Product Description
An inspiring exploration of the forty most memorable travel destinations in the world.
As travelers become more experienced and sophisticated, they become more discriminating about their destinations. Many are seeking the unusual and avoiding the routine and predictable tours.
Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die takes readers to familiar places, like the Taj Mahal, and lesser known destinations like Lalibela, Ethopia. Three hundred magnificent photographs accompany fascinating essays about each location.
The chapters cover forty destinations ranging from New York City to Petra, Jordan, including: - Australia's Great Barrier Reef - Cambodian temples at Angkor Wat - Scotland's Eilean Donan Castle - Thailand's Grand Palace - Mexico's Pyramid of Kukulacán - Peru's Machu Picchu - Spain's Alhambra - Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.
The book features international destinations for extraordinary scenery, ancient monuments, unusual cultures, rare wildlife, soaring architecture, art and more. The sites range from wilderness areas to cities to uninhabited locations and ruins of past civilizations.
Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die is aimed at adventurous travelers seeking new sights and experiences. It offers insider tips and practical advice for maximizing the enjoyment of each visit such as avoiding crowds, best time of the year to visit and more.
With gorgeous photography, this book is a must for international and armchair travelers.
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Ok at Amazon's price
The photography in this book matches the high standards set by similar books; although a couple of photographs of Petra were particularly good.
The information wasn't terribly important to me: if I really want information about Machu Picchu, for instance, there are several books filled with great information on that topic. But if you really don't know anything about Machu Picchu, this book will give you a bare idea of it.
My top 40 places would be different of course, and so would everyone else's. For instance, number one on my list would be Jerusalem, and number three would be Istanbul: neither got in here. Well, that's his perogative and I can't dis the book over it.
Some selections did surprise me. For instance, Shanghai is listed, but Xian isn't. I think most people would reverse that. Of all the great places in India, of course Varanasi (my number 2) and the Taj Mahal appear, and then the Jaisalmer Fort. Well, that's a reasonable choice, but I would have strongly preferred Mumbai or Amritsar.
Anyway, the real problem is choosing 40, rather than 80 or so. The world's a big, wonderful, interesting place after all. No mention here of the Amazon or the Congo, of Meteora or Mashhad, and so on.
The real reason that I bought this book is to inspire my girlfriend to travel with me: I think we all have that kind of thing in mind. For that, it'll do.
There are some other books that I'd recommend checking out before you spend your money. For instance, "The Spirit of Asia" by Michael Freeman is excellent for that part of the world; and Joe Cumming's book "Buddhist Stupas in Asia" will inspire a lot of travel throughout Asia. I own those two books, but a few others also look very good to me: "Sacred Places Around the World," "100 Things to do Before You Die," "The Travel Book," and, for pure photography, books by Art Wolfe or Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
Amid such company, I feel that this book is fine, and I don't regret buying it at all. But it's not exceptional in any regard, so I give it 4 stars. At Amazon's price ($13.50 as I write this), it is certainly a good deal, as some of the books I prefer are more expensive.
Great travel spots
I liked this layout. Great photos with 3 or 4 pages on each site. Just enough information to see if you really want to travel there. The best news was I have visted 8 of the 40 sites the author lists. This is good bet if you ever wanted a list to mark off of great places to go see, this is starting point.
Inspirational
I was given this book recently and have to say it is probably the most inspirational travel book I have seen for many years. As a founder of an adventure travel company (Intrepid Travel) I see many books of this ilk - but this is altogether different and better. The pictures are fantastic and the copy very rreadable. It looks at 40 destinatiions - some mainstream, some off the beaten track. It makes you want to travel!