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What the End of The Best American Travel Writing Says About Travel Writing—And About America

Thomas swick on the uncertain future of a durable genre.

Every fall for the last 22 years has seen the arrival of The Best American Travel Writing , part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s series of anthologies that include, among others, The Best American Essays and The Best American Short Stories . The inaugural edition in 2000 was inexplicably late—coming a good decade after the close of travel writing’s heyday—but nevertheless welcome in a genre that, unlike food writing, never had a widely recognized prize. Being included in The Best American Travel Writing was worth half a dozen Lowell Thomas awards. Plus, it gave your story a second life between covers.

Those first anthologies were thick hardcovers that eventually devolved into thin paperbacks. The 2001 edition, guest edited by Paul Theroux, had 418 pages; this year’s, with Padma Lakshmi in the guest editor’s chair, had 265. Admittedly, 2020 was not a good year for travel writing, but the very existence of The Best American Travel Writing 2021 is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of the genre.

The genre is more durable than the series, which the publisher, now part of HarperCollins, has decided to discontinue after this year. The move is based not on a drop in travel writing’s quality, or even quantity, but rather its increasing inability to attract a large audience (which explains the marquee guest editor this year). Series editor Jason Wilson, in an interview with Jeremy Bassetti on the podcast Travel Writing World, said that recent editions didn’t sell nearly as well as early editions had. This includes The Best American Travel Writing 2020 , which came out in the middle of a pandemic (with stories written before it)—the perfect moment, one would think, for armchair travel.

Travel writing is not the only series to fall victim to indifference— The Best American Sports Writing was discontinued after last year’s edition (prompting Triumph Books to come out this fall with The Year’s Best Sports Writing )—but this blow is particularly disheartening for a genre that has gradually and, for those of us who love it, mystifyingly lost its allure.

Granted, it has suffered its share of attacks in recent years. Critics have flagged it with the taint of neo-colonialism and accused it of cultural appropriation, but they have mostly been academics, who don’t exert great influence on the reading public. And they have been answered eloquently by people like Colin Thubron, who, in an interview in the Financial Times , noted that, far from wishing to “impose” themselves, most travel writers try to understand, and learn from, the countries they visit. “If you regard every relationship as a power relationship,” he cautioned, “you descend into paranoia.”

The genre has even received criticism from within its own ranks, as some travel writers have questioned the time-honored goal of “traveling like a local,” finding it self-delusional and, if taken literally, counterproductive—the argument being that most people, even those residing in stellar locales, lead lives of boring repetition, what the French have summarized as “ métro, boulot, dodo .” Never mind that a detailed account of subway commuting, Parisian office politics (think Call My Agent! ), and, well, not sleep, but French home life would paint a more accurate and amusing portrait of the capital than a story on museums and Michelin-starred restaurants.

A greater contributor to travel writing’s drop in popularity is of course the Internet, that infinite, ever-expanding archive of everything. Google your destination and it appears on your screen, in words and pictures. Who needs travel writers, one might ask, when hundreds of bloggers are typing their findings, thousands of tourists are posting their videos, millions of vacationers are sending their tweets?

Yet most people go to the Internet for information, not insight, or what John Cheever called “a page of good prose”—both of which fine travel writers provide. They too can be found online—it’s where I read the Thubron interview—but they’re not prominent residents there. The Internet, at least the non-pictorial part, is more about utility than it is about pleasure.

One of the main reasons readers of travel writing have faded away—in this country, anyway—is   the decades-long trend of America turning inward. The genre still does well in the UK, where one publisher, Eland Books, specializes in reprints of travel classics. But the United Kingdom is a small island (with a long travel writing tradition) at the edge of a large and influential continent; the United States is a behemoth unto itself.

That travel writing ever had a golden age here may seem a bit strange, but publishers in the 1980s—excited by the successes of Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazaar and Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia —competed with each other over travel books; a few started imprints devoted entirely to them. Jan Morris wrote penetrating portraits of places for Rolling Stone and Banana Republic came out with a short-lived travel magazine, Trips , that was sold in its stores’ slightly longer-lived travel bookshops. For writers starting out in the ’80s, travel writing appeared as a promising career.

But soon the travel book was eclipsed by the memoir. Its reign produced its own instant classics—Tobias Wolff’s This Boy’s Life , Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club —and suggested a growing fascination with the personal and the familial. This preoccupation grew even stronger after 9/11, an event that, instead of motivating us to become more globally aware, somehow made us even more introspective. The new century brought a slew of memoirs about common human experiences: illness, grief, dysfunction, abuse, addiction. Joan Didion, who in the ’80s wrote Salvador and Miami (focusing on the city’s Cuban exile community), published books about the deaths of her husband and daughter. It was a natural turn for an aging author, but it felt like an official confirmation of our retreat from the world into the self.

Immigrant memoirs have appeared—like Dina Nayeri’s The Ungrateful Refugee and Phuc Tran’s Sigh, Gone —giving us outsiders’ views of our home ( enough about us, what do you think about us? ), but there has been no corresponding wave of books about Americans abroad. This has at least kept at a minimum vapid accounts of idylls in Tuscany and Provence. And the number of published books that are works of translation has stayed at a dismal three percent. The general feeling among publishers is that most people would rather identify with what they read than learn about something outside their own experience. And in a country where less than half of the population owns a passport, this means concentrating on the personal and the parochial.

Yet our self-absorbed republic is producing more world travelers than ever; back in travel writing’s heyday, less than 10 percent of Americans had passports. So despite our solipsistic tendencies—or actually owing to them—travel writing theoretically should be enjoying a boom, especially when you consider that travelers and readers are often one in the same.

But like the Internet, travel’s growth has created the impression that travel writer is a superannuated profession—the Age of Overtourism’s blacksmith. Together, the two modern developments have created a world in which everything is accessible and almost nothing seems foreign. Why should people depend on some stranger’s impressions of a country when they can go out and gather their own? Unfortunately, few of them bring to their journeys the preparation and research, the knowledge and experience, the perceptive eye and the analytical mind and the inquisitive spirit of a gifted travel writer.

What’s especially frustrating about the decline in popularity of travel writing is that it has never been better, thanks in part to technology, one of the forces that seems to work against it. Seeing the increase in the number of travelers, and their easy access to the Internet, travel writers realized that it was no longer enough just to describe a place, or meet its inhabitants; they had to excavate its meanings. As a result, the work they produced became richer, deeper, and infinitely more expansive. And, in many cases, it borrowed elements from the memoir.

This approach was not new; V.S. Naipaul brought history, analysis, and introspection (three words not usually associated with blogging) to his first travel book, The Middle Passage , in 1962. Jonathan Raban used the same tools for Old Glory and Hunting Mister Heartbreak , two books that, because they’re about the U.S., show us better than most the educational and entertainment value of the canny observer. More recently, writers as diverse as Pico Iyer, Sara Wheeler, Tom Bissell, and Robert Macfarlane have quietly stretched the boundaries of the genre. The Long Field , by the American writer Pamela Petro, is a beautiful examination of her love affair with Wales that brilliantly explores the ideas of home, loss, language, sexuality, and of course love.

It’s labeled a memoir, and published in Britain.

Thomas Swick

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• INTELLIGENT TRAVEL

Why (and How) Travel Writing Moves Us

I sat down with   Don George , editor at large at   National Geographic Traveler   and author of   Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Writing , and asked him to wax philosophical about how and why travel writing gets under our skin, who inspired him to become a travel writer in the first place, and what he thinks about the explosion of travel blogging and the future of the craft itself.

Here’s what he had to say:

Leslie Trew Magraw: Why do you think travel writing has such a wide appeal?

Don George: Really great travel writing is ultimately about connection.

As human beings, connection is incredibly incredibly important to all of us; it’s the thing we need to keep going. And, so, when we vicariously are connected to a place and an experience that has very much gotten inside of a writer and moved him in some way, it enriches us and expands us–which, I think, is why great travel writing has this allure, this influence, this effect. You feel like a bigger richer better human being for having read it, whether it’s an article in a magazine, a blog post, or a book.

On another level I think there is a popular sense that what travel writers do is kind of go “la la la” around the planet and have wonderful experiences and write about them and, somehow, someone magically pays for them, and what could be better than the life of the travel writer?   Those of us who actually make a living in the field know that while there are moments of that, there are lots and lots of moments when we are somewhere thinking, “Why in the world did I become a travel writer?”

For me, I have to say I feel incredibly lucky to have made my living as a travel writer and editor. I can’t imagine a more fulfilling thing. Part of that fulfillment is getting to connect with readers, which enriches my life in ways I can’t express. I feel like a bigger, fuller, richer human being because of the way readers have reacted to my pieces.

LTM: Is there someone you can point to that you can learn about the craft from?

DG:   The person I consider to be my personal mentor in this regard is   John McPhee . He’s been a staff writer at   The New Yorker   forever.

[At Princeton] he taught me that non-fiction writing is every bit as   worthy   as fiction writing, that a great non-fiction writer should be revered in the same way a novelist is, that writing really is a   craft –something you can work at and improve, that every single word counts, and that reading is just as important of an act for a writer as writing. He made me respect the very act of non-fiction writing–both the responsibility that you have as a non-fiction writer and the opportunity that you have.

I hold him up hugely as an example of a great writer who gets research right, his sentences are meticulous. He is just an amazing case study for what great writing is.

LTM:   What’s your favorite piece of travel writing?

