About Moon Travel Guides

Here’s our story

Moon Travel Guides was founded in 1973 with a mission to advocate for independent, active, and conscious travel. We started out with guides to Asia printed by founder Bill Dalton on a Xerox machine (yes, really)—and nowadays, we’re the #1 publisher of travel guides to the Americas and have expanded our coverage globally. We’re published by Avalon Travel, a Hachette Book Group company. Our team is comprised of experienced editors, designers, cartographers, and marketers who ensure that our books are easy-to-use and reflect our brand values. Our program is simple:

Wherever we cover, we prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably.

We look for authentic voices: authors who share those values and are excited to share their destinations with the world. To learn more about our continued commitment to diversity and representation, head here.

Let’s talk about those authors

Moon authors are experts who have a passion for their destinations. They are culturally and politically aware, adventurous, and inspiring. They all have great stories to tell. Nearly all of them live in the destinations they write about; if they don’t, they’ve spent a significant amount of time there. Our authors experience places the same way our readers do: firsthand. This makes it possible for Moon to deliver information that’s up-to-date, reliable, and entertaining.

How do we decide what to include in a guide?

Our guidebooks cover destinations often overlooked by other publishers—like Oaxaca, the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, or the Camino de Santiago. They are designed for active, ethically minded travelers. We know that every travel publisher says they’ll guide you to the off-the-beaten-path spots, but Moon guides really will.

Moon Travel Guides are meant to read like notes from a trusted friend: Our authors let you in on their favorite places, like a secluded beach on the Amalfi Coast, a locally-loved bar in Mexico City, or a less-crowded hiking trail in Glacier National Park. All recommendations, including those for sights, activities, hotels, restaurants, and shops, are based on each author’s individual judgment, with guidance from our editors. Even when we cover famous sights, our books reveal strategies for how to have the most local experience possible.

That being said: We always do our best not to steer people toward places that are offensive, problematic, or otherwise incongruent with our values. We want to be held accountable to those standards, and we encourage your feedback.

We do not accept payment for inclusion in our travel guides, and our authors don’t accept free goods or services in exchange for positive coverage.

So, what if I have an issue with the coverage or spot an error in my guide?

Our authors do thorough, on-the-ground research when updating their guides, meaning the information you’ll find in your Moon guide is about as reliable as it gets. Inevitably, things change. In the time between research and publication, businesses might open or close, and prices can go up (or down). If you see anything that needs to be updated, clarified, or corrected, drop us a line here.