Big Island, Hawaii Negril, Jamaica Kauai, Hawaii ... More ... Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Ushuaia, Argentina ... More ... Paradise Bay Petermann Island Melchior Islands ... More ... Paris, France Loire Valley, France Prague, Czech Republic Berlin, Germany Vienna, Austria Venice, Italy ... More ... Sydney Rotorua, NZ Kaikoura, NZ Twizel, NZ Queenstown, NZ ... More ... Cairo, Egypt Luxor, Egypt ... More ... New Delhi, India Jaipur, India Agra, India ... More ...			Books We Recommend From Amazon.com General Travel ... North America ... South America Antarctica .. Europe ... Australia/NZ ... Africa ... Asia General Travel Books: Airplane Yoga by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, Bess Abrahams Before your next long-haul flight, check out these simple stretches and quick meditations. The moves are easy to do within the confines of your coach-class seat or in the departure lounge. Suitable for yoga novices, nervous flyers, and anyone who gets stressed and crampy on planes. North America Travel Books: The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook by Andrew Doughty, Harriett Friedman The best book on Kauai ever! This is very much an insider's guide -- the authors clearly know and love every inch of Kauai and are thrilled to share it's beauty and laid-back culture with visitors. The beach details are perfect -- everything from the waves and undertow to the snorkeling and amenities are clearly listed, so you know exactly which beach will suit your interests. The dining information includes a lot of local favorites, and they list a variety of lodging styles and prices. This will be the one Kauai book you'll refer to over and over again during your trip. Highly recommended. Day Hikes on Kauai by Robert B. Stone A slim book that delivers precisely what the title claims and nothing more. The hikes range from quick 30-minute trips that even little kids and those with mobility problems can enjoy to more strenuous all-day adventures into the wild. Foghorn Outdoors, California Camping: The Complete Guide to More Than 1,500 Campgrounds by Tom Stienstra Probably the most comprehensive listing of California campgrounds ever! This is a must-have for locals who love the outdoors, and the book is an invaluable reference for visitors to the Golden State. Want to avoid Yosemite's crowds but still see beautiful mountains and lakes? You'll find unspoiled state parks and hidden valleys with available campsites in this guide. And if you do want to go to the popular spots like Lake Tahoe, this book is your best bet at navigating the system, reserving a space in advance, and making the most of this gorgeous state. Foghorn Outdoors, California Hiking: The Complete Guide to More Than 1,000 of the Best Hikes by Tom Stienstra This is the perfect companion book to the Foghorn campground guide. From easy day hikes to lengthy back-country trails, this guide shows you tons of places to trek in California. Perfect for finding a road less traveled. The Rough Guide to Florida The thing we loved best about this guide was the accommodation listings. We found cozy, comfortable, inexpensive cottage hotels in the Florida Keys through the Rough Guide. Rough Guide to Jamaica Ah, Jamaica! The laid-back land of peace, love, and Jah. The Rough Guide gives an excellent history and background on the island and suggests key spots to visit. Most travelers stick to the beaches of Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril, and who can blame us? Unlike some over-developed tropical spots, Jamaica has a mellow blend of tourist infrastructure and local style. Cool breezes, hot reggae, and the scent of ganga in the air make Jamaica a stress-free paradise. South America Travel Books: Lonely Planet Rio de Janeiro Rio is one of those destinations where a little background info. goes a long way. Lonely Planet dishes the dirt on the city's seamy side and prepares you for a little culture shock. But once you're in town, all you need the book for is the ocassional restaurant recommendation (of which Lonely Planet's ones are great). Antarctica Travel Books: Antarctica: A Guide to the Wildlife by Tony Soper Stash this slim, colorfully illustrated guide into your daypack for Antarctic landings. Then you can easily tell cormorants from petrels and Weddels from Crab-eaters. This is an excellent, detailed book on the unusual animals of the region. It's especially handy for the many birds that you'll see, both on the continent and in the Drake Passage. The book is also extremely useful after the trip when you're looking at your hundreds of photos and trying to identify animals long after you've forgotten what the ship's naturalist said! Europe Travel Books: Rick Steves' Europe Through the Backdoor by Rick Steves If you're considering a trip anywhere in Europe, get this book! It's an excellent overview of the continent and will really give you a taste of the different regions. The travel skills section takes up probably half the book and is invaluable for travelling most anywhere if you want to temporarily live like a local and really experience the culture. Highly recommended. Rick Steves' France by Rick Steves, Steve Smith Classic Rick Steves! And that means a high-quality travel guide with excellent recommendations. The lodgings and restaurants are top-notch for little money -- we stayed at many Rick Steves' approved, family-run, budget hotels and always found them to be the best