Tours and Travel Books

What can I say about the Duomo, Florence's Cathedral, Brunelleschi's magnificent dome and its spectacular bell tower that hasn't already been said. We really are pleased that we purchased Whitehot's Audio Guide - it was definitely money well spent. When we completed the tour we realized that the narrator did a fablous job of entertaining us while we were being educated.

This wonderful book presents the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the Tombs of the Nobles and the village of Deir Al Medina. The author discusses mortuary rituals and presents many pharaohs, including those buried in the Valley of the Kings (Ramesses IX, Tuthmosis, Ramesses III, Ramesses I, Sethos I, Ramesses VI, Amenophis II, and Tuthomosis III), the queens buried in the Valley of the Queens (Nefertari, Khaemwaset, Amun-her-Khepshef) and the nobles from tombs TT 52, TT 69, TT 55, TT 96, TT 1 and TT 359. With maps, drawings, a bibliography, a chronological table and more than 150 photographs, this is an extremely worthwhile guide for travelers.

The Elora gorge is located in the town of Elora, Ontario, Canada, just northwest of the city of Guelph. Kenneth Hewitt's "Elora Gorge: A Visitor's Guide" is not a visitor's guide in the conventional sense but rather is a field guide to the geology, geography, and paleontology of the gorge. The book describes the geological history of the gorge area, from its origin 410 million years ago as a system of reefs and lagoons in a tropical sea, through the birth of the gorge itself at the close of the last ice age, to the present. It discusses the various fossils to be found there, primarily of reef-building organisms and shellfish. It also presents three walks through the gorge. For each walk Dr. Hewitt identifies sites of special interest and explains their geological or paleontological meaning. One of the best aspects of this book is its integration of scientific exposition with the descriptions of the gorge's features so that the visitor can understand the meaning of what he sees. If you are planning to visit the gorge and want to understand what you observe, this book will be a valuable asset.

An annually updated resource, the Empire State Railway Museum's Tourist Trains 2003 is an exhaustive resource which is especially recommended for those tourists and travelers who happen to also be railroading fans. The 38th annual guide to tourist railroads and museums presenting more than 500 railroad-related attractions to visit (including ones that offer train rides, with open hours, fees, coupons good for discounts, and much, much more), Tourist Trains 2003 is commended as being an excellent, information-packed guide filled from cover to cover with fun railroading activities that the whole family can enjoy!

Tourist Trains 2005 is the Empire State Railway Museum's 40th annual guide to tourist railroads and museums. Packed into this 456-page guidebook are more than five hundred railroad-related attractions accessible to the general public, along with listings for attractions that offer trains rides. Included for this rides are listings of their hours, fees, directions, and other pertinent information. Tourist Trains 2005 even offers coupons for discounts on ticket prices! Very highly recommended for the reference collections of dedicated railroading enthusiasts, Tourist Trains 2005 is also of considerable value for planning family vacations for those who want to incorporate their appreciation and enjoyment of America's railroads and railroading history into the life experiences of the children.

This is a very unassuming, but perfectly nice book. Despite tackling a subject that has been done to death, Adrian Pettifer still manages to bring charm and interest to each subject.

This is a very reader-friendly book. Descriptions are bite-sized, so the book can be picked up and put down at a moment's notice. Whole counties can be skipped, or it can be devoured cover to cover, depending on your need and interest. Refreshingly unlike many books of this type, it is logically organized--alphabetically by county, and by castle name within each county. Useful ancillary information includes a short history of castle development, a small but legible map of the counties of England, an extremely informative glossary, an abbreviated bibliography, and a site index to aid in finding locations on the Ordnance Survey grid, just in case you decide to visit.

County sections begin with a brief overview and end with a short listing of nearby sites that have not been treated in detail. Descriptions of each castle are typically a page or less, but usually include something about the surrounding geography, style of structure, outstanding architectural features, accessibility, and opening hours.

The several monochrome photographs are unremarkable, particularly in light of the fact that many other books on the subject are chock full of color photos.

However, the hidden treasure in this book is that in over 3 dozen instances, a plan view drawing of the castle and environs is included. Labeled rooms, land forms, and out-buildings provide a much more intimate idea of what life inside was really like than any number of exterior photos could do.

Because I have this book mainly for genealogical research, the information I find most helpful and fascinating is historical: when each castle was built and by whom, who lived in it or conquered it, what its current condition is, and what part it played in history. Dates and historical anecdotes are abundant, and the cast of characters reads like a 'Who's Who' of England in the mid- to late-middle ages.

The next best thing to living there, this book should definitely be in the library of every Anglophile, researcher, and castle hunter.

This is one of my favourite books of all time - I even own two copies as the first got damaged by constant use by me, my family AND my friends. It is a must for anyone who finds the aesthetically pleasing beautiful to behold. Page after page of sumptuous photography, quite excellently executed camerawork which brings to life the glorious buildings and their histories, accompanied by short snippets of tantalising information. Thanks to this book I've visited over half of the one hundred or so churches, many down obscure country lanes forgotten about by the busy world rushing by. No matter what one's religious views the sheer splendour of these buildings is heavenly.

The author and photographer of this new guide to the Ephrata Cloister show their love and understanding of this unusual historic site. John Bradley does a wonderful job of capturing tons of history and the flavor of this religious experiment in a few, well-crafted words. The photographer, Craig A. Benner, obviously selected only the best of a lifetime of great photographs that take you to all corners of the Cloister and capture the distinctive look of the medieval-style architecture and peaceful atmosphere. There's nothing in my extensive collection of books on this site that captures the experience of this unique place as well as this book. Short of a visit there's nothing I'd recommend more... and then, the book would serve you well with it's map and site guide.

I read this wonderful, warm and informative book by Fridtjof Mansen in the late 1950's. I found the book ESKIMO LIFE just by happinstance while browsing in a public library in Indiana. When I pulled it from the stack, I realized that I knew next to nothing about the eskimo people and their cultures.
Thumbing throught this tome intrigued me and it was obivious that Nansen's years of living with and as an Eskimo uniquely qualified him to author this historical narrarative on a then-little-known race of people.
Having read this delightful book almost 50 years ago, I unfortunately can not recall with clarity most of the details of the tale he spins. Nansen enlightens the reading world about the harsh frigid lands of the artic and brings life to our ancestors that crossed the Bering Sea land bridge. Nansen introduces us to the life of the eskimo, his family and his trials and tribulations for surviving in the most inhospitable place on earth.
We are informed about the eskimo as hunter. A creature that must daily face the extreme dangers of the ice and cold to kill for food and clothing, ...the bear, seal, fish and whale. We see the eskimo as a hunter usually equipted with only a harpoon, a knife, and a rope while stalking his prey in a flimsly animal skin kayak. All of these items he has manufactured himself without the benefit of any working tools we know today.
Nansen shares with us the structure and relationship among the eskimo family. We see the adult male/female roles and responsibilities as well as those of the eskimo children in the family structure. While we learn from Nansen of the "life of an eskimo", he also tells us about the birthing and dying of the people.
Nansen tells his story well. The reader of this book will be more knowledgeable about this culture of the North. While learning, the reader will very much enjoy the narration, and that is inportant too.
I wish I personally owned this book which I borrowed from my public library so many years ago, for today it is listed as "a collectable". As a hardcover is is being priced at over $700.00.

More selective than Michelin, Zagat or any lesser known compilations of Europe's best. Hard to disagree with the selections to the list, plus counting how many you've hit in your travels is an automatic reaction to the beautifully layed out publication (I've made it to 37 of the 200). Why not more from Portugal?