. From £1,255 per person, including accommodation, most meals, transfers and most activities; intrepidtravel.com
11. Treehouses with hot tubs
Having recently been awarded B Corp accreditation, Forest Holidays offers a suitably green and leafy British escape. With 12 locations, it works in partnership with Forestry England to protect its surroundings while providing wholesome, outdoorsy family holidays in comfortable lodges — and bringing in much-needed income to protect our remaining tracts of woodland. Five nights in a three-bedroom lodge with a hot tub in Blackwood Forest in Hampshire, from £1,430; forestholidays.co.uk
12. Whale watching in the Azores
Get stuck in with a team of researchers in the Azores amid an ongoing study of sperm whales and bottlenose dolphins with Wildlife Worldwide. It’s a deep dive into the mammals’ ecology, population, habitat and behaviour, comparing historical data as they migrate north. Lead by Dr Lisa Steiner, you’ll also get the chance to scuba dive with blue sharks and devil rays. Six days from £1,595 including B&B accommodation and transfers; wildlifeworldwide.com
13. WWF-protected luxury lodges in Tuscany
It’s hard to find fault with properties created in partnership with the WWF — and Oasyhotel in Italy’s Dynamo Oasis Nature Reserve has the added bonus of being a thoroughly lovely escape that also benefits a local children’s charity. This 2,500-hectare nature reserve, a former Tuscan hunting ground, is home to rare species of flora and fauna, plus there’s an organic farm on site that’s used by both the restaurant and local schools, educating children about regenerative agriculture and nature conservation. Doubles on a B&B basis, from £472; oasyhotel.com
14. Hands-on rewilding in Yorkshire
The rapidly rewilding 3,000-acre Broughton Sanctuary is a pleasing combo of grand stately house, cutting-edge spa and chic, renovated cottages dotted between fields and dry stone walls. The area, once used for intensive sheep grazing, is being replanted with native trees, and guests are encouraged to join in with litter-picking, tree maintenance and species data collection to add to the estate’s rewilding database. Three nights in a one-bedroom cottage from £520; broughtonsanctuary.co.uk
15. Rewilding the Highlands in Scotland
With 23,000 acres to explore, Alladale takes guests right into Scotland’s wilderness, with a range of activities that get you up close and personal with nature. Spend days foraging, wild swimming, walking and biking. They’ve planted one million trees so far, are restoring ancient peatland (a vital carbon sink) and working to revive the Scottish wildcat and red squirrel. Seven nights in fully-catered Ghillie’s Rest (sleeps up to four) from £3,950 for two adults, including some activities; alladale.com
16. Olive harvesting in Alentejo
Guests can get stuck in with the olive harvest on the bucolic family-run São Lourenço do Barrocal in October, learning about ancestral farming traditions and enjoying olive-tastings. This restored 19th century Portuguese farmstead is an interior design dream, with vaulted ceilings, terracotta floors and locally crafted wooden furniture, plus farm-to-table dining that shines a light on local, sustainable producers. There’s also archaeological appeal with on-site barrocais boulders, prehistoric monuments and imposing standing stones older than Stonehenge, dating back seven thousand years to the early Neolithic era. Doubles from £354 on a B&B basis; barrocal.pt
17. Biodynamic dining in Hampshire
Heckfield Place in Hampshire has a firm place in our hearts — for its rustic-chic design, its bucolic grounds, the dreamy new Bothy Spa and delicious seasonal food, courtesy of Skye Gyngell. The farm, a pleasant stroll through the gardens, is now officially biodynamic, which means it is fully organic and works as a closed, diversified system relying on nature rather than chemicals to achieve balance, and increasing both productivity and biodiversity in the process. Doubles from £550 on a B&B basis; heckfieldplace.com
18. Lynx-tracking in Andalucia
Explore little-known pockets of southern Spain on this seven-day, tailor-made journey with Steppes Travel and The European Nature Trust (Tent), which works to connect people with nature to raise funds for nature-positive projects. Travelling from Malaga to the Sierra de Andujar, there’s the chance to spot bison, wild boar and red deer and gain insight into the work of local NGO CBD-Habitat, which protects the Iberian lynx by working with local landowners to avoid lynx and human conflict. From £2,795 per person including accommodation, some meals, expert nature guides and a donation to Tent’s conservation projects in the region; steppestravel.com
19. Away from the crowds in Catalonia
Avoid busy Barcelona and head for Talaia Plaza Ecoresort, set in two hectares of pine forest on the Costa Brava. Guests can take “green tours” through orchards and native gardens, or join the resort’s reforestation efforts by helping to plant native trees. The resort partners with local organisations to preserve and study the marine and land flora and fauna of the Costa Brava. From £195 per night for a self-catering Premium Lodge through Beyond Green; staybeyondgreen.com
20. Sailing and science in Greece
Island-hop around the Cyclades on a week-long journey with Responsible Travel. Accompanied by a biologist guide, you’ll spend the days sailing between islands, spotting dolphins, loggerhead turtles and monk seals, as well as hiking through fragrant forests home to wild orchids, ancient olive trees, Eleonora’s falcon and griffon vultures. Swim in gin-clear waters and help collect data, including recording the dolphins’ sounds with a hydrophone. Divers, meanwhile, can help monitor and log any human-caused degradation to the local marine environment. From £729 per person, including six nights’ B&B accommodation on the boat, and conservation activities; responsibletravel.com
'It's about slowing down'
For the launch of our new campaign, travel writer Francisca Kellett told us what sustainable travel means to her
'Sustainable travel is about slowing down and being more thoughtful in our decision-making. It's about doing our research – into how we get there, where we stay, and how long we spend in destinations – to try and reduce our carbon footprints and make sure our tourist dollars are going into the host communities. And it's about calling out bad practice when we spot it. Never forget your power as a consumer.'
