Lonely Planet is connecting travelers with sustainable, local-led tours

Lonely Planet Experiences is expanding its community-led tours into the nooks and crannies of 23 new cities; providing travelers with more meaningful connections to great destinations through small and insightful private tours guided by local experts.

10 private tours for a taste of local life around the world

Lonely Planet is partnering with Withlocals, a company that specializes in tours guided by locals, to increase its catalogue of carbon-neutral tours to 23 new cities, while adding more private tours to the existing program. The 'Experiences' side of Lonely Planet was set up earlier this year to connect tourists to local guides and support local businesses and communities through small tours that have minimal impact on the environment. By joining forces with Withlocals, Lonely Planet is expanding its reach to more than 300 carbon-neutral tours worldwide.

New cities in the program include Dublin, Tel Aviv, Milan, Mumbai and Sydney, and experiences stretch across world-famous sites from the Atlas Mountains to Lake Como and the Cliffs of Moher. Travelers will be paired up with guides who will help them experience a place as the locals do, absorbing as much of the culture as possible, while remaining respectful to customs, people and the environment. It comes as a time when the travel industry is reshaping how it connects people with places, moving away from crowded city centers and tourist traps and into the heart and soul of a community.

"For over four decades, travellers have looked to Lonely Planet for trusted travel advice,” says Luis Cabrera, CEO of Lonely Planet. “With travel behaviors changing due to the pandemic, we see this as an opportunity to provide new Experiences tailored for communities in smaller, private settings. This will allow travelers to go deeper into the local culture and see more than the typical city center highlights.”

In addition, all tours will include exclusive discounts on Lonely Planet's guidebooks, free access to Lonely Planet's flagship Guides app, plus additional Lonely Planet insight throughout the tours. Tours will adhere to local public health guidelines, with safety at the forefront of all experiences. To book a tour, see here.

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Lonely Planet Experiences are a new way to explore the world