Social enterprise travel agency Charitable Travel has created weekend city breaks with the option to arrive by train and return by air, to halve emissions.
The agency said more holidaymakers are seeking to travel in more responsible ways – but the cost and additional journey times of rail travel can be off-putting.
Charitable Travel is now offering packages travelling out by train and back by plane to reduce emissions and incorporate more slow travel into their breaks.
Melissa Tilling, founder and chief executive at Charitable Travel, said: “Travel and tourism can be an immense force for good and crucially important for jobs and the economy in local communities.
“However, there is an environmental cost and flying is the single biggest contributor of CO2 emissions that any individual makes, shich is why conscious travellers are trying to fly less.
“However, in many circumstances it’s not really a viable option if you have limited time or funds.
“Flying one way does enable travellers to significantly minimise their emissions, travel more responsibly and incorporate more of the journey into the holiday experience.
“Our top tip is to take the train outbound to ease into your break and opt to fly back, for a quicker return.”
A three-night long weekend break in Cannes costs from £549, travelling by Eurostar from London to Paris then onwards by rail to the south of France. The flight home is from Nice to Heathrow.
The outbound journey by train is nine hours in total, including a change in Paris, while the flight home takes two hours.
Taking flights both ways means the break costs £450.