Sustainable travel in northern Germany
It’s been almost a year since I set foot on the plane, and I was full of anticipation for my trip to northern Germany to tour the cities of Bremen, Bremerhaven and Hamburg.
During this year-long interval, I have noticed that conversations about stability and travel from the epidemic have become much more mainstream, as many of us have spent more time outdoors and enjoying a world with fewer cars on the road and more aircraft in the sky.
However, traveling without flying is not always practical or affordable – for my travels in Germany, the complex traffic light system and the need to travel by train via Belgium (now Amber) implies that flying is my only option this time around.
Fortunately, there are many ways we can make travel feel more sustainable. Starting from the port city of Bremerhaven on the North Sea coast of Germany, I was interested in exploring these on my travels.
From Hamburg Airport, we drove an electric minivan to our Hotel Bremerhaven, Atlantic Hotel Cell City, which promised to take the “green path” to stability and reduce plastic waste – and they have bees!
The port is a delightful place to walk, past Dinky lighthouses overlooking the Weser River and old-fashioned sailing boats on the waterway.
I went for a run along the harbor very early in the morning, with only the sound of my feet and the occasional friendly pedestrian – it was very peaceful. This is the ideal time to admire the stunning neo-Gothic church known as the “Big Church” by locals across the main road from the port. The church has an ornate green copper roof that resembles a very old German church.
The port of Bremerhaven is one of the most popular museums in northern Germany: Climahaus, which opened in 2009 and has had over one million visitors since then.
The extensive, interactive museum takes us through a variety of environments across five continents, ranging from the arid plains of Niger to the frozen expanse of Antarctica and focusing on the global impact of climate change.
This venue is not a fusty, wordy museum; It’s an educational, indoor theme park as well as a certified zoo and a visit can easily take half a day and more if you decide to have lunch at its vegetarian restaurant.
As I walked around each exhibition, I was amazed at how beautiful our world is and how we should all do more to protect it.
Bremen
Bremen is a 35-minute train ride from Bremerhaven and the largest city on the Weser River. The town hall was built in the 1400s in the market square and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.