DG:   For me the best travel book ever written is   The Snow Leopard   by Peter Matthiessen .   It’s   an amazing textbook on some level about how incredibly rich and engaging a work of non-fiction can be.     It also literally changed my life because it inspired me to make a decision that I had been afraid to make: to take the leap and become a travel writer myself.

Pico Iyer is another writer that I just revere because his sentences are just so incredibly polished and honed and lyrical, and the rhythms of his writing are so beautifully modulated.

• Nat Geo Expeditions

LTM: How do you feel about the explosion of travel blogging, and what do you feel are a writer’s responsibilities to his or her readers, regardless of the platform he or she is using?

DG: I have deeply ambivalent feelings about the explosion of blogging. On the one hand, I think it’s very liberating for writers to realize that they can just publish their own work–that they don’t have to deal with the whole traditional process of submitting their work to an editor who may not read it, like it, or publish it.

While that’s great, it means that, as a reader, you have to wade through this forest of uncurated content to find the good stuff. That’s hugely daunting for readers and, in a way, it’s kind of daunting for writers, too. Even though it might be easy to publish yourself, there is a certain lack of incentive to make yourself better or to hold yourself to a higher standard.

In this vein, I think that it’s important for bloggers to keep in mind that they are serving a reader, and that the reader deserves the most accurate content, the most honest content, and the highest quality content possible. It’s really all about engagement. I think it’s crucial for bloggers to keep certain standards in mind and to think about the writer/reader relationship. In my mind it’s a sacred relationship that needs to be nurtured and respected.

Leslie Trew Magraw   is the editor and producer of the Intelligent Travel blog network at National Geographic. Follow her on Twitter   @leslietrew .

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What You Should Know About Travel Writing

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

Travel writing is a form of creative nonfiction in which the narrator's encounters with foreign places serve as the dominant subject. Also called  travel literature .

"All travel writing—because it is writing—is made in the sense of being constructed, says Peter Hulme, "but travel writing cannot be made up without losing its designation" (quoted by Tim Youngs in  The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing , 2013).

Notable contemporary travel writers in English include Paul Theroux, Susan Orlean, Bill Bryson , Pico Iyer, Rory MacLean, Mary Morris, Dennison Berwick, Jan Morris, Tony Horwitz, Jeffrey Tayler, and Tom Miller, among countless others.

Examples of Travel Writing

• "By the Railway Side" by Alice Meynell
• Lists and Anaphora in Bill Bryson's "Neither Here Nor There"
• Lists in William Least Heat-Moon's Place Description
• "London From a Distance" by Ford Madox Ford
• "Niagara Falls" by Rupert Brooke
• "Nights in London" by Thomas Burke
• "Of Trave," by Francis Bacon
• "Of Travel" by Owen Felltham
• "Rochester" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Observations About Travel Writing

Authors, journalists, and others have attempted to describe travel writing, which is more difficult to do than you might think. However, these excerpts explain that travel writing—at a minimum—requires a sense of curiosity, awareness, and fun.

Thomas Swick

• "The best writers in the field [of travel writing] bring to it an indefatigable curiosity, a fierce intelligence that enables them to interpret, and a generous heart that allows them to connect. Without resorting to invention , they make ample use of their imaginations. . . . "The travel book itself has a similar grab bag quality. It incorporates the characters and plot line of a novel, the descriptive power of poetry, the substance of a history lesson, the discursiveness of an essay , and the—often inadvertent—self-revelation of a memoir . It revels in the particular while occasionally illuminating the universal. It colors and shapes and fills in gaps. Because it results from displacement, it is frequently funny. It takes readers for a spin (and shows them, usually, how lucky they are). It humanizes the alien. More often than not it celebrates the unsung. It uncovers truths that are stranger than fiction. It gives eyewitness proof of life’s infinite possibilities." ("Not a Tourist." The Wilson Quarterly , Winter 2010)

Casey Blanton

• "There exists at the center of travel books like [Graham] Greene's Journey Without Maps or [V.S.] Naipaul's An Area of Darkness a mediating consciousness that monitors the journey, judges, thinks, confesses, changes, and even grows. This narrator , so central to what we have come to expect in modern travel writing , is a relatively new ingredient in travel literature, but it is one that irrevocably changed the genre . . . . "Freed from strictly chronological , fact-driven narratives , nearly all contemporary travel writers include their own dreams and memories of childhood as well as chunks of historical data and synopses of other travel books. Self reflexivity and instability, both as theme and style , offer the writer a way to show the effects of his or her own presence in a foreign country and to expose the arbitrariness of truth and the absence of norms." ( Travel Writing: The Self and the World . Routledge, 2002)

Frances Mayes

• "Some travel writers can become serious to the point of lapsing into good ol' American puritanism. . . . What nonsense! I have traveled much in Concord. Good travel writing can be as much about having a good time as about eating grubs and chasing drug lords. . . . [T]ravel is for learning, for fun, for escape, for personal quests, for challenge, for exploration, for opening the imagination to other lives and languages." (Introduction to The Best American Travel Writing 2002 . Houghton, 2002)

Travel Writers on Travel Writing

In the past, travel writing was considered to be nothing more than the detailing of specific routes to various destinations. Today, however, travel writing has become much more. Read on to find out what famous travel writers such as V.S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux say about the profession.

V.S. Naipaul

• "My books have to be called ' travel writing ,' but that can be misleading because in the old days travel writing was essentially done by men describing the routes they were taking. . . . What I do is quite different. I travel on a theme . I travel to make an inquiry. I am not a journalist. I am taking with me the gifts of sympathy, observation, and curiosity that I developed as an imaginative writer. The books I write now, these inquiries, are really constructed narratives." (Interview with Ahmed Rashid, "Death of the Novel." The Observer , Feb. 25, 1996)

Paul Theroux

• - "Most travel narratives—perhaps all of them, the classics anyway—describe the miseries and splendors of going from one remote place to another. The quest, the getting there, the difficulty of the road is the story; the journey, not the arrival, matters, and most of the time the traveler—the traveler’s mood, especially—is the subject of the whole business. I have made a career out of this sort of slogging and self-portraiture, travel writing as diffused autobiography ; and so have many others in the old, laborious look-at-me way that informs travel writing ." (Paul Theroux, "The Soul of the South." Smithsonian Magazine , July-August 2014) - "Most visitors to coastal Maine know it in the summer. In the nature of visitation, people show up in the season. The snow and ice are a bleak memory now on the long warm days of early summer, but it seems to me that to understand a place best, the visitor needs to see figures in a landscape in all seasons. Maine is a joy in the summer. But the soul of Maine is more apparent in the winter. You see that the population is actually quite small, the roads are empty, some of the restaurants are closed, the houses of the summer people are dark, their driveways unplowed. But Maine out of season is unmistakably a great destination: hospitable, good-humored, plenty of elbow room, short days, dark nights of crackling ice crystals. "Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. Boats are repaired, traps fixed, nets mended. “I need the winter to rest my body,” my friend the lobsterman told me, speaking of how he suspended his lobstering in December and did not resume until April. . . ." ("The Wicked Coast." The Atlantic , June 2011)

Susan Orlean

• - "To be honest, I view all stories as journeys. Journeys are the essential text of the human experience—the journey from birth to death, from innocence to wisdom, from ignorance to knowledge, from where we start to where we end. There is almost no piece of important writing—the Bible, the Odyssey , Chaucer, Ulysses —that isn't explicitly or implicitly the story of a journey. Even when I don't actually go anywhere for a particular story, the way I report is to immerse myself in something I usually know very little about, and what I experience is the journey toward a grasp of what I've seen." (Susan Orlean, Introduction to My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere . Random House, 2004) - "When I went to Scotland for a friend's wedding last summer, I didn't plan on firing a gun. Getting into a fistfight, maybe; hurling insults about badly dressed bridesmaids, of course; but I didn't expect to shoot or get shot at. The wedding was taking place in a medieval castle in a speck of a village called Biggar. There was not a lot to do in Biggar, but the caretaker of the castle had skeet-shooting gear, and the male guests announced that before the rehearsal dinner they were going to give it a go. The women were advised to knit or shop or something. I don't know if any of us women actually wanted to join them, but we didn't want to be left out, so we insisted on coming along. . . ." (Opening paragraph of "Shooting Party." The New Yorker , September 29, 1999)

Jonathan Raban

• - "As a literary form, travel writing is a notoriously raffish open house where different genres are likely to end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary , the essay , the short story, the prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes narrative and discursive writing." ( For Love & Money: Writing - Reading - Travelling 1968-1987 . Picador, 1988)
• - "Travel in its purest form requires no certain destination, no fixed itinerary, no advance reservation and no return ticket, for you are trying to launch yourself onto the haphazard drift of things, and put yourself in the way of whatever changes the journey may throw up. It's when you miss the one flight of the week, when the expected friend fails to show, when the pre-booked hotel reveals itself as a collection of steel joists stuck into a ravaged hillside, when a stranger asks you to share the cost of a hired car to a town whose name you've never heard, that you begin to travel in earnest." ("Why Travel?" Driving Home: An American Journey . Pantheon, 2011)
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10 of the best travel books

We may not be able to venture far right now, but these travel books, from classics to comic travelogues, take us on journeys around the world Share your favourites in the comments below

