Memberships
Why We Charge for Our Planning Tools & Maps, & How You Can Help
Since 2011, Archaeology Travel has been dedicated to providing you with original, reliable, and helpful content. From tips on buying tickets to the Acropolis in Athens to a list of Roman sites and ruins in the Netherlands. We exist to help you explore our world’s pasts.
The Challenge We Face: Sustaining Original Content in the Age of AI
Until recently, the costs of maintaining the website, commissioning new content, and covering our essential travel and research expenses were funded by recommending relevant travel services. We have always resisted plastering each page with intrusive adverts.
The rapid growth of AI in search results, Google’s AI Overviews being just one example, has fundamentally changed how people find information. AI tools often provide detailed answers to your queries directly on the search engine, frequently using the information we produced, but removing the need for you to visit our website.
This development has severely compromised our ability to fund our operations and continue producing independent, high-quality content. Archaeology Travel is not alone. You can read detailed accounts of other popular websites that also provide independent content that have been similarly impacted over the last two years or so. These include Housefresh and Retrododo, you can read more about how changing search has impacted thousands of websites.
➤ AI, Travel Planning & Archaeology Travel: the Case for Human Expertise
Our Commitment & Our Ethical Choice
We could adapt by resorting to intrusive clickbait tactics and pages full of disruptive adverts. But that goes against our core mission and ethics. We believe in creating an ethical internet—and we want to be part of the solution, not the problem.
We are actively contributing to building an internet that we ourselves want to find.
How You Can Help Us Grow: Membership & Support
To ensure Archaeology Travel can continue to stand apart (read more on our About This Website page) and provide you with essential resources, we have launched a new model built around direct reader support.
1. Become an Archaeology Travel Member
The informative articles and guides we publish will always be freely available to all. But our custom-built Itinerary Builder, designed for readers who want to get the most out of our content, is only available to members. Signing up for a membership provides access to our interactive maps and planning tool, allowing you to create travel lists and itineraries.
You can choose a plan that suits you: a monthly or annual subscription, or a single payment for a lifetime membership (see the info-boxes and links at the top of this page). You are free to terminate your membership whenever it suits you – see the full Terms of Service for Archaeology Travel Memberships.
3. Spread the Word On Social MediaÂ
Not everyone is in a position to help us financially, we understand that. You can, however, still provide invaluable support by sharing our website and/or the pages you have visited to your social media channels – we have accounts on most channels. And, do not forget to tag and follow Archaeology Travel, we would love to see and share how you have found our content helpful. Find us here:
Our Membership Scheme
Archaeology Travel provides the resources and tools to help people have meaningful experiences of both tangible and non-tangible heritage and travel more sustainably, supporting the local people and their communities, the places these sites are in, and the planet.
All our readers already enjoy:
An advert-free experience
Numerous articles and travel guides
Community Forum for all to browse
Our custom-built Itinerary Builder provides you with the tools to use the information provided in our articles and guides to create your own travel-lists and personalised itineraries. Membership is either free, trial, annual or lifetime – see details below.Â
By signing up for a membership plan, you can:
Create travel lists – places you have been, places you would like to visit
Access interactive maps
Plan personalised itineraries to suit your interests and requirements, which include archaeology and history sites, landmarks and points of interests, museums and art galleries, local businesses and social initiatives
Share these lists and itineraries with your family and friends
Post reviews, questions and answers in the forum
Free Membership
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See all articles & travel guides
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Use of all interactive maps
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Browse the Forum
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Email only sign up
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Create travel lists & itineraries
Trial Membership
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Sign up & registration required
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Use of interactive maps
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Create travel lists & itineraries
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Post in the Community Forum
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Monthly newsletter
Annual Membership
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Sign up & registration required
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Use of interactive maps
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Create travel lists & itineraries
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Post in the Community Forum
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Monthly newsletter
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1 year for price of 10 months
Lifetime
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Sign up & registration required
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Use of all interactive maps
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Create travel lists & itineraries
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Post in the Community Forum
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Monthly newsletter
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One payment, lifetime membership
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Welcome pack
Given our mission to encourage sustainable travel, we are mindful of the carbon emissions that result from people using our website.
For this reason we have chosen a registered green hosting company, Guru Cloud Hosting. In addition to this and to celebrate your membership with us, we pledge to plant a tree on your behalf when you sign up.
We have partnered with Ripple Africa, who have been working in Malawi for 20 years. To date they have supported communities to plant 21 million trees, and they work with 1,800 Forest Conservation Committee members to protect 340 square kilometres of forest. The protection of these existing trees is just as important as the need to plant new trees. In their project, for every tree planted three existing trees are protected.
