Let's Go was a travel guide series researched, written, edited, and run entirely by students at Harvard University. Let's Go was founded in 1960 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

History The first Let's Go guide was a 25-page mimeographed pamphlet put together by 18-year-old Harvard freshman Oliver Koppell and handed out on student charter flights to Europe.

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."History of Let's Go," by Harvard Student Agencies, Inc.

Production of Let's Go was suspended in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 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-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 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 or John Peter Zenger." 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 also published 20 abridged, pocket-sized "map guides" (Amsterdam, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Florence, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, New Orleans, New York City, Paris, Prague, Rome, San Francisco, Seattle, Sydney, Venice, and Washington DC).

Book Type Continent First published Last published Notes Let's Go II: The Student Guide to Adventure Adventure Multiple 1968 1968 Limited edition Let's Go: Alaska Adventure Guide Adventure North America 2004 2004 Let's Go: Alaska & the Pacific Northwest Country North America 1988 2003 Split into Let's Go: Alaska Adventure Guide and Let's Go: Pacific Northwest Let's Go: Amsterdam City Europe 2002 2008 Let's Go: Budget Amsterdam Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: Amsterdam & Brussels City Europe 2011 2011 Let's Go: Budget Athens Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: Australia Country Australia 1998 2009 Let's Go: Austria Country Europe 1994 1994 Let's Go: Austria & Switzerland Country Europe 1995 2005 Let's Go: Barcelona City Europe 2002 2010 Let's Go: Budget Barcelona Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: Budget Berlin Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: Berlin, Prague & Budapest City Europe 2010 2011 Let's Go: Boston City North America 2001 2011 Let's Go: Brazil Country South America 2004 2004 Let's Go: Great Britain Country Europe 1976 2011 Originally called Let's Go: Britain & IrelandOpen Library: 1999 Let's Go: Buenos Aires City South America 2009 2010 Let's Go: California Country North America 1995 2005 Open Library: 1999 Let's Go: California & Hawaii Country North America 1988 1994 Became Let's Go: California Let's Go: California & the Pacific Northwest Country North America 1984 1987 Split into Let's Go: Alaska & the Pacific Northwest and Let's Go: California & Hawaii Let's Go: Caribbean Country North America 1970 1970 Limited edition Let's Go: Central America Country North America 1996 2010 Let's Go: Chile Country South America 2003 2005 Let's Go: China Country Asia 2000 2005 Let's Go: Costa Rica Country North America 2003 2010 Let's Go: Costa Rica, Nicaragua & Panama Country North America 2010 2010 Let's Go: Eastern Europe Country Europe 1995 2008 Let's Go: Ecuador Country South America 1997 2005 Two incarnations have existed; the original became Let's Go: Peru & Ecuador Let's Go: Egypt Country Africa 2002 2003 Let's Go: Europe Country Europe 1960 2020 Open Library: 1987, 1995, 1998, 1999 Let's Go: Europe Top 10 Cities City Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: European Riviera Country Europe 2011 2011 Let's Go: Florence City Europe 2010 2010 Let's Go: Budget Florence Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: France Country Europe 1978 2011 Open Library: 1981, 1995 Let's Go: Germany Country Europe 1995 2011 Open Library: 1999 Let's Go: Germany, Austria & Switzerland Country Europe 1992 1993 Split into Let's Go: Germany & Switzerland and Let's Go: Austria Let's Go: Germany & Switzerland Country Europe 1994 1994 Split into Let's Go: Germany and Let's Go: Austria & Switzerland Let's Go: Greece Country Europe 1984 2010 Two incarnations have existed; the original became Let's Go: Greece & Turkey Let's Go: Greece, Israel & Egypt Country Multiple 1981 1983 Split into Let's Go: Greece and Let's Go: Israel & Egypt Let's Go: Greece & Turkey Country Multiple 1992 1998 Open Library: 1996Split into Let's Go: Greece and Let's Go: Turkey Let's Go: Guatemala & Belize Country North America 2010 2010 Let's Go: Hawaii Country North America 2003 2009 Let's Go: India & Nepal Country Asia 1997 2004 Let's Go: Ireland Country Europe 1994 2013 Open Library: 1995, 1998 Let's Go: Israel Country Asia 2000 2012 Let's Go: Israel & Egypt Country Multiple 1984 1999 Open Library: 1997Became Let's Go: Israel Let's Go: Budget Istanbul Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: Istanbul, Athens & the Greek Islands City Multiple 2011 2011 Let's Go: Italy Country Europe 1979 2013 Open Library: 1980, 1998 Let's Go: Japan Country Asia 2004 2004 Let's Go: London City Europe 1991 2008 Open Library: 1993, 1998 Let's Go: Budget London Budget Europe 2012 2014 Let's Go: London, Oxford & Cambridge City Europe 2010 2013 Originally called Let's Go: London, Oxford, Cambridge & Edinburgh Let's Go: Budget Madrid Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: Madrid & Barcelona City Europe 2011 2011 Let's Go: Mexico Country North America 1985 2008 Open Library: 1999 Let's Go: Middle East Country Multiple 2000 2003 Let's Go: New York City City North America 1991 2011 Open Library: 1999 Let's Go: New Zealand Country Australia 1998 2008 Temporarily became Let's Go: New Zealand Adventure Guide Let's Go: New Zealand Adventure Guide Adventure Australia 2005 2005 Reverted to Let's Go: New Zealand Let's Go: Pacific Northwest Country North America 2004 2004 Became Let's Go: Pacific Northwest Adventure Guide Let's Go: Pacific Northwest Adventure Guide Adventure North America 2005 2005 Let's Go: Paris City Europe 1993 2011 Let's Go: Budget Paris Budget Europe 2012 2014 Let's Go: Paris, Amsterdam & Brussels City Europe 2013 2013 Let's Go: Peru Country South America 2005 2005 Let's Go: Peru & Ecuador Country South America 2000 2000 Became Let's Go: Peru, Ecuador & Bolivia Let's Go: Peru, Ecuador & Bolivia Country South America 2001 2003 Split into Let's Go: Peru and Let's Go: Ecuador Let's Go: Budget Prague Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: Puerto Rico Country North America 2004 2008 Let's Go: Roadtripping USA Roadtrip North America 2005 2011 Let's Go: Rome City Europe 1993 2010 Let's Go: Budget Rome Budget Europe 2012 2012 Let's Go: Rome, Venice & Florence City Europe 2011 2013 Let's Go: San Francisco City North America 2001 2004 Let's Go: South Africa Country Africa 1999 2003 Let's Go: Southeast Asia Country Asia 1996 2005 Let's Go: Southwest USA Adventure Guide Adventure North America 2002 2004 Let's Go: Spain & Portugal Country Europe 1984 2013 Originally called Let's Go: Spain, Portugal & MoroccoOpen Library: 1991, 1995 Let's Go: Thailand Country Asia 1994 2010 Two incarnations have existed; the original became Let's Go: Southeast Asia Let's Go: Turkey Country Multiple 1999 2003 Let's Go: USA Country North America 1969 2008 Open Library: 1993, 1996, 1999 Let's Go: Vietnam Country Asia 2005 2007 Let's Go: Washington, D.C. City North America 1992 2004 Open Library: 1998 Let's Go: Western Europe Country Europe 2001 2010 Let's Go: Yucatán Peninsula Country North America 2010 2010

