Bus Tours Magazine has one of the longest pedigrees in the bus industry, can boast of having the senior editor in the bus industry, and is best known for decades of practical bus and group tour experience. We have had a life-long commitment to this industry.

Larry Plachno, the founder of Bus Tours Magazine, first started in transportation publishing in 1961, designed and sold various bus tours in the 1960s, and purchased his first bus in 1963. In subsequent years he gained valuable industry experience by working for several bus and tour companies including Glenview Bus Company, Valley Transit, Coach Travel Unlimited and Munsen’s Discovery Tours. Bus and tour operations owned by Larry Plachno included Skokie Valley Lines, Executive Commuter Coach and Wisconsin Illinois Stages.

Bus Tours Magazine was founded in 1979 as the only independent magazine for bus and group tour planners. Our goal was to serve all kinds of tour planners, both public and private, regardless of memberships and affiliations. Today, more than 30 years later, we still continue to serve all bus and group tour planners in the United States and Canada.

In the early 1980s, when Bus Tours Magazine was located in Delavan, Wisconsin, it shared offices with Wisconsin Illinois Stages, Inc. In addition to operating two scheduled service routes, Wisconsin Illinois Stages also operated charters and a regular tour program. Our most popular tour covered the Soo/Mackinac area.

In 1986, Bus Tours Magazine moved to Polo, Illinois, about 110 miles west of Chicago. In addition to being a good place to raise a family, this central location was excellent for staff members who frequently have to travel to attend trade shows and conventions or travel to obtain information and photos for magazine articles.

Since 1981, the Bus Tours Magazine staff has maintained their interest and strong connection with the industry by keeping at least one coach on hand to transport the staff to conventions and trade shows as well as on location to obtain information and photos for articles written specially for bus and group tour planners. This helps educate new staff members on buses and tours. Four different buses have served in this capacity over the years with the current primary coach being an MCI 102C3.

*Top photo is part of the Wisconsin Illinois Stages fleet used in the early 1980s and the center photo is the current coach used by the Bus Tours Magazine Staff.