Venice by Jan Morris

Recent reports suggest the now-quiet canals of Venice are at their clearest for 60 years, with swans spotted in recent days. The city, of course, has always had a touch of fantasy about it. “Venice is a cheek-by-jowl, back-of-the-hand, under-the-counter, higgledy-piggledy, anecdotal city,” writes Jan Morris in this 1960 masterpiece . “She is rich in piquant wrinkled things, like an assortment of bric-a-brac in the house of a wayward connoisseur, or parasites on an oyster-shell.” The book pens a portrait of a city thick with atmosphere and stuffed with history, conjuring an intoxicating sense of place with Morris’s trademark wit and wisdom. Faber

Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy de Lisle

Canadian cartoonist Guy de Lisle is no standard travel writer – and his books are far from standard travelogues. Using simple, unfussy, comic-strip illustrations, he recounts his first-hand experiences of living in some of the world’s knottiest destinations, from Myanmar to North Korea. The result is a series of graphic memoirs that brilliantly juggle the subtleties and oddities of being a stranger in a strange town. Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City is the product of a year-long stay in the region and, over the course of more than 300 pages, tries to make sense of somewhere rarely less than complex. Jonathan Cape

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy

Few travel writers of any era compare to Dervla Murphy. Now in her late 80s, she’s been responsible for dozens of travel books , dwelling on destinations as varied as Cuba, Laos, Romania and Cameroon. Her 1965 debut remains her best known work, and tells the account of an astonishing solo bicycle expedition to Delhi. “Within a few weeks my journey had degenerated from a happy-go-lucky cycle trek to a grim struggle for progress by any means,” she writes, before encountering wolves, broken ribs and heat exhaustion. She also packs a .25 pistol, and has more than one cause to use it. Eland

The Crossway by Guy Stagg

This searingly honest account of an on-foot, 10-month journey from Canterbury to Jerusalem found its way onto more than one awards shortlist following its publication in 2018, and for good reason. Guy Stagg, a self-proclaimed non-believer and non-hiker, undertakes the trek as a form of self-healing, following years of coping with depressive thoughts that “stung and reeled”. If the pretext is downbeat, the journey itself is an odyssey, encountering memorable characters and a rippled patchwork of different cultures and beliefs. Almost unbelievably, he sets off from Kent in the dead of winter, requiring a crossing of the Alps in snow. And he writes like a dream. Picador

Stranger on a Train: Daydreaming and Smoking around America with Interruptions by Jenny Diski

After spending three weeks crossing the Atlantic on a cargo ship (“at night, the rabble of stars demanded to be watched”), Jenny Diski travels around the perimeter of the USA by rail . The joy of the book lies as much in her portrayal of characters she encounters en route as the immersive detail of the country she’s passing through. Or, as she writes, “it is much more as if America is passing through you, what you are, what you’ve known”. Part-memoir, and written around 20 years ago, Stranger On A Train captures an America that still feels familiar – albeit with cigarettes in place of smartphones. Virag

French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France by Tim Moore

Few writers since Bill Bryson have nailed the comic travelogue as well as Tim Moore. Dogged in pursuit of an adventure, he’s pedalled the former Iron Curtain on an East German shopping bike, walked the Camino de Santiago with a donkey and, most recently, crossed the USA in a breakdown-prone Model T Ford. He’s also properly, consistently funny, as evidenced in 2001’s French Revolutions , which sees him attempt to cycle the entire course of the Tour de France. The acknowledgement in the title pages (“The Tour de France press office, without whom none of this would have been difficult”) sets the tone for a hugely entertaining read. Yellow Jersey

Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West

Readers get evangelical about this vast book, originally published in two volumes, which ostensibly describes Rebecca West’s travels through what was then Yugoslavia in 1937 . It is, however, far more than just a keen-eyed journal. Gathering up centuries of history and blending them with her own often piercing observations, West uses the book to paint a deep and intricate picture of a region on the brink of the second world war. The New York Times has called it a “masterpiece of history and travel”, while Time magazine would later describe West as “indisputably the world’s number one woman writer”. Canongate

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town by Paul Theroux

“All news out of Africa is bad. It made me want to go there…” So run the opening words of Paul Theroux’s 2002 classic, Dark Star Safari . Written more than two decades after his first long-distance travelogues, and some four decades after living in Africa as a young teacher, the book follows Theroux on a compelling, north-to-south journey down the continent. The narrative doesn’t shy away from harsh judgements – in Kenya “tourists yawned at the animals and the animals yawned back”, while aid workers also come in for some barbed criticism – but the people and landscapes he encounters are portrayed so vividly you can almost feel the equatorial heat from the pages. Penguin

Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-mile Adventure by Monisha Rajesh

Monisha Rajesh has form when it comes to rail travel. This globe-straddling journey is the follow-up to 2010’s well received Around India In 80 Trains , and sees her undertake a 45,000-mile (72,000km) journey through Europe, Asia and North America. Her gift for detail means characters, as well as places, are brought to life. And from a high-altitude ride into Tibet to a trans-Canadian epic – not to mention a homecoming trip on the Venice Simplon Orient Express – the book does a fine job of affirming the things, large and small, that make rail travel such an absorbing way of seeing the world. Bloomsbury

A Short Walk In The Hindu Kush Eric Newby

“CAN YOU TRAVEL NURISTAN JUNE?” With this 1956 telegram – sent by disillusioned London fashion executive Eric Newby to a diplomat friend – begins an engrossing, at times comical, mountaineering journey into Afghanistan. The pair lack anything like the requisite climbing experience, but undergo a brief training period in Wales before travelling to the unforgiving peaks of Asia, with the aim of conquering the 5,800-metre Mir Samir. Newby’s prose is sharp and lively throughout , drawing the reader into remote villages and the “spiky and barren-looking” Hindu Kush, where hardships (and a chance hillside encounter with steely adventurer Wilfred Thesiger, who sneers at their air-beds) await. HarperCollins

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The best american travel books ever written (usa), a collection of usa travelogues, guide books, tales of adventure and the great outdoors..

We bring you a selection of the best American travel books ever written.

Land of the free; home of the brave; the land of milk and honey; the melting pot; los Estados Unidos; or as we Brits say “The land across the pond”; whatever you may call the land of opportunity you will surely agree with the Chinese name for the U.S.A: “Mei-Guo” which literally means – beautiful country.

Probably the worlds only real super power (Vladimir Putin’s words, not mine), it is also an incredibly super country, with especially lovely people. Fifty exceedingly diverse states, could just as easily be fifty individual countries with their own separate cultures.

From a travel writers perspective the ‘States’ has everything you can imagine or ever need. From mountains to beaches; some of the biggest cities and urban metropolises, to quaint rural towns and villages; epic geology and landscapes, a wealth of flora and fauna, and food and drink across the spectrum. It may lack the age of its Europeans cousins, but it has certainly crammed a lot into such a short period. A wealth of material, for any type of travel book.

Without further ado lets crack on with our list of the best American travel books –

Note: Travel Mono may receive a small commission from any affiliate link used to make a purchase, but there is no extra cost to the customer. We use the funds to help keep the site running.

Best American Travel Books –

Travels with Charley: In search of America by John Steinbeck

“To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck’s goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years.

With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.”

Available in Hardcover, Paperback & Audible Formats

• Buy this book on Amazon

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

“Inspired by Jack Kerouac’s adventures with Neal Cassady,  On the Road  tells the story of two friends whose cross-country road trips are a quest for meaning and true experience. Written with a mixture of sad-eyed naiveté and wild ambition and imbued with Kerouac’s love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz,  On the Road  is the quintessential American vision of freedom and hope, a book that changed American literature and changed anyone who has ever picked it up.”

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

“This cult classic of gonzo journalism is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.”

Available in Hardcover, Paperback, eBook & Audible Formats

I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson

“After living in Britain for two decades, Bill Bryson recently moved back to the United States with his English wife and four children (he had read somewhere that nearly 3 million Americans believed they had been abducted by aliens — as he later put it, “it was clear my people needed me”). They were greeted by a new and improved America that boasts microwave pancakes, twenty-four-hour dental-floss hotlines, and the staunch conviction that ice is not a luxury item.”

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain

“Life on the Mississippi” (1883) is a memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans many years after the War.”

Available in Hardcover, Paperback & eBook Formats

• Download for free in all eBook formats (Copyright has expired)

In Search of Nice Americans by Geoff Steward

“Turning his back on the British legal profession and the requirement to account for every six minutes of his time, Geoff Steward ventures off-grid and on the road across America. From New York to Alaska, he tries to fend for himself without his trusty PA, the unflappable Charmaine, for whom contentment lies in Jesus Christ and custard creams.”

Available in Paperback & Kindle Formats

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

“In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter.  How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of  Into the Wild .”

A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins

“I started out searching for myself and my country,” Peter Jenkins writes, “and found both.” In this timeless classic, Jenkins describes how disillusionment with society in the 1970’s drove him out onto the road on a walk across America. His experiences remain as sharp and telling today as they were twenty-five years ago — from the timeless secrets of life, learned from a mountain-dwelling hermit, to the stir he caused by staying with a black family in North Carolina, to his hours of intense labor in Southern mills. Many, many miles later, he learned lessons about his country and himself that resonate to this day — and will inspire a new generation to get out, hit the road and explore.”

Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America’s Wild Frontier by Stephen E. Ambrose

“This was much more than a bunch of guys out on an exploring and collecting expedition. This was a military expedition into hostile territory’. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a pioneering voyage across the Great Plains and into the Rockies. It was completely uncharted territory; a wild, vast land ruled by the Indians. Charismatic and brave, Lewis was the perfect choice and he experienced the savage North American continent before any other white man. UNDAUNTED COURAGE is the tale of a hero, but it is also a tragedy.”

