''Let's Go'' was a

travel guide A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...

series researched, written, edited, and run entirely by students at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. ''Let's Go'' was founded in 1960 and headquartered in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

History

The first Let's Go guide was a 25-page

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator or stencil machine) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a co ...

ed pamphlet put together by 18-year-old

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

freshman

Oliver Koppell Gabriel Oliver Koppell (born December 15, 1940) is an American lawyer and politician from New York City. A member of the Democratic Party, he is a former member of the New York City Council and the former New York Attorney General. Biography K ...

and handed out on student charter flights to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In 1996, Let's Go launched its website
Letsgo.com
while publishing 22 titles and a new line of mini map guides. Let's Go announced a new print publisher, Avalon Travel, upon the expiration of its contract with St. Martin's Press in 2009. The switch led to a new format for the insides of the books, new retro covers for the outsides, and a rebranding to emphasize Let's Go's student origins. The theme has been changed in 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2009. In 2014, Let's Go began self-publishing for the first time since 1970. Production of Let's Go was suspended in 2020 as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and never restarted.

Editorial style

Let's Go has used many words to describe the style of its content. "Witty and irreverent" is possibly the most frequently used descriptor; the company takes pride in its youthful, casual, sometimes zany tone and trains its writers to avoid "

brochure A brochure is an promotional document primarily used to introduce a company, organization, products, or services and inform prospective customers or members of the public of the benefits. Although, initially, a paper document that can be folded ...

-ese". Let's Go also promotes the unvarnished opinions of its reviews, stating that they want the takeaway of every single listing, good or bad, to be clear to the reader. This honesty led to a

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

against Let's Go in 1990 as a result of a scathing review of an Israeli hostel, but the travel guide was victorious in court, upheld by the judges as "the modern equivalents of

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

John Peter Zenger John Peter Zenger (October 26, 1697 – July 28, 1746) was a German printer and journalist in New York City. Zenger printed ''The New York Weekly Journal''. He was accused of Defamation, libel in 1734 by William Cosby, the royal governor of Pro ...

." Other traits the company has emphasized include its budget roots and social consciousness.

Titles

As of the 2019 series of guidebooks, Let's Go has published 75 titles covering six continents. The books range from country guides to adventure, city, budget, and road trip guides, many of which are still updated annually. Let's Go has also published 20 abridged, pocket-sized "map guides" (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, and

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

), though these have been discontinued.

Notable alumni

Because Let's Go employees are all students when working for the travel guide, many of its alumni have gone on to careers in travel writing and other areas. *

Megan Amram Megan Amram (born September 3, 1987) is an American comedy writer, producer, and performer. She is most known for her work as co-writer and producer for the NBC series ''The Good Place''. Amram created and starred in the comedy web series, '' An ...

, comedy writer and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

celebrity *

Jesse Andrews Jesse Andrews (born September 15, 1982) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He co-wrote the screenplay for the Pixar film '' Luca'' and wrote both the novel and the feature-film adaptation of ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl''. Personal ...

, novelist and screenwriter of the novel ''

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' is a 2012 novel written by Jesse Andrews. The novel was released in hardcover by Amulet Books on March 1, 2012, and in paperback on May 7, 2013. Plot Greg Gaines is a senior at Benson High School in Pittsb ...

'' (2012) *

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...

, film director * Jenny Lyn Bader, playwright * Rick Barton, diplomat *

Elif Batuman Elif Batuman (born 1977) is an American author, academic, and journalist. She is the author of three books: a memoir, ''The Possessed'', the novel ''The Idiot,'' which was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and '' Either/Or''. Bat ...

, Turkish author and journalist * Ben Beach, marathoner *

Jess Bravin Jess M. Bravin (born 1965) is an American journalist. Since 2005, he has been the ''Wall Street Journal'' correspondent for the United States Supreme Court. Background Bravin graduated with an AB in history from Harvard College in 1987, where ...

, journalist and author *

Lisa Brennan-Jobs Lisa Nicole Brennan-Jobs ( Brennan; born May 17, 1978) is an American writer. She is the daughter of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs and Chrisann Brennan. Jobs initially denied paternity for several years, which led to a legal case and various ...

, journalist, author, and daughter of

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

Irin Carmon Irin Carmon () born 1983/1984) is an Israeli-American journalist and commentator. She is a senior correspondent at ''New York Magazine'', and a CNN contributor. She is co-author of ''Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg''. Pre ...

, writer and blogger * Pete Deemer, tech entrepreneur
David Eilenberg
television executive * Eleni Gage, author *

James Gleick James Gleick (; born August 1, 1954) is an American author and historian of science whose work has chronicled the cultural impact of modern technology. Recognized for his writing about complex subjects through the techniques of narrative nonficti ...

, author and essayist. *

Kristin Gore Kristin Carlson Gore (born June 5, 1977) is an American author, screenwriter, and director. She is the second daughter of former U.S. vice president Al Gore and advocate Tipper Gore (née Aitcheson). Early life Gore was born in Carthage, Te ...

