The most valuable travel blog backlinks come from the destinations you write about: local tour operators, hotels and rentals, tourism boards, event organizers and other blogs focused on the same country or region. A link from a Lisbon walking tour company to your Lisbon itinerary is more relevant than ten links from general “travel tips” sites, and it's far easier to earn when your guide already features that company.
Travel is one of the most saturated blogging niches and one of the most heavily targeted by link sellers, so the sites that win tend to do the unglamorous things well: firsthand detail other blogs don't have (real costs, step-free routes, transit instructions that work), content that stays accurate as prices and rules change, and photos licensed in a way that turns reuse into credit links.
Below: what makes the niche different, 12 link sources with difficulty ratings, asset ideas, an outreach template for local businesses, anchor examples for a fictional travel blog, and the red flags, including press trip links.
What makes link building for travel blogs different
- Relevance is geographic. Topic matters (budget, family, luxury, adventure), but destination matters more. Sites about the same city or country, and businesses operating there, are your most relevant linkers.
- Content decays fast. Prices, opening hours, transit routes and entry rules change. Outdated pages lose links as editors replace them, while pages that are visibly kept current pick those links up.
- Much of the niche runs on hosted trips and sponsored posts. Links to hotels, tours and tourism boards that hosted you are links given for something of value and should carry
rel="sponsored". The same goes for links you receive in sponsored posts. They're normal, but they aren't editorial links. - Planning seasons drive demand. People plan summer trips in winter and spring and book holiday travel in early fall. Festivals and events create spikes for specific destinations. Pitch content when travelers and editors are planning, not when they're traveling.
- Safety and entry requirements are high-stakes. Visa rules, health requirements and safety advice can cause real harm when they're wrong. Link to official government sources for these, state when you checked, and don't present your summary as the authority.
Where travel blog backlinks actually come from
| Link source | How to get it | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Local tour operators and guides | Feature them in an itinerary based on your own experience, then let them know | Easy to medium |
| Hotels, B&Bs and vacation rentals | Area guides they can share with guests; neighborhood and transit guides work well | Easy to medium |
| Tourism boards and destination organizations | Fresh, accurate destination content, especially niche angles (accessible, family, off-season) | Hard |
| Event and festival organizers | Visitor guides for their event: getting there, where to stay, what else to see | Medium |
| Other travel blogs on the same destination | Collaborative guides, expert quotes, “best [country] blogs” resource lists | Medium |
| University study abroad offices | Pre-departure and arrival guides for students in your destination | Hard |
| Expat and digital nomad communities | Practical relocation and long-stay guides; forum links are usually nofollow | Medium |
| Accessible and specialty travel organizations | Firsthand accessible, family, solo or LGBTQ+ travel guides | Medium |
| Local media in the destination | A visitor's perspective, local data or a well-researched seasonal guide | Medium to hard |
| Travel gear brands | Ambassador and featured creator pages; usually sponsored | Medium |
| Travel podcasts and newsletters | Guest appearances on destination or travel-style shows | Easy to medium |
| Sites reusing your photos | Ask for a credit link where your images appear without one | Easy |
Travel resource pages are full of dead links to closed businesses and retired blogs, which makes broken link building unusually effective here. Many local businesses keep “press” or “featured in” pages, which work like the resource pages in our resource page link building guide.
Linkable asset ideas for travel blogs
- A dated, itemized trip cost breakdown. What you actually spent on lodging, transport, food and attractions, with the month and year. Budget travel sites, local media and forums cite real numbers far more than estimates.
- Transit how-tos that actually work. Airport to city center by every option, which transit pass suits which trip, with photos of ticket machines and platforms. Hotels and rentals link to these for guests.
- A firsthand accessibility guide. Step-free routes, accessible attractions, restroom locations and terrain notes, gathered in person. Accessible travel organizations and tourism boards look for exactly this.
- A month-by-month “when to visit” guide. Typical weather from official climate data, crowd levels, prices and events by month. It answers the question every destination page gets asked.
- A neighborhood guide with a custom map. Where to stay by travel style, with walking times between areas. Rentals and local businesses link to it from their own “getting around” pages.
- A licensed photo library. Destination photos anyone can use with a credit link. Other blogs and local sites will reuse good images either way; this turns reuse into links.
