Next Generation of Guides for Print Travel
Fodor’s Travel today introduced its Fodor’s Inside series, a growing collection of print travel guides designed to serve travelers in search of hyperlocal, authentic, and artistic travel experiences.
The first all-new Fodor’s guidebook series in a decade, Fodor’s Inside launches with titles covering four destinations: Nashville, Berlin, Lisbon, and Paris.
“Simply put, the goal of the Fodor’s Inside series is to make you feel like a local – not like a tourist,” said Stephen Horowitz, Publisher and General Manager at Fodor’s Travel.
Each Fodor’s Inside title is penned by contributors who reside in the destinations they write about. The books include customized neighborhood maps (including local nicknames and abbreviations for neighborhoods where applicable) and deep coverage of the restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and boutiques in the neighborhoods that locals love best.
Other features include a focus on notable street and public art, “back-in-the-day spotlights” of history-rich locations, and a list of Instagram-worthy photo spots to maximize Likes in each destination.
“The best way to truly experience a destination is with a local to take you around, but that’s not always possible,” Horowitz said. “It’s also difficult to glean an accurate local’s insider perspective from a Google search. That’s where Fodor’s Inside comes in.”
The Fodor’s Inside format was inspired by the success of the Fodor’s Brooklyn travel guide that debuted in 2015 and won a 2016 Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism.
Still a place for print
The success of Fodor’s Brooklyn and conversations with Fodor’s readers confirmed there is still an appetite for the print format, with many travelers using guidebooks to supplement on-the-go research online. Print guidebooks also fit in a pocket, aren’t susceptible to spotty internet connections, and never suffer from dead batteries.
But Fodor’s editors aren’t living in the past. (The vast library of free travel information available on Fodors.com is a testament to that.)
“We obviously realize that modern travelers will look for information online while on a trip,” Horowitz said. “So we designed Fodor’s Inside to be an ideal supplement to online resources: providing obscure insider information that is difficult to find online, in a format that can be accessed no matter the strength of your phone’s signal.”
No photos, please
This philosophy carries through to the design and layout of Fodor’s Inside titles, with a stylish and artistic bent from cover to cover.
Very few photos appear in the pages of Fodor’s Inside titles, making them unique among travel guides. Rather, maps and other illustrations are beautifully hand-drawn by professional illustrators.
“The internet provides an endless supply of photos for virtually every destination on Earth,” Horowitz said. “So we decided to use intricate, artistic illustration to further convey the local flavor of each destination and to add an extra level of intimacy to the reading experience.”
Fodor’s Inside guides for Berlin, Lisbon, Nashville, and Paris are available for purchase now on Amazon and at major book retailers. Additional titles in the Fodor’s Inside series—covering destinations including Mexico City and Portland—will be added regularly over the coming year.