available and better than cheap chain hotels too; ditto for restaurants. Do be aware that Rick's hotels have become very popular and book up fast. Rick covers all the major tourist sights and also shares his favourite charming, off-the-beaten path getaways. Clear maps, email and URLs for hotels, and practical info. about the country make this THE country guide to take with you. Rick Steves' French Phrase Book and Dictionary by Rick Steves You can survive in France without speaking the language, but French people will treat you better if you at least make an effort en francaise. The organization of this book is excellent -- everything's sorted by topic, so if you're in a restaurant trying to order, all the words and phrases you need are in the same spot. Highly recommended. Rick Steves' Paris by Rick Steves, Steve Smith, Gene Openshaw Bigger than a wee pocket guide, yet more manageable than the giant Let's Go. Rick breaks Paris down into manageable walking tours, including excellent tours of museums like the Louvre and the Orsay. He covers all the requisite tourist spots and peppers his recommendations with his trademark cozy "back doors" into French culture. We carried this everywhere in Paris and found it indispensible. Let's Go Britain and Ireland Very comprehensive, chock full of information about everything from the Tower of London to the green valley of Llangollen, Wales. One of the few Britain travel guides that actually mentions Haworth, home of the Bronte Sisters (one of Trystan's most memorable stops on our first trip to England in 1992). Great Sleeps London by Sandra Gustafson Great little book full of those rare inexpensive, good-value hotels and B&Bs in pricey London. These accommodations are a step above the rowdy hostels and dive hotels Let's Go recommends. Australia and New Zealand Travel Books: Lonely Planet Australia A fat reference book on the land down under, complete with color pictures and maps, including maps of transit systems for the major cities. Despite aiming at a backpacker crowd, Lonely Planet is usually the first to admit when cheap isn't necessarily better. For example, Sydney's backpacker mecca, the King's Cross area, is described as downright trashy, lowlife, and nasty, though with a 'devil-may-care' attitude. LP still says the Cross is a good place to swap info. with other budget travellers. This book is almost exhaustive in its detail about the entire country, from the Outback to the cities. Fodor's Citypack Sydney: The Ultimate Key to the City by Anne Matthews Buy this one for the fabulous map of the city! It's a very useful, easy-to-read, comprehensive map. The book also has handy details about the top 25 tourist sights of Sydney. This one's small and ideal for carrying in your purse or daypack. Lonely Planet New Zealand Use this book for finding comfortable, affordable lodgings throughout the country. Good values for modest prices at B&Bs, motels, and backpackers lodges (which usually have private rooms for couples, sometimes ensuite rooms too). Footprint New Zealand by Donald Darroch Footprint is like Lonely Planet's snarky little brother. This book has attitude, but also a whole lot of really useful info. on the country. The details about different wildlife and backroads tours is especially comprehensive -- Footprint has info. you can't find anywhere else, and it helps make those difficult decisions about whether to swim with dolphins or seals. The Lord of the Rings: A Location Guidebook by Ian Brodie This book is required reading for fans of the Lord of the Rings movies -- even if you're not travelling to New Zealand! Brodie is the only writer to fully chronicle the locations that made these films so spectacular. The dozens of spots that became the River Anduin, the vistas on the road to Bree, the slopes of Mt. Doom, you name it, the movie scene is recorded here. Some of the places are easier to find than others, and the one weakness is Brodie's sometimes vague directions. But dedicated Ringers will be able to hunt down many of the wonderful places that stood in for Middle-earth. Africa Travel Books: Lonely Planet Egypt Everything you ever wanted to know about Egypt, but were afraid to ask your mummy ;-) Even warns travelers about the dreaded curse of AEO -- Ancient Egypt Overload -- and how to avoid it. The detailed description of the Cairo Museum is invaluable for finding the treasures in that over-packed rambling place. Every guide covers Cairo, the Pyramids, and Luxor, but Lonely Planet looks for every little place in between and shows you an Egypt that's more than just touristy camel rides. Asia Travel Books: First-Time Asia: A Rough Guide Special This is the ideal primer for your first trip to Asia. The societies, habits, religions, and economic situation are so dramatically different in Asia from that in the U.S. and western Europe -- you really need to be prepared for the culture shock. This book has it all, from street begging to squat toilets to mosquitoes and much more. Let's Go India & Nepal This was our bible in India. Even though we had tour guides shuttling us around every day, we used the Let's Go for additional background information and to help us know what to expect. When our travel plans changed, we relied on Let's Go to help us chose between new options and make plans. While we'd never use the accommodations listed (the ones we saw looked like absolute hovels!), the sightseeing and background info. was invaluable.