Globe jotting

REVIEWS BY ALISON HOOD

New guides to get you going

There's a movement afoot among travel publishers to urge folks to get passports. These professional wanderers believe that travel encourages global connectedness in our often polarized world. So, if you haven't already, pose for your passport photo (or get scanned for the upcoming biometric versions), then peruse these travel books. Your village, your delectable oyster awaits. Around the world in 618 ways Doing its part to encourage travel, Lonely Planet has compiled Bluelist: 618 Things to Do & Places to Go, 06-07. It's quite a list, bursting with "to-do" recommendations culled from Lonely Planet's idiosyncratic mix of travel authors, staff and traveler feedback. Bluelist is this year's socially conscious, well-informed travel agenda, capturing the world's human and scenic wonders in vibrant color photography and bold blue graphics. Bluelist is distilled into two sections, each prefaced with a thoughtful essay on today's travel experience and world travel trends. Part One is a 40-item list of "Things to Do," revealing the best destinations to, among other things, see wildlife, peruse public art or sling your beach hammock. Ideas abound in bulleted (and often wise-cracking) glory. Part Two tells you where the staff-selected "hotspots" are, from the Americas and Europe to the sub-Sahara and beyond. Individual reviewers realistically and shrewdly describe each spot with fact, cultural lore, sociopolitical and economic analysis, including tips on packing, gabbing with locals, what to see and what to avoid. Bluelist tantalizes with the exotic, educational, slightly edgy and always entertaining possibilities of place.


Keys to the cities

Frommer's nifty pocket-sized Day-by-Day Travel Guides to London, Paris and Rome are deceiving: their stature is small, but they are powerhouses of information for touring three formidable European capitals. Each written by an author with intimate knowledge of her particular city, they include color photos, inside flap transportation maps, telephoning tips, metric conversion tables and a removable city map. This series offers the smartest ways to see London, Paris and Rome, deftly familiarizing readers with each city's broad brush picture, while also giving an insider's peek.

Day-by-Day Travel Guides also offer "Favorite Moments" lists—unique ideas of what to do in the respective city. Rome suggests taking in a soccer game. London showcases bountiful parks and museums and recommends listening to Big Ben strike the hour. Paris reminds visitors to soak up a sunset at the Eiffel Tower. Escalating from mere moments, these books swing into organizational action with bulleted maps preceding chapters on the best day tours, lodging and dining options, outdoor activities, shopping, neighborhood walks (including rest stops), etc. All three guides feature "savvy traveler" sections with trip planning suggestions, brief city histories, travel resource links and mini language phrasebooks, where applicable. These portable guides will have you zipping about town like a local.


Drawn to Paris

Artist Jill Butler's insouciant Wandering Paris: A Guide to Discovering Paris Your Way is a pocket-sized guide offering 14 themed adventures in the City of Light. Butler, who lived in Paris for 14 years, shares her insider's view, encouraging travelers to meander the city's arrondissements at whim. She eschews many practical travel how-to's, so Wandering Paris is best used as a complement to a more detail-laden guide, especially for first-time visitors. However, Butler's ideas for merging into Parisian life are excellent: allot a day each to explore the flea markets, take an architectural walk, boat upon the Seine and canals, nibble your way through bakeries or taste French wines in neighborhood bistros.

Brimming with Butler's whimsical watercolors and evocative text, Wandering Paris lures you down grand boulevards and into Paris' intimate quartiers. Many city secrets are revealed along the way, like Notre Dame's free Sunday organ concerts, where to dance in a Seine-side cafe and who sells the best ice cream. An appendix lists addresses, telephone numbers, operating hours and Paris Metro stations for each recommended attraction. The best advice in this little gem, however, might be Butler's suggestion to "never decide what to do until after coffee." And, of course, a croissant.


Get a room

Do you dream of a long weekend away, complete with posh nosh, plump pillows and a perfect shimmering martini? If that fantasy includes a hop across the pond, then The Smiths' Hotel Collection: UK and Ireland, edited by Juliet Kinsman and Sophie Dening, is at your service with its offbeat, oh-so-hip and witty reviews of the best hotels in the United Kingdom and Ireland (another edition covers Europe).

Just who are the Smiths? Not a mysterious duo, but an undercover horde of "in the know professionals who professionally vet each hotel recommended in this guide." From the likes of British fashion designer Stella McCartney and chef Raymond Blanc come kudos on 41 hotels—the eclectic boutique, the luxury retreat and the atmospheric inn. Some are big-city venues, but most sit in the verdant countryside and remote coastal areas, like Bigbury-on-Sea.

With sumptuously arty color photography, Zen-like graphics and tongue-in-cheek text, the hotels here are handily indexed by rates, number of rooms, location, atmosphere and amenities. Each review is a luscious secret story, spiked with a dash of hedonism. The Star Inn, Harome, is billed as "out of Africa meets gastro-pub" with "candlelit nooks, padded pews and a faint whiff of wood-smoke and beeswax." This upscale guide, worthy of a manor house coffee table, emphasizes luxe amenities, freebies (via Smith Club membership, which comes with the book), places to drink and dine royally, and local area activities. Even if a trip to the UK isn't possible, The Smiths' Hotel Collection is worth a look, if only to discover what happens behind closed hotel doors.


Are we there yet?

Got kids? Give them the best gift of all: an educational (just don't tell them that!) family trip. Emily Kaufman, "The Travel Mom," a contributor to ABC's "Good Morning America," combines expertise in child studies and a love of travel to roam the world researching the quintessential family vacation. Result: The Travel Mom's Ultimate Book of Family Travel: Planning, Surviving, and Enjoying Your Vacation Together, a friendly, commonsense guidebook of essential strategies to make journeys with spouse and offspring in tow stress-free.

Kaufman believes that family travel yields precious moments, and to help those happen she touts 12 "Golden Moment Rules" (e.g., "Don't Overschedule" and "Manage Your Expectations"). The second half of this book really shines, though, with detailed destination ideas and descriptions, from beach vacations and outdoor adventures to camping trips (an eye-popping list) and big-city excursions.

    The Travel Mom's Ultimate Book of Family Travel: Planning, Surviving, and Enjoying Your Vacation Together
    By Emily Kaufman
    Broadway, $14.95
    262 pages
    ISBN 0767920635

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Thanks, Mum

London can be a budget-bursting destination, but Frommer's family-friendly London with Kids can take you to Buckingham Palace without breaking the bank. The introductory chapter, "How to Feel Like a London Family," is an insider's bible of low- to no-cost activities that will acquaint you with this exciting city and its locals. There's also a "best bets" section of reasonably priced (plus splurges), family-oriented dining and lodging options. The trip planner segment offers all the what, where, when and how, and features a by-month rundown of kid's favorite events, like the London International Mime Festival and Trooping the Color. The strolls, kid's tours and playground lists are an added bonus, tips to lead you and your youngsters toward fun adventures in the smaller suburban areas beyond big and bustling London proper. Who knows what you'll find—maybe Harry en route to Hogwarts!


© 2006 ProMotion, inc.
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