Go green in the city

In order to offset your flight to London why not check out the amazing amount of eco-friendly modes of transport the city has to offer. Whether you’re in the capital on holiday or on business, there will be something to best suit you. A great way to sightsee around the city is quite simply to walk. London’s city centre is filled with some of the most interesting as well as beautiful landmarks, and it is easy to get your hands on a map, so as to allow you to enjoy them on a sunny day. London is a very pedestrian-friendly city, with wide pavements and a comprehensive road-crossing and traffic light system. Particularly if you’re interested in visiting one part of the city; for shopping, for example, it is easy to get around on foot, and breathe in London’s unique and diverse atmosphere.

London’s world-renowned public parks are all well worth a visit when the sun is out and you can sometimes spend hours exploring their natural beauty, historic monuments, and daily activities that many have on offer. Another excellent way to sight see around London is to hire a rickshaw. These are generally available from the city’s West End, but they will take you wherever you want to go, and can be booked in advance from other parts of the city. They are a fantastic way to allow you to sit back and enjoy a private tour of the city’s cultural heritage and other tourist hotspots. If you’re in London on a particularly special night out, you can arrange to have a rickshaw take you and your friends to and from some of the best and most vibrant bars and clubs.

As of July 2010, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, teamed up with Barclays to launch London’s public bicycle sharing scheme. Around the city’s centre there are now 315 bicycle docking stations with a total of over 5,000 bicycles that you can hire on a pay-as-you-go basis. If you’re getting from A to B then the bicycle sharing scheme is a perfect way to get across the city with speed and at a low cost. You can hire bicycles completely free for the first 30 minutes, which will give you plenty of time to get to those important business meetings and/or other events. If you’re in the capital and wanting to drive, there are some excellent car share/ green car hire organizations which will help make your transportation as eco-friendly as possible.

On a number of websites you can sign up to car sharing schemes which, in a similar way to the city’s bike hire scheme, allow you to drive or passenger a car on a pay-as-you-go basis. If you want a car all for yourself, you can find plenty of low C02 emission cars that can be hired for days, or even weeks. Whatever way you’re wishing to make your visit to London as environmentally sound as possible then, there is a vast array of ideas and options to take advantage of.