Top 10 Traveller tips for Sustainable Travel in India

At F5Escapes, we enable women and families to travel to different corners of India, exploring both the mainstream and the offbeat. Our strong focus lies in homestays, local people, communities and contributing to the local economy.

During our women group tours, we propagate sustainable travel and try to minimize plastic usage wherever possible. We also encourage our travellers to do something as basic as carrying their own water bottles. This may be a small effort but we are quite sure that it will have a recurring impact in our incredible country. This is what we exist for! This is what makes us – F5 Escapes.

Top 10 Tips on Travelling Sustainably in India

We requested some prominent Indian bloggers to share their best tip(s) on sustainable travel that’s practical and easily doable for everyone. Follow and share this post as a small attempt to spread the message of eco-friendly and responsible travel.

1. Devesh Joshi

“Bring back home whatever you took with you (or had bought) on a holiday. “

Instagram: @footloosedev

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Meghalaya

P.S. From living root bridges, to clear waters, and breathtaking waterfalls, there’s a lot to experience on our Meghalaya group trip for women this year.

2. Jitaditya Narzary

“Embrace Traditional Wisdom – It may sound a bit too vague but let me explain. As I travel a lot in remote Himalayan regions, I have noticed places getting over exploited and pushed to the brink due to excessive tourism. Now, it will be hypocritical for me to just blame tourism as I am also one of them. However, the least we can do is to make things easier for local communities and help them sustain and prosper.

If you watch closely, you will notice that the locals always have traditionally sustainable means of living in such conditions and that is why they have survived harsh conditions for centuries. Those traditional village huts are always warm even in the winter and the local food is the best option to get you going before a trek. So, think twice before you demand running water, AC, processed food, or any other amenities that you take for granted in your city. These additional amenities put a strain on the resources and ecology of the region. Instead, embrace traditional wisdom of the locals observe how they live in perfect harmony with their surroundings.

This is also one of the reasons why I always opt for homestays run by locals rather than properties run by big chains in such regions.”

Instagram: @travellingslacker

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Lahaul & Pangi Valley

3. Ami Bhat

“Carry a small cloth bag or paper bag for your own waste. Filling your own water bottle and carrying it around is a better idea than to keep buying water around. Besides the pleasure of discovering local markets and their colorful wares, visiting them definitely helps sustainable travel. You tend to encourage the local artisans and keep that heritage art alive.”

Instagram: @amibhat

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Ladakh and Udaipur

P.S. Want to experience Udaipur a bit differently? Join us for our monsoon Udaipur women group trip with Banswara and Kumbhalgarh.

4. Madhu Shetty

“Carry re-usable nylon bags and minimum plastic packaging especially into wilderness areas and bring back all trash.”

Instagram: @theurgetowander

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Ladakh

5. Lakshmi Sharath

“Carry your own water bottle”. Checkout my article on sustainable travel.

Facebook: Travel With Lakshmi

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Ladakh

6. Archana Singh

“I always carry my reusable flask bottle to avoid buying single use plastic water bottles that are choking our oceans and planet.
Also, I make it a point to travel slow, deep and long-term. By doing so I contribute more to the local economy and understand their culture deeper than usual touch-n-go travel.”

Instagram: @travelseewrite

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Himalayas – especially the Zanskar and Changthang regions in Ladakh and offbeat places like Sanaugi, Thanedar, Sojha, Kalpa, Chitkul and Langza among others in upper Himachal Pradesh, India

7. Madhurima Chakraborty

“I try to minimize single use plastic usage while traveling. Rejecting the allure of a plastic straw, I carry my bamboo straw everywhere. If at all I use a plastic, say to safeguard my camera from the rains, I ensure I am reusing it for a prolonged period. Using pads during menstruation is not only causing a unscrupulous amount of trash on the Earth but is also a clear threat to the women’s body. I use cups instead and have not felt happier about my periods before. I prefer eating locally grown meals and live in home stays while traveling solo, warm with love and light of hospitable people of the land. It is my aspiration to travel and collect saree (or any other fabric) from the weavers of distant villages of India, and bring their stories and struggle to the eyes of the world.”

Instagram: @orangewayfarer

All-time favorite travel destination in India: The Living Chola Temples – Tamil Nadu, the Taj Mahal and the untouched Northeast

P.S. If Chola architecture is something you want to experience, join us on our women group trip to Madurai, Tanjore and Rameswaram or get in touch with us to help you plan a custom holiday package.

8. The reDiscovery Project – Ambika & Hoshner

“The one thing we always have with us when we travel is our Lifestraw bottle. This Lifestraw has an internal filter which allows you to fill up water almost anywhere and safely filters upto a 1000 Lt of water. Now not only is this convenient and helps up stay healthy and safe on the road, but it also allows us to avoid buying bottled water, thus ensuring that we don’t add more plastic waste to the environment! 1000 lts of filtered water is 1000 less plastic bottles in a landfill somewhere or worse still in our oceans where a major amount of our plastic waste ends up.”

Instagram:@rediscoveryproject

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Nagaland

P.S. If you want to cross Nagaland off your bucket list, join our Nagaland Hornbill festival women group trip early December.

9. Prasad NP aka desi Traveler

“Do not litter if this very simple rule we follow we will leave our mountains and jungles much better. So I avoid plastic as much and bring back my plastic packaging with me like wrappers, polybags, etc. to be properly disposed of and never litter them at the places I visit. “

Instagram: @desitraveler

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Spiti

P.S. If Spiti Valley is on your bucket list too, check details for our Spiti Valley women group tour package

10. IndiTraveller – Piyush Agarwal

“Eat like the locals! Most of the time we do not realize on how our eating habits while travelling harm the ecosystem. By eating like the locals and shopping at grocery shops for essentials, you can eliminate a lot of plastic while supporting the community. I even make a point to carry an empty tiffin box for storing any leftover food and avoiding wastage or using plastic covers.”

Instagram: @piyushagarwal

All-time favorite travel destination in India: Lakshadweep Islands

P.C. It’s almost impossible not to be be in awe of the pristine blue waters. Join our Lakshadweep group trip for a moment with the waves.

If you would like to further know about our efforts towards sustainable travel and how we are transforming lives with our women-only trips.

#sustainabletravel
#ThinkIndia
#ThinkF5

Blog update: August 2026. Images, links, and minor text.