In the Temple of Wolves: A Winter’s Immersion in Wild Yellowstone  by Rick Lamplugh

“This Amazon best seller is written by a wolf advocate who spent three winters living and working in a remote corner of Yellowstone National Park, home to some of the best wolf watching in the world.”

Available in Paperback & eBook Formats

Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road from Debt to Freedom   by  Ken Ilgunas

“In this frank and witty memoir, Ken Ilgunas lays bare the existential terror of graduating from the University of Buffalo with $32,000 of student debt. Ilgunas set himself an ambitious mission: get out of debt as quickly as possible. Inspired by the frugality and philosophy of Henry David Thoreau, Ilgunas undertook a 3-year transcontinental jour¬ney, working in Alaska as a tour guide, garbage picker, and night cook to pay off his student loans before hitchhiking home to New York.

Debt-free, Ilgunas then enrolled in a master’s program at Duke University, determined not to borrow against his future again. He used the last of his savings to buy himself a used Econoline van and outfitted it as his new dorm. The van, stationed in a campus parking lot, would be more than an adventure—it would be his very own “Walden on Wheels.”

Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada  by John Muir Laws

The most comprehensive field guide to the natural wonders of the Range of Light! The Sierra Nevada.

Available in Hardcover, Paperback Format

Driving Miss Norma: One Family’s Journey Saying “Yes” to Living by Tim Bauerschmidt

“When Miss Norma was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she was advised to undergo surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But instead of confining herself to a hospital bed for what could be her last stay, Miss Norma—newly widowed after nearly seven decades of marriage—rose to her full height of five feet and told her doctor, “I’m ninety years old. I’m hitting the road.”

And so Miss Norma took off on an unforgettable around-the-country journey in a thirty-six-foot motor home with her retired son Tim, his wife Ramie, and their dog Ringo.

As this once timid woman says “yes” to living in the face of death, she tries regional foods for the first time, reaches for the clouds in a hot air balloon, and mounts up for a horseback ride. With each passing mile (and one educational visit to a cannabis dispensary), Miss Norma’s health improves and conversations that had once been taboo begin to unfold. Norma, Tim, and Ramie bond in ways they had never done before, and their definitions of home, family, and friendship expand. Stop by stop, state by state, they meet countless people from all walks of life—strangers who become fast friends and welcome them with kindness and open hearts.”

The United States of Laughter: One Comedian’s Journey Through All 50 States by Andrew Tarvin

“At the age of 31, Andrew Tarvin made the very practical decision to rid himself of most of his belongings, leave his Midtown apartment in NYC, and travel the country out of two carry-on bags. In 12 months, he traveled 92,358 miles, did 215 events, and spoke or performed in all 50 states (yes, even Wyoming).

Along the way, he collected 50 stories from 50 states. Stories of adventure, like fending off a bear in Alaska, stories of deliciousness, like eating a Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo Burrito in Montana, and stories of people, like meeting his newest fan in Pringle, South Dakota, population: 112.

Through his journey, he discovered that, despite what we may see on the news or read on the internet, there is one thing that unites all Americans: laughter. As he traveled around the country, he found connection through comedy and realized we are all more alike than we are different, no matter what state we call home.”

Available in Paperback, eBook & Audible Formats

In Search of America’s Heartbeat: Twelve Months on the Road by Robert H Mottram

“They lived the secret dream of countless American couples; a year on the road that took them more than 30,000 miles into the far-flung corners of the nation. Along the way they came face-to-face with grief, but also with the warmth and humanity of America and its people. A grandson of Russian immigrants and award-winning journalist celebrates America in a wonderful, upbeat story chock-full of Americana. It will tell you things about your country that you probably didn’t know.”

Live It: Riding the Highs and Lows of a Cross Country Dream by Tracy Draper

“Long sidelined from any kind of athletic endeavors in order to manage the demands of motherhood, Tracy Draper quietly harbored a dream to ride her bike more than 3,000 miles across the country. Every year, hundreds of cyclists ride register with private touring groups to travel by bike from coast to coast.

But instead of taking a credit-card tour, this longtime supporter of a myriad of causes recruited and organized her own team of cyclists to tackle the continental challenge in support of America’s wounded veterans. Her story perches readers on the front lines of a monumental challenge that tested everything from the rubber on desert-scorched tires to the group dynamics of herding sometimes-exhausted cyclists across a continent. In a voice both humbling and inspiring, she tells a story of hardships and life-defining moments.

Her trek takes readers across the country and introduces them to a cast that includes selfless Navajo Indians, unsung heroes of military sacrifice, and middle-class Americans who opened their homes and checkbooks to a band of strangers. It is also a story that takes us from a comfortable spot on the couch to place where we can envision what is possible when you have a bike and a dream.”

One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey by Sam Keith

This best-selling memoir from Richard Proenneke’s journals and with firsthand knowledge of his subject and the setting, Sam Keith has woven a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.  To live in a pristine land unchanged by man . . . to roam a wilderness through which few other humans has passed . . . to choose an idyllic site, cut trees by hand, and build a log cabin. . . to be self-sufficient craftsman, making what is needed from materials available…to be not at odds with the world, but content with one’s own thoughts, dreams and company.  Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. This book is a moving account of the day-to-day explorations and activities Dick carried out alone….alone in the wilderness…and the constant chain of nature’s events that kept him company.

Temperance Creek: A Memoir by Pamela Royes

In the early seventies, some of us were shot like stars from our parents’ homes. This was an act of nature, bigger than ourselves. In the austere beauty and natural reality of Hell’s Canyon of Eastern Oregon, one hundred miles from pavement, Pam, unable to identify with her parent’s world and looking for deeper pathways has a chance encounter with returning Vietnam warrior Skip Royes. Skip, looking for a bridge from survival back to connection, introduces Pam to the vanishing culture of the wandering shepherd and together they embark on a four-year sojourn into the wilderness. From the back of a horse, Pam leads her packstring of readers from overlook to water crossing, down trails two thousand years old, and from the vantages she chooses for us, we feel the edges of our own experiences. It is a memoir of falling in love with a place and a man and the price extracted for that love.

Hawaii The Big Island Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook by Andrew Doughty

“The finest guidebook ever written for the Big Island. Now you can plan your best vacation ever. This all new eighth edition is a candid, humorous guide to everything there is to see and do on the Big Island.

Best-selling author and longtime Hawaii resident, Andrew Doughty, unlocks the secrets of an island so vast and diverse that many visitors never realize all that it has to offer. Explore with him as he reveals breathtaking trails, secluded beaches, pristine reefs, delicious places to dine, relaxing resorts, an active volcano and so much more. Every restaurant, activity provider, business and resort is reviewed personally and anonymously. This book and a rental car are all you need to discover what makes the Big Island so exciting.”

Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways by Jamie Jensen

“Jamie Jensen was immersed in road trip culture from an early age. He grew up in Southern California, back when freeways were new, cheeseburgers cost a quarter, and every beach had a beachfront amusement park. After a three-year stint bumming around the country, making hay in Kansas, and ghostwriting a book for the Grateful Dead, Jamie set to work researching and writing Road Trip USA. Since then he’s traveled more than 400,000 miles in search of the perfect stretch of two-lane blacktop.”

Available in Paperback Format

Off the Beaten Path: A Travel Guide to More Than 1000 Scenic and Interesting Places Still Uncrowded and Inviting by Reader’s Digest

Off the Beaten Path  spotlights over 1,000 of the United States’ most overlooked must- see destinations.  Plan an unforgettable vacation with this best-selling travel book-a super-easy reference that shows you where to go, how to get there, and what you need to know before you begin your adventure.

Available in Hardcover Format

Roadfood – 10th Edition: An Eater’s Guide to More Than 1,000 of the Best Local Hot Spots and Hidden Gems Across America by Jane Stern

“A cornucopia for road warriors and armchair epicures alike,  Roadfood  is a road map to some of the tastiest treasures in the United States.

First published in 1977, the original  Roadfood  became an instant classic. James Beard said, “This is a book that you should carry with you, no matter where you are going in these United States. It’s a treasure house of information.” The 40th anniversary edition of  Roadfood  includes 1,000 of America’s best local eateries along highways and back roads, with nearly 200 new listings, as well as a brand new design.”

Available in Paperback, eBook and Spiral-Bound Formats

Your Guide to the National Parks: The Complete Guide to all 59 National Parks by Michael Joseph Oswald

“This award-winning guide, completely updated for the 2017 edition, includes more than 450 new photographs, 160 revised maps, and 50 hiking tables, making it the only guidebook you’ll need to explore the United States National Parks.”

We hope you found our list of the best American travel books useful. If you have any feedback or suggestions please let us know in the comments section below.

If you are a writer or publisher who believe you have a book worthy of our list please check out our review submission guidelines.

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Tips on How to Become a Travel Writer

Discover your unique angle, hone your writing skills, build a robust portfolio, network with other travel writers, pitch with precision, stay updated with travel trends, ethical considerations in travel writing, monetize your travel writing, stay resilient, never stop exploring.

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FREELANCE COMMUNITY

• Travel Writing: 10 Globe-Trotter Magazines that Pay Freelance Writers

Lisa Rogers

Travel Writing: 3 Tips to Land Magazine Assignments

• Hidden Compass
• World Nomads
• Outpost Magazine
• Family Traveller

How to Break Into International Travel Writing

What if you could mix your global wanderlust with travel writing and get paid?

Sounds pretty sweet, right?

