Learn to travel the world better with our Green Travel Guides.
Our green travel guides feature eco travel activities, local recommendations, foodie insights into the best vegetarian cuisine and advice on locally-owned travel accommodation. To learn more about green travel in places around the world, take a look through our collection of Green Travel Guides below.
When we first arrived in Guadalajara, we weren’t sure what to expect. I had assumed that being Mexico’s second largest city, it wouldn’t be dissimilar from Mexico City. But it is. The two cities are completely different.
Indonesia is a nation of thousands of volcanic islands, each one home to unique cultures, cuisines, landscapes and languages. You could spend a lifetime in Indonesia and only scratch the surface of this extraordinary country, so don’t put it off any longer! Read our Indonesia travel guide to find out how your life will be changed by a trip to Indonesia.
There are so many things to do in Antigua that you won’t know what to do first!
I’d only heard incredible stories about Antigua’s colonial buildings all painted in a light shade of yellow. The misty blue-grey backdrop of volcanoes surrounding the city. The women dressed in gorgeous patterned Guatemalteca clothing. I couldn’t wait to see it for myself.
I’m lucky enough to have travelled and house sat in Antigua twice now! And to be honest, I can’t get enough of this beautiful city. I thought I’d exhausted all the things to do in Antigua on my first visit. When I came back for a second visit, I realise how wrong I was. I discovered even more exciting things to do in Antigua.
Valladolid isn’t on the travel route for many backpackers in Mexico’s Yucatan – but maybe it should be. We hadn’t planned to go to Valladolid either, but after we’d headed through the beach towns of Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, we were ready to go inland to explore some of the Mayan ruins and local towns before our month of house sitting in Merida.
After looking at Google Maps, Valladolid was the obvious next destination. We didn’t have high hopes for the city because we knew it would be a small place and we hadn’t heard anyone else talking about it. As it turned out, that was exactly why we liked it so much! Valladolid has an authentic and local feel to it.
Sofia was our first stop in Bulgaria. We’d planned on just passing through on our way to go skiing in Bansko, but as we slowly started to discover more and more historic sights and vegan restaurants, we slowed down.
Sofia isn’t a city like London, Paris or Rome though. It’s history is a cultural mesh of Eastern and Western influence. Churches, mosques and Soviet buildings all share the same small space of the city.
Bitola wasn’t really part of our Macedonia travel plan. Actually, we didn’t really have a proper plan, which is what caused the mess in the first place.
After arriving in Skopje and working our socks off to catch up on freelance work, we jumped straight on a bus to Lake Ohrid – which is known as the place to go for travellers in Macedonia. We had four beautiful days in Ohrid, wiling away hours around the lake and exploring monasteries.
Then it was time to move on, except we had nowhere to go.
Lake Ohrid is truly the jewel in Macedonia’s crown.
When we first made it past the town centre and scaled up the hillside through the old town, we looked out in wonderment over the lake and distant mountains. Lake Ohrid isn’t just any lake, this UNESCO World Heritage site is one of Europe’s oldest and deepest lakes. It is beautiful.
Skopje was our first and last stop during our slow travels through Macedonia. We weren’t sure what to expect from Macedonia’s capital city and before arriving all we’d heard was that it was a bit bleak and wasn’t the best for vegan travellers.
We were pleasantly surprised by Skopje.
A holiday in Macedonia hadn’t been our travel plan. But when the temperature in neighbouring Bulgaria dropped too low for us to bear, we made an unplanned detour to holiday in Macedonia. It was one of the best travel decisions we’ve ever made.
Macedonia is an incredible holiday destination. From the capital city of Skopje with its towering classical statues and buildings to the beautiful and serene Lake Ohrid and the pretty ski slopes of Mavrovo.
Arabic architecture, Middle Eastern food, cave houses, snow-capped mountains, free tapas with every glass of wine… The more we heard, the more irresistible the idea of visiting Granada became. So we abandoned our winter sun chasing in Seville and booked ourselves a cheap ticket on board the next bus to the mountainous town of Granada.
Unable to bear the cold weather crawling into the UK this November (we’re such wimps!) and with our insatiable love for slow travel trips, Luke and I were adamant that we had to get some winter sun on our faces. Well, you can hardly blame us, right?
With temperatures at around 21’c, beautiful buildings wherever you look, and that laid back Spanish culture that lends itself so well to slow travel, we decided that Seville would be the perfect slow travel destination for the winter.
Wondering where to stay in Bangkok without breaking your budget? Well, so were we.
While the cost of travel in Thailand can easily be kept on the cheap side, Bangkok is unsurprisingly the most expensive city. The majority of travellers to Thailand will arrive or depart from Bangkok and spend a few days in the city at least. Backpackers can grab a dorm bed for a little as £3 and double rooms in hostels can go for as low as £10 near Khaosan Road.
For the budget conscious traveller who doesn’t want the loud party scene that dominates the Khaosan Road area, finding budget accommodation in a more desirable location takes a bit more hard work. Luke and I set an accommodation budget of £20 per night for two, which is really the upper end of budget for Thailand, and went from there.
We’re Charlie and Luke — UK travel bloggers, adventurers and storytellers. We travel slow and write about sustainable travel. We want to make responsible travel choices and help you do the same. Get to know us.
