Sustainable Tourism Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

And it will come as little surprise that Finland have won for the ninth year out of the last ten but the world’s happiest country… where are you?

Because I just know that my old pal Paula has used her infinite influence to push Suomi’s charms on the voting board on the Good Folk of the World Happiness Report.

Now on the basis that we are all of us ambassadors for our countries wherever we go then Paula has spread the word for Finland admirably on her travels.

An adopted Scot after marrying fellow journo Graham Murray.

He’ll forgive me that I have come to know Paula as ‘Missus’ after a misunderstanding when myself and Paula found ourselves on a group trip to Orlando back in the day.

Now when we turned up for the wellness treatments at the Disney hotel where we were staying the host jumped to a wrong conclusion because of our surnames.

And assumed that we were a couple, which I wouldn’t wish on the delightful Paula.

Well, that’s why

Now it is virtually impossible to stress out in the surroundings of a spa treatment.

And perhaps that is the secret to Finland’s perennial happiness.

With Finns seemingly spending most of their free time in their 1,000 lakes.

Helsinki mayor Daniel Sazonov clearly extols the virtues of a good sauna.

Which every Finn has, with an estimated three million saunas for a population of just 5.5 million.

‘I suggest trying out the different saunas in Helsinki and maybe even a plunge into the cold Baltic Sea,’ he suggests.

And because we always see ourselves as a public service, here’s the top 20 of happiest countries.

Twenty with plenty

Irish eyes: With queen of Spain Teresa, Eoghan Corry and Sharon Jordan in Dublin

Finland
Iceland
Denmark
Costa Rica
Sweden
Norway
Netherlands
Israel
Luxembourg
Switzerland
New Zealand
Mexico
Ireland
Belgium
Australia
Kosovo
Germany
Slovenia
Austria
Czechia

And outside looking in

Now if yours isn’t there then you know what to do about it.

As a postscript the Irish will, of course, be happy to see that the Brits don’t make the top 20, in 29th.

And behind even the USA, in 23rd.

Countries, Europe, Sustainable Tourism

I spa with my little eye they’re five years as a World Heritage site

14th March 202614th March 2026 funtime65

They’re the original holiday resort and I spa with my little eye they’re five years as a World Heritage site.

The 11 sites of the The Great Spa Towns of Europe.

Now for those who imagine that wellness tourism is a a 21st century indulgence they’d be wrong.

With water treatments, or thalassotherapy, dating back to Roman times.

When Roman soldiers took the waters in modern-day Belgium to ease their weary or injured bones.

And the acronym SPA was formed from salus per aquam, or health through water.

A spin on your own spa

Now as well as the Belgian town Spa, which has been welcoming water wellness visitors since the 14th century, there are six other countries celebrated now by World Heritage.

With Austria, Czechia (famous for its Spa Triangle), France, Germany, Italy and Britain on the WH spa map.

All of whom are marking this year’s five-year celebrations with their own spin on their own spa.

Our friends at Great Spa Towns have identified what’s going on across the Eleven.

Water party

Bath time: English spa city. Picture: Colin Hawkins

Including 100 years of the Art Deco Thermalstrandbad Lido in Baden bei Wien.

Twenty years of Thermae Bath Spa in Bath, Britain’s only thermal waters.

And 235 years since The Women’s Revolt in Františkovy Lázně, a women’s protest that founded the spa town.

While Vichy in France, runs spectacular birthday festivities every July.

So, let’s hear it for the Eclectic 11 and splash it all over if and when you get there.