As the world of work changes, foreign countries offer digital nomad visas, and remote working remains an option.

They’ll need to know the best places to go, travel stories no one else can tell, and experiences that define us as travelers.

There’s “travel revenge,” too. You know…after COVID-19 restrictions and lots of vacation cancellations, people are traveling in record numbers. 

And that’s really good news if travel writing is one of your niches as a freelance writer.

Who’s hiring? While some of these magazines do have staff columnists and writers, they’re always looking for fresh perspectives and new contributors.

So, what better way to get your foot in the door than to knock their socks off with your first freelance assignment.

Below are 10 magazines that hire freelancers and pay up to $800 plus 50% of campaign funds.

These magazines are for the world traveler, who book trips regularly, and for those looking to experience a new culture, a new dish, or a new adventure.

Many are looking for first-person stories about how a place made you feel or challenged your assumptions.

As always, doing your research, studying the publication, and pitching per their guidelines is essential.

Follow these three tips to land travel writing assignments:

• Read a few back issues. If something you want to write about has been covered, what fresh perspective do you bring to the story?
• Study the publication and read the guidelines. Submission format and method are essential to review for each magazine.
• Keep your pitches short and focused in 1-to-2 paragraphs. Some magazines offer an example layout of how best to pitch them.

1.   Travel + Leisure Magazine  

One of the best known travel magazines, Travel + Leisure, is the only print international travel magazine in the US with a circulation of nearly a million. That’s a lot of eyes on your story!

They’re looking for stories from around the world whether first-person, as-told-to, or service-oriented for their target audience of active travelers who immerse themselves in a culture or location whether they’re traveling or not. T + L is primarily looking for new voices who bring a fresh perspective about a place or topic.

When pitching, explain in one paragraph:

• Why the story should be covered,
• Topic, angle, and scope of the story,
• Why you are the one to tell it.

Tip: Think like an editor. Many stories have been in the works from 3 months to a year before publication.

If you haven’t traveled for your story yet, let them know what kind of editorial support you need. When considering story ideas, what’s a unique angle you can write about that hasn’t been documented elsewhere?

Rate: Negotiated and based on assignment. Paid upon receipt of the accepted story with an invoice.

Contact: Flora Stubbs, Executive Editor at [email protected] ; Paul Brady, Articles Editor at [email protected] ; Peter Terzian, Features Editor at [email protected] , or Hannah Walhout, Senior Editor at [email protected] .

2.   Condé Nast Traveler

Condé Nast Traveler is looking for travel stories that inspire and inform to help people travel better and wiser.

Keep your pitch to two paragraphs or less, including a suggested headline, angle, sources, and why this story should be covered now.

Tip: If your story is focused on responsible travel, Conde Nast prioritizes those stories over others. In addition, they are most interested in hearing from voices of the BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities.

Rate: $300+ for 500 to 600 words.

Contact:  Editor Megan Spurrell

3.     Hidden Compass

Hidden Compass is an online international travel magazine with a twist. Focusing on travel journalism education, it wants to dive deeper into the obscure angles of travel, place, and those we meet on our journey. It is unique in that its rates are set, and writers can earn 50 percent after a 90-day patronage campaign.

Travel stories blended with culture, art, history, and science within the categories of Quest, Portrait, Chasing Demons, Time Travel, and Human and Nature told through words and images of 2,000 – 3,000 words is their way of showcasing unique aspects of travel and sense of place.

Tip: Include your submission in the body of your email. No attachments.

Rate: Photo features: $800 + 50% of campaign proceeds; Features: $500 + 50% of campaign funds; Custom artwork: $400; Photos: $75/photo

Contact: Please email all questions and submissions to Sivani Babu, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Hidden Compass at: [email protected] .

AFAR is a bi-monthly publication that publishes reported features, personal essays, opinion pieces, and aspirational lifestyle travel stories. They want to tell the stories of a place and its people.

Pitches should include your story’s synopsis, sources, relevant news or timely events, and estimated word count. Always have a short bio and relevant clips of your previously published work.

Rate: $1 per word payable 30-45 days after the piece is published upon a filed invoice.

• Please send pitches for feature stories to Aislyn Greene, Senior Editor, at [email protected] .
• Please send pitches for middle-of-book stories to Mae Hamilton, Assistant Editor, at [email protected] .
• Please send pitches for photo essays to Michelle Heimerman, Photo Editor, at [email protected] .
• Please send pitches for illustrated features to Supriya Kalidas, Creative Director, at [email protected] .

5. World Nomads

World Nomads is looking for stories that go deeper than the location asking its authors to answer the following questions in their articles.

• Could other travelers imagine themselves in the story, and if so, how might it change them?
• Were boundaries tested?
• As the writer, do your emotions come through in the story?
• Were you transformed in the story in some way?
• Is this a fresh perspective on something that’s already been written or is it an original idea?

Keep your title to 40 characters max and your synopsis to 250 words or less when pitching. Explain the subject, format, category, what makes it compelling, and why you’re the one to write it.

Rate: $.50 per word

Contact: Email u s here or Managing Editor Kate Duthie at LinkedIn

6. Outpost Magazine

Outpost Magazine is a Canadian publication that accepts stories from authors worldwide. They’re looking for longform travel journalism coupled with high-resolution photos, which might be anything from travel guides to hidden gem destinations.

Most articles should be 2,000 to 4,000 words for print, and if you have clips, send two or three samples of your previously published work.

Rate: Negotiated. Pitches accepted on spec only.

Contact: To submit, email [email protected] .

7 . Hemispheres Magazine

Hemispheres , the inflight magazine of United Airlines, reaches more than 11 million readers every month. They’re looking for writers with expertise and global perspectives.

The three sections available to freelance writers are their Features, Navigator, and Diversions sections. Include your clips as attachments in Word or PDF or links to the samples of your work.

Tip: Their lead time is three months ahead. Keep this in mind if your idea or pitch is timely such as a holiday or news event.

Rate: Negotiated.

Contact: Email Editor-in-Chief: Ellen Carpenter ; Deputy Editor: Justin Goldman

8. Family Traveller

Family Traveller is a UK-based magazine that accepts pitches from travelers and writers worldwide. They’re looking for first-hand experiences of practical travel information geared toward affluent families with children who immerse themselves in culture and place when traveling.

Tip: Put “story pitch” in the subject line of your email and send documents as Word or PDF attachments. When giving contact details, include your social media handles and links to any travel articles you’ve previously published, and don’t forget to include the date of the trip on which the pitch is based.

Rate: $.25 per word for pieces from 50 to 1200 words. Paid 30 days following publication.

Contact: Email Katie Bowman at [email protected] .

9. Outside Magazine

Outside Magazine is focused on adventure travel and is looking for stories about adventure sports, gear, travel, and culture. They cover emerging adventure destinations, sustainability, travel ethics, road trips, national parks, and budget travel. Outside is particularly interested in international adventure travel stories from LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and POC voices.

Tip: If you’re new to Outside, send a few clips similar to what you’re pitching, and note that successful pitches include a compelling narrative, a colorful cast of characters, and a unique angle or point of tension. Tell them how your story fits their magazine and why you’re the writer to tell it.

Rates: $.50+ per word based on reporting, complexity, and writing experience, paid within 30 days of the completed assignment.

Contact: Email [email protected] or Assistant Editor Mallory Arnold via LinkedIn

10. Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust Magazine is a UK-based magazine that caters to travelers in 80+ countries. Their readers are 50% women who are well-educated, active travelers, most of whom are British.

When pitching, submit a one-paragraph outline of the story, the proposed first paragraph, and include information such as how you traveled, tour operators you used, and pictures if you have them.

Tip: If you’re new to writing for Wanderlust, start small and pitch for one of their pocket guides. Rules of the pocket guide include locations that must be accessible by direct flights from the UK and where you can get a feel for the place in the first 24 hours or perhaps a long weekend.

Contact: Founding Editor and Head of Commissioning Lyn Hughes.

If you’re just getting started in travel writing, it’s a good idea to begin with shorter pieces and pitch those to the front ends of the magazine. And if you have little to no clips, start in your own backyard. Who knows your neighborhood or city better than you do?

Tip: When writing samples, write in the same voice you’ve read in the magazine. You’ve been studying the publications, right? Show them in your pitch or your article on speculation (spec).

When considering any idea for one of these magazines, ask yourself the following questions:

• Has my idea been written about before, and if not, what fresh angle do I bring to it?
• What unique perspective do I, as a writer, bring to the conversation? 
• How does my experience make me the best writer for the article?

Want more international travel writing options? 

Sometimes the best way to go about it is to enter the following in your search engine – “international travel writing” + “submission guidelines” + “paid.” You may even want to check out whopayswriters.com . Happy writing!

Need help landing travel writing assignments? Let’s discuss in the comments.

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Great writer websites can:

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Right now, a record-high number of people are considering a freelance writing career. My inbox is overflowing with questions from newbies. And the first question is: “Where can I find freelance writing jobs for beginners?”

If that’s you, sending hugs! I totally feel your confusion. The freelance marketplace is a big, complicated place. There are lots of types of paid writing, and different kinds of clients, too.

I’ve been helping writers get started for a dozen years now. And I know how mystifying it can be. You feel like there’s a door you need to find, a person you need to know, a secret you must unlock to become a freelance writer.

But really, the path to freelance writing jobs for beginners is simple.

You need to find someone willing to let you write for them. That’s it.

You get a few samples and boom — you have a portfolio to show. And you’re on your way.

