Guide to an eco-friendly staycation
July 2021
6 min read

Halo’s Guide to An Eco-Friendly Staycation

This year, we’re all searching for a little summer escape to relax and enjoy good food and some sun. With lockdowns being lifted in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, we thought we would do a staycation guide to various spots around Europe. If you’re searching for an eco-friendly vacation guide to your local area, look no further than Halo’s Guide to An Eco Friendly Staycation and check out our Green Guides on Instagram.

London

Places to Stay:

  1. Qbic Hotel is fuelled by a green ideology, while its energy-efficient lighting is fuelled by rooftop solar panels.
  2. The Zetter was the winner of the Green Tourism for London Gold Award.
  3. The Bloomsbury leads with in-room recycling, literature focused on eco-friendly initiatives and Air One ozone machines that purify and clean the air without the use of chemicals.

Places to Eat:

  1. Mildreds Soho is great for vegan-friendly dining in London.
  2. Wild Food Cafe serves organic products and uses eco-friendly and biodegradable packaging.

Spots to Visit:

  1. Arcola Theatre is committed to becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral theatre.
  2. Omved Gardens is part food hub, part events and exhibitions space and part garden, OmVed is a North London cultural destination with plenty of hidden treasures.

Where to Shop:

  1. 69b Boutique is a treasure trove of cool and emerging sustainable brands.
  2. AIDA Shoreditch
  3. The Third Estate boasts that anything you stumble upon is fairtrade.
  4. Reformation’s clothing line has a mission to apply ‘green measures’ at every stage of the life cycle of clothes.

Portugal

Places to Stay:

  1. Quinta De Boucos
  2. Casas de Coro
  3. Casa das Penhas Douradas
  4. Inspira Hotels
  5. Cocoon Lodges - Eco Resort
  6. L’AND Vineyards

Places to Eat:

  1. Celeiro Cafe
  2. Prado em Lisboa
  3. ORGANi Chiado
  4. Erva restaurante & bar
  5. Greens Project
  6. Attla Restuarant

Spots to Visit:

  1. Hike the dramatic peaks of Madeira.
  2. Participate in a yoga retreat like the ones offered at Monte Velho Eco Retreat.

Where to Shop:

  1. Fair Bazaar
  2. Embaixada
  3. Flavia Aranha
  4. The Feeting Room

Amsterdam

Places to Stay:

  1. BOAT & CO is located in a fully climate neutral neighbourhood and they use fully reusable building materials.
  2. Conscious Hotel is a Green Key Gold certified hotel that is going to extreme lengths in order to help the planet.
  3. Hotel Jakarta Amsterdam was built with all materials that are recyclable and the staff wear sustainably made uniforms, designed by fashion label By Rockland.

Places to Eat:

  1. Bolenius Restaurant sources much of their produce from the on‑site kitchen garden which is one of the largest in Amsterdam.
  2. Pllek is a cavernous, casual space made up of old shipping containers.
  3. Instock is a restaurant that uses surplus food that would go to waste in 80% of its preparations. Vegan and vegetarian options offered.

Spots to Visit:

  1. Mediamatic is an art gallery and workshop.
  2. Sea Shepherd Tattoo does vegan tattoos that raise money for the charity’s ongoing marine conservations efforts around the world.

Where to Shop:

  1. O My Bag crafts leather bags that are created out of respect to our planet and the people on it.
  2. Hempstory serves tea and coffee and also carries healthful green life goods that are made from hemp.
  3. Verse carries sustainable fashion, ethical clothing, lifestyle products, handmade jewellery and accessories, recycled products and natural beauty products.

Berlin

Places to Stay:

  1. Circus Hotel
  2. Scandic Berlin Potsdamer Platz

Places to Eat:

  1. Nobelhart & Schmutzig
  2. Cookies Cream
  3. Haferkater
  4. Kopps - Veganes Restaurant & Bar - Berlin/Mitte
  5. Katz Orange
  6. DALUMA

Spots to Visit:

  1. Prinzessinnegarten
  2. Botanischer Garten aund Botasisches Museum Berlin

Where to Shop:

  1. Wertvoll
  2. homage store
  3. DearGoods Berlin
  4. SHIO

Copenhagen

Places to Stay:

  1. Copenhagen Towers was Denmark’s first carbon neutral hotel building that also meets EU Green Building standards.
  2. Hotel Herman K was Denmark’s first chemical free hotel and is the world’s first carbon neutral hotel group.
  3. Hotel Axel was the first of the Guldsmeden Hotels to achieve the golden (Ø), the Green Key and a Green Globe certification.

Places to Eat:

  1. GRO is a rooftop glasshouse restaurant that shares a space with ØsterGro, Denmark’s very first rooftop farm with seasonal selections.
  2. BaneGaarden focuses on restoration, local produce and a mission for good food.
  3. Gemyse is a garden‑to‑table restaurant where the menu is based around plants and natural wines.

Spots to Visit:

  1. Wander through the Glyptoteket art museum.

Where to Shop:

  1. The Organic Club features home and beauty products, along with a secondhand and swap section for members to choose from.
  2. Another View carries all sustainable fashion.
  3. YUME ‑ Sustainable Design

Madrid

Places to Stay:

  1. Hotel Opera is one of the lowest carbon footprints in Madrid — 6.2 kg per room per night and right across from Palacio Real.
  2. Hotel Vincci Capitol is TripAdvisor GreenLeader Silver labeled and part of a sustainable hotels program. They also have a rooftop food truck that serves organic food options.
  3. InterContinental Madrid is a luxurious ‘Silver Label’ establishment that tracks energy usage, offers electric car charging stations and stocks their garden with local plants.

Places to Eat:

  1. La Berenjena is the spot for a cosy space with local and seasonal dishes.
  2. VEGA is 100% plant based dishes that are locally sourced and organic.
  3. Mercado de Antón Martín is a gourmet food market filled with local and seasonal goods.

Spots to Visit:

  1. Plaza Major was once the centre of Old Madrid and an architectural treasure.
  2. Templo de Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple that was dismantled and rebuilt in the center of Madrid.

Where to Shop:

  1. Taller Puntera is an ethical, family‑run leather goods store.

Paris

Places to Stay:

  1. Hotel Napoleon Paris is a member of the Green Key, which is a program that measures the impact of an establishment according to one or several of the following elements: the environment, the community, the cultural heritage and the local economy.
  2. Hotel de la Porte Doree was awarded the label “Green Key”, a qualification already granted to more than 1 500 establishments in 28 countries.
  3. Villages Nature Paris is an eco-friendly resort that bridges the gap between tourism and nature.

Places to Eat:

  1. Le Potager de Charlotte serves seasonal and local vegan produce.
  2. Supernature
  3. Septime
  4. 42 degrés

Spots to Visit:

  1. La REcyclerie is an eclectic cultural centre in the 18th arrondissement in the north of Paris, dedicated to promoting sustainable development in fun ways.

Where to Shop:

  1. VEJA
  2. Centre Commercial
  3. Mamamushi
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