The Eclectic Eleven

Spring time: Vichy. Picture: Christian Parisey

1. Baden bei Wien, Austria. | The Spa of Emperors
2. Spa, Belgium. | The Cafe of Europe
3. Františkovy Lázně, Czech Republic. | A European Model Spa
4. Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic. | Grand Harmony with Nature
5. Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. | Europe’s Open-air Salon
6. Vichy, France. | Queen of the Spa Towns
7. Bad Ems, Germany. | The Picturesque Imperial Spa
8. Baden-Baden, Germany. | Summer Capital of Europe
9. Bad Kissingen, Germany. | Between Classicism and Modernity
10. Montecatini Terme, Italy. | Garden Spa of Europe
11. City of Bath, UK. | Georgian Spa City

Countries, Deals, Europe, Sustainable Tourism

Where to go and getting there rail slow with Super Escapes Travel

28th January 202628th January 2026 funtime65

It’s the downside of an island and the upside of a continent. a variety of accessible countries, but here are our friends to show us where to go and get there rail slow with Super Escapes Travel.

Because from Portugal to Poland we’re cutting out the stress of even more regulated travel through airports, preferring to let the train take the strain.

And addressing the heightened awareness of environmental impact, rising flight costs, and a desire to travel with greater purpose.

Increasingly, mature travellers, and don’t you know this pup of a 60-year-old has been pitched into that category, are choosing curated European
itineraries.

The ones that combine two or three destinations in a single trip.

By linking destinations seamlessly, travellers are also finding better value for money and making smarter use of their time abroad.

Still on the right track

The train in the plains: The Jungfraujoch in Switzerland

Back in our day it was EuroRail and Transalpino to the French Riviera (ask your Mums and Dads).

These days companies like Super Escapes Travel have stepped in and stepped up.

With an expanded product offering a new collection of multi-stop European itineraries.

Tailored specifically for those older travellers who train-hopped back in their salad days but have lost the habit since.

These trips prioritise comfort, convenience, and cultural depth and centrally located hotels.

Clock this: The Astronomical Clock in Prague

The focus is on balance, pairing contrasting destinations such as coastal retreats and historic capitals.

Or vibrant cultural hubs and quieter scenic regions, all while minimising unnecessary travel stress.

It’s no surprise then that the poster twin-centre city breaks for Super Escapes Travel are two of our favourites.

The Central European gems of Prague and Budapest.

Central casting

Culture vulture: With the locals in Budapest

You will look out from the Wenceslas Square Hotel in the Czech capital, no, not on the Feast of St Stephen but on selected dates in March.

And enjoy the charms of the Bohem Art Hotel in Budapest.

Super Escapes Travel will fly you from London into Prague and back from Budapest.

With rail travel between the two cities included.

Your four-day trip, from a choice of March 1, 3, 8, 11 and 15, from £179pp and your hotel stays will be room only.

Countries, Sustainable Tourism, UK

At 60 it’s nae sweat sitting it out in a sauna

25th November 202526th November 2025 funtime65

And we’ve our Finnish friends to thank for our favourite pastime with our clothes (almost) off… and naturally at 60 it’s nae sweat sitting it out in a sauna.

Or any age really depending on where you live in the world.

Where our guide in the Austrian Tirol regaled us of his childhood memories when he would go with his grandparents… and they all shed their clothes!

Not that British or Irish people are ready for that kind of open living.

Although I have noticed over the years that we have got more confident in actually talking to each other.

Which is how we, the Daughterie, Mr Daughterie and myself found ourselves getting to know Pippa’s Crew.

Sauna etiquette

A set (if that’s the collective noun for saunaphiles) of Edinburgh and East Lothian yummy mummies.

At Hot & Bothy Community Sauna on the Archerfield Estate in Dirleton 23 miles east of the Scottish capital.

Some subjects are, of course, off limits with Hot & Bothy reminding us not to pass comment on people’s body image or tattoos.

Although not having seen Mr Daughterie with most of his clothes off, as no father-in-law ever should, I did break that to ask him about his inkings.

And whether it was safe for him to wear his piercings, which as a sauna expert from his time in Finland he assured us that it was.

Too damned hot

What might not be unless you’re one of those roughie-toughie Finns is competitive saunaing is the World Sauna Championships.

Which were held in Saonola from 1999 to 2010.