- An entry requirements explainer with official links. Only if you can maintain it: a plain-language overview, each point linking to the official government page, and a visible “last checked” date. Study abroad offices and expat groups link to well-kept versions.
Update dates earn and keep links
Put a visible “last updated” date on practical guides and actually update them after each visit or rule change. Editors replacing a stale link look for the guide that's clearly current.
Outreach angles and an email template
- Local businesses: feature first, then tell them. Mention a tour, cafe or guesthouse you genuinely used, then send a short note. Many add it to their press or reviews page.
- Tourism boards: fill their content gaps. Off-season, accessible, family or niche-interest guides are often underserved.
- Hotels and rentals: help their guests. Offer your transit or neighborhood guide for their guest information page.
- Study abroad offices: arrival guides. Pitch practical first-week guides at the start of each semester.
- Broken links: replace what closed. Find dead links on destination resource pages and offer your current guide.
Subject: We featured [Business] in our [City] itinerary
Hi [Name],
I'm [Your name] from [Site]. I took your [tour / class] in
[month] and loved [specific detail].
I've just published a 3-day [City] itinerary that recommends
it on day two: [URL]. I also included directions from the
nearest metro stop, since a few readers asked.
No action needed, but if you keep a press or "featured in"
page, it might be a nice addition. Thanks for a highlight
of the trip.
[Your name]
[Site]Anchor text examples for a travel blog
Imagine a fictional travel blog, Farwander, at farwander.com. Its target page is /3-days-in-lisbon, aiming for “3 days in Lisbon itinerary.”
| Anchor type | Example anchor | Where it fits naturally |
|---|---|---|
| Branded | Farwander | Tour operator press pages, podcast notes |
| Naked URL | farwander.com | Guest information pages, forum posts |
| Partial match | Farwander's Lisbon itinerary | Another blog's Portugal route post |
| Long-tail | how to spend three days in Lisbon without a car | A rental's “getting around” page |
| Topical | Lisbon neighborhoods and trams guide | A study abroad arrival guide |
| Image credit | Photo: Farwander | Sites reusing your photos |
| Exact match (rare) | 3 days in Lisbon itinerary | Only where it's the most natural phrase |
Read the anchor text guide for the full set of anchor types and a starting-point ratio, and check your current mix with the anchor text analyzer.
Mistakes and red flags for travel blogs
Do
- Mark links to press trip and hosted stay providers as sponsored
- Keep practical guides dated and current
- Link entry and safety information to official sources
- Target linkers in the destination you cover
- License photos for credit and ask for credit when they're reused
Avoid
- Paying “write for us travel” sites for followed links
- Joining travel blogger link swap groups that trade links in bulk
- Buying links on expired-domain travel blogs
- Award badges and widgets that exist to collect links
- Letting old guides decay until they lose their links
Expired-domain travel blogs are a common trap
Many sites selling travel guest posts are former travel blogs bought after they expired, refilled with thin posts and sold link by link. That's the classic private blog network pattern, and exactly the kind of link scheme Google's spam policies target. Our guide to PBN links explains how to recognize one before you pay.
How HrefClub works for travel blogs
- Niche matching. Tag your blog with the Travel niche and request links. A matching algorithm assigns a relevant member site to place each one, at random, so you never trade links with a specific blog.
- In-content placement. You set the target URL and anchor. Links go inside real article content, never in footers or sidebars, with one member link per page and keyword-heavy anchors limited.
- Verification. Each link is checked on submission (live, followed, indexable, right anchor) and re-checked automatically. After three failed checks it's marked lost and your credits are refunded.
- Credits by authority. 1 credit for a link from a site rated 0–19, 2 at 20+, 4 at 40+ and 8 at 60+ (Gold-trust members only). Placing links on your own guides for other members earns half the cost back.
- Host quality checks. Every site gets a Site Quality score (content depth, freshness, outgoing links, domain age, authority, traffic). Link farms and sites that sell links can't host, which filters out the kind of travel site described above.
- Restricted niches. Gambling is restricted, so casino and betting travel content isn't matched with you unless both sides opt in.
If you cover hiking, camping or adventure trips, our page on link building for outdoor websites covers trail groups, outfitters and gear content.