The Bradt Story
It all began in 1974 on an Amazon river barge. During an 18-month trip through South America, two adventurous young backpackers – Hilary Bradt and her then husband, George – decided to write about the hiking trails they had discovered through the Andes.
Backpacking Along Ancient Ways Peru & Bolivia included the very first descriptions of the Inca Trail. It was the start of a colourful journey to becoming one of the best-loved travel publishers in the world; you can read about this in more detail on the Our Story page.
Getting There First
Hilary quickly gained a reputation for being a true travel pioneer, and in the 1980s she started to publish guides by other writers to places overlooked by other travel publishers. The Bradt Guides list became a roll call of guidebook ‘firsts’.
We published the first guide to Madagascar, followed by Mauritius, Czechoslovakia and Vietnam. The 1990s saw the beginning of our extensive coverage of Africa: Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa and Eritrea.
Later, post-conflict guides became a feature: Rwanda, Mozambique, Angola and Sierra Leone, as well as the first standalone guides to the Baltic States following the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the first post-war guides to Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania.
Today
50 years later and we are the world’s largest independently-owned guidebook publisher, with over 200 titles in print. However, our ethos is unchanged. Hilary is still involved, and we still get there first: over 70% of our city, region and country guides still have no direct competition from other publishers.
But we don’t just get there first. Our guides are known for being more comprehensive than any other series. We avoid templates and tick-lists. Each guide is a one-of-a-kind expression of an expert author’s interests, knowledge and enthusiasm for telling it like it really is.
Want to know more? Check out the video below.
Our Sponsors
To become an official partner of our anniversary year, email debbie.wylde@bradtguides.com
Events
We have events lined up throughout the year, with our flagship event taking place at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Wednesday 18 September with Hilary Bradt herself. Sign up to our email list below to be kept up to date with the details.
Taking the Risk
Hilary’s memoir, Taking the Risk, is published in May 2024. It’s an engaging, insightful, amusing and sometimes alarming account of serendipitous adventures in travel and publishing.
Hilary is speaking at other UK events. Coming up:
Monday 22 April – Royal Geographical Society North West
Thursday 25 April – Stanfords, London
Wednesday 1 May – Guernsey Literary Festival
Friday 10 May – Swindon Literature Festival
Monday 13 May – Brendon Books, Taunton
Wednesday 22 May – Atlas & Zanzibar, Ghent
Thursday 30 May – Books & Books, Miami
Tuesday 18 June – Chorleywood Library
Wednesday 19 June – Marlow Bookshop
Wednesday 28 August – Waterstones, Canterbury
Thursday 19 September – Chiltern Heritage and Culture Festival
Saturday 21 September – Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival
Keep checking back for more dates and details!
Hilary will also be speaking on board the Explora I (30 May – 13 June) and Noble Caledonian’s Hebridean Sky (8-24 November).
NB these events are not organised by Bradt and details may be subject to change – please contact the organisers for more information.
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Testimonials
“This anniversary is a testimony to the values that underpin Bradt, and the continued commitment to quality that it has sustained. I am aware of what it takes to weather the storm, and wholeheartedly salute Bradt for their dedication to staying the course!”
Craig Rix, Travel Africa
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Browse Our Books
With guides to every continent in the world, plus an exciting range of travel literature, we really do have something for everyone.