Our Story
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born.
Today, Lonely Planet has offices in Franklin, London, Melbourne, Oakland, Beijing and Delhi, with more than 600 staff and writers. We share Tony’s belief that ‘a great guidebook should do three things: inform, educate and amuse’.
Our Writers
Neil Wilson
Neil was born in Scotland and, save for a few years spent abroad, has lived there most of his life. A lifelong enthusiasm for the great outdoors has inspired hiking, biking and sailing expeditions to every corner of Britain. Researching this edition took him from the country’s most westerly point at Ardnamurchan Lighthouse to its most easterly at Fraserburgh, and to every corner of Yorkshire. Neil has been a full-time author since 1988 and has written around 65 guidebooks for various publishers, including Lonely Planet’s Scotland and Scotland’s Highlands & Islands.
Oliver Berry
A professional writer and photographer based in Cornwall and Bristol, Oliver likes nothing better than exploring his local beaches and clifftops in the name of research. For this book he covered his home county, and also ventured across the Tamar to write the sections on Somerset, Bristol, Bath and Cumbria. Research highlights included kayaking down the Helford River and watching the sunset from the top of Scafell Pike. You can see his latest work at www.oliverberry.com.
Fionn Davenport
As a Dubliner, Fionn feels an affinity with the Northwest. Maybe it’s his lifelong support of Liverpool Football Club, or his longtime love of The Smiths, but a visit to Liverpool or Manchester is always that little bit special. Over the years and various editions of this guide he’s had plenty of occasion to visit and get to know the region better, exploring Chester and the Wirral, and tramping through Lancaster and into the north Lancashire hills.
Marc Di Duca
Originally from Darlington, County Durham, Marc has been a northerner-gone-south since 2000 and has covered his adopted corner of weald and down for the past three editions of Lonely Planet’s England and Great Britain. A full-time travel author for a decade, Marc has updated and written Lonely Planet guides to Ukraine, Russia, the Trans-Siberian Railway, Poland, Austria and Germany, though he can usually be found in Sandwich, Kent, where he lives with wife Tanya and their two sons.
lonelyplanet.com/members/madidu
Belinda Dixon
Belinda made a gleeful bolt for the sunny southwest for her post-grad, having been drawn there by the palm trees on campus. Like the best Westcountry limpets, she’s proved hard to shift since and now writes and broadcasts in the region. Research highlights for this latest adventure included fossil hunting on the Jurassic Coast, white-water kayaking on Dartmoor, pony spotting on Exmoor, ‘researching’ cider in Dorset and sampling afternoon tea in Lyme.
lonelyplanet.com/members/belindadixon
Peter Dragicevich
Wales has held a fascination for Peter ever since he was sent to write about Welsh castles for one of his first ever newspaper travel features. Since then he’s co-authored dozens of Lonely Planet titles, including the Wales guidebook. And while his name may not be very Welsh, it does at least have over half a dragon in it.
Damian Harper
Born off the Strand within earshot of Bow Bells (favourable wind permitting), Damian grew up in Notting Hill way before it was discovered by Hollywood. A onetime Shakespeare and Company bookseller and radio presenter, Damian has been authoring guidebooks for Lonely Planet since the late 1990s. He lives in South London with his wife and two kids, frequently returning to China (his second home).
Anna Kaminski
No stranger to Wales, Anna spent this research trip gleefully rediscovering childhood highlights: castles, narrow-gauge railways, the beaches of North Wales and the many hiking paths of Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons. In spite of (or perhaps because of) nearly bringing a rockslide down on herself on Mt Snowdon and her car breaking down for the first time ever, it has been Anna’s most memorable venture into Cymru’s remotest parts. Anna has contributed to over a dozen Lonely Planet titles.
Catherine Le Nevez
Catherine first roadtripped around Great Britain aged four and she’s been roadtripping here at every opportunity since, completing her Doctorate of Creative Arts in Writing, Masters in Professional Writing, and post-grad qualifications in editing and publishing along the way. She’s also written dozens of Lonely Planet guidebooks and newspaper, magazine and online articles covering the UK, Europe and beyond. Roaming castle ruins and corridors of stately homes were highlights of researching this book, as was discovering idyllic countryside pubs.
Andy Symington
Andy’s Scottish forebears make their presence felt in a love of malt, a debatable ginger colour to his facial hair and a love of wild places. From childhood treks up the M1 he graduated to making dubious roadtrips around the firths in a disintegrating Mini Metro and thence to peddling whisky in darkest Leith. While living there, he travelled widely around the country in search of the perfect dram, and, now resident in Spain, continues to visit very regularly.
Published by Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
ABN 36 005 607 983
11 edition - Mar 15
ISBN 9781743605295
© Lonely Planet 2015 Photographs © as indicated 2015
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