ETHICAL TRAVELLER:SLOW TRAVEL is the latest eco-buzzword. By using slower forms of transport you can not only reduce your carbon footprint but also make the journey a feature of your break.
Walking is about as slow as it gets. And if you use a local guide, stop off in small rural hostels or hotels, and shop off the beaten track, you are ticking lots of responsible- tourist boxes as you go.
So if you started the new year walking off festive excesses along your nearby beach, or up a local mountain, you are off to a good start.
For walking breaks in Ireland, check out Go's regular walking features, as well as www.walkireland.ie, which provides details of Ireland's waymarked ways. There are 31 of these trails, covering almost 3,000km. The website divides them into sections, giving guidance on levels of difficulty on each walk. You can also order, or download, its Selected Day Walks leaflet, for shorter strolls. Northern Irelands www.walkni.com covers similar trails north of the Border, and has an excellent section on getting to and from the walk, with public-transport options for accessing each one.
Two of my favourite short walking breaks in Ireland are at Tawnylust Lodge (www.tawnylustlodge.com), in Co Leitrim, and Gregans Castle Hotel (www.gregans.ie), in the Burren. The former is owned by keen hillwalker and local guide Nuala McNulty. At her ecofriendly wooden lodge, overlooking the north Leitrim glens, she not only tailors walks to suit visitors' needs but also runs guided walking weekend breaks, called Leitrim Landscapes, from spring flower walks in May to mushroom foraging in August. From Gregans you can explore the wonders of the Burren with the help of its neighbour Shane Connolly, a local walking guide, archaeologist, historian and farmer, who offers daily walking tours for guests.
Take your hiking boots to Scotland or Wales for very different landscapes, all easily accessible using ferries and trains. Upland Escapes (www.uplandescapes.com), a company with exemplary responsible-tourism policies, offers walking holidays to the glorious peaks of Snowdonia, just a hike, skip and jump across the Irish Sea. In Scotland it's hard to beat Wilderness Scotland (www. wildernessscotland.com) for its range of walking holidays.
Taking the slow route also makes you appreciate just how far away these isles and lochs are. For example, you can take the ferry to Stranraer, a train to Glasgow, then a sleeper to Inverness for one of its summer walking breaks in the Hebrides.
Or take on the snowy Cairngorms on one of the company's winter walking trips, recommended for fit summer walkers who want to have a go with ice axes and crampons.
For walking holidays farther afield, there is a plethora of companies out there. To walk the cliffs, coasts and coves of Madeira, try the Adventure Company (www.adventure company.co.uk). Roam in rural Romania with Inntravel (www.inntravel.co.uk), just one of 99 trails offered by this 25-year-old award-winning walking company, or take on the Turkish coastline, where the Mediterranean hardly ever leaves your sight, on a guided walking holiday along the ancient Lycian Way with Exclusive Escapes (www.exclusiveescapes.co.uk).
All of these companies have highly regarded responsible-tourism policies, years of experience and local conservation knowledge.
So if you want to slow down in 2009, consider the words of the US novelist Louis L'Amour: "The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are travelling for."
macktourism@yahoo.co.uk