Traveling can be enlightening, transformative, and joyous—but it can also come with a heavy environmental cost. From carbon emissions produced by flights to all the various disposable plastics that travelers may encounter during their trips, it’s no secret that traveling is hard on the planet. Thankfully, an increasing number of tour operators are taking the call for sustainability seriously.
Here are 10 eco-friendly trip options for the climate-conscious traveler.
1. Journeys With Purpose
What we love: Seeing snow leopards in the Himalayas
Among the highlights of Journeys With Purpose’s offerings are its small-group hosted trips in nature. One of the company’s latest opportunities is a Snow Leopard Expedition to Ladakh, India. The 11-day trip is led by National Geographic photographer Mattias Klum and Behzad J. Larry, founder of the High Asia Habitat Fund who has been documenting the Himalayan wildcats for several years. Aside from the wildlife sightings (which might also include wolves and lynx), you’ll get the opportunity to learn about the culture of the region, once a part of the Tibetan Kingdom. From $15,215
2. Wheel the World
Wheel the World makes places like Costa Rica’s Manuel Antonio National Park and Mistico Hanging Bridges more accessible.
Photos by: Pandora Pictures/Shutterstock; Curr Jones/Shutterstock.
What we love: Eight days of accessible travel in Costa Rica
Founded by Álvaro Silberstein and Camilo Navarro after Silberstein was rendered quadriplegic in a car accident in 2004, Wheel the World seeks to make adventure travel accessible to everyone. The company offers a variety of trips, ranging from historic sites in Greece and Italy to the natural wonders of South Africa and Costa Rica. On an eight-day journey to Costa Rica, travelers with mobility limitations and their companions will see highlights such as Manuel Antonio Park and Mistico Hanging Bridges. From $3,735
3. Volcanoes Safaris
The Kyambura Gorge Lodge (right) offers a luxurious place to stay while tracking a group of chimpanzees that has been isolated from other populations due to deforestation.
Photos by Michael Turek
What we love: Chimpanzees in Uganda
Volcanoes Safaris (a 2022 AFAR Travel Vanguard honoree) is recognized not only for protecting endangered mountain gorillas in East Africa but also for supporting the surrounding communities. Its seven-night Chimpanzee Safari in southwestern Uganda aims to spot chimps, of course, but also offers the opportunity to visit a school that’s participating in Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots program and an art center supported by the Rwenzori Foundation. From $8,890
4. Butterfield & Robinson
What we love: Two wheels (and a hot soak) in Japan
Traveling along the east coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu, from Toyama to the Yamanaka Onsen in Kaga, Butterfield & Robinson’s eight-day, carbon-neutral “Japan Toyama Biking” journey is loaded with activities on and off the provided bikes. Cyclists stop for sake tastings, architecture tours, castle garden walks, and, of course, a bath in a volcanically heated onsen. From $11,295
5. Intrepid Travel
What we love: A women-only expedition through Morocco, with carbon offsets
Intrepid Travel, another 2022 AFAR Travel Vanguard honoree, has been carbon neutral since 2010, and the company labels the tour offerings on its website to let you know exactly the emissions being calculated on your vacation. For example, if you join an eight-day, women-only tour of Morocco, you’ll get to meet rug-weavers, dine with Amazigh families, and hike with the region’s first female local guide—all while knowing the company is offsetting 28 kg of CO2 per day. From $1,152
6. Arctic Bay Adventures
What we love: Having a local show us the Arctic’s diverse wildlife
Inuit-owned and -guided Arctic Bay Adventures leads 4-, 7- and 10-day trips through Canada that bring guests to its camp on Baffin Island’s floe edge. There, they’ll look for polar bears, beluga whales, and narwhals in one of the wildest, most isolated places on the planet. Travelers can also try dog-sledding and sample traditional Inuit food such as maktaaq (whale skin and blubber). From $6,936
7. Natural Habitat Adventures
The Greenland ice sheet covers about 80 percent of Greenland’s land area.
Photo by Vladimir Potapeknko/Shutterstock
What we love: Four nights by Greenland’s ice sheet
The apex of Natural Habitat Adventures’ 100 percent carbon-offset, 10-day “East Greenland Arctic Adventure” is a stay within view of the Greenland ice sheet. The company’s minimal-footprint temporary camp provides eight private, heated tent cabins. There’s plenty to draw you outside, too, with kayak excursions through iceberg-dotted waters and hikes to the ice sheet on the itinerary. From $13,795
8. Backroads
What we love: Experience three ecosystems in Ecuador
Backroads’s 11-day Ecuador journey bundles three destinations into one itinerary. It starts with a river cruise on the Amazon to spot toucans and river dolphins and visit Indigenous Kichwa women. Next up are the Andean highlands and a stay at a 4,000-acre working ranch, with a hike through pre-Inca ruins to a condor conservation center. The trip ends in Galápagos National Park for kayaking and snorkeling. From $11,799
9. Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris
What we love: Hearing and seeing Tasmanian devils in Australia
For 45 years, Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris, founded by the educator couple Doug and Gail Cheeseman and now run by Scott Davis and Krista Hanni, has offered conservation-conscious expeditions to the farthest-reaching, most ecologically interesting parts of the planet. (Among the eco-friendly efforts are a policy of carbon neutrality and contributing to the Farmer Field School in Madagascar.) On the outfitter’s’13-day Southern Australia trip, you’ll go on night excursions on Cradle Mountain to look for Tasmanian devils, spot paradise riflebirds in Queensland’s Lamington National Park, and admire the rugged landscape and biodiversity of Bruny Island. From $8,200
10. Mountain Travel Sobek
Montenegro’s Durmitor National Park is one of six national parks that hikers along the Via Dinarica will see.
Photo by aliaksei kruhlenia/Shutterstock
What we love: See six national parks in the Balkans
Mountain Travel Sobek’s 22-day “Balkans Via Dinarica Hiking Tour” winds through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Albania along the 1,200-mile Via Dinarica trail. Guides who grew up in the region point the way through remote alpine villages, old-growth forests, and six national parks. Hikers can also raft the Tara River through Europe’s deepest canyon and visit Sarajevo’s old town. From $8,395
This article was originally published in October 2023 and was updated in July 2025 with new information.
