The difficult detox of the car on vacation

At the Jurques Zoo (Calvados), the Cité de la Mer in Cherbourg (Manche), and the Saint-Aubin-des-Préaux minigolf course (Manche), all you need to do is show a train ticket to a Normandy station, a bus ticket, or a photo of your bike to get a 10% discount on the entrance fee. This "low-carbon rate," introduced by the Normandy region in March 2024, has won over around 70 service providers. The region also lists a series of "car-free getaways" on a dedicated website, in Bagnoles-de-l'Orne (Orne), Bernay (Eure), and Cabourg (Calvados).

"For the past three or four years, the _CO2 footprint has been a concern for travelers, who are demanding less motorized mobility, for ecological reasons, or to give more meaning to their trip," comments Nicolas Breton, co-manager of Viatao, a publisher that publishes "sustainable tourism guides." In these books, a small pictogram indicates places located less than twenty minutes from a bus stop or train station, or accessible by bicycle.

Author of the guide La Bretagne autrement (Ouest-France editions, 2023), Nicolas Le Goff offers a chance to explore the region from its seven main cities, by train, bus, boat, bicycle, or on foot. Among the many destinations are Douarnenez (Finistère), the Etel estuary (Morbihan), accessible by bus, and Port-Louis, in the same department, served by a ferry.

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