2025 is the Year for Latin America
Over one hundred years ago, the South American Handbook came to life. Now, in 2025, we’re celebrating that milestone with a festival, a travel writing anthology and, of course, we couldn’t forget the original handbook itself.
Here’s how you can join us.
Our Sponsors
To become an official sponsor of our Latin American Travel Festival, email [email protected]
Our Latin America Titles
Everything you need to plan your own trip.
100 Years of the South American Handbook
After a trip through South America in the 1950s Graham Greene compiled a list of suggested updates and corrections to the guidebook he had been using on his travels. He addressed the envelope to “The publishers of the best guidebook in the world, Bath, England” in full confidence that it would be delivered – and it was.
Such was the reputation of the South American Handbook, which by this point had already been appearing annually for a quarter of a century.
The early editions of this legendary guidebook were published by the British Federation of Industries with the aim of boosting trade between the UK and South America. After the war, flying boat and airship services made intercontinental travel quicker and easier and the Handbook adapted accordingly to include advice for leisure travellers.
The Rise of the Backpacker
Then in the 1970s the jet aircraft opened up South America to a new type of traveller: the backpacker. Now the Handbook entered its heyday, with each new edition running to over 1000 pages, and it became a must-have for any serious traveller. One of those who sent in regular updates from the road was Hilary Bradt, then researching her groundbreaking guide to the Inca Trail. “Although known as The Bible with all gringo backpackers, it was actually far more important than any holy book. We literally couldn’t do without it”.
New attributes of the Handbook emerged: its thin pages – Bible-like in another respect – that could be used as toilet paper or for rolling a joint, and its dependable hard covers that could take a bullet (as evidenced by a photograph sent in by one intrepid reader).
A Guide That Left A Footprint
During the 1990s and 2000s the family firm in Bath who had been printing the book for many years bought the Handbook and built a popular list of travel guides around it, which they called Footprint. The new 95th edition of the guide, coming out in June this year, is the first to be published by Bradt Guides since our acquisition of the Footprint list.
The Handbook’s centenary edition will still serve as a Bible for backpackers. But it will also prove invaluable to travellers on a more generous budget, indeed any traveller who values curated information all in one place in that most durably old-fashioned format, the book.
The Latin America Travel Festival
On Saturday 8 November 2025, Bradt will host a full-day event showcasing travel in Latin America at the beautiful Royal Geographical Society in London
Your Ticket Will Give You…
- Onstage talks and panel discussions throughout the day
- ‘Meet the expert’ breakout sessions led by specialist authors, tourist boards and tour operators
- Stands promoting tourist offices and tour operators to help you plan your Latin American adventure
- And much more!
About the Venue
The Royal Geographical Society, the UK’s learned society and professional body for geography, is an historic venue that combines state-of-the-art events facilities with the character of a Grade II-listed building.
The Main Hall retains many original features including ceramic fireplace tiles and a minstrel’s gallery, while the Map Room – a neo-classical creation from 1930 – is the ideal location for mingling with fellow travellers.
What Others Say
‘Great party, debate and auction. We really enjoyed the evening, it was so nice to see old friends again and meet new people too.’ – Huw Hennessy
‘A lovely evening and a wonderful celebration of all that Hilary – and Bradt – has achieved.’ – Katie Cosstick, Latin American Travel Association
‘Huge congratulations to Hilary on such a significant milestone and the inspiring panel on the lost art of getting lost, and to Adrian for hosting a fantastic evening.’ – British Guild of Travel Writers
‘Tonight was a great occasion for Bradt.’ – John Blashford-Snell
‘What a fantastic night to be able to hear from such amazing icons in the travel industry. It was very very special. What a unique event.’ – Amanda O’Brien, Travel Blogger
For a taste of what to expect, here’s a sneak peek into our anniversary celebrations.
Where It All Began
Bradt Guides was born 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 – and an industry leader in Latin American travel writing – you can read about this in more detail on the Our Story page.
Who We Are Today
After 51 years in operation, 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.
And the South American Handbook is no exception.
Want to know more? Check out the video below.
Latin America on the Blog…
Content to inspire.