Sustainable Cities on the Great West Way

Want to plan a planet-friendly sustainable holiday this year? Hoping to inject a dose of city culture? You can enjoy an exciting eco-friendly getaway along the Great West Way, stopping at the cities and urban centres along the route for an ethical and sustainable adventure.

Travel By Public Transport

The easiest way to make your Great West Way getaway sustainable is to travel the route by public transport. The Great Western Railway runs throughout the touring route, stopping at cities like Bristol, Bath and London, as well as some of the area’s major towns including Reading, Windsor and Swindon. There are also convenient rail links to nearby cities Salisbury and Gloucester, which are just off the Great West Way. You can use our Great West Way Discoverer pass for unlimited off-peak train and bus travel to make life even easier, with options from £79.50 for a seven-day pass. Take a look at our six-day cities by train itinerary for more inspiration.

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Explore on Foot or by Bike

Arrive at any of the Great West Way’s cities by train, and get your bearings with a walk or a bike ride. Wander on foot to explore at your own speed, discovering quiet side streets packed with quirky independent shops and too-good-to-miss eateries. Or hire a bike for the day to whizz around town seeing all the sights. In Bristol, you can even hop on a bicycle-for-two with Bristol Tandem Hire. If you fancy taking a cycle ride between some of the cities on the Great West Way, the 13-mile Railway Path between Bristol and Bath offers a flat, easy ride away from the roads.

Many of the cities along the Great West Way also offer plenty of walking tour options, for the ideal introduction to the local sights and landmarks. Book onto a walking tour around Bath's Roman remains and Georgian architecture with Tour and Explore, or explore the city’s food scene with Savouring Bath. Learn about the story of Windsor Great Park or the history of Reading town whilst walking there with Tours 2 Order. Get to know cosmopolitan Bristol on foot with Britain's Best Heritage Tours. Look around the historic streets of Salisbury – found just to the south of the main Great West Way route – with Sulis Guides. It’s the perfect way to discover any of our cities’ secret hidden gems.

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Sample Local Produce

Cut down on your food miles with a delicious meal created with local produce. The fertile land of the Great West Way is well suited to producing food and drink of all kinds – fresh vegetables, traditional cheeses and even sparkling wines are all sourced from the surrounding countryside and turned into mouth-watering meals in our cities. Tuck in to some of the delicious local produce from the touring route.

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Discover Exciting Eco Initiatives

As you travel through the cities of the Great West Way, you will discover all kinds of exciting eco initiatives. Bristol is often regarded as the 'greenest' city in the UK, having been the first city in the UK to win the 'European Green Capital' award in 2015, as well as being named the UK's first official Cycling City. Here you will find a thriving sustainability movement, from zero-refill shops to an impressive network of cycle lanes. Just down the road in Bath, a clean-air zone has recently been introduced to reduce fumes and emissions in the city. Bath was built on England’s only natural thermal springs, and if you visit Thermae Bath Spa or Gainsborough Bath Spa you can enjoy these naturally heated waters for yourself – lovely and warm without the need for any non-renewables to heat them! 

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Get Back to Nature

If you’re a lover of nature, you’ll be keen to discover some of the conservation charities and nature reserves along the Great West Way which are working hard to protect biodiversity and wildlife. While many of the Great West Way’s nature reserves are found in the quiet of the countryside, our cities have some surprising offers. WWT London Wetland Centre on the west of London is a huge award-winning nature reserve. Providing safe haven from wildlife of all kins - birds, bats, amphibians and more - London’s first large-scale, man-made, inner city wetland reserve is well worth a visit. At the other end of the touring route, visit the University Of Bristol Botanic Garden to see their huge variety of cultivated plants; the five-acre site is home to around 4,500 plant species.

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Inspired to plan an ethical adventure along the Great West Way this year? Escape the everyday with a 2022 getaway. Or, find out more about sustainable tourism and eco-friendly holidays on the Great West Way.