Ecotourism in the UK - HomeToGo base64Hash

Ecotourism in the UK

The best destinations in the United Kingdom for eco-friendly holidays

Price per night
- Up to £100
- £100 - £199
- From £200
Accommodation types
- Castle
- House
- Farmhouse
Rating
- 4.5+
- 4+
Booking Options
- Instant Booking
Services
- Pool
- Hot tub
- WiFi
- Parking
- Garden
- TV
- Kitchen
- Fireplace
- Balcony/patio
- Washing machine
- Dishwasher
- Microwave
- Sauna
- Cot
- Air conditioning
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Accommodation type
- Pet-friendly
- No smoking
- No pets
- Wheelchair access
Activities
- Grill
- Fishing

Ecotourism: Recommended holiday rentals

Ecotourism: find your perfect rental from just £29 per night!

Where are the best places for an environmentally friendly holiday? Choosing to take a holiday in the UK and travel by car or train will hugely reduce your carbon footprint compared to flying. The UK has so many vibrant and eco-friendly destinations to explore, from modern green cities to beautiful countryside where you can get back to nature. Check out our favourite eco-friendly destinations below!

Enjoy an environmentally friendly holiday in one of these green destinations

The 14 Most Eco-Friendly Holiday Destinations in the UK

Where are the UK’s most eco-friendly holiday destinations? Many of us are becoming more conscious of the impact we have on the planet when we travel - but reducing your carbon footprint doesn’t have to mean staying at home!

No need for a long-haul flight to enjoy a memorable holiday, when there are so many diverse and vibrant destinations to explore in Britain - from Devon’s sunny beaches to Wales’ beautiful landscapes! Additionally, renting a holiday home instead of opting for a hotel reduces your energy consumption while on holiday*.

To help you plan a holiday you’ll love without hurting the planet, HomeToGo has researched hundreds of locations across the country to discover the seven most eco-friendly city and countryside destinations in the UK. We dug into everything from recycling rates to how easy it is to travel by train, in order to find the overall greenest places in the UK. Which destinations take the eco-friendly city break and eco-friendly country escape crowns? Find out below!

Home to the UK's only Green MP, Brighton is the greenest city in our top 7

Green recycling symbol with three arrows forming a triangle

Wales is the #1 rural destination, with the highest recycling rates & the most national parks

For environmentally conscious foodies, Scotland and Brighton take the top spots, with most vegan restaurants per capita

Glasgow has the highest proportion of green space of our top 7 cities, while London has the least

The 7 Most Eco-Friendly City Breaks in the UK

Rank	Destination	Vegan food	Recycling	Green space	Cycling	Air quality	Total score
1	Brighton	10.00	2.39	7.05	6.83	9.41	35.68
2	Bristol	4.00	9.04	4.52	10.00	7.94	35.50
3	Edinburgh	1.74	7.25	6.56	6.27	10.00	31.82
4	Manchester	3.46	10.00	9.70	1.72	4.71	29.59
5	Glasgow	2.23	0.00	10.00	0.00	8.24	20.47
6	Newcastle	1.88	6.33	7.66	1.93	0.00	17.80
7	London	1.19	3.62	0.00	4.84	5.29	14.94

The 7 Most Eco-Friendly Country Escapes in the UK

Rank	Destination	Vegan food	Recycling	National parks	Farmers' markets	Train travel	Total score
1	Wales	2.14	10.00	10.00	2.82	5.00	29.96
2	Devon	3.91	5.86	6.67	6.71	5.00	28.15
3	Scotland	10.00	0.80	6.67	0.00	7.50	24.97
4	Somerset	3.33	4.24	3.33	8.34	5.00	24.24
5	Dorset	0.00	8.22	0.00	10.00	5.00	23.22
6	Yorkshire	2.92	0.00	3.33	0.14	10.00	16.39
7	Kent	2.63	1.17	0.00	2.18	0.00	5.98

The Best Eco-Friendly Holiday Activities

For a fun family day out in North Wales, head to Greenwood Forest Park, which combines a fun theme park experience with the chance to get back to nature in beautiful forest surroundings. The park is home to wildlife including birds and otters, and is powered almost entirely by its solar panel array.

