Five Magazines Looking for City Guides (Edition III)
Welcome to the Friday Freebie Five, a new weekly feature on Dream of Travel Writing’s Six Figure Travel Writer blog.
Each week, we comb our Travel Magazine Database to bring you five magazine sections open to freelancers around a theme–front-of-book trend pieces, long-form first-person features, short narrative postcards–to inspire your pitches.
Mercedes Benz (Canada)
“Area” highlights 5-to-6 things to do in a Canadian destination. This is written in third person and is around 500-to-700 words long. Sub-headings change each issue although common ones include “The Menu” (about restaurants in the area) and “The Shops” (about notable shopping in the area). Other subheadings from recent issues include “The Spa,” “The Arts,” “The Stay,” “The Tours,” and “The Scene”. Example destinations include Montreal’s Notre-Dame Street West and Ottawa’s Wellington West.
Southwest: The Magazine
“Spirit Of” is a guide of a city or region that offers tantalizing attractions and enticing cultural elements. Sub-sections of 80 to 150 words offer details into categories including, “Savor,” “Sip,” “See,” “Do,” and “Stay.” Examples of recent features include, “Spirit of Scottsdale,” “Spirit of Florida,” and “Spirit of Reno-Tahoe.”
b.inspired (brussels airlines)
“Discover Belgium” is a 200-word article highlighting a town in Belgium. It’s written in third person. There are three subsections called “Where is it?” “Why should I go there?” and “What should I do there?” Example towns from previous issues include Durbuy, Tournai, and Wonck.
National Geographic Traveler
“Off-Season” highlights a city that is worth visiting in the low season. It’s about 400 words long and written in third person. It highlights dining options and flight information as well as activities, hotels, and attractions in the area. Destinations covered in recent issues include Cape Town and Buenos Aires.
Lonely Planet Traveller
“Mini Guides” is made up of six short guides to destinations around the world which are designed to be torn out of the magazine to become a miniature guidebook. Each guide is themed, for example “Food & Drink in Seville,” “Nightlife in Los Angeles,” and “Budget Cotswolds.” They are written in third person and are around 1,000 words long. They have three sections relating to the theme, for example for “Budget Cotswolds” the guide highlights free attractions, cheap food and drink options, and must-see landmarks. Each guide contains sections called “Essentials” and “The Know-How” which highlight how to get there, accommodation options, and further information like nearby villages in the Cotswolds or hangover-friendly beaches in Los Angeles.
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