Pedaling with Commitment: How to Plan Eco-Friendly Cycling Holidays?
The years go by and look alike: heat records, droughts, fires… In order not to succumb to discouragement, action is needed. Well, know that going on a cycling vacation not only offers an exciting adventure but also allows you to explore the world while reducing your carbon footprint. By choosing two wheels instead of four, you can enjoy the beauty of nature and promote a more sustainable way of traveling. In this article, we analyze the ecological impact of cycling vacations and provide some tips to further reduce your footprint.
The ecological impact of cycling vacations.
Before going into detail, let’s illustrate the CO2 impact of a typical bike trip from our agency. Let’s take a couple, let’s say from Lyon, for a change, who chooses our best-selling trip: Cycling in the Austrian Salzkammergut region. There are two choices that will determine almost entirely the environmental impact of this trip. These two choices are the mode of transportation to get there and the logistics of luggage during the bike tour.
To get there, the four most common options are by car, bus, plane, or train. This first choice will determine nearly 90% of the environmental impact of the trip. The other choice to make is about luggage transportation. Either our local partner will take care of transporting their luggage from one accommodation to another, or they will carry their belongings on their bikes. In this case, side bags designed for this purpose will be provided to them.
Depending on the options chosen, the environmental impact will range from approximately 25kg of CO2 to 368kg of CO2 emitted per person. The minimum threshold is reached when you travel to the place of the tour by train and carry your belongings on your bikes during the tour. The maximum threshold is obtained when traveling by plane and using luggage transportation provided by our local partners. Also, please note that the electricity needed for your bike battery has a negligible impact. It accounts for less than 0.1% of the emissions related to your trip (which is why it is not visible on the graph). These results naturally vary from one trip to another, depending on the type of car, plane, train, or bus taken, etc. However, as a general rule, traveling by train and/or bus will be the option that reduces your CO2 emissions the most.
Our initiatives for the climate
The observations above have motivated us to always create itineraries accessible by train from Western Europe, where the majority of our travellers come from. We make sure to stay informed about the trains (including night trains) that cross Europe, their prices, and the conditions for taking a bike along. So, feel free to contact us regarding this matter if you need advice and information.
Regarding luggage transportation, we offer significant discounts when you decide to carry your belongings on your bike. This is a solution we always prefer during our own trips because it causes very little inconvenience but greatly simplifies logistics and reduces the environmental impact.
Finally, when there are multiple options available, we prioritize eco-friendly accommodations. To do so, some labels help identify them (« Ecolabel », « Clef Verte », « Green Globe », « Hôtels au Naturel », « Ecogîte », booking badges, etc.), and of course, our on-site observations.
Conclusion
If the ecological impact of a trip is not always avoidable, we can greatly reduce it by making the right decisions when we have the opportunity and the budget. We are here to assist you in this process.
Assumptions for the calculations: (calculs CO2 voiture et avion via myclimate.org): avion – 1300 km AR. voiture – 1800 km AR, petrol, 8,42L/km. Bus – 2400km AR, 30gC02/km/passager. Train 2000 km AR, 12.5gCO2/km/passager. Transport de bagages – 200km, petrol, 8,42L/km. Recharge de batterie de vélo – 1kWh/km par vélo, 300km, 0.085kgCO2/kWh.