And whose competitors were asked to sign a waiver.

Which was a get out of jail card when the beaten finalist in the last championships, a Russian expired.

And we’re not reading anything into the fact that the winner was a Finn, Illka Poyjoa.

Hot & Bothy rules

O Shower of Scotland: With Mr Daughterie

Hot & Bothy operate a hut and a yurt from behind the Archerfield Walled Garden.

And two plunge pools, a cold shower.

And a firepit where you can sit and drink their tea and ginger and sing Kumbaya, although that’s not compulsory.

Before you dress back into your clothes in the changing rooms.

And all for the price of a night’s drinking at £17.50 and you’ll feel a lot better for it.

Africa, Countries, Sustainable Tourism

A real-life Kenyan souvenir

10th June 202510th June 2025 funtime65

I’ll soon need to move on from fridge magnets but I don’t know if even I have the ambition to bring home a real-life Kenyan souvenir.

For keepsakes of a destination nobody I’ve met comes close to Siobhan Byrne Learat.

Who fell in love with Kenya and a Kenyan, Maasai Mara warrior Kasao Learat, and took him home as a memento.

Now Siobhan, the caring, sharing woman that she is is a living testament to work at something you love.

Spread the faith

And she and Kasao spread the faith for Kenya and Africa through their high-end travel company Adams and Butler.

Now nights spent with Siobhan and Kasao and Ethiopian powerhouse Meserut in Dublin came flooding back.

After the Kenyan Tourist Board reconnected to update us on their delights.

They remind us, of course, what Kenya is best known for, its animals and safaris, while at the same time focusing on its people.

Through the Kenya Social Good Experience.

Which immerses travellers into the communities through traditional activities curated by the resident Maasai community.

Warrior people

The Saruni Mara lodge is nestled under the tutelage of the Moran (warrior).

And you will get to know, enjoy and understand the tribespeople.

Saruni Mara lodge, nestled in the heart of the exclusive, is a private Mara North conservancy.

So you will get all the rest you need after a day’s activities in the Bush.

Now if you want to explore further then there’s an Avatar on the site, Leo (naturally) there to help.

A real-life Maasai Mara

Of course, we prefer having a real-life Maasai Mara Moran to call on.

And in Kasao we are fortunate enough to be able to access the real thing.

And he and Siobhan have curated this sample 13-day Kenya experience which they will discuss with you, including.

Explore the Giraffe Centre and David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage
Spend a day with the Maasai Community Trust who are working to preserve wildlife and culture in Southern Kenya
Gain insights into the conservation model at Lewa Downs Conservancy
Spend time with the Africa Foundation representative in Maasai Communities, understanding the needs and successes in sustainable development.

Siobhan, of course, has her Maasai Mara man for keeps.

For the rest of us we have to get out there and find a real-life Kenyan souvenir for ourselves.

Countries, Europe, Sustainable Tourism

Get smart bikes and boats in Green Aveiro

23rd October 202423rd October 2024 funtime65

And because we know you, and our European travel commissars, love sustainability. Get smart bikes and boats in Green Aveiro.

Aveiro, the Venice of Portugal Centro, may be known best for its boats.

And its fishermen’s bawdy celebration of womenfolk on the side of their vessels.

But it’s got on its bike here to draw the attention of the European Commission.

Green for go

And it has only been shortlisted for the Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism.

Along with Baltics beauts Jurmala and Liepāja (Latvia) and Panevéžys (Lithuania), Bulgaria’s brightest Sliven and Greece’s epic Nea Propontida.

And Spanish hotspot Benidorm.

To succeed the Italian city of Grosseto.

Now all of these presentations are being made to the powers that be and we wish them all well.

As we do the candidates for the European Capital of Smart Tourism…

Brussels, Genoa, Konya (Turkiye), Lahti (Finland), Lviv (Ukraine) and another Portuguese pearl Porto.