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Brighton offers so many vegan restaurants, it could get overwhelming! If you have to pick one, it’s got to be Purezza, famous for their vegan sourdough pizzas with decadent toppings like aubergine parmigiana, truffles and smoked tofu. There’s also a huge vegan summer festival held every year in June!

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Dorset has more farmers’ markets for its population than anywhere else on our top list, so don’t miss the chance to try some locally grown food! The seaside town of Weymouth has a particularly good market every other Sunday: you’ll find freshly baked bread, artisan cheeses, flowers and more.

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‘Glasgow’ means ‘green hollow’, and it’s certainly appropriate! Enjoy the city’s green spaces with a visit to one of its many parks. We especially recommend Kelvingrove, a calm oasis in the middle of the trendy West End bar district, or Rouken Glen, a haven for wildlife with a beautiful lake and waterfall.

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How We Produced This Guide

We created a shortlist of our 80 most popular destinations, and narrowed it down to the top seven destinations in each category based on eight factors:

Vegan restaurants per capita: the number of vegan restaurants found in the location, based on data from a leading vegan restaurant aggregator, divided by the population of the area according to the UK’s 2011 census.

Recycling rates: data provided by local council websites, or from websites of contractors providing waste disposal services on behalf of the responsible local authority.

Green space (cities only): the city’s green space as a percentage of its area, according to a leading UK mapping agency.

Cycling rates (cities only): the percentage of people in the destination who commute to work by bike. Data provided by the Centre for Cities, 2011.

Air quality (cities only): based on the Common Air Quality Index. Data provided by a leading air quality monitoring website. Data was collected on the 20th March 2019.

National parks (rural destinations only): the number of UK national parks which are wholly or partly in the destination.

Farmers' markets per capita (rural destinations only): the number of farmers’ markets in the area, based on data from a leading online maps service, divided by the population of the area according to the UK’s 2011 census.

Accessibility by train (rural destinations only): the number of the UK’s five biggest cities (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool) which have a direct train connection to a town in the destination, according to a leading ticket booking website.

In order to rank the final seven locations in each category, we assigned each data point a representative numerical value between 0 and 10, with 0 representing the lowest data point in each category and 10 representing the highest. Thus, the hypothetical perfect score would be 50. We used the following equation to calculate scores for each factor:

Score (i) = 10((i-min)/(max-min))

*Source: parqex.com

Information about Ecotourism

📏 Average size of a holiday home	124 m²
😎 Quietest month	February
🛏️ Popular accommodation types	Cottage and House rentals
🌡️ Warmest weather	17 °C in July and August
🥶 Coldest weather	February and January
🌧️ Rainiest months	August and July

Ecotourism: frequently asked questions

Ecotourism: what's the average price for the holiday rental?

With HomeToGo, you can find holiday rentals for Ecotourism starting at £29 per night.

Where I can find holiday homes for Ecotourism that's suitable for a family or large group?

Every Cottage is 124 m² on average, with the capacity of 5 guests - perfect for medium-sized groups and families.

What types of holiday rentals are available for Ecotourism?

There are a lot of options available when it comes to holiday rentals for Ecotourism, with 73,499 Cottage and 70,710 House rentals on offer.

Ecotourism in the United Kingdom: Top Destinations

Holiday Cottages & Homes in Scotland

Ecotourism in the UK

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Ecotourism: Recommended holiday rentals

Beautiful Flat with 3 Rooms for 8 Persons

Ample Flat with 2 Rooms for 7 Persons

Holiday Apartment | Next to the Beach | Pets Are Welcome

Holiday Home with 2 Rooms for 4 Persons

Apartment with 3 Rooms for 8 Persons

Lovely House | Good for Workation

Fully Equipped Charming Cottage with Terrace & BBQ | Nature View | Next to the Beach | Pets Allowed

Chalet with Garden & Barbeque | Nature View

Cottage with Terrace, Barbeque & Garden

Apartment with Terrace, Garden & Barbeque

Family-Oriented Chalet with Garden | Mountain View

Cottage with Garden | Mountain View

Children-Friendly Holiday Home with Heated Pool, Garden & Sauna

Family-Friendly Cottage with Garden & Terrace | Nature View | Dogs Allowed

Cottage with Garden, Barbecue & Terrace | Nature View