AstroTours Featured in Motorcoach Living Magazine’s 2026 Stargazing Travel Issue

AstroTours.org was recently featured in the 2026 issue of Motorcoach Living Magazine, and it is always a good day when stargazing in Boulder gets a little more room in the travel world.

The article, “Travel Where the Night Sky Stars,” highlights astrotourism and places across the country where travelers can plan trips around the night sky. Colorado gets a nice feature in the section “The Rockies are for Stargazing,” and Boulder was included alongside places like Boulder, Leadville, Westcliffe, and Creede.

And right there on page 37, AstroTours gets a mention as one of the ways people can experience the night sky in Boulder with real telescopes and an astrophysicist guiding the way.

You can view the digital copy of the 2026 Motorcoach Living issue here:https://www.flipsnack.com/motorcoachliving/motorcoachliving2026

You can also request a physical copy from Motorcoach Living here:https://www.motorcoachliving.com/#magazine

Boulder Stargazing in a National Travel Magazine

The Boulder section talks about something we have always loved about this place.

Boulder is not the most remote town in Colorado. It is not Leadville. It is not Creede. It is not deep in the San Juans or tucked far away from every light on the map.

But Boulder has something special.

It has the Flatirons, open space, mountain air, easy access from Denver, and just enough darkness at Boulder Valley Ranch Trailhead to make the sky feel alive. You do not have to disappear into the wilderness to feel connected to the universe. Sometimes you just need to drive a few minutes outside of town, step away from the streetlights, and let your eyes adjust.

That is the whole point of our Boulder tours.

We are not trying to make stargazing intimidating. You do not need to own a telescope, memorize constellations, hike up a mountain, or know what a nebula is before you arrive. We set up the telescopes, point them at the good stuff, explain what you are seeing in normal language, and let the night do the rest.

What Motorcoach Living Said About AstroTours

The Motorcoach Living feature describes AstroTours as a local company that sets up high-powered telescopes at Boulder Valley Ranch Trailhead just outside the city. It mentions that under the guidance of an astrophysicist, guests may see craters of the Moon in sharp detail and even Jupiter’s moons lined up like tiny pearls.

That is a lovely way to put it.

Jupiter’s moons really do look like little beads of light when the seeing is good. They are not just random stars near Jupiter. They are worlds orbiting another planet. You can watch them change positions from night to night, and sometimes even during the same tour.

The Moon is another one that people think they know until they see it through a telescope. Through the eyepiece, it is not just a white circle in the sky. It becomes mountains, crater walls, shadows, lava plains, and bright highlands. It looks like a place.

That is why telescope tours still matter. We all have NASA images in our pockets now, but there is something different about seeing the real light with your own eye.

Why This Feature Matters

This coverage came to us through Visit Boulder, who had shared information about AstroTours with the state as part of their pitching efforts around stargazing in Colorado.

That part means a lot.

AstroTours started as a pretty simple idea: bring the kind of guided astronomy experience I learned in Australia back home to Colorado. Set up telescopes. Tell the stories. Explain the science. Make people feel welcome under the sky.

Over time, that small idea has become part of a much larger Colorado astrotourism movement.

Now Colorado has a Stargazing Trail. More towns are protecting dark skies. Resorts are adding astronomy programs. Visitors are looking for night-sky experiences the same way they look for hikes, hot springs, scenic drives, and ski days.

So to see Boulder and AstroTours show up in a magazine built for travelers, RV owners, and people planning their next road adventure feels like a sign that stargazing is becoming part of the Colorado travel map.

Not as a side note.

As a reason to go.

Why Boulder Works for Stargazing Travel

For travelers in motorcoaches, RVs, camper vans, or anyone road tripping through Colorado, Boulder makes a lot of sense as a stargazing stop.

You can spend the day on Pearl Street, hiking at Chautauqua, visiting local breweries, walking the creek path, or exploring Boulder’s open space. Then instead of ending the day after dinner, you can head out for a guided night under the stars.

That is one of my favorite things about astronomy tourism.

It changes the rhythm of travel.

Most vacations treat sunset as the end of the day. Stargazing flips that. Sunset becomes the beginning of the best part.

The sky darkens. The first bright planets appear. The stars come out one by one. Someone asks, “What is that bright thing?” and suddenly we are talking about Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, satellites, constellations, galaxies, or how fast the Earth is turning beneath our feet.

That is a good night.

Stargazing Without Making It Complicated

A lot of people think astronomy is hard to get into.

And it can be, if you start with telescope manuals, star charts, polar alignment, and trying to find faint galaxies by yourself in the dark.

But it does not have to start there.

It can start with looking through a telescope at the Moon.

It can start with seeing Saturn for the first time.

It can start with realizing the Big Dipper is not actually a constellation, but an asterism inside Ursa Major.

It can start with learning that some of the stars you are seeing may no longer exist, or that the light from a galaxy has been traveling for millions of years just to end up in your eye.

That is the kind of astronomy AstroTours is built around. Not astronomy as a test. Astronomy as an experience.

Thank You to Motorcoach Living and Visit Boulder

Thank you to Motorcoach Living Magazine for including Boulder and AstroTours in the 2026 issue.

And thank you to Visit Boulder for continuing to help share AstroTours with travel writers, tourism partners, and visitors looking for something real to do in Boulder after dark.

This kind of coverage helps people find us, but it also helps tell a bigger story: Colorado’s night sky is part of what makes this state special.

The mountains are not just beautiful in the daytime.The open spaces do not stop being meaningful after sunset.And the best view in Boulder might not be west toward the Flatirons.Sometimes it is straight up.

If you are planning a Colorado road trip, RV vacation, Boulder weekend, or night-sky adventure, come join us under the stars.

Book a public stargazing tour or request a private astronomy event at:https://www.AstroTours.org

Clear skies,

Luke

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