All towns and regions which present a challenge to even the most travelled of us who visit.

The special one

The same, of course, could be said of Aveiro, until, of course, you come across super guide Jose Madomis.

With proud native of Portugal Centro Jose swearing that every major movement in the country’s history sprung from here.

He’s right about Aveiro too which we found out for ourselves while meandering through its canals, so it has a sustainable start on many of its rivals.

Of course our Portuguese pals don’t rest of their laurels and their burghers have caught the attention of the European sustainable overseers.

With the European Commission bigging them up with these observations.

The city has launched the BUGA shared bicycle system, which offers a wider network and new models of bikes with GPS for use around the city.

And boast Portugal’s first fully electric ferry, electric moliceiros (boats), and electric buses, all helping to reduce the city’s CO2 emissions.

The future is green

They also highlight the town’s waste management scheme, where residents can earn points for correct waste disposal.

Redeemable for discounts or an exchange of items they no longer need.

While as the first Portuguese Capital of Culture in 2024.

Aveiro has had a year-round cultural programme promoting its local heritage.

And it’s not just for this year either with a Municipal Climate Action Plan planned, with a direct target of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

In addition, the city is focused on monitoring air quality, providing real-time data on air quality and noise levels through an Urban Platform.

Now, not wanting to influence our European commissars but we’d advise them to get smart bikes and boats in Green Aveiro.

Countries, Deals, Europe, Sustainable Tourism

Sauna like it hot in Estonia

27th September 202427th September 2024 funtime65

And here’s something for the record books, sauna like it hot in Estonia.

We all know our Baltic Buddies like little better than getting all steamed up in a sauna.

And to prove it Estonians and their Finn friends have forced their way into the record books.

With Guinness now endorsing their bid at ‘most photos of people in a sauna on Facebook in one hour’.

On June 8, International Sauna Day, 3,909 photos were uploaded to the Facebook group within an hour.

Of which 3,602 met the Guinness rules and were counted towards the record.

Pictures were posted from 47 countries and 6 continents: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America.

Smokin’ saunas

All of which goes to prove how much we all love a sauna around the world.

Now we’ve shared here, and will again, the Finn and games you can have in a sauna in Suomi.

And are happy to show you what’s hot now in Estonia.

And their sauna rituals and experiences.

The Estonian experts have been especially keen to steer us in the direction of smoke saunas at Pilguse Residency.

Mirror, mirror on the wall: Cabin luxury

Pilguse Residency at the Pilguse Manor House sits on 90 hectares of land, an hour west of Tallinn, and dates back to 1558.

And boasts the ÖÖD Mirror Cabins from €322.

Bespoke for yourself

All bespoke and fitted with fireplaces, kitchen and private decking and bbq.

As well as the use of their wood burning heated green house by the sun deck and outdoor hot tub.

And, of course, the Iglu saunas.

While for equestrian fans Pilguse also offers horse-riding expeditions.

Now for those of a Celtic persuasion (guilty) the bogs are in our blood.

Bog high standard

And we are naturally drawn to the bog spa at Villa Pillapalu.

In Villa Pillapalu in the middle of abundant forests and beautiful bogs by the Piibe road.

Only 50kms away from Tallinn.

Villa Pillapalu guests will get pampered in the RabaSpa.

And depending on the number of guests, you can choose between several different villas.

Ten-person spacious villa, eight or ten-person Scandinavian-style log cabin.

Six-person log cabin for smaller groups, or 18-person cabin glass houses with log houses.

So if you want to just get away with two other couples then that’ll be €290 per night.

While snowshoeing and bicycle tours are also on offer.

As well as swamps and kayak tours on the Soodla reservoir.

So whether smoke or bog sauna like it hot in Estonia, and the hotter the better.

Our Finnair friends offer a best price round trip from London to Tallinn for £217.

