Lonely Planet blog

The open road vs book-learnin’ – what’s best for kids?

rosem Lonely Planet author

There are all kinds of education, and travelling young can be amongst the best. But is it fair to disrupt your children’s school life to take them on the road?
In the hippie(ish) 70s it was relatively common for parents to pull kids from school, often for months at a time, to give them experience of…

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22 Reasons to Hug Vladivostok

Robert Reid Lonely Planet author

Many Trans-Siberian Railway travelers cross Russia from Moscow, passing Lake Baikal, then cut south through Mongolia to Beijing. The fools. Not continuing on, to its very Russian end at Vladivostok (about 100 miles from North Korea) is like reading War & Peace’s 1400 pages and skipping Tolstoy’s didactic, unbearable 40-page essay on war at the…

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Best of the week: 11 September

VivekW Lonely Planet author

The lonelyplanet.com team was in a birthday frame of mind this week.

Hot on the heels of Andy’s community blog post commemorating Santa Fe’s 400th anniversary came Robert’s thoughts on birthday travel. Is it worth it? The answer: it depends.
‘How to’ dominated the Thorn Tree forum this week. We noticed some great discussions around how to…

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Are You a Birthday Tourist?

Robert Reid Lonely Planet author

Birthday candles, flickr, creative commons by DavidInc
“REYNOLDS! REYNOLDS!”
Lincoln turned 200 this year, so did Poe. Woodstock’s just 40, but Santa Fe’s cake fits 400 candles and the University of Leipzig’s 600. Later this year the Manhattan Bridge and Queensborough Bridge in New York City click into triple digits at 100 years old. And Ovid wrote…

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Wish you weren’t here?

Tom Hall Lonely Planet author

I spoke to the Observer last week for a piece which appeared on Sunday about the damage tourism can do to special places from Easter Island to Venice, and the action locals and authorities are taking to protect the world’s treasures. The article was written in response to inhabitants of Easter Island occupying the runway…

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Best of the week: 4 September

VivekW Lonely Planet author

As we flipped over from August to September, our week had a bit of celebration, a bit of advice and some hotly contested debates.
The top of the week kicked off with our guide to Nevada’s Burning Man festival.
The hijinks soon continued as Robert Reid laid out his passion for college football and invited all and…

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Beyond the city – unmissable trips out of town

Tom Hall Lonely Planet author

In the rush to see the great sights of Europe’s big cities we can sometimes forget the delights of the hinterland. Often, all it takes is a short bus or train ride to reach lesser-known gems that you may have all to yourself. Here are six to get you started. Feel free to add your…

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College Football Planner: ATLANTA

Robert Reid Lonely Planet author

Is football just a game? Hunter S Thompson knew the answer. He entitled his suicide note “Football Season is Over” and shot himself on the first game day without football in 2005. He was talking pro football — the passion is actually much deeper in the college ranks, where church deacons on occasion rip the…

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Best of the week: 28 August

rosem Lonely Planet author

We just want to pin a medal on the chest of our travel community this week. You taught us how to count the Chinese way, you switched us on to the USA’s oddest festivals (roadkill cook-offs! Pink flamingoes!) but best of all, you showed us dinosaur footprints.
And it wasn’t just small-town USA kicking up its…

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A piece of New England has died

VivekW Lonely Planet author

The last of the Kennedies is gone. And with it, a piece of America has disappeared into the past.
Before the Bushes and Clintons, there was America’s true First Family. JFK and Jackie may have held court at Camelot, but they will forever be associated with New England. To this day, John Kennedy’s Mayor Quimbyintonation evokes memories of a…

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