About Us
Our Guides. Your Stories.
We believe travel can do more than move people from place to place. It can expand perspectives, build empathy, and spark the kind of understanding that makes the world feel a little closer, a little kinder, and a lot more connected.
Our community of independent, on-the-ground travel experts visit destinations across 180+ countries to help you make the most of your travels. We’re travelers like you, sharing the hidden gems, must-sees, and local recs to help you get to the heart of a place with curiosity and confidence.
Our Roots
Our story started with two passionate travelers — Tony and Maureen Wheeler, whose journey from London to Australia became the first Lonely Planet guidebook, Across Asia on the Cheap. Five decades later, their spirit of openness, authenticity and passion for helping fellow travelers still guides us.
From that first edition, Lonely Planet continues to grow our community of contributors in destinations around the world to cover everywhere travelers are venturing. Every place we recommend, we’ve been there- our writers turn firsthand insight into trusted guidance.
From our early days of inspiring a generation of independent travelers, Lonely Planet has evolved from the go-to book for every traveler’s journey, into a travel company led by 450+ passionate travelers.
Our Lonely Planet team spans the globe to help meet our today’s travelers’ needs. Our content has been translated into 33 languages. We provide as many travel tools as possible to build close bonds with our travelers, all with the aim of helping them make memories to last a lifetime.
Travel with Us
By combining travel experience with on-the-ground perspectives, our iconic books, app, website and Journeys, our travel planning service, empower you to travel boldly and understand the world more fully. Whether it’s the first spark of planning a new trip or the final detail before a journey begins, Lonely Planet is there for every step of the adventure.
As travel continues to evolve, so do we — driven by the same belief that inspired our beginning: the world is an amazing place, and we want to help you explore it every step of the way.
Our People
Lonely Planet is powered by our community of local contributors & travel experts around the world who share their stories, local perspectives, and the recommendations for you to make the most of every journey.