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Best Travel Writing Contests in 2024

Showing 8 contests that match your search.

Irene Adler Prize

Lucas Ackroyd

Genres: Essay, Non-fiction, and Travel

I’ve traveled the world from Sweden to South Africa, from the Golden Globes to the Olympic women’s hockey finals. I’ve photographed a mother polar bear and her cubs and profiled stars like ABBA, Jennifer Garner and Katarina Witt. And I couldn’t have done it without women. I’ve been very fortunate, and it’s time for me to give back. With the Irene Adler Prize, I’m awarding a $1,000 scholarship to a woman pursuing a degree in journalism, creative writing, or literature at a recognized post-secondary institution.

Additional prizes:

2x honorable mentions: $250

📅 Deadline: May 30, 2024

Travel Writing Award

Ottawa Tourism

Genres: Travel

Ottawa Tourism offers an annual $500 CAD prize for outstanding travel writing featuring Canada’s Capital Region. Eligible entries include items in English or in French that have appeared in magazines, newspapers, or online media in 2023 that highlight Ottawa as a travel destination.

📅 Deadline: February 02, 2024 (Expired)

Crossings Travel Writing Competition

Intrepid Times

Genres: Non-fiction, Short Story, and Travel

Write an original, factual, first-person travel story that centers on a crossing of some kind. Your travel story should, as always, grow around the context of a place or experience; we want to see the theme being used in a way that enhances both. Editors will be looking for originality, voice, and a satisfying story arc that captures attention and makes use of imagery to pull the reader along at every step.

Publication in Intrepid Times

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

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Solas Awards

Best Travel Writing

Extraordinary stories about travel and the human spirit have been the cornerstones of our books since 1993. With the Solas Awards we honor writers whose work inspires others to explore. We’re looking for the best stories about travel and the world. Funny, illuminating, adventurous, uplifting, scary, inspiring, poignant stories that reflect the unique alchemy that occurs when you enter unfamiliar territory and begin to see the world differently as a result. We hope these awards will be a catalyst for those who love to leave home and tell others about it.

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: September 21, 2024

Global Experience Travel Writing Contest

Have you been marked by travel? If so, tell us how. Engaging with the genre of creative nonfiction, seize upon memorable incidents from your travel history — study abroad, domestic travels, even your discovery of Northfield. Entertain us. Make us laugh. Move us. Help us travel with you.

📅 Deadline: April 07, 2024 (Expired)

100 Word Writing Contest

Tadpole Press

Genres: Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller, Young Adult, Children's, Poetry, Romance, Short Story, Suspense, and Travel

Can you write a story using 100 words or less? Pieces will be judged on creativity, uniqueness, and how the story captures a new angle, breaks through stereotypes, and expands our beliefs about what's possible or unexpectedly delights us. In addition, we are looking for writing that is clever or unique, inspires us, and crafts a compelling and complete story. The first-place prize has doubled to $2,000 USD.

2nd: writing coach package

💰 Entry fee: $15

Anthology Travel Writing Competition 2024

Anthology Magazine

The Anthology Travel Writing Competition is open to original and previously unpublished travel articles in the English language by writers of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. We are looking for an engaging article that will capture the reader’s attention, conveying a strong sense of the destination and the local culture. Max 1000 words.

💰 Entry fee: $16

📅 Deadline: November 30, 2024

New Deal Writing Competition

New Deal Museum

Genres: Christian, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Travel

GVCA is excited to announce the ninth annual New Deal Writing Competition! This competition challenges writers to use a painting chosen by the staff at GVCA as inspiration for a short story. This year’s painting is “Playtime” by Fred Ross.

Publication in newsletter

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: March 15, 2024 (Expired)

Discover the finest writing contests of 2024 for fiction and non-fiction authors — including short story competitions, essay writing competitions, poetry contests, and many more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters. If you’re looking to stick to free writing contests, simply use our filters as you browse.

Why you should submit to writing contests

Submitting to poetry competitions and free writing contests in 2024 is absolutely worth your while as an aspiring author: just as your qualifications matter when you apply for a new job, a writing portfolio that boasts published works and award-winning pieces is a great way to give your writing career a boost. And not to mention the bonus of cash prizes!

That being said, we understand that taking part in writing contests can be tough for emerging writers. First, there’s the same affliction all writers face: lack of time or inspiration. Entering writing contests is a time commitment, and many people decide to forego this endeavor in order to work on their larger projects instead — like a full-length book. Second, for many writers, the chance of rejection is enough to steer them clear of writing contests. 

But we’re here to tell you that two of the great benefits of entering writing contests happen to be the same as those two reasons to avoid them.

When it comes to the time commitment: yes, you will need to expend time and effort in order to submit a quality piece of writing to competitions. That being said, having a hard deadline to meet is a great motivator for developing a solid writing routine.

Think of entering contests as a training session to become a writer who will need to meet deadlines in order to have a successful career. If there’s a contest you have your eye on, and the deadline is in one month, sit down and realistically plan how many words you’ll need to write per day in order to meet that due date — and don’t forget to also factor in the time you’ll need to edit your story!

For tips on setting up a realistic writing plan, check out this free, ten-day course: How to Build a Rock-Solid Writing Routine.

In regards to the fear of rejection, the truth is that any writer aspiring to become a published author needs to develop relatively thick skin. If one of your goals is to have a book traditionally published, you will absolutely need to learn how to deal with rejection, as traditional book deals are notoriously hard to score. If you’re an indie author, you will need to adopt the hardy determination required to slowly build up a readership.

The good news is that there’s a fairly simple trick for learning to deal with rejection: use it as a chance to explore how you might be able to improve your writing.

In an ideal world, each rejection from a publisher or contest would come with a detailed letter, offering construction feedback and pointing out specific tips for improvement. And while this is sometimes the case, it’s the exception and not the rule.

Still, you can use the writing contests you don’t win as a chance to provide yourself with this feedback. Take a look at the winning and shortlisted stories and highlight their strong suits: do they have fully realized characters, a knack for showing instead of telling, a well-developed but subtly conveyed theme, a particularly satisfying denouement?

The idea isn’t to replicate what makes those stories tick in your own writing. But most examples of excellent writing share a number of basic craft principles. Try and see if there are ways for you to translate those stories’ strong points into your own unique writing.

Finally, there are the more obvious benefits of entering writing contests: prize and publication. Not to mention the potential to build up your readership, connect with editors, and gain exposure.

Resources to help you win writing competitions in 2024

Every writing contest has its own set of submission rules. Whether those rules are dense or sparing, ensure that you follow them to a T. Disregarding the guidelines will not sway the judges’ opinion in your favor — and might disqualify you from the contest altogether. 

Aside from ensuring you follow the rules, here are a few resources that will help you perfect your submissions.

Free online courses

On Writing:

How to Craft a Killer Short Story

The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Non-Fiction

How to Write a Novel

Understanding Point of View

Developing Characters That Your Readers Will Love

Writing Dialogue That Develops Plot and Character

Stop Procrastinating! Build a Solid Writing Routine

On Editing:

Story Editing for Authors

How to Self-Edit Like a Pro

Novel Revision: Practical Tips for Rewrites

How to Write a Short Story in 7 Steps

Reedsy's guide to novel writing

Literary Devices and Terms — 35+ Definitions With Examples

10 Essential Fiction Writing Tips to Improve Your Craft

How to Write Dialogue: 8 Simple Rules and Exercises

8 Character Development Exercises to Help You Nail Your Character

Bonus resources

200+ Short Story Ideas

600+ Writing Prompts to Inspire You

100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors

Story Title Generator

Pen Name Generator

Character Name Generator

After you submit to a writing competition in 2024

It’s exciting to send a piece of writing off to a contest. However, once the initial excitement wears off, you may be left waiting for a while. Some writing contests will contact all entrants after the judging period — whether or not they’ve won. Other writing competitions will only contact the winners. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind after you submit:

Many writing competitions don’t have time to respond to each entrant with feedback on their story. However, it never hurts to ask! Feel free to politely reach out requesting feedback — but wait until after the selection period is over.

If you’ve submitted the same work to more than one writing competition or literary magazine, remember to withdraw your submission if it ends up winning elsewhere.

After you send a submission, don’t follow it up with a rewritten or revised version. Instead, ensure that your first version is thoroughly proofread and edited. If not, wait until the next edition of the contest or submit the revised version to other writing contests.

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The Best American Travel Writing 2021

“The beauty of good writing is that it transports the reader inside another person’s experience in some other physical place and culture,” writes Padma Lakshmi in her introduction, “and, at its best, evokes a palpable feeling of being in a specific moment in time and space.”

The essays in this year’s Best American Travel Writing are an antidote to the isolation of the year 2020, giving us views into experiences unlike our own and taking us on journeys we could not take ourselves. From the lively music of West Africa, to the rich culinary traditions of Muslims in Northwest China, to the thrill of a hunt in Alaska, this collection is a treasure trove of diverse places and cultures, providing the comfort, excitement, and joy of feeling elsewhere.

THE BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING 2021  INCLUDES KIESE MAKEBA LAYMON • LESLIE JAMISON • BILL BUFORD •  JON LEE ANDERSON • MEGHAN DAUM LIGAYA MISHAN • PAUL THEROUX and others

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We help you succeed in your second career as a travel writer!

"I’m so ready to see where the travel writers life takes me, and I couldn’t do it without the guidance from Noreen and Kristi."

We help you take your travel writing to the next level.

Want to write for bigger publications?

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We’ve got something for everyone.

Travel Writer's Café

Join our online community for weekly trainings and activities that improve your writing and social media efforts.

Travel Writing Retreats

We host 4-5 retreats a year that are part FAM trip and part workshop to up your game while exploring exciting desitnations.

We met when we were on our very first press trip

After meeting as newbie travel writers, we discovered the more information and contacts we shared, the more we both succeeded!

We’ve continued that spirit of giving as we’ve grown our circle to include an entire community of travel writers.

Whether you join the Travel Writer’s Cafe or come on one of our retreats (or both!), you’ll find sharing and collaborating are at the core of everything we put together.

Paso Robles Retreat

• Paso Robles, CA

Sept., 2023

Breckenridge retreat.

• Sept. 18-21
• Breckenridge, Colorado

Temecula Retreat

• Temecula, CA

More upcoming retreats

We’re constantly adding new destinations and dates!

Happy writers

As a burgeoning travel writer, I found the Travel Writers University retreat both inspiring and informative. It can be a lonely road to work as a freelance travel writer. This retreat provided me with a renewed enthusiasm for travel writing. Both Noreen and Kristi provided a wealth of information. Their support and encouragement are truly amazing. During this retreat not only did I learn a ton, but I made connections for a lifetime. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Breckenridge and would definitely recommend one of their retreats to anyone. I look forward to attending another one myself!

Kat Anderson

Noreen and Kristi developed a program designed to build confidence. The retreat content was practical and can be readily used to improve our pitches. The venue was beyond breathtaking, and I developed relationships that will last.  I highly recommend participating and I would happily do it again!

Julie Suman

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Inside the Literary Travel Boom

Book butlers! Curated libraries! Custom cruises! Literary-themed vacations are the hot new trend in tourism.

In January, when packing my bags for a “reading retreat” in the Dominican Republic, I agonized about which books to bring. A few days later, bellied up to the beachside bar at the all-inclusive Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana resort (where, in place of barstools, swings are suspended from the thatched ceiling), I sipped a mojito, cracked open James Salter’s Light Years, a novel I reread annually, and knew that I’d chosen well.

But if I’d had any regrets, summoning a new paperback would’ve been as easy as ringing for a book butler. I was down in the DR to experience Pages in Paradise, a collaboration between the publisher Penguin Random House, Belletrist Book Club (the brainchild of actress Emma Roberts), and Apple Vacations (no relation to the iPhone maker). For readers who like to beach, the retreat left no page unturned. The programming kicked off even before check-in: Ahead of arrival, guests could log in to the resort’s app to reserve beach reads from an on-site library curated by Belletrist. Housed in the airy hotel lobby, the collection included buzzy contemporary fiction by the likes of Zadie Smith and Curtis Sittenfeld. Guests could also order books via room service (or personal butler) anytime or select one from the chic library carts located at the adults-only pool. The property’s various bars featured the “Pages Pour,” a specialty cocktail themed to the program’s inaugural book-of-the-month selection, Jenny Xie’s debut novel, Holding Pattern . They called the drink a gin-fashioned—a fruit-forward riff on the old-fashioned, zippy with pineapple-cinnamon syrup.

Exotic as this tropical gathering of book lovers might have been, it’s just one example of a fast-growing business trend: literary-themed travel. We have the pandemic to thank. Reading surged in the early days of Covid, and the habit stuck as lockdowns eased: The biggest two years on record for print book sales in the U.S. were 2021 and 2022. Hotels and tourism companies, eager to lure back travelers, seized on the surge and began featuring books in their marketing. What began as a travel perk has become a full-blown movement to cater to readers with an explosion of new programming, from big-ticket experiences promising author access to solitary retreats. I know, I know—planning a trip around your reading list may never replace your annual golf weekend, but when else will you get the time to actually enjoy that stack on your nightstand? And if it all sounds like giving yourself homework, don’t worry—there definitely won’t be a quiz, and did I mention the drinks?

As a professional book recommender, the question I’m asked most often is “What book should I bring on my vacation?” ​But now there’s a new question to consider: What kind of literary vacation should I plan?

Not every reader is content to lie by the pool and read for days on end. Some are looking for a more kinetic experience—one that lets them interact with fellow readers, and even their favorite writers. Enter the “ Gone Girl cruise.” In fall 2022, author Gillian Flynn set sail down the Danube with some of her biggest (and most well-heeled) fans as part of Avalon Waterways’ Storyteller Series, cruises that offer literary travelers a chance to voyage in close quarters with authors and other storytellers. When Flynn tweeted about the cruise, it quickly became a viral sensation. On-board accounts detailed a true-crime extravaganza, with guests returning to their rooms each night to discover blood-spattered notes, themed to Flynn’s novels, on their pillows. Sure, it’s a little dorky—but we’re all fans of something, and if crime novels are your thing, what could be better?

For readers who can’t splash out for getaways abroad, there are literary destinations closer to home, too. In the artsy hamlet of New Hope, Pennsylvania, the historic luxury hotel River House at Odette’s offers Riverside Reading (in partnership with Bedside Reading), a program that pairs complimentary access to a curated library (via digital app or hard copies throughout the hotel) with intimate author experiences. With bookshelves stationed on each floor and authors rolling through seasonally, guests can dip in and out of the programming as they please.

When I visited River House deep in the grips of a harsh Pennsylvania winter, I discovered a reader’s paradise: My room boasted a fireplace, a private balcony, and serene views of the rushing Delaware River. After turndown service, I found a keepsake leather bookmark on my pillow. That evening, a few dozen guests gathered for a talkback with the novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz. In a ballroom festooned with red carnations (a nod to the cover of her latest book, The Latecomers ), Korelitz fielded rapid-fire questions about her inspiration, her writing process, and her hit novel The Plot . After the formal conversation concluded, starstruck guests crowded around her at the bar. “When people come up to you and say, ‘I loved your book,’ that really means something to writers,” Korelitz told me. As the owner of BookTheWriter, a service connecting authors and readers through pop-up book clubs hosted in New York City apartments, Korelitz knows a thing or two about making connections. In the recent boom of literary travel experiences, she sees a broader post-pandemic trend of readers craving the chance to get up close and personal with their favorite writers. “The ways of access to authors have multiplied exponentially,” she said. “I find it to be very inspiring.”

For an early-career author like Xie, who was at Pages in Paradise, seeing her novel highlighted was both exciting and transformative. That’s the thing about literary travel—it allows us to transcend our ordinary lives in more ways than one. “There’s a certain sense that we don’t have the space to read unless we’re traveling or living outside of our day-to-day,” said Xie. “A book takes you outside of your physical environment and your lived experience. Travel does that, too, so they join together in this really beautiful way to truly transport you.” That’s a journey worth taking.

HOW TO PLAN YOUR OWN LITERARY VACATION

Ready to take off on a bookish getaway? Literary travel isn’t “one size fits all,” so whatever type of reader you are, we’ve got a prescription for it. Choose your own adventure below.

For the fan

The Gone Girl cruise is over, but Avalon Waterways isn’t slowing down anytime soon: Its upcoming slate of Storyteller Cruises includes actor Graham McTavish (sailing down the Rhine River) and Outlander phenom Diana Gabaldon (voyaging down the Danube).

For the R&R chaser

Looking for a more relaxed experience? At the Reeds at Shelter Haven, an upscale resort on the Jersey shore, guests can participate in Reeds’ Reads, a seasonal book club featuring guided discussions, with authors sometimes joining via Zoom for Q&A sessions.

For the aspiring writer

Chances are, your favorite author is side-hustling by leading retreats in pastoral Europe. To get in on the action, pay close attention to their social-media feeds, or search for guided trips through an experiential-tourism outlet like TrovaTrip.

@media(max-width: 73.75rem){.css-1ktbcds:before{margin-right:0.4375rem;color:#FF3A30;content:'_';display:inline-block;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1ktbcds:before{margin-right:0.5625rem;color:#FF3A30;content:'_';display:inline-block;}} Esquire Travels

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2 New York City beaches make Travel + Leisure's "25 Best in the USA." See the complete list.

By Dave Carlin

Updated on: April 29, 2024 / 6:47 PM EDT / CBS New York

NEW YORK -- Travel + Leisure magazine's annual list of the 25 best beaches in the U.S. includes a pair of popular ones right here in New York City.

The two beaches are sharing the prestigious space with other sun, sand and surf spots in places like Hawaii, California and Florida.

George Schlereth of Forest Hills said his love for Rockaway Beach predates the hit 1978 song by the Ramones with lyrics that went, "Rock, rock, Rockaway Beach."

"It's a great place to spend the afternoon. It's the best place you could go," Schlereth said.

So what else makes Rockaway Beach such a fan favorite?  

Travel + Leisure praised Rockaway Beach's "Five-mile boardwalk, and surf-worthy waves."

"It's definitely very diverse. People come from all over come here," said Kristen Supple of Far Rockaway.

"Rockaway Beach, because I love like the waves and boogie boarding and they have great ice cream and food," said 10-year-old Jordan Cannetti.

"I used to come here as a kid with my parents and family and it's just night and day. The boardwalk, it's just amazing. Now, the restaurant," his father said. "The parks along the boardwalk are just amazing. Ninja Park is great The pickle ball, the basketball."

"They spent so much money fixing up the Rockaways. They brought in more people, more families down there. The place is packed now," Schlereth added.

