Hiking routes, wild camping and new trains: These are Europe’s top sustainable destinations for 2024

09.01.2024 - 02:37 / euronews.com / Rebecca Ann Hughes

Five destinations in Europe are among the top ten sustainable places to travel to in 2024, according to Lonely Planet.

The travel experts have released their top picks for where to go in the world this year. The ranking is divided into the categories of countries, regions, cities, sustainable and value.

The sustainable category places focus on responsible tourism and environmentally friendly strategies.

From Spain to rural Wales, here are the winners in Europe.

Spain is already one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations. But the sun-drenched country has been working hard to encourage tourists to visit off-season, and promote overlooked destinations.

It has also been investing in eco-friendly forms of transport including expanding cycle networks, switching to electric buses and launching new train routes.

Valencia, on the east coast of Spain, is the European Green Capital for 2024 thanks to sustainable initiatives including designating new peri-urban farmland, pedestrianisation of 30,000 m2 of public space and improving high-speed train links to other cities.

If you visit, make sure to take a turn around the Jardín del Turia, a traffic-free park created from the city’s 9km long Turia riverbed. You can hire a bike or join a two-wheel tour.

Greenland has long drawn curious and intrepid travellers to its vast ice sheets and tundra landscapes.

The country’s tourism board, Visit Greenland, has been working to mitigate the problems of an increasing number of visitors.

This includes ensuring the upkeep and preservation of natural environments and regulating tourism activities.

Greenland is a prime destination for Northern Lights spotting, and the country will see a “spike in aurora sightings as the sun reaches peak activity in the next few years,” Lonely Planet writes.

For a low-impact adventure, the travel site recommends a two-day camping trip on the world's second-largest ice sheet beginning in Kangerlussuaq, just a short drive away.

Wales, one of the world's first countries to legislate for sustainability, has made the list thanks to its revamped rail network.

Lonely Planet praises the country’s expansion for increasing the “planet-friendly possibilities of exploring the nation's wild, wonderful west.”

The remote Pembrokeshire National Park is becoming more accessible thanks to new railway stations and increased services planned for South Wales's main rail line in early 2025.

You can also get a taste of the food of the future at Dr Beynon's Bug Farm near St Davids.

This research centre and nature reserve is home to the Grub Kitchen, the UK's first edible-insect cafe. Here, you can learn about sustainable food and then nibble a cricket cookie if you dare.

For an epic pilgrimage to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela,