Traveling Green in Europe
From Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip
“Bicycles are sacred in Amsterdam,” said Michiel Laterveer, director of sales and marketing at the Amsterdam Renaissance Hotel. “Like cows are to India.”
On a recent trip to Europe, I was struck by the green transportation efficiencies that were created out of necessity.
“You don’t want a car in Amsterdam,” added Brigitta Kroon-Fiorita of the Netherlands Board of Tourism. “Everyone rides a bicycle.”
In fact, I spotted several business men and women talking on their cell phones as they peddled to work. The Amsterdam train station had a three level parking garage specifically designed for bicycles. With its cobblestone streets and numerous canals, Amsterdam is a city to be enjoyed on foot.
Scooters were the preferred mode of transportation in the narrow streets of Madrid and Seville, Spain, as well as Lisbon, Portugal. While there isn’t a helmet law, most riders sported helmets in the heavily congested city of Madrid. The upscale city also offers an easily accessible underground and affordable subway system. The Sunday that I visited Madrid, thousands of bicyclists swarmed the Paseo de la Castellana that had been closed to cars for the event. I watched from my club room at the Intercontinental as the bicyclists demonstrated their solidarity in demanding bike lanes for riders. Unfortunately, there is not much room to expand for bicycle lanes in downtown Madrid.
For the green traveler looking to cover a lot of Europe, Eurail offers many alternatives from train to boat. I selected the 10 day, first class Global Pass, which is valid within a two month period. For Lisbon, Portugal I took a day trip to the charming city of Sintra. After several days in Lisbon, I boarded the overnight train, #385, to Seville, staying at NH Plaza de Armas. The hotel was a 10 minute cab ride from the train station. For a lovely day excursion, I recommend a train ride to the waterfront town of Cadiz.
Finally, a common mode of transportation spotted throughout my 10 day tour of Europe was the adorable Smart Car. Squeezed between bicycles and barges in Amsterdam or cozied up next to horsedrawn carriages in Seville, the Smart Car is slowly making its debut in the United States.
While I drive the fuel-efficient and sporty BMW Mini Cooper, I would happily convert to a Smart Car if I didn’t have to contend with SUV’s, Humvee’s and tanker trucks sharing California’s highways. Our gas guzzling USA would benefit greatly if we were to implement many of the green transportation alternatives offered in Europe.
Is green travel important to you? Do you find that you travel differently abroad than when traveling in the United States? For more information on this topic check out the Go Green Travel Green blog.
Seville bicycle photo, Cadiz scooters, Eurail train and horse and carriage photos by Nancy D. Brown
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14 Responses
great article, nancy!
Nancy I am very glad our green efforts inspired you to this article – it was great meeting you in Amsterdam and thank you for telling the world how wonderful it is here!
I too was astounded at the sheer number of bicycles parked outside train stations in the Netherlands. We rented bikes while we were there and it was a wonderful way to see the country. The separate bike paths were great and kept you safe from traffic (in addition to being a shortcut in many places). Thanks so much for linking to us!
I like the bicycle picture, but in in the US we have a long ways to go to make our country, green transportation friendly. Even the design of most US cities are against it.
Great information. They tried a similar biking program here in Phoenix, but it didn’t work out.
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I love the green travel focus, and you have excellent suggestions.
Actually I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more of the green travel alternatives already a long time ago, there has been a lot of talking and no doing when it comes to some alternatives. I’m sure most travelers would appreciate green travels.
Amsterdam is a wonderful city, but I’m not really sure I’d like to bike there, because of the cobbled and sometimes narrow streets. It’s much better to walk – it isn’t that big and I think one should spend a couple of days there at least, to really get the atmosphere there. Quite different. I love the canals and the kinda “hippy-feeling” I get here
Seville has excellent, wonderful horse carriages, even though I always find it a bit expensive where ever you go where they offering that kind of service. Never the less, it’s so nice just to see them!
Oh, and Cadiz has a very lovely beach!!! We did just that, (were there in beginning of April) sat down at a café at the waterfront and enjoyed life. YUM.
Not only are the participants saving fuel, think how much better shape they are in physically.
Whenever I travel in Europe, I’m return to the U.S. disappointed by how our city layouts and infrastructure do not support bicyclists and other modes of alternative transportation as well as they do big SUVs. I hope more change is coming.
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I wish we had better and more modes of public transportation here in Las Vegas. The monorail isn’t practical.
This is like in China and Philippines the major transportation are tricycle and bicycle.
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