Travel magazines in Britain: a review

Naturally, it is part of a good marketing plan in any industry to boast about saying “we are the best”. So, there are several “best travel magazines” in Britain, but we don’t necessarily need to agree with them, do we? I selected four to have a closer look:

Conde Nast Traveller: Their motto is “truth in travel” and they explain why: “Unlike other magazines… we don’t accept travel press trips. This means that you can trust us to speak our mind. As a result, CNT is the most authoritative and influential travel magazine on sale today.” Maybe they are right. They speak their mind, that is true, but to say that their mind represents “truth in travel” makes me laugh.

Obviously, CNT’s truth is the one their readers want to see. And most of the time, it involves only the bright, luxurious and expensive side of the truth. There are far too many adverts and reviews on luxury hotels and restaurants, and they can't manage a creative cover; there is always a heavenly blue sea in the background and a woman relaxing on a sandy beach . They have an easy and simple layout, and as I said before, almost half the pages are adverts, which makes the magazine quite thick. I definitely regret to have subscribed to it, because my concept of good travel writing is another one.

Wanderlust: “for people with a passion for travel”, they say on the cover. This magazine explores the adventurous side of travelling and they are not afraid of showing all sides of reality, even the less glamorous ones. I believe this is the best travel magazine I have come across so far here in Britain. Wanderlust’s features are often related to responsible and sustainable tourism. The layout is quite funky and we are not annoyed by endless pages of adverts.

Real Travel: “real people, real places, real experiences”. This Bristol based magazine more or less tries to take on Wanderlust’s style, not just in the contents, but also in the layout, although it gets too jammed sometimes. They rely heavily on reader’s reports, which are unpaid. They are a quite new publication, with some things to improve, but a lot of potential. Let’s keep an eye on them.

The Sunday Times Travel: Their motto: “Be informed, be inspired, be there”. I have the feeling that they go for the let’s-make-an- easy-mag route, trying to please everybody, and maybe just doing a mediocre job. Like most of the magazines, they can’t resist making lists of the five best for this, ten best for that, which I can definitely do without. The layout is simple and works well.