Tours and Travel Books

I have a plan to travel Orlando this winter, and decided to buy a book about Orlando.

There were so many books about Orlando. Some gave very detailed information, but they were very thick and heavy.

The most important information you need for Orlando is which ride to visit, which parades to see, when to visit where, how to order all the attractions.

This book gives all these information about Orlando and light enough to carry during the trip.

The 2005 edition adds another 50 pages of info over the previous edition. Hotels, restaurants and admission prices can change rapidly in the area, so it's worthwhile to have the most recent guidebook.
I live in the area and count on the Fodor's to give the detail essential to a successful excursion with our visitors. There is soooo much to see at Disney and around the area that you will miss a lot if you don't have a good guidebook like this. I like the "Strategies" highlights that give the best times to visit certain attractions and the "Need a Break" inserts that clue you into quick, but satisfying snack places.
They also mark in the margin "Fodor's Choice" to help you find some of the best activities.

You can't imagine how much detail and information there is in this book. It must have taken this gentleman several lifetimes to actually visit all of the places about which he so accurately describes. This is far better than the Lonely Planet book on Tunisia in my opinion, especially for people who hope to travel to this progressive nation that is very "American friendly" and quite a bargain in most ways.

Footprint Tunisia is without question the best travel book I've ever used. It's information was accurate to the letter in every case. Background history of the country and it's ancient colonizers was exhaustive compared to the standards of most guide books. Perhaps most impressive is the pertinence of the information to every type of traveller, budget to luxe. The clever and pointed opinions were always on target. The writer did not hesitate to give sly negative reviews where applicable. "Lonely Planet" and "Let's Go" both offer good information but have target readers and leave out the needs of many of us as well as frequently providing only rudimentary information. With Footprint you can throw out all the other guidebooks or just avoid buying them entirely, that's how exhaustive I found the Tunisia entries to be. I've used many guide books, Eyewitness, Access (awesome in the original versions, especially for walking tours and architectural sites,food and shops)and Fodor's but these all pale in comparison to Footprint. Where have they been hiding? I've yet to see them on the shelves of those big bookstores in my neighborhood. Bravo to Amazon for carrying them all.

Compiled and written by Lee Ellis, Free Tours, Museums, And Sites In America: Southern States Series is a solidly presented guide designed specifically for those seeking economical travel advice and entertainment suggestions in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. From zoos and botanical gardens, to wine and brewery tours, to national monuments, to scenic overlooks, to natural history museums, and more, this is a straightforward compendium of places to visit (complete with addresses, telephone numbers, brief descriptions, and other basic information), Free Tours, Museums, And Sites In America: Southern States Series is an excellent and recommended resource for planning vacations, road trips, and for anyone living in these fine southern states wanting to see something special during a day trip excursion, a weekend adventure, or an extended holiday experience.

Wisconsin-based author Lee Ellis knows that the only thing better than cheap is free. That premise is embraced by budget travelers, who will enjoy his new book, "Free Tours, Museums and Sites in America: Southern States Series." This edition covers all sorts of sightseeing in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, organized in alphabetical order by cities within state chapters. The book offers good free-admission finds such as the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, the Sid Richardson Collection of Western Art in Fort Worth and the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio's Brackenridge Park.

Recently I went on a mystery New England road trip...so I decided to purchase a book to aid me along the way. This one came in quite handy! We went across Massachusetts, up Vermont, down New Hampshire, and even caught a glimpse of Maine--and had a great time, thanks to Frommer's! we were able to go on the back roads and see how it is really in those states, and at the same time incorporate some of the "must sees", making our trip more unforgettable than ever! Thanks to Frommer's for doing such a great job, making it easier for us to see what it's like with the great pictures, and easy directions to get there without any difficulty at all. If you need to get away...pick this book, and have a great time!

Historic New England - from behind the wheel of your sports car or RV

Excellent guide to seeing New England with a sports car or a recreational vehicle (RV; a home on wheels). You will enjoy some great driving tours and routes through North-Eastern USA.

Frommers has recently come out with more "Best-Loved Driving Tours" series ... guides that are not very inexpensive, but are very well researched and quite comprehensive. One will have plenty of driving tours and routes to chose from, whether you like arts and museums, scenic roads and breathtaking views, urban towns and shopping, or just want to experience a regione's culture and life.

Unlike the other Frommer guides that are fatter and heavier, this little book gives you not too many specifics on lodging or eating. It is geared strictly for the person behind the wheel and her or his passengers.

I have had a great experience using this guide and will recommend it to anyone who can afford it. Also, you might want to check to see if your library carries it and check it out for the duration of your visit abroad.

When I backpacked 4 months through Europe I had a copy of the Lonely Planet for Europe (a thick and heavy book) because it covered more cities and esoteric towns, a ripped chapters of all the international youth hostals Europe of the countries I visited, and as primary guide for nominal cities and capitals I used Frommers (ripped the book and kept only chapters of countries planning to visit - so I can keep the weight down).

This is a great little guide for Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. It has all the essentials (eating, sleeping, travels), but also has those little insights about when and where and why. It is small in size (not like some other "small" books that are three inches thick), easy to read, and certain to be useful.

This guide was perfect for my short trip to Martha's Vineyard. Leave it to Frommer's to offer a pocket-sized guide that still offers everything the full sized guidebook has.

Venice is the perfect city for walking tours, with a myriad of twisting streets and alleys. This guide provides a series of great walking tours, allowing you to wander at your own pace accompanied by a "paper tour guide". Skip tour packages or local guides, and head out on your own with this guide in hand. My wife and I spent two days in Venice on our own, and basically followed almost every tour in the book. We spoke no Italian, had never been to Venice before, and yet we found our way around the city and discovered quaint squares and tiny cathedrals that most visitors never find. If you like to learn about a city as you explore, but hate following some tour guide leading a herd of fellow travelers, get this book and head out on your own.

