The Best Travel Magazine?
 

I wanna get a travel mag subscription, so what's the best one?

Although I can't afford many of the hotels featured I really like Travel & Leisure. The articles are good but the photos are fantastic. I look forward to receiving my monthly issue.

For me, it's National Geographic Traveler. It contains solid practical advice, most of which is within my "affordable" range.
Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler sure are beautiful to look at, but most of their offerings are beyond my affordability.

I think there have been posts on this before but my favorite is ITN International Travel News. It is written on newsprint, no glossy paper and fancy pictures. But it is written by travelers who actually go to the places they write about.
National Geographic Traveler is another good one.

Arthur Frommers Budget Travel
Conde Nast Traveler
National Geographic Traveler
Travel & Leisure

(I alternate subscriptions between a couple every year.)

I think that National Geographic Traveler is the best of the lot. Travel & Leisure is also good.

I find Condé Nast Traveler with all its lists and ultra-expensive hotels and resorts a waste of time.

I haven't found one I really like since the demise of European Travel and Life back in the early nineties. I guess National Geographic Traveler is the best. What I look for in a travel article is insight into the country, city, people or even the author (rarely). Most magazines seem obsessed wih puff pieces on luxury resorts. Nice to visit maybe, but not much to read about. Even in this publishing wasteland though you will occasionally find a surprisingly good article -- not enough to make me want to subscribe, but I'll buy a copy if something seems promising. I also buy annual collection of Best American Travel Writing.

T+L and Conde Nast Traveler are good for giving people travel <b> ideas </b> IMO and the resorts/hotels featured are obviously not out of <b> everyone's </b> price range.

Those &quot;lists&quot; from Conde Nast are fine except for the fact that they are totally subjective since anyone who subscribes can fill out the rating form and send it in.

Pausanias,I,too,remember European Travel and Life and still mourn it's demise. I finally threw away most of the issues but did clip articles beforehand.

I subscribe to Conde Nast now, but agree with what all the posters say about its being too high end. The Ombudsman column keeps me on my toes about how to ward off traveling disasters, to the extent that that is possible.

I buy an occasional T and L, Nat'n Geo. from time to time when there are articles I want to read.

I want to add it depends what you are looking for in a travel magazine. I read mine PURELY for entertainment. Even in Budget Travel the hotels cost more than I usually pay.

My favorite by far is Budget Travel. Read it cover to cover every month.

Another vote for Budget Travel, it's a gold mine of great information and ideas.((f))

Dear hopeless, now that you have a few recomendashuns, I wanna sujest you see if your public libary has any of dese mags. Or you could look at em in Barnes and Nobel, Borders or any other place that carries lots of dem. (sic the whole paragraph))

If your library doesn't have the one you like, you might consider donating a subscription and getting a tax deduction.

I find the two best sources of travel info to be the New York Times and The Times and check them both online on Sunday:

www.nytimes.com

www.timesonline.co.uk

Both may require registration but there is no fee.

If you have any free time to go to your local library you can usually check out all but the current issue of any and all magazines free of charge. They usually keep them 3 months back.

For a more specialized flavor, I enjoy &quot;This City Paris&quot; magazine, as well as the UK publication &quot;FRANCE&quot;.

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

Usually I just flip through the magazines in Borders, but I'm moving to Taiwan for work, and frustratingly, the bookstores keep all the English magazines wrapped up in plastic! Not to mention, the prices are exorbitantly high.

So I'm thinking of subscribing to one travel title so I don't succumb to impulse buys.

Thanks again to all respondants!

I take all 4 and the NGT is far away my favorite---love the photos.

Just to chime in: I buy national geographic traveler (which publishes too infrequently for my taste), but look at Travel &amp; Leisure online, where they have their content for free, instead of buying it. Also, the UK version of Conde Nast has a better website than the US one:
www.cntraveller.co.uk

If I'm looking for &quot;dream&quot; ideas (i.e. even pricier than conde nast), the new Town &amp; Country Travel is a beautiful magazine.

I'm with Martha and the others that prefer ITN and Natl Geographic Traveler (NGT). ITN is for very serious travelers - I aspire to be one of those someday. NGT has a nice mix of US and International articles (my husband insists on traveling in the US occasionally).

Somewhat UK-centric list though not entirely.

Best one in my opinion is Wanderlust. Aimed at the independent traveller but doesn't assume that all independent travellers are on miniscule budgets and want to backpack. Excellent magazine.

Sunday Times Travel Magazine is not bad. Better for more common destinations and good on city breaks. Doesn't tend to cover the really unusual. Was born out of the popular weekend supplements in the Sunday Times Newspaper.

Conde Naste can occasionally be worthwhile but is often full of fluff relating to which hotel has the nicest sheets and what spa treatments does it offer and does it have a good wine cellar. It's generally for those who have a somewhat higher accommodation budget (and requirements) than I do but can sometimes be interesting too.

I recently took on Global because of a cheap special subscription offer but shan't renew - aimed too much at the younger backpacker market for my preferences.

Travel Africa is undoubtedly an excellent read for anyone into that contintent. I can't wait for each and every issue.

Geographical isn't strictly speaking a travel magazine but is the magazine for the Royal Geographic Society but I really enjoy it and anyone who is interested in geographical expeditions, travel, history and conservation may enjoy it too.

Africa Geographic carries a mix of travel articles, conservation articles and informative articles about wildlife. I really enjoy this one too.

Traveller is one I'll occasionally pick up if I see it and that issue's contents catch my attention.

Same for National Geographic Traveller although it seldom does catch my eye to be honest.