, author, screenwriter, and daughter of

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

Barak Goodman Barak ( or ; ; Tiberian Hebrew: ''B-R-Q, Bārāq''; "lightning") was a ruler of Land of Israel, Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephraim, the prophet and fourth Judge ...

, Oscar-nominated documentarian *Ellen P. Goodman, Rutgers Law professor *

Adam Grant Adam M. Grant (born August 13, 1981) is an American popular science author, and professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania specializing in organizational psychology. Early life and education Grant was born in the townsh ...

, organizational psychologist and Wharton professor * Frank Huddle, Jr., former U.S. ambassador to

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

Pico Iyer Siddharth Pico Raghavan Iyer (born 11 February 1957), known as Pico Iyer, is an English-born essayist and novelist known chiefly for his travel writing. He is the author of numerous books on crossing cultures including ''Video Night in Kathman ...

, travel writer, essayist, and novelist * Kent M. Keith, author and academic *

, New York politician *

Andrew Laming Andrew Charles Laming (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian medical doctor and former politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Bowman for the Liberal National Party of Queensland ...

, Australia politician * Eric Lesser, Massachusetts politician * Justin Levitt, American constitutional law professor *

Jane Lindholm Jane Lindholm is the host for the Vermont Public Radio (VPR) newsmagazine ''Vermont Edition'', producer and host of ''But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids'', and a photojournalist. She lives in Monkton, Vermont. Lindholm attended the Brooks Schoo ...

, National Public Radio host *

Annie Lowrey Annie M. Lowrey (; born July 22, 1984) is an American journalist who writes on politics and economic policy for ''The Atlantic''. Previously, Lowrey covered economic policy for the ''New York Times'' and prior to that was the Moneybox columnist ...

, journalist
Nathan Lump
travel writer * Ghen Maynard, television producer and executive *

Celeste Ng Celeste Ng ( ; zh, s=伍绮诗) (born July 30, 1980) is an American writer and novelist. She has released many short stories that have been published in a variety of literary journals. Ng's first novel, '' Everything I Never Told You'', releas ...

, author * Joanna O'Leary, food writer and literary historian * Julie Cotler Pottinger, romance author * Jeffrey Rosen, author and legal commentator *

Claire Saffitz Claire Saffitz (born 16 September 1986) is an American food writer, chef, and YouTube personality. Until mid-2020, she was a contributing editor at ''Bon Appétit'' magazine and starred in several series on the ''Bon Appétit'' YouTube channel, ...

, food writer *

Peter Sagal Peter Daniel Sagal (born January 31, 1965) is an American humorist, writer, and host of the National Public Radio game show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' and the PBS special ''Constitution USA with Peter Sagal''. __TOC__ Early life, famil ...

, radio host and writer * Elizabeth Scarlett, author and professor,

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

* Ashley Shuyler, founder of AfricAid * Martin Sixsmith, author and TV/radio presenter * Kaitlin Solimine, writer
Alex Speier
sportswriter for the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

Adam Stein Adam Stein is an American film director and screenwriter working in Vancouver, British Columbia and Los Angeles, California. Stein graduated from Harvard University and the directing program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He co-directed ...

, screenwriter and director * Thomas G. Stemberg, businessman and venture capitalist, co-founder of

Staples Inc. Staples Inc. is an American office supply retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. Founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, the company opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts on May 1, 1986. By 1996, it had r ...

Nicholas Stoller Nicholas Stoller (born March 19, 1976) is a British-American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the comedy films ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'' (2008), its spin-off/sequel ''Get Him to the Greek'' (2010), ''The Five-Year Engagement'' (2012) ...

, screenwriter and director *

Andrew Tobias Andrew Tobias (born April 20, 1947) is an American writer. He has written extensively about investment, as well as politics, insurance, and other topics. He is also known for writing ''The Best Little Boy in the World'', a 1973 memoir – origin ...

, columnist, author, and

DNC DNC may refer to: Business *Delaware North, a global food service and hospitality company formerly known as Delaware North Companies * Den norske Creditbank, a now-defunct Norwegian commercial bank Politics *Democratic National Committee, the pri ...

treasurer * Lisa Tolliver, media personality and academic-practitioner * Graeme C.A. Wood, journalist and contributing editor at ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

In popular culture

There have been references (in a non-review/article context) to Let's Go in:

Films

* ''

Bridget Jones's Diary ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire from a screenplay by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Fielding, which was itself a loose ...

'' (2001) * '' What a Girl Wants'' (2003) * ''

'' (2015)

Music

* ''Let's Go'' (Rancid album), 1994 album

Print

*'' Either/Or (2022), novel'' *''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' * ''MAD'', magazine * '' The Marriage Plot'' (2011), novel * ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...

Television

* ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' * ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

'' * ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'' * ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' * ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

'' * ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

'' * ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' * ''

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

References

{{reflist

External links

LetsGo.com
– Official site Book series introduced in 1960 Harvard University publications Travel guide books