I found Frommer's walking tours of Paris invaluable, and the same proved to be true for this Venice book. I was there for eight days, and followed one of these walking tours every day. There was a superb sense of ambling around, seeing Venice in its everyday aspect, usually away from crowds of tourists. The book provided a focus for my walks, eliminating the feeling of wandering around and not knowing exactly where to go, and for me there were many wonderful moments -- lingering by canals, coming upon cats sunning themselves on unbusy walkways, seeing the whole of Venice from the top of the bell tower of San Giorgio. The point became not seeing the sights but soaking up the atmosphere. Using Frommer's (and other) walk books have made a huge difference in the pleasure I take in travel, and I urge all travelers to use them.

Whether you are an armchair traveler who loves gardens or international traveler in search of the most beautiful gardens in England and Wales, this book both satisfies the craving for reading about this topic and whets the appetite for more. These private gardens, opened to visits to help raise funds for this charitable organizaton, are described in detail with dates and times they are open, admission fees, directions, parking and what is available to partake of, such as teas and music. There are several pages of beautiful color photographs. This is one book that will be packed in the suitcase or tucked by the garden lover's chair. It's a book I love and never tire of going through time and again.

If you are planning a trip to England and/or Wales and want to know which gardens are open on what days, plus which of those days selected gardens are open for charity, this is the book to buy. GARDENS OPEN FOR CHARITY (2003) is updated every year. The 2003 version is sponsored by "Carr Sheppards and Crosthaite" and contains every thing the avid gardener and/or garden lover and/or visitor will want to have on hand to plan a vacation, a weekend excursion, or a day out. I ordered the 2003 version of the "yellow book" from Amazon-UK and received it very quickly.

Gardens open almost every day through the year, or the growing season plus those only open for special events are included. You can obtain information about all kinds of gardens including the Botanic Gardens (Oxford University) and Hidcote Manor Garden in Chipping Camden (National Trust) that are accessible most of the time to privately owned gardens such as Lambeth Palace (Archbishop of Canterbury) that are only open to the public on special occasions.

England and Wales are divided into shires and maps are shown for each jurisdiction. The gardens discussed in the catalogue are noted on the map. This is one of the best if not the best guide you will find to gardens in the U.K.

My wife and I lived in Germany for 2 1/2 years and used that time as an opportunity to get into bicycling. One of the first books we bought was "Germany by Bike"...a smart move on our part. Of the 20 tours listed in the book we took 3 of them and can say we were most pleased with those. The directions are simple and easy to follow and the trails are wonderful. If you're looking for a great guide to explore Germany by bike then look no further.

Definitely the best cycling guide book there is about Germany. I grew up in this country and thought I knew it well - yet Nadine Slavinski's book reveals a treasure of little known secrets. Her tours provide a brilliant mixture of Germany's best in terms of bicycle touring and you can tell that she has spent quite some time working and researching in the 'Old World'

I live in the heart of Ghost town country. I knew about some of them, but the place is rotten with them; and this book located these bits of bygone history for me. Even my old office building sits on the bones of an old ghost town I'd never heard of. If you love Colorado (and you should) and history and adventure and beautiful back country driving and hiking, this book is the one you want. Buy it and carry it with you. I've seen others and this is by far the most complete and up to date.
-P-

I love this book. It is very extensive. There are 3 volumes in this series- this one (which is Volume 2), plus Volume 1 (Northern region) and Volume 3 (Southern region...

What is nice is that these books are pretty updated (1999). Some of the Colorado ghost town books that I have looked at are very outdated- published around the 1970's.

This book (as well as the other 2 in the series) are very thick books-this one has 616 pages!)
It is packed full of infomation.
Some ghost town books leave some of the smaller, lesser-known ghost towns out- but these 3 volumes have them all!

There are black and white photos for each ghost town- plus the fascinating history behind each one. Some even have updated information listed about the town- such as how the Ghost town of Guffey (originally called Freshwater)once had a dog as Mayor-and they now have a cat as Mayor!! (This is true).

In this book- Volume 2- Central Region- it includes these counties:
Eagle, Garfield, Pitkin, Park, Lake, Teller, Chaffee and Gunnison.
The ghost towns listed are NUMEROUS- but here are just some of them:

Redstone, Ruby, Ashcroft, Aspen (once called "Ute City"), Carbondale, Emma, Dotsero, Independence, Gilman, Gold Park, Cripple Creek, Altman, Anaconda and Mound City, Tabor City, Dayton, Guffey, Fairplay, Buckskin Joe, Como,
White Pine, Tincup, Sargents, Quartz, Pitkin, Ohio City, Pieplant,Marble, Irwin, Iola, Gothic. Crystal, Crested Butte,
Romley, St. Elmo, Monarch, Buena Vista, Garfield, and etc.....

There are many, many more towns in this book- I just can't list them all!

Take this enjoyable book along while exploring some of Texas' most outstanding yet least known family fun spots. Full of humorous history and highlights about small towns, state parks, trail rides, boat excursions and swimming holes. Includes Enchanted Rock, Bandera, Lost Maples, Westcave Preserve, Fredericksburg and much more!

Gone for the Day, as it is titled, would lead one to believe that it is simply a book about day trips. Naturally, I made the same assumption, purchased the book, and found a wonderfully written,humerous,folk tale of central Texas. This is a book that should be bought for the read, and not the road.