Hilary Bradt

Who is Hilary Bradt?

Hilary Bradt MBE is the founder of Bradt Travel Guides, a publisher which became an increasingly visible presence in the travel guide book world starting in the mid-1970s.

From 1972, Bradt spent 18 months backpacking from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego and then Argentina and Brazil with her then husband, with whom she subsequently co-founded Bradt Travel Guides. Their first book was Backpacking along Ancient Ways in Peru and Bolivia.

The Bradt guides began by covering exotic or off-beat destinations, such as Rwanda and Albania, and have continued to target this niche, frequently publishing guides to countries not yet covered by any other travel publisher. The Bradt books have won a number of awards. The company is based in Chalfont St Peter, England.

After running the company for 35 years, Bradt announced her retirement in 2007, but retained an involvement as chairman of the company. She also continued to write after her retirement, authoring a guide book to Devon and contributing a regular column to British travel magazine Wanderlust.

Bradt has also worked extensively as a tour leader. Her area of special expertise is Madagascar and she has written several books on this African island nation. Bradt is a long-standing member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, from which she received a Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2009.