Countries, Sustainable Tourism, UK

Edinburgh’s tourist taxing prospect

25th August 202425th August 2024 funtime65

She’s a constant during the International Festival, the Morningside woman who will complain about the disruption the visitors are causing to her daily life… so she’ll probably welcome Edinburgh’s tourist taxing prospect.

Only will the flat 5% charge per night of the accommodation cost.

Capped at seven consecutive nights for hotels, short-term lets, hostels and B&Bs work.

City of Edinburgh Council aims to have a final plan agreed by January, after which an 18-month implementation period is expected to begin.

But will the estimated £10m windfall to the local authorities be injected.

Into public services, city maintenance, affordable housing and preserving the capital’s cultural heritage?

And will it address the tourism sujet du jour… overtourism?

Act Responsible

Well our friends at Responsible Travel have done some of the heavy lifting for us (the way we like it).

And bullet-pointed what will really make the change.

Can I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam

Identifying the type of tourist that suits a destination best rather than trying to attract everyone
Effective visitor management, such as with pre-booked tickets, timed entry and seasonal pricing
Control of visitor numbers by reducing cruise ship and flight arrivals, cutting back on destination marketing, and tightening restrictions on the number of hotel rooms and Airbnb rentals
Diversifying tourism in the wider area, to take the strain of over-popular destinations. Critically, this must not simply be a case of moving the problem elsewhere.

Now obviously some of these apply more than others with the cruise market not as pressing in Edinburgh as in other cities who have gone the tourist tax path.

Like Barcelona and Venice, Amsterdam and New York.

On the bill

Apart, of course, from the slightly gnawing feeling when you get an extra on your bill.

Rather than have it included in the overall price we come to expect the tourist tax on our travels.

When we aren’t being looked after by our friendly travel providers, that is.

So, we’ll be happy to give it a go in our home city which maybe it’s nostalgia kicking in but does seem busier.

Than the first time we lived in these parts 25 odd years ago.

International welcome: And when the Swiss were in Edinburgh

What has come on the scene since then and also applies in our new stomping ground 15 miles east of the Scottish capital.

In the best place to live in Britain, North Berwick is the Airbnb.

With Home Sweet Home estimating that there are between 6,000-10,000 rental properties in the city.

Using online services such as Airbnb to let flats and apartments.

House proud

Now with so much going wrong in Scotland and the greater island the public is yet to turn its attentions to overtourism to protest about.

But now that we’ve got the hang of this protesting lark, and remember that Scots used to have a history of this, it’s worth considering.

That the overtourism protests on the continent are mainly targeted against the properties taken out of public access.

Denying locals, and particularly the young, the chance to get on the housing market.

And having spent a decade Edinburgh

Culture, Ireland, Sustainable Tourism, UK

Heady World Heritage days for County Antrim

27th July 202427th July 2024 funtime65

These are heady World Heritage days for County Antrim with its Game of Thrones iconography, the return of the Open Golf to Royal Portrush and a WH site in Gracehill.

All bested, of course, by the Giant’s Causeway which should always be accompanied by a wobbly walk over the Carrick-a-Rede Bridge.

It is, of course, refreshing to see sectarian Northern Ireland celebrated by UNESCO for religion.

And that is just what’s happened with the extension of the Moravian Church Settlements to include Gracehill, near Portrush.

Raving about the Moravians

All of which was lauded to the high heavens along with The Flow Land peat grounds of north Scotland, and more of which later.

Moravians have, of course, gone under the radar in a Northern Ireland defined by Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.

And we’re reminded of the Billy Connolly joke here when a Jew in Belfast explains he is neither religion.

To which his interrogator asked: ‘But are you a Catholic Jew or a Protestant Jew?’

Well, the Moravian Church Settlement you’ll find in sleepy Gracehill is Protestant.

And emanates from modern-day Southern Czechia around that country’s second city Brno.

That Protestantism is used as a catch-all term is misleading as there were myriad breakaways from the Catholic Church.