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, comedy writer and Twitter celebrity Jesse Andrews, novelist and screenwriter of the novel Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2012) Darren Aronofsky, film director Jenny Lyn Bader, playwright Rick Barton, diplomat Elif Batuman, Turkish author and journalist Ben Beach, marathoner Jess Bravin, journalist and author Lisa Brennan-Jobs, journalist, author, and daughter of Steve Jobs Irin Carmon, writer and blogger Pete Deemer, tech entrepreneur David Eilenberg, television executive Eleni Gage, author James Gleick, author and essayist. Kristin Gore, author, screenwriter, and daughter of Al Gore Barak Goodman, Oscar-nominated documentarian Ellen P. Goodman, Rutgers Law professor Adam Grant, organizational psychologist and Wharton professor Frank Huddle, Jr., former U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan Pico Iyer, travel writer, essayist, and novelist Kent M. Keith, author and academic Oliver Koppell, New York politician Andrew Laming, Australia politician Eric Lesser, Massachusetts politician Justin Levitt, American constitutional law professor Jane Lindholm, National Public Radio host Annie Lowrey, journalist Nathan Lump, travel writer Ghen Maynard, television producer and executive Celeste Ng, author Joanna O'Leary, food writer and literary historian Julie Cotler Pottinger, romance author Jeffrey Rosen, author and legal commentator Claire Saffitz, food writer Peter Sagal, radio host and writer Elizabeth Scarlett, author and professor, University at Buffalo Ashley Shuyler, founder of AfricAid Martin Sixsmith, author and TV/radio presenter Kaitlin Solimine, writer Alex Speier , sportswriter for the Boston Globe Adam Stein, screenwriter and director Thomas G. Stemberg, businessman and venture capitalist, co-founder of Staples Inc. Nicholas Stoller, screenwriter and director Andrew Tobias, columnist, author, and DNC treasurer Lisa Tolliver, media personality and academic-practitioner Graeme C.A. Wood, journalist and contributing editor at The Atlantic

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

Films Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) What a Girl Wants (2003) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

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

Print Either/Or (2022), novel The Economist MAD, magazine The Marriage Plot (2011), novel The Onion

Television Futurama Gilmore Girls How I Met Your Mother Seinfeld The Colbert Report The Daily Show The Simpsons Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

References

External links LetsGo.com – Official site