And let's not forget the amazing Coney Island   

Coney Island bubbled up to the Top 25 as well, with the editors of Travel + Leisure writing, "Coney Island is a perfect seaside wonderland of nostalgia and kitschy fun."

Kenya Dethan, who is 7, called it her favorite beach.

"I like the nice water. I like going on the roller coasters," Dethan said.

The thing about Coney Island is there is so much to do -- sand and surf, the boardwalk with the amusements, and the food and drinks -- all of it rain or shine.

"Number one in the world, Coney Island," resident David Dingle said. "Best of both worlds. You're at the beach and the stores all together, all in one place. Once you're here, you don't want to go back home."

Also making the best beaches list is the New Jersey favorite for fun, Asbury Park. It's the hometown of music legend Bruce Springsteen and features clubs like The Stone Pony , which keep the town highly rated and rockin'.

• Asbury Park
• Coney Island
• Rockaway Beach

Dave Carlin serves as a reporter for CBS2 News and covers breaking news stories and major events in the Tri-State Area.

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New DreamWorks Land is just the beginning. Universal Orlando shares big summer plans.

Dreamworks land at universal orlando to open june 2024. when does epic universe, the brand new theme park, open sometime in 2025..

Ever wanted to train alongside Po, perform with Poppy or even swim in the swamp with Shrek? You'll soon get your wish (except that last one).

Universal Orlando Resort revealed its new DreamWorks Land will officially debut on June 14, along with several other new experiences for guests to enjoy this summer.

“We are thrilled to debut an array of never-before-seen experiences for the entire family to enjoy from day to night,” Karen Irwin, President & COO of Universal Orlando Resort, said in a news release. “These new experiences – coupled with the amazing attractions currently in our theme parks – will allow our guests to create lasting memories that will make this summer truly unforgettable.”

Where is DreamWorks Land?

The new themed environment inspired by DreamWorks Animation films and characters will be located where  Woody Woodpecker's KidZone used to be, near E.T. Adventure.

Learn more: Best travel insurance

Starting June 14, guests can explore the vivid worlds of some of DreamWorks Animation’s most beloved characters from "Shrek," "Trolls" and "Kung Fu Panda."

"The expansive new area will feature interactive play areas, character meet-and-greets, an all-new indoor live show experience, unique treats and photo-worthy moments that are fun for the whole family," Universal Orlando shared. "Guests will be able to explore Shrek’s Swamp, enjoy the Trollercoaster, interact with Po in the Panda Village, encounter characters like Gabby from 'Gabby’s Dollhouse' and so much more."

Several popular characters will also be featured in a new multisensory live show called DreamWorks Imagination Celebration.

New fountain and drone show coming to Universal Studios Florida

Universal Studios Florida lagoon will come to life with an all-new nighttime show, CineSational: A Symphonic Spectacular.

Universal shared the new show will include iconic scores and scenes from films that have inspired Universal Orlando’s past, present and future attractions – including Warner Bros. Pictures' "Harry Potter" and "Fantastic Beasts" films, "Jurassic World," "Jaws," "Shrek," "Ghostbusters," "Trolls," "Back to the Future," Universal monsters, "Transformers," "How to Train Your Dragon," "E.T.," "Fast and Furious," "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," "Minions," "The Mummy," and "King Kong."

The lagoon show will feature 228 fountains reaching heights of up to 131 feet, 4K projection mapping, an original composition featuring newly arranged scores meticulously crafted for each scene, and more than 600 drones.

Universal and more for under $100 a day: Summer ticket deals at Florida theme parks

Universal Orlando to debut new parade based on beloved films

Universal's new parade is perfect for any parkgoers who love films. Beginning Wednesday, July 3, Universal Studios Florida will debut its Universal Mega Movie Parade – a spectacular celebration of iconic movies.  

"Universal Mega Movie Parade will be Universal Orlando’s biggest daytime parade to date and combine 13 brand new floats, nearly 100 performers – including dancers, skaters, stilt walkers, poi performers and more – and special effects to create a jaw-dropping experience where guests can relive classic film moments in a whole new way," Universal shared in its news release.

New themed merchandise heading to parks

Guests visiting the parks can already start gearing up for the new entertainment coming this summer with specialty merchandise celebrating the new experiences, including clothing, drinkware, headbands themed to beloved DreamWorks characters, and more.

In the coming months, Universal Orlando’s Summer Tribute Store will complement the new parade experience and feature themed rooms, merchandise, and photo ops inspired by some of the films that will be seen in the Universal Mega Movie Parade.

Hogwarts Castle gets a new Harry Potter-inspired projection show

Universal officials conjured up some magic for its final announcement.

On select nights, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure will delight guests with a new nighttime projection show, Hogwarts Always. The show seeks to take guests on a journey through iconic moments of a school year at Hogwarts, all set against the majestic backdrop of Hogwarts Castle.

The show will also feature four different endings that celebrate each Hogwarts house and will culminate with a colorful pyrotechnic display. Fans should also listen for dialogue from beloved characters like Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, the Sorting Hat and more throughout the show.

What month will Epic Universe open?

In addition to DreamWorks Land and all the other new experiences, Universal Orlando will see some other exciting additions to its resort soon – a brand  new theme park . Just not this year.

Universal hasn’t yet announced an opening date for Epic Universe, only that it will open in 2025.

Epic Universe will feature five lands guests can explore. Altogether, it will have “more than 50 awe-inspiring attractions, entertainment, dining and shopping experiences,” according to a news release from the resort.

• Celestial Park   – The first-world guests enter the park will feature relaxing gardens, a “wet play area,” a grand carousel, and Starfall Racers, a dual-launch racing roller coaster with 5,000 feet of track and speeds up to 62 miles per hour. Celestial Park will also serve as the gateway to Epic Universe’s four other worlds, which will be accessed by themed portals.
• How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk  will give fans of the “ How to Train Your Dragon ” franchise a chance to finally soar like Hiccup, Astrid and their fellow Dragon Riders do on screen.
• Dark Universe – Guests can expect to “encounter everything from the experiments of Dr. Victoria Frankenstein to the shadowy landscape where monsters roam in a world of myth and mystery.”
• Super Nintendo World  will bring guests into the fan-favorite video game franchise for adventures with Mario, Princess Peach and more, like at  Universal Studios Hollywood .
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic  will blend "1920s wizarding Paris from Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘Fantastic Beasts’ films with the iconic British Ministry of Magic from the Harry Potter series,” according to Universal Orlando, which is already home to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.

Contributing: Eve Chen, USA TODAY

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Top summer travel destinations for 2024: These international spots were the most searched

Delta air lines said cities in england, france, mexico and more were the top searched this year.

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Delta Air Lines released its second annual most-searched summer destinations for 2024 — and these international travel stops appear to be top of mind. 

The major airline revealed the top 10 international summer destinations that travelers searched for the most — from Nov. 1, 2023, to March 18, 2024 — in order to to compile this list. 

A spokesperson for Delta Air Lines told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that searches for the top 10 spots increased, stressing the continued interest in travel abroad. 

"This year’s data shows the strong interest in international destinations from our customers with searches to these top 10 cities up more than 150% compared to last year," the spokesperson said.

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Delta Air Lines said that while the search requests were high, they were 3% lower than last year at the same time.  (iStock / iStock)

10. Vancouver, British Columbia

9. barcelona, spain.

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8. Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland, made the top 10 list this year for the first time.  (iStock / iStock)

7. Tokyo, Japan

6. amsterdam, netherlands.

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5. Cancun, Mexico

Cancun, Mexico, made the list of some of the top searched summer international destinations.  (iStock / iStock)

4. Athens, Greece

3. rome, italy, 2. paris, france.

Paris was the second most searched summer destination on Delta.com. This is also the location for the 2024 Olympics.  (iStock / iStock)

1. London, England

London topped the list of the most searched international summer destinations on Delta.com. 

The company noted that other popular spots with nonstop service were Venice, Italy, Tulum, Mexico, and Naples, Italy. 

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Athens, Greece, the fourth spot on the top list, increased its search popularity by 248% from last year, according to a Delta Air Lines spokesperson. 

"Athens, Greece, saw the most notable increase with searches to this historical city tripling compared to summer 2023," they noted.

The airline explained that Dublin, Barcelona and Vancouver were new additions to the top searched destination list this year. 

London was the top searched international summer destination for 2024.  (iStock / iStock)

Last year, Google Flights also ranked London, England, as the most desired international summer destination — along with Cancun, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Athens and others.

In terms of domestic destinations, Delta Air Lines said some of the top searched locations within the U.S. were Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami and Honolulu. 

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The Vacationer recently released a survey for expected 2024 summer travel — which found that 82% of Americans plan to travel this summer. 

Although a high percentage, the number is down 3% from summer 2023. 

Travel experts also noted that nearly 52% of Americans will fly to their destination, but 75% of Americans will plan at least one road trip as well. 

Delta Air Lines announced the top searched summer destinations for 2024. Check out these international hot spots.  (iStock / iStock)

The survey also found that less than 21% of those road trippers will go within 250 miles of home, while 5.8% will travel over 1,000 miles to their destination. 

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For those looking to travel during peak summer months, such as June, July and August, six-year flight attendant Bernice Padilla told SWNS that she recommends aiming for May or September instead. 

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"May and September are great months to travel as they’re before and after peak summer here in the U.S.," she said. 

Padilla noted that these tend to be in the "shoulder" seasons and have fewer travel demands with fewer crowds and "more affordable prices."

Fox Weather’s Emilee Speck contributed to this report.    

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