Celebrate Our Earth With 5 Ideas for Slow Travel
Take the time to soak in local cultures and communities, all while traveling in a sustainable way.
Take the slow road from Bangkok to Angkor on a 7-night bike adventure through the countryside of Thailand and Cambodia. This low carbon footprint experience allows you to bike along the coast to Chanthaburi, through thick jungles, past charming villages, and culminates with a spectacular sunrise at Angkor Wat.
How about a hike from the Caribbean to the Pacific? In Costa Rica, it only takes 16 days. The newly minted Camino de Costa Rica starts at the Pacuare Nature Reserve and ends at Manuel Antonio National Park. Both are well-known tourist destinations (and rightfully so) but everything in between is solidly off the usual itineraries. In a country with so many zip lines that its forests sometimes feel like theme parks, the Camino offers a completely different perspective.
Sit back and relax as you glide past the traffic, out of Amsterdam and into the countryside on your way to the floating city of Venice. This newly launched overnight sleeper service takes you right to the city center straight to St. Mark’s Square. Cross snowcapped mountain ranges and adorable villages making your way to one of the most romantic cities in the world, all with peace of mind that you’re doing the environment a favor by skipping that low-cost flight.
Take a sailboat through Spain’s stunning archipelago where waves are seemingly non-existent. Start in Mallorca, the biggest island of the four with its dominating Sierra de Tramuntana (World Heritage Site) and secluded coves. Sail along the jagged coastline and jump off cliffs into turquoise waters. Continue overnight to Ibiza for a night out after docking at the buzzing port. Take it easy as you make your way to Menorca and the famed sanctuary of Formentera with its stunning white sand beaches.
This adventure of a lifetime is the epitome of slow travel in the most traditional sense of the word. Strictly available during the warmer months of November through March, the itinerary crosses the Andes from Chile’s Lake District to northern Patagonia in Argentina led by an expert horseback rider and guide. The unmarked trail is completely off-route and border crossings are done by boat across glacier-fed rivers and lakes.
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock. Cover Image: Dmitriy Bryndin. Image 1: Jukgrit Chaiwised. Image 2: Simon Dannhauer. Image 3: Creative Bee Maja. Image 4: Maphke. Image 5: Huang Jenhung.
Request your personalized trip below and one of our expert Travel Curators will be in touch.