Go Green: Eco Travel 101

Andros Island, the least-developed and largest of the 700 islands and cays that make up the Bahamas, is just a 10-minute plane ride away from the mega-resorts, golf courses and party vibe of tourist-oriented New Providence Island. Andros supplies fresh water and workers to its high-profile neighbor, but has retained most of its natural resources and beauty.

In just two decades, Freiburg, Germany, a sleepy 12th century village, has transformed into a progressive 21st century city that’s being called the world’s first eco-municipality.

In the Year of the Reef, Bonaire Offers Great Diving and Protected Coral In stark contrast to the runaway American-style construction on neighboring Aruba (McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, a water-intensive golf course and numerous American hotel chains), the island of Bonaire, in the Netherlands Antilles off the coast of Venezuela, remains a quiet getaway and […]

Turtle Island Resort in Fiji — where Brooke Shields and company filmed the movie Blue Lagoon — goes green with solar power & hydroponic gardens…

New England’s coastal towns are some of America’s oldest, and few have a more storied or colorful past than Mystic, Connecticut in the southeastern part of the state. Wedged roughly half way between Boston and New York City, Mystic Harbor is filled with sailboats and surrounded by gently rolling hills and quaint, historic buildings.

Traveling can be a challenge for those trying to lead an eco-friendly life. From room deodorizers and potpourri to non-organic breakfasts and sheets that reek of bleach, the typical overnight stay can seem so toxic you’d almost rather stay home. But no more. Over the past decade, there’s been a welcome rise in eco-friendly bed-and-breakfasts.

Ecuadoran Ecotourism Tries to Protect an Ancient Land Threading down the Capahuari River in an eight-passenger motorized canoe, tourists stare in awe at the dreadlock vines dipping into dung-colored waters along the river’s edge. Electric blue butterflies tickle the air and turtles slip from mottled logs. The only break in the wall of green comes […]

Thank Nutmeg for Grenada’s Unspoiled Beauty Grenada Board of Tourism Grenada is a relative newcomer on the tourism bandwagon, which explains why this lush, unspoiled Caribbean nation is such a well-kept secret. But not for long. As soon as nature lovers discover its rainforest hikes, white-sand beaches lapping warm turquoise seas, and private coastlines with […]

Planning your next vacation? How about Nicaragua? Or Cambodia? What about Borneo? All of these destinations have thrown their names into the tourism market, thanks in large part to ecotourism, which the New York Times called "the buzzword of 2006." Here are 10 top rules for getting the best out of your ecotourism experience.

Even the most remote trails in Nepal are littered with bright orange Kodak film boxes and granola bar wrappers. So what’s a solitdue-loving ecotourist to do? the best bet these days is to buy a ticket to Australia, where the population density is among the lowest in the world and the Outback offers thousands of square miles of untrampeled wilderness.

Next Time Don't Just Watch the Whales, Study Them Last year, Muriel Horacek spent two weeks camping in a cave in China as she monitored an endangered species of monkey. She has also radio-tracked cheetahs by airplane over Namibia, taken water samples from a rowboat in a German lake, and in St. Croix caught the […]

It is peaceful on Nonsuch Island, a 14-acre nature preserve at the eastern entrance to Bermuda’s Castle Harbor. Migratory songbirds flit through canopy trees, their calls disturbed only by the distant and distinctly incongruous whine from a motorcycle track on the mainland. With its Bermuda palmetto, olivewood and cedar forests, scuttling Sally Lightfoot crabs and nesting Bermuda petrel seabirds just offshore, the island represents a rare opportunity to experience Bermuda as its first visitors saw it.