16 Ways to Slow Down, See More and Go Sustainable in Germany

Our top travel guide to discovering more of this culture and nature filled country with the lightest of footsteps

With its green cities, innovative sustainability projects, unspoilt and protected natural spaces, and an incredible train service, eco-friendly travel is made easy in Germany. Here are 16 ways you can make your visit to this diverse country a responsible one...

GO GREEN IN THE CITIES

1 Explore eco-friendly Freiburg

There's a city on the edge of the Black Forest where the trams seem to glide along enticing strips of lawn.

Where some 82% of the urban area is classified as green space. Where the majority of the population travels by bicycle, and the streets gurgle with Bächle, roadside gutters that run with clean river water. That city is Freiburg, and if you climb the Schlossberg out of the centre, greenery can be seen all around. This is Germany's foremost eco-city, with the big eco initiatives in the suburbs, where new buildings have to be low energy, many solar powered.

2 Go back in time in Celle

Celle, not far from Hanover, doesn't look like a centre of sustainability. Preservation, yes. Heritage, for sure, with its castle and market square. The town has some 500 lovingly restored medieval timber-framed buildings, which must be a nightmare to heat, along with several well-maintained Bauhaus buildings, too. But it is the need to protect those buildings which has ramped up local conservation efforts, initiating city tours by electric train, by horse-drawn carriage, by segway, and by electric bike. In fact, Celle was the first city in northern Germany to be certified as a sustainable destination, back in 2017. Sitting as it does in a region of heathlands, rivers, moors and forests, it has a lot to preserve.