beat the brochure

It’s the end of the year and time to reflect upon where we have traveled to, where we didn’t quite make it to and where we discovered we want to travel to. 2011 was a big year for travel bloggers with new travel blogs appearing every day, providing up-to-the-minute honest information and insider tips on our favourite destinations, and chatting about their travel stories through social media. We wanted to celebrate these new bloggers, as well as some more established bloggers so have compiled our Top 10 travel bloggers for 2011 who, we feel, have inspired us, made us laugh and given us the best travel related tips this year.

Ibiza Inside @ibizainside

Ibiza Inside blog was launched this year and has rapidly become a one stop shop for any information on Ibiza. Marisa and Virgil blog about everything from top tips on the best beaches, interviews with local designers/traders, to whether or not their is an apple store in Ibiza. Ibiza Inside promotes Ibiza has an all year round destination and strives to prove that although the clubs and sunset cocktails are excellent, there is a lot more to Ibiza than meets the eye.

Runaway Juno @RunawayJuno

Juno Kim is the voice behind Runaway Juno, who blogs about her travels whilst wearing her heart and thoughts on her sleeve. The blog itself is bright and vibrant and clearly a reflection of Juno Kim herself. The blog posts are a unique mashup of destination guides, travel tips and life reflections. Runaway Juno is a great blog to remind yourself just how enjoyable your travels were and inspire you to simply enjoy any form of travel, whether it be the other side of the world or trip into town.

Europe a la Carte @karenbryan

Karen Bryan brings Europe to your computer. Europe a la Carte is a one stop shop for information on European travel. Karen’s top 10, 20 or 25 tips lists are perfect for reading up on your travels. Karen writing is clear and concise and gives you exactly what you want to know – what to do, what eat, what wine will go with your food, and where you need to stay. The tips suit everyone from, families, solo travelers and couples of all ages.

Starry Eyed Travels @katyabroad

The driving force behind Starry Eyed Travels certainly loves to travel, the passion is clear in her writing and the blog will make many a returned backpacker reminise about their trip, but also is guaranteed to encourage a new generation of travelers to grab a pack and set off. Katy’s honesty and genuine thoughts allows readers to trust Starry Eyed Travels words, which is not always an easy task.

Backpacks and Bunkbeds @packsandbunks

Neil is the man behind Backpacks and Bunkbeds and has a knack of making any trip a memorable one. Whether it be volunteering in South Africa, hitting the beaches of Fiji, a stag weekend in Europe, or a day out in his home town of London, Neil’s blog makes you feel like you would really be missing out if you didn’t go on holiday at the very least. His blog combines long backpacking jaunts with quick winter sunshine fixes but every blog post leaves you knowing something a little but more about each and every destination. Personable and amusing, Neil would be the perfect backpacking companion.

Isabelles Travel Guide @IsabellesTravel

Isabelle knows what it’s like to be a traveler and uses her experience to give the traveler the information they need to know. The idea of the blog is to provide insight and inspiration to those who are looking for it without having to search far and wide for it. Travel tools, tips and foreign phrases all feature on the blog as well as Isabelles documents of her travels and her travel companions. Isabelle also created #BeachThursday on twitter, followed by an army of beach-loving twiteratti, cementing her status as a trusted, informative and passionate travel blogger.

Euro Trip Tips @eurotriptips

Marie-Eve is a twenty-something travel lover who brings a little glampacking to the table. Her photos continuely catch your eye and the blog explores and explains the delights of European destinations. The slightly romantic feel to the blog mixed with many a food-related post is perfect for exploring where to go on your next city break and there are ideas aplenty.

Blondie Travel Blog @PolishMojito

Agata brings a refreshing youthfulness to travel blogging. Straight up and forthcoming, you can guarantee that what Blondie Travel Blog posts, she means. Blondie Travel Blog gives you short snippets of travel-related information, from best smartphone apps, to food and wine, to top attractions and travel news. For easy to read, slightlt off the wall travel information, Blondie Travel Blog should be in your RSS feed.

Turkish Travel Blog @turkishtravel

Natalie left home a few moons ago to see where she would end up, and that place is Turkey. Having fallen in love with Turkish culture, cuisine and lifestyle, Natalie has made it her mission. The Turkish Travel Blog takes you through everything you need to know about Turkey including the sublime and the seemingly ridiculous but whatever the blog post title, you will still come away with an overwhelming interest in traveling to Turkey.

Inside the Travel Lab @InsideTravellab

Not only is Inside the Travel Lab eloquent and insightful, it is a general knowledge masterpiece. The attention to detail Abi brings to the blog is the reason Inside the Travel Lab is such a popular blog this year and the lady behind it was sharing her secrets to blog success at this years World Travel Market. The blog posts teach you something more than just where to go and what to do, it gives you a reason, or many, to do so.

Congratulations to everyone in our Top 10! We hope you enjoy these travel blogs as much as we have. We would also love to know who your top travel blogger of 2011 was!