Check out the Czech churches

And in Prague, the wonderfully cultural capital of Czechia, I fell in one such church,

And despite the organist on the altar having his back to the congregation I wasn’t deterred.

Where I learned that this was the original Protestant parish in these parts.

The Moravian emigrees who washed up on this northern coast of Europe’s outpost in 1758 were we are told a tolerant people.

And that they even supported pan-Irish nationalism.

And as far back as 1798 Gracehill ‘a place of refuge’ for all sides during the United Irishmen’s Rebellion.

Hail Moravia full of Gracehill

Gracehill and its schoolhouse and church are marked out as an example of a socio-religious system of its time.

And it has been the Irish village’s good fortune here to be able to piggyback on the Danish Christiansfeld Initiative.

Gracehill’s newly elevated status will it is hoped attract visitors.

Which, of course, sparked the conversation in our household around potential overtourism.

And were it to happen it would more likely rear its head in Antrim than the open areas of The Flow Land in Caithness and Sutherland.

And preserve the locals’ lifestyle

Of course, we’ll inevitably return to the challenges of overtourism and it might seem oversimplistic.

But to any community that boasts a special heritage site or achieves one then a word of advice.

Preserve first the ability of local people to afford and have the homes around them to live in.

Rather than sell them off for AirBnBs and in the same time deprive the hotel and hospitality sector of a living.

And ensure that yes, it’s heady World Heritage Days for County Antrim and The Flow Land of North Scotland.

And all sites for sore eyes.

America, Countries, Sport, Sustainable Tourism

Mais oui, the biggest bike museum is where?

15th July 202415th July 2024 funtime65

Mais oui, the biggest bike museum is where? Well, Steeltown, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Not that you’d want to parler that around France where the biggest cycling competition, Le Tour, is currently raging.

But the sports-mad blue-collar East Coast American city might just have stolen a wheel on you here.

Morrow belongs to me: Craig in his museum

Especially Craig Morrow, who opened Bicycle Heaven in 2011, and has filled it with more than 3,000 bikes.

All of which I ferreted out from a nugget of knowledge from the Visit Pittsburgh team.

And who visited and sponsored the American Soiree travel symposium in Dublin last week.

And showcased their route from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, the Great Allegheny Passage.

Tour de Pittsburgh

Off on a tandem: The Monkees contraption

The 333.3-mile week-long track that adjoins C&O Canal Towpath… or maybe 45- to 60-mile bicycling days.

All of which requires the back-up of a Tour de France support team… or in the absence of that then Craig Morrow.

The thing is that you probably know about Cycling Heaven without realising it.

From Russell Crowe movies (A Beautiful Mind) or Viola Davies (Fences) to The Monkees and The Beatles.

To tread through Cycling Heaven is a ride through cycling history.

From the early wooden bikes, with the oldest in the shop, built in 1863, termed the ‘boneshaker’.

To the carbon-based frames of today.

With the novelty contraptions such as the ‘Hercules’ where you bounce on the seat to get going.

And I reckon I’d be a natural having pedalled my own Margaritas in San Antonio in Texas.

Now if you’ve got a spare $18,000 to $50,000 then you could leave with a 1940s fibreglass Bowden Spacelander.

That it’s Pittsburgh that boasts the biggest cycling museum in the world shouldn’t really surprise us.

Because the Penn city combines its industrial heritage and the eclectic vision of its favourite son Andy Warhol to draw the world.

How to get there

Fun and Games: With a Paralympian champ Mark Rohan in Quinta do Lago

And Aer Lingus will fly you there through Ireland with pre-clearance and JetBlue get you back.

So that if, as is my case, that means starting in Edinburgh, until my Scary One relents and allows us to return full time to Wicklow.

For now though I’ve dug out my own return flight Edinburgh to Pittsburgh knowing your departure point may be different.

From under a grand £957 round trip for the sample month of September.

Category: Sustainable Tourism

The world’s happiest country… where are you?