Glamping offers the chance to discover the pleasures of local produce, simple regional cuisine and a slower pace of life. It’s also an excuse to spend the night somewhere unusual; as well as the usual yurts, pods and frontiers-style tents, there are tree houses, boats and converted lorries to choose from. No surprise then that glamorous camping continues to increase in popularity. The Camping and Caravanning Club, which runs more than 100 campsites around Britain, has seen an increase of 15% in glamping over the last year.
Glamping in Devon aboard ‘Faithful’
Sawday’s is a family-run travel business that specialises in environmentally-friendly holidays. It’s Canopy & Stars website specialises in unusual alternatives to conventional camping such as treehouses, yurts and caravans.
This converted 1950s lorry no longer moves, but is an enchanting place to stay for the night
While eco-aware travellers have the opportunity to offset the emissions from air travel, staying at home means the carbon footprint attributable to long-haul air travel is bypassed. And with one return flight from London to California creating a warming effect equivalent to 3 tons of carbon dioxide per person (roughly one third of the annual carbon footprint of the average European), the environmental savings from a so-called staycation are significant.
Unlike conventional camping, which can be a rather austere affair, those wishing to spend time under canvas today have the choice of spacious tepees, yurts and treehouses that boast running water and flushing loos.
The advent of cheap air travel and package holidays in the 1950s and 1960s provided the first chance for most people in Britain to experience affordable travel abroad and the guaranteed hot weather of a summer holiday to Spain.
The ethical choice
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.
No one can be certain why the number of mini-breaks taken in Britain jumped by more than 60 per cent last year, but great weather, squeezed household budgets and even the current vogue for glamping are said to have all played a part.
The popularity of the four-day mini-break appears to have been at the expense of the traditional two-week family summer holiday. The overseas holiday has been on the wane since 2010, and, according to the Office of National Statistics, travel to long-haul destinations fell last year by 5 per cent.
The swing towards these so-called staycations has wider benefits than simply boosting local economies; holidaymakers will have re-discovered the beauty of the British Isles and are likely to have taken a greener break to boot.
On every return flight to New York, each traveller is responsible for emitting about 1.2 tons of CO2, which happens to be the same amount as the individual’s suggested ‘carbon budget’ – the emissions from an entire year of living. If we fly, air travel overshadows all our other actions.
Winter breaks
Powered for the most part by French nuclear power, the Eurostar train offers a low-carbon alternative to air travel. This coming ski season, you can hop on the Eurostar ski train at St Pancras in London or Ashford International in Kent and be whisked direct to the French Alps at 186mph. The ski stations at Courchevel, La Plagne, Tignes, Meribel and Les Arcs, all a short coach ride from the train station.
Greenest skiing
What if mountains were on your doorstep? What if you used your skis to get about… even when there was no snow? Even on tarmac.
All.I.Can is a though-provoking film that compares the challenges of big mountain skiing to the challenges of global climate change. Shot on 6 continents, the world’s best skiers deliver inspirational performances while ground-breaking cinematography expands our vision of the natural world.
JP Auclair Street Segment (from All.I